The GREAT Clean OUT

A couple of weeks ago I started to clean out "MY ROOM," my space, my inner sanctum.  You have to note that the rest of my house is NOT like this room.  It is orderly and neat but my space....

I started around my chair as that was starting to crowd me.  I began making piles and soon realized that I had created more of a mess than I had before.  You have to understand that I am the keeper of family history, my high school class crap, my crafts, my books, my family pictures, paper (love clean paper and empty journals, obsessively), more books...AND MY ART stuff like canvas', paints, cleaners, brushes...

This is not the first time I've had to clean out my room but honestly, it's the worst it has ever been and I was a bit ashamed and extremely overwhelmed. 

I put the S.O.S. out to my oldest, B and she dropped everything and flew over to assist as I was about to give up but I HAD to do this.  

What happened kind of created more of a mess than I thought and it spilled out down the hallway into the guest bedroom.  I had to get the art stuff organized and we moved all of it to the guest room.  Guess what, I CAN'T get into that room now!  EEK!!!!  It has been this way for a couple of weeks not, dodging the piles down the hall but on Thursday I got busy.  I purged probably 100-150 books so far.  I'm a book whore, what can I say.  See those cabinets that are closed, well they were full, FULL I SAY of books that I could not even get to.  One side is empty now, the other has art magazines, so far. 

Look, you can see actual floor, not floor in the hall or guest room, but floor. 

I also have a collection of Stuart Woods books.  I've collected everything he has written and even though his recent stuff is kind of crap, it is a collection and I am dedicated to it.  So instead of filling up my book alcove in the living room

I'm moving all to the top shelf in my room then moving hard backs and old books to the alcove.  Paperbacks that I have not read yet will be put in a side bookshelf that has NO DOORS.  When it is shut away, it is forgotten.  

Today I will tackle the closet that isn't quite as bad as before and I think I'll be able to purge a lot out of there too.  I HAVE to have this done by June 7 as I'm hosting Daniel Keys and the workshop art students here for dinner and an evening of visiting and I have to have my home studio in tip-top shape.

Tis the Season to CLEAN OUT & Organize

This is how I spent my Friday...cleaning off my home desk.  What a mess it was.  Took me nearly 3 hours to sort out the paid bills and tax stuff.  The last time it was cleaned off was exactly a year ago and this WILL NOT happen again.  I have buckets for that stuff now.  One for taxes and one for ordinary bills paid.  My desk is supposed to be for drawing.  HA HA HA HA HA!  

Much better, don't you think!  

Organization Or Not

Last night I dozed off to sleep watching the news about 10:15.  About 12:53 p.m. the phone started ringing...no it was not B calling to say it's time.  I jumped up, grabbed the phone as The Hubby sat up.  Our phone is tied to the front doorbell and the ring was the front door.  The Hubby rushed to the door as I realized in my haze that apparently the power glitched and set off the phone and we both recognized the sound of his computer restarting.  He stumbled back to bed and I asked him if Clayton was in his doggie bed.  He mumbled, "I don't know," and plopped back in bed.  It wasn't long before I could hear the familiar sound of his dog tags shaking and his tippy-tap of nails on the floor as he made his way to our bed.  I scooped him up and put him under the blankets, his favorite place to sleep and then it was time for me to settle back down.  As usual, my problem is that when I am forced awake like that I have a hard time going back to sleep.  It was after 2:30 before I finally drifted back down.  My mind would not shut down.  For some reason I was thinking about organization.  Hmmm, not sure why I went there but you know my bachelors is Organizational Leadership.  Many, many years ago I was obsessed with trying to get myself organized.  I bought books and books on it.  I had tons of file folders, colored index cards, pens, anything to try and get myself organized.  Contrary to popular belief I was known by many to be an extremely organized person, at one time.  I organized our office and kept it running.  I organized my kiddos and their schedules with the household.  I went to school while working, and really was a SAHM in the sense that my kids went to work with me and in the beginning the office was in the house.  I sat on boards from church to Camp Fire.    I also organized our high school reunions for many years too.  I was an organizational type person, WAS.  I don't know what happened but I seem to have fallen behind in that area, probably because I don't have to do most of that stuff anymore and I don't want too.  I have come to a period in my life where I don't see the need to be that rigid.  Now if I had little ones again, then yes organization is a must.  I like some things kind of mess and I know my ROOM (studio, computer, collection room) is a mess but it is my tiny room and I like it.  I clean it sometimes, when I feel I can't stand it anymore.  My pantry is a mess but I will organize it again, sometime.  I just don't have the need or want to right now.  I have to do it before it gets away from me and I will.  Oh my mind...shut down please.

Sorry that is just what was on my mind last night and I had to get it out.

Rings...Not What You Think

These are not what you think.  Yesterday I spent the day organizing "my" room or rather my space.  It had come to the point I could not walk around the junk I keep accumulating in it.  I had planned on painting but that didn't happen.  I COULDN'T get to my easel!  So, starting at one corner I ended up in the closet and actually got rid of a fairly large box of junk and trash.  One of my goals was to find some pictures of my Daddy in 1953 of what they called the Junior-Senior fight that I knew were here.  I want to scan them for Facebook and him.  When I went to his house to find them, low and behold they weren't there so I knew they had to be in my stuff.  After a day of searching I FOUND them!  I also found these rings.  These are friendship rings.  My best friend Sharon gave me the one on the left when we first became close friends and the second I can't remember exactly.  I was so excited to find them, especially since we have found each other again.  It means so very much to me to have her in my life again.  I have missed her so much.  Her friendship was something I have been missing for so long.  (Hey, they still fit-different fingers but they fit!)

Done, For The Umpteenth Time

I don't know how many more times I'm going to clean and rearrange this room...probably a lot more.  I spent all day Monday sorting and tossing and reconfiguring the painting corner.  Found lots of canvases ready to take some paint...

Lots of magazines like Artist's, Writer's Digest and a few single copies of my favorite people...Lucille Ball, Paul Newman, Patrick Swayze, Chris Botti, that is Janet Evanovich on the front of Writer's Digest, and the yum guys from Supernatural...I'm still a teenager at heart, can't help it.

Look to the left...my heater...yeah!

Step One

Step One:  Hang pictures.

The Hubby finally was able to start hanging the pictures in my messy room.  See the cat in the middle.  That picture was in my room (shared with Sis) for our entire lives and when I moved out, 35 years ago this month, it came with me.  I have always loved that picture and it hung in our girls rooms too.  My mother painted it.  Now, let me explain that it is not an original put a paint-by-number on canvas that was rolled up.  That picture is at least 60 years old and I love it.  The bottle and tomato on the right was done by Granny (Mom's mom).  The one on the left I don't know but I like it.  And of course on the easel are some of my paintings, unfinished and my goal to paint while on break has not happened.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the first day of class.  Hope it happens.

This one is a print that I bought for the youngest, A, and it hung in her room for a long time but she didn't want to move it.  I love it too and it is appropriate for me since I love books so much.  It is above my chair that I sit in all the time.   

Now we come to my art.  This wall will house some of my art and it will change occasionally, according to what I sell (HINT!!!).

This area is above my desk/table.  The shelf is flanked by two book shelves and originally a bed slid under the shelf but since it is my room it houses a table, my desk.  Those are my diplomas:  Associates-Business Administration, Bachelors-Organizational Leadership, and Dale Carnegie certificate (worked hard for that one too.)

Today, since it is black ice kind of stuff means that I'm staying put.  I guess I could go to work, maybe later but this morning while the roads are iffy, I'm in.  I don't want to be the guinea pig on the roadways at 5:30 in the morning.  I'm supposed to take Daddy to the hip doctor but hey, not making a new hip guy have to try and walk on black ice.  Besides it is supposed to start snowing later.  If I don't have to get out in it I WON'T!  This may but a hitch in my workout time but I'm just not going to fall and break a wrist or something.  A friend of mine, a few years ago, stepped out of her car at the movie theatre onto black ice, slipped and broke her knee, OUCH!  That would be me if not careful. 

Today I will stay in and finish cleaning up the room, that is my plan. 



Spice Whore

First, yesterday for The Hubby went wonderfully well.  He is happy!  No more frowning...

Now, on to what I did yesterday.  I think maybe the pictures will say all but I will explain.  I decided to clean out the pantry.  I am a spice whore, syrup whore, brown sugar whore, etc, you get the picture.  No, well let me show you. 


Sorry about the non-flash use.  I was having a hard time in the small space trying to capture the chaos.





There was so much crap in there that I had run out of room for the canned goods I bought, hence the need to clean.





I had multiples of everything.  The lemon extract is for my famous White Fruitcake which takes 2 ounces per batch and sometime it is hard to find.  Keeps forever though, at least a few years, unlike the multitude of baking powder cans that had dates like 1998.  And here I complained about Daddy's pantry.  Geez!

 



Much, much better.  I had 13 bags of brown sugar, 3 of which had not been open. 

What is wrong with me.

What is wrong with me. It is Saturday morning at the cabin and I'm up and out of bed at 5 am. We went to bed a little before 10 last night after wonderful evening of chatter, drink, and food with friends. But then again, while laying in bed this morning at 4:52 am I realized that I had about 7 hours of good sleep, so I'm rested! The Hubby was needing to get up to catch bait at 5 anyway so I was up and bouncing out of bed, yes I did say bouncing as that is exactly what I felt, after The Hubby's feet hit the floor. He asked why I was up and I just told him I couldn't sleep anymore. I slipped into my wake up clothes and house shoes, as I don't sleep in PJ's, and shuffled off to the kitchen to make coffee, the most important drink of the day! Tonight we are hosting a little shindig at our cabin so the countertop is cluttered with spaghetti, canned chicken, soups, and lots of other crap I decided to clean up. My utensil drawer was a mess, so while the coffee was brewing I started to organize it which lead into the crocks/Longaberger Basket that holds spatulas and wooden spoons, which in turn lead to the drawer with the measuring spoons and stuff that just do not fit anywhere else. There, oh wait, then there was a corner of clutter by the fridge so that had to be dealt with. Now, it is 5:30 and I've already accomplished some stuff. Then I decided to go outside and try to take some sunrise pictures, but that was boring so now I'm here, blogging about really nothing at this point in my day...


Tomorrow maybe I'll have pic's of the Bathtub Chicken I am going to prepare for our guests tonight. Super easy and yummy and makes, well a bathtub full of goodness!

Messy Room

DONE.