Toss it all away?

On Saturday, the Rochester newspaper ran a story that more or less said that to get your life under control you must go through every room in your house and TOSS EVERYTHING OUT.

Um ... that doesn't set right with me.  Okay, they weren't quit as ruthless as that.  They suggested you go through junk drawers (on my list of things to do) and medicine cabinets, and clear out all the clutter.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  (And by the way, what are we supposed to do with all these outdated drugs in the meds cabinet?  They tell you not to flush them, and not to toss them in the trash either.  How about mixing them with dirty kitty litter?)

As someone who has spent a lifetime collecting pretty things, it's heresy for me to even think of getting rid of my treasures.  Although ... I must admit that pruning the collection would allow for new additions.

Will I start my Etsy business this year?  It's on the docket.  I just need to find another 10-12 hours in the day.

How about you?  Will you do your spring cleaning early this year?

Spring Cleaning!

Saturday, I decided to clean my office.  Mostly, that meant going through my closet to make room for the stuff that's been sitting on my floor for months on end.

I found all kinds of wonderful and not-so-wonderful stuff. 

I found lost jewelry.  I found many tubes of chapstick and gluestick.  I vacuumed.  I dusted.  I spent about five hours just working on this one room . . . and it's still not where I want it to be.  Mostly, it's my desk that's still a mess.  (Although I still have yet another pile of papers to go through and file/toss.)

There's a lot to be said for living a tidy life.  Now if I could just do it on a regular basis.

Have you started your spring cleaning yet?

Fibber Magee's Closet

Now I'm much to young to know from actual experience about Fibber McGee, but I've heard about him.  He was a character on an old radio show and every week he'd open the closet door and tons of stuff would fall out and make a BIG NOISE.
Well, I've inherited his closet. 

One of my favorite shows was on BBC America a while back: "How Clean Is Your Home."  Two neat-nick ladies, Kim and Aggie, go in and inspect the absolute FILTH in British homes, chide the homeowners (who are rarely embarrassed--their 15 (or in this case 30) minutes of fame, I suppose) and clean up the mess.  They usually do it in 24-48 hours.  (I'm on day three of my quest.)
I loved this show because no matter how cluttered my house is, I know I'm not living in that kind of squalor.   But alas, my house (and especially my home office) is cluttered.

The new year makes you want a clean start, so yesterday I decided it was time to clean the closet.  Talk about a trip back in time.  I have stacks of paper going back 10-20 years. By the time I sorted out the wheat from the chaff, I had 8 bags of shredded papers and a stack of stuff for the recycle bin that was at least 12 inches high.  (To quote Dave Barry:  "I am NOT making this up!")

I was able to reclaim quite a bit of closet real estate, which was immediately swallowed up by stuff that had been sitting under my china cabinet (where I keep my collection of 1950s figurines) for ... several years ... and STILL this room is cluttered.  I simply have too much STUFF, but a lot of it is stuff I just can't seem to part with.  Like books.  And books on tape.  And figurines.  (*Sigh*)

Today's quest is to reclaim my computer desk.  As I've got the file cabinet in order I might be able to clear it off...and hope to keep it clear for at least a few days....

Cross your fingers for me!

What's cluttering up your house?