My Father-in-Law is coming to spend the night tomorrow night. Our house is just a place to sleep between the events of his high school reunion nearby. I’m happy that we can provide a place for him.
But I’m also a little panicked that he’s coming . . . tomorrow!
I keep holding out hope that life’s craziness will decrease soon. I thought it might this week, but had forgotten that Monday was a day off of school. I love those family days, but I also lost my only day to catch up. That, plus some freelance stuff that I’m grateful for, but which all seems to fall at exactly the same time during an already busy week!
My house is a wreck. I’ve been neglecting my daily and weekly tasks, and it shows. Thankfully (unlike pre-blog days), I do know that not all hope is lost and things will get better.
The impending doorbell means that I will pick up the house tomorrow. In-the-mood-for-cleaning or not, things are going to look better around here by the time my FIL shows up. Floors will be cleared and toilet will be clean (just the one he’ll use) and sheets will be on his bed.
But what’s not guaranteed . . . are the details. While I do see details when we have a party scheduled, I am totally capable of convincing myself that he won’t notice the piled-high dresser in the office/guestroom.
So, I decided to tackle that much-despised dresser today. If I waited until tomorrow when I’m frantically shoving things in closets, it wouldn’t get touched.
I have probably said this in at least one of the other sixty-five posts I’ve written about this same dresser, but NOTHING really belongs on it. It’s right inside the door from the garage, but has no real purpose. So it ends up covered with . . . well . . . stuff.
Stuff like kites-in-their-packages and receipts for two-dollar-consumable-items and such.
And prescriptions.
Before I left for the Savvy Blogging Summit last July, I cracked a tooth. Worried that all schmoozing opportunities would be lost due to personal misery, I was thankful that the new dentist (who had just replaced my old one) worked me in and put on a temporary crown. She warned me, though, that if it got infected . . . it would be incredibly painful. I’d know if it was infected right around the time I landed in Colorado. Just in case, she gave me a painkiller prescription so I wouldn’t be stuck in another state unable to be treated.
I lost the prescription. Surprise, surprise.
I do believe that I looked on this very dresser, but didn’t find it.
Did you know that dentist offices aren’t nearly as nice when you come in asking for a second painkiller prescription? In fact, they look at you downright suspiciously and say things like, “Wellll, we’ll have to call that one in for you . . . . ”
Another way in which clutter is embarrassing.
Here’s the dresser now:
Much better, and it makes cleaning the rest of the room not quite so pointless.
The soup? That was my lunch that I was sneaking bites of while working. The mousse? This is where I stop the boys on their way to school and make them comb their hair.
And here’s my webisode for this project: (Click through to see it if you’re reading on email!)
This is part of my 31 Days of Details series.
I’ll also be linking up to Orgjunkie.com.
Your videos are so cute! I’m about to detail my basement storage closet. Yikes! There’s a lot of bags and papers that we haven’t seen in years. A lot of my husband’s stuff and old clothes that he refuses to get rid of.
tiannamae.blogspot.com
Way to go Nony! You’ll get that explosion under control.
Doesn’t it feel great to get one small surface space clear!!!! I am so there with you. Love the webisode. Not sure how you do it all.
One of my slob issues is the idea that I have to do things in order. That’s how normal people operate, but it doesn’t work for me. My current example is the cute medicine cabinet I bought for .50 at a yard sale. It’s interesting, and should be just the right size (not too deep) to help me corral the bottles and packages that are currently jumbled in a regular cabinet. However, it’s been sitting on the floor in the home office for over a month because every time I think about hanging it I think, “Hmm, I’m not thrilled with the wall color in the bathroom.” and I let my mind start wandering around about changing it. Before I realize it, the medicine cabinet is forgotten, but I have 10 new pins on my Pinterest board, showing pretty bathrooms!
I know your slob brain works differently…but I was just wondering…if the bureau ” has no real purpose” why do you have it? I don’t mean to sound snbotty, but if it is clutter collecter and it truly doen’t serve a purpose, maybe it should go?
I love your blog Nony and your videos are cute. keep up the good work!!
Tracy
Good question, Tracy! I once decided to get it out of here, but never did. Big things are hard for me to part with, because of the usefulness they are supposed to have.
My goal now is to clean out a cabinet on the other side of the room, and move all the things that are in this dresser over there. Maybe then, I’ll get rid of it!
I love the credits line in your video 🙂 It makes me smile every time.
I’m reading backwards and every time this dresser comes up I hope that it is gone by the time I catch up to the present. I have an object like this in my house as well. I hope mine disappears too. It is an entertainment center for one of those big old TV’s. It is filled with VCR’s and tape players and VHS tapes. It belongs to my father in law and I can’t seem to get rid of it. Recently my 7 year old shoved everything on top onto the floor behind it when she was trying to sit on top of it. UGH! I haven’t picked up any of whatever was up there. It was all clutter and now it’s mixed in with the wires and dust.