My once ample closet is crowded and messy. Or was! It’s neat and clean now, mainly because I spent part of the weekend paring down the mess. Those suits, skirts, slacks and tops I haven’t worn in several years. The belts that (horrors!) no longer fit, and all those purses packed into the shelf over the clothes. Not to mention the shoes… I gritted my teeth and put them into boxes to donate to charity. Adios, baby. Buh—bye, and it’s been fun.
The give-away pile is huge! I hope that some woman/women in need will be able to use these things.
It feels great!
Next, I will tackle the dreaded utility room.
I wish you all clean closets and tidy houses.
www.annroth.net
Mitch Takes A Wife, Harlequin American, August 2007
All I Want for Christmas, Harlequin American, November 2007
September 11, 2007 at 7:38 am
I love cleaning out the house and giving things away. It’s very liberating. I don’t like having a lot of “stuff.” Unfortunately, the clutter seems to return after a short time.
September 11, 2007 at 9:35 am
Gail- I know what you mean about returning clutter. It seems to multiply faster than bunnies.
September 11, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Clutter. The word sends shivers down my spine. You don’t realize how much stuff you accumulate until you move. Then batten down the hatches as it all comes rushing out of the closets and cabinets. I clean out my clothes closet every so often and call the Breast Cancer Resource Center to come get it. Sometimes I think they’re doing me a bigger favor by taking my stuff than I am in donating it. They (whoever “they” are) say that if you haven’t worn something in a year, get rid of it. For me, it’s more like 5 years. Although there are some items I’ll never get rid of. They lurk at the back of my closet as reminders of a bygone era – my younger, thinner, hippie days. I look at them every once in a while, hold them to my face and sniff them for traces of the patchouli that still lingers. But I’ll never try them on. They’re sacred. Besides, I could never get into those old those bell bottoms. Life is depressing enough without being reminded of how much I’ve “spread” over the years.
Now, the junk drawer in the kitchen is something else. Everything in there is absolutely essential to life as I know it, because as sure as I’m standing (okay, sitting) here, as soon as I throw something out from that drawer, Im going to need it. Isn’t there a rule about that somewhere?
September 11, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Nancy-
I feel your pain. In fact, I’m going to admit publicly that I, too, hold onto some pieces of clothing. The leather coulottes I got when I was 17. The red and gray plaid skirt I wore at age 12, a hand me down from a cousin who died of cancer at 19. And yes, one of the first corporate suits I bought that I will never again wear or fit into. Eventually I’ll give those away. Maybe to one of my daughters, maybe to Goodwill.
But those things aren’t in my bedroom closet, so they don’t count.
September 11, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Last week I cleaned up and reorganized my office (haven’t made it to the closets yet, but they definitely need it too). It happened that one of my brainstorming partners was doing the same thing with her office. A third partner said, “That’s very feng shui. You need clear spaces for the money to land.”
Yes, please!
Well, oddly enough, the other woman who cleaned up her office had been looking for a bit of “day job” work and landed a 5-week contract. And I sold a novella for a Christmas 2008 anthology and also got an offer of a very nice (and ongoing) day job contract, which I really need.
Hmm. Kind of makes one think. Maybe I should run out and buy a book on feng shui…
September 12, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Hmm indeed. Congrats on the contract. Susan!
September 12, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Susan, I bought a book on feng shui a few years ago and feng shui’d my entire house. Crystals in all the appropriate corners, the 5 elements of wood, fire, earth, metal & water in the right order, pictures of goldfish, you name it, I did it. I even feng shui’d my dog’s crate for good health, but he died of cancer anyway. I don’t know how much influence all this has had, but I can tell you that as soon after I placed a frog at the front entrance of my home, my wealth increased. I’ve got a long way to go to catch up with Donald Trump, but more money started rolling in unexpectedly. It makes you wonder.