Thursday, October 21, 2010

this is the problem with deep cleaning

i've been productive this week, more so than usual. i've used windex on all the glass surfaces (to include the french doors to the patio. talk about a wasted task--the dogs nose it up daily and i'll be damned if i'm windexing it ever day.) i've become great friends w/ my oreck vacuum cleaner and its tag-a-long partner the hand-held vac.

today i started on our dining room. now, one would think for a room that never gets used for its intended purpose (because we always eat at the kitchen table) this room would be clean, dusty but clean. ha. the table is full of my freelance notes, bills, etc. the kids' books, papers, etc. and...a huge box that has been stashed in the corner since i got laid off in april 09. i suppose i thought i'd quickly be unpacking that box and placing all my mementos on another desk within the blink of an eye. yeah...not so much. today i'm going through the box.

really, this room should take an hour tops to clean. dust the table, vacuum, toss the trash out of the box, put the other stuff away....and yet here i am going through a box of memories. there are copies of all the publications (i went through and tagged a few stories); there are reference books that sit on every desk at every job (thesaurus, dictionary, style guide, etc.) some reference books specific to the industry i worked in (and i'm not sure if i need to toss them out or not) and then all of the personal stuff one accumulates (if you are like me and a hoarder) on a desk after being with a company for seven years. i haven't finished going through the box, but there are slips of paper and magazine pages filled w/ quotes; pics my kids drew for me at varying ages. there is a folder filled w/ pages/pics ripped from magazines (many are of rod stewart, imagine that); colors and objects that caught my eye at the time.

silly trinkets i'd collected on my desk. i might have to take some pics and share them w/ you. for some unknown reason...i have a dried orange. somehow it came to live on my desk (perhaps a forgotten lunch?) about 11 years ago. it is hard. over the years someone drew a face on it. why i've kept it i have no idea, but i will and when i get a job it will come with me.

3 comments:

cheatymoon said...

I was just thinking today that it would be fun to take shots of our desks and share. My desk is a mess.

drollgirl said...

oh, this is why cleaning is so hard. distractions galore, memories, and it all takes so much TIME. and then you realize that you are STILL cleaning room #1 out of 5. argh! but at least you found some good stuff in there! :)

Surely said...

Oooh, I like Only A Movie's suggestion!!! Let's do it!!!

I re-organized Monica's closet before The Plague and it took an afternoon. It's equally pleasing and frustrating for me. I still have one binder from the school job, otherwise I think everything else has gone away.