Spring Break

Springtime just feels like the time to clean. Amber is talking about spring cleaning on her blog and I am going about some cleaning-out of stuff myself. We are starting on our newest remodel project soon (like any day now). We have remodeled just about every part of this old house except the master bedroom, bath and closet. This should be our final big remodel project and it is scheduled to be done this Spring. The only problem is cleaning it all out so they can knock it down. I have a real issue with closets because I am a pack rat of sorts.

I keep so much stuff (symptoms of a hoarder are present). There are old pictures, greeting cards, newspapers, and letters cluttering my closet shelves. I have a shoe bag that is full of old letters I received back in the early 70's from friends after we moved to Lubbock from Seneca Falls. The shoe bag is from childhood, when we would wear snow boots and carry our shoes to school. There is a lot of history in all this stuff and so of course I have to sit and look through it and reminisce and then not much gets done....

So in addition to the "remembering" items, I have my clothes, shoes, hats, purses, etc. I am not sure why I keep some of the clothes I have. Am I thinking that one day I will put it on and think oh, I like this on me now? Not very likely. But I hang it back up anyway. You would think the dust marks, like hanger marks, would be enough for me to conclude it will never be worn. I just have a hard time parting with items that I think someday might be needed. I don't know why. I really only need a few items of clothing since I tend to wear the same thing over and over again, like Pamela says, it is my "uniform".

And then I move on to my storage shelves where "hoarder" red flags pop up all over the place! Who bought all these lotions, shampoos, cold medicines and facial products? I look at the expiration on some of them and am ashamed to say some dated back to the 90's. I did part with most of those things, feeling some shame and embarrassment in how many trash bags it took. I really didn't think it had been that long since I cleaned out those cabinets.

I hope when the new areas are finished, I can be better organized and maybe not keep things that reach the useless stage. I don't think I am a hoarder, since I read the definition and I don't meet all the criteria. Unfortunately I do meet the criteria of laziness. So mix that with some pack rat tendencies and the result is what I am dealing with right now. I know I will be happy when it is all done and I can get settled into the new areas and maybe that certain rat will not return for a while anyway.