Dirty Little Secret

You may not know this about me but I thought I would share. Some of you are going to laugh out loud - no really that full belly laugh that grabs attention from across the room laugh and everyone comes to stare over your shoulder while you read on. Then you try to bat them away or send them to their own computers to read, but they just stare at the screen.

I am a closet neat freak.

There I said it. It's not that I like my closets neat. I like EVERYTHING neat. I hate the little piles all over the house. OK I hate the big piles too. I hate that I've had to treat the carpets for various spills and stains and would love to just rip it all up. It annoys me to no end to see my counter tops covered in everything. I want to harshly reprimand the inventor of counter top appliances because apparently we need all of them. I don't like drawers unless theres an oranizer in it - love the silverware organizer!

Oh the silverware organizer...... How I love thee!!!! And the first time I think my poor husband realized that I might have some quirks when it comes to the kitchen. Nathan and I attempted to live in College Station so that I could go to college there. We were not a match for College Station back then. The job market was horrible and we were not typical college students. I have no idea how my parents survived down there, but bless them! When we moved to College Station (ok we were there maybe 2 months) my grandmother had moved in with my aunt. All her kitchen stuff was in the garage. She ofered for us to take what we wanted. Of course we took the important stuff. Pots, pans, these amazing rice bowls that I will never get rid of. We also took the silverware organizer. Nothing special, just an old yellow plastic container with places for dinner forks, salad forks, soup spoons, tea spoons, knives, and serving utensils. Many years later I decided that it was time for a new silverware organizer. We had professional jobs now it was time for an organizational upgrade. The quest began. I need you to understand that not all silverware organizers are created equal. It had to be the perfect one. Most of them were common. They did not account for all of the utensils we owned and needed corralled in their own little compartment. I bought one thinking it was perfect, but it fell short. I started to put each utensil in it's designated spot paying close attention to most frequent use and who would be used in conjunction with another utensil. I stopped mid way. Flat out stopped loading my silverware holder. My face froze in horror. I burst out with "REALLY!!!! REALLY!!!!! WHO THE HECK MAKES A SILVERWARE ORGANIZER LIKE THIS!!!!!" Poor Nathan must have thought the world was coming to an end, and it was! There as a long slot for the knives, and 4 more slots. I needed 5, count them 5 more slots not 4! Admittedly I panicked right there. Who would not be placed in it's little container. Would the soups spoons get the boot because I don't use them, but Nathan does? Maybe the salad forks because we only use them when we run out of dinner forks. I resigned to the fact that it had to be the serving utensils because they were just odd man out anyway. Sadly I put them off to the side of the silverware organizing tray. It just wasn't right. The search for the right tray continued. Eventually I found this metal mesh tray that had enough slots. It works. When something spills into the drawer it's easy to clean. It does not fit the size of the drawer so it slides around in there and drives me bonkers, but it's one of the larger trays available. The best part - every utensil has a home. Even the little kid utensils that were collected over the years. (Don't tell the kids but I just got rid ofthem all)

So I like organization. I finally feel that I'm on summer vacation, though it's short lived. I had to bring home my classroom furniture this summer so my house is just full of stuff right now. I have an extra dinning room table in my living room complete with chairs that need re-upholstered. I've been progressively adding things to the garage sale pile as I go about things in the house. Today I'm having a scrapbooking supply swap, though there's nothing I really want so I don't know what I'll pick up. Yesterday was a day of accomplishment though. I had the opportunity to clean up my night stand. There were papers on the top, the bottom, and all over the floor around it. The dust was thick enough that it took two Clorox wipes for the top. It was a great accomplishment and sense of relief to get that one little corner cleaned. I have my eye on a dresser top that needs attention. I think I see sonograms from A on the bottom of the pile and she's 5yo. Baby steps toward clean living ;) I cleaned the bathroom before the house sitter came over, so that's done. Nathan swept up the small dog that was growing in our hallway, and then took the dogs outside to shed. The kids have a new shelving system to get organized with. Maybe I can sprinkle fairy dust on them to get them all to help clean the piles. All I know for certain right now is that when anyone says "You need..." all I want to say in response is "IF YOU BRING ONE MORE THING INTO THIS HOUSE I AM GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!!" All I want to say to the occupants of this house is "Either you purge or I'm going to do it for you" Happy purging everyone :)