Remember reading about spring cleaning in all the Little House books? You know, drag everything out of the house, scrub the floors, black the stove, wash everything, wash and starch and iron the curtains, unpack the strawticks and wash them, restuff the straw ticks, tighten the bed ropes, etc., etc., etc.?? Seemed like backbreaking work (and probably was), but I'm not sure that those Ingalls girls had it any worse off than we do.
For one thing, they traveled a lot lighter and had way fewer possessions than we did. No computers. No stacks of paperwork. No Happy Meal toys or sports equipment or CDs and DVDs all over everywhere. There's something to that simpler life, even if killer blizzards and clouds of grasshoppers aren't on my list of "things to experience during my lifetime."
Instead, I have 11 rooms and a hallway to tackle, not including the garage and screen porch, which are hemorrhaging junk right now. Thank goodness the church rummage sale is coming up in three weeks. I could use a break. For now, I'm starting small. Just finished the laundry room floor. It could use some cosmetics (I can smell the Honey-Do list expanding), but nothing drastic. Then we move forward, one room at a time. The kids' clothes and toys need winnowing. My clothes and toys need winnowing. Hell, I need winnowing (it's ridiculous how little my wardrobe has become).
So, baby steps. And maybe some new straw in my tick.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
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5 comments:
I feel your pain! Last year I didn't realize how much we'd given away to GoodWill and other charitable organizations until I did my taxes and I was floored. Sure, we got a great write off, but it motivated me to stop collecting so much stuff. Well, except shoes. I don't think I'll ever stop 'collecting' those ;)
Something about the coming of spring inspires me to clean out junk, too. Having just returned home from a conference loaded down with books, goodies and a suitcase of dirty clothes, I'm racing through the house like a gypsy dervish today. But the books are calling... and all those wonderful things I've learned and must apply to my manuscripts... and all the partials to send to agents. What's a girl to do first?
Did the spring cleaning thing this weekend! I love spring cleaning! :)
I'm moving in about six weeks, so my spring cleaning this year leads to boxes labeled "books, don't unpack" and "books, shelves" just to remind myself that my usable space is going to be much smaller than it is now.
Because of that, I'm also looking at my possessions with a different eye--as in "how much does this mean to me, and why." In theory, I believe one should only store things like yule ornaments and camping gear. In reality, I believe one should store anything that won't fit ... I inherited a splice (or slice) of my mother's packrat gene after all ....
You have just reminded me that they have released Season One of Little House on DVD here in Australia - must go and buy it!
Good luck with the cleaning but what I want to know is how come you have 11 rooms!!!
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