January 8, 2016
I’m such a slob. And apparently related to Imelda Marcos.
Today I started cleaning the closet in our bedroom. I only got my side done.
Since I had done laundry yesterday, I figured the closet was the next logical step, especially since I had clothes to put away. I’m not much for folding, so most of all my stuff that can fold gets put on hangars. Of course, that was about to be a losing proposition, as I learned why Mama doesn’t do all the laundry at once – there aren’t enough hangars…
So, I look at our closet and groan. I’ve had some clothes my business partner gave me sitting on the floor for half a year. Because there are no hangars. And I’m looking at t-shirts that have ragged collars, stains, and holes – and these are ones I wear in public! Oy! I must be embarrassing to be around. But, gracious as Mama is, she smiles and surreptitiously straightens whatever collar I am wearing, or suggests I wear an sweater.
So I started tossing out things: Things that needed throwing away (I have enough n my rag bag in the garage) and things that I can donate – either to my oldest boy or to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Some thirty items, including a pair of shoes, leave the closet for the last time. And some of them for the first time since we moved here two years ago!
That done, I get to hang up some of these threads Chris gave me, rearrange things to make more sense in the way that I wear them, and get my dresser – which is built in to the closet – organized properly. And emptied of about 20% of its stuff, too.
Then I start uncovering footwear. From my Dalmatian slippers to my cowboy boots, I realized I have TEN pairs of footwear! Holy smoke! And I had eleven before I donated those loafers to St. VdP! Dang – I almost have as many shoes as I do socks!
I’m not sure if I have more shoes than Mama – but it’s gotta be close. Hmmm… There’s something wrong with that. Gonna get me a Marco Rubio complex…
So with the reorganizing I was able to get suitcases put away and some miscellaneous stuff like my Knights of Columbus baldric put away, I even got my Mardi Gras beads out so I would remember to wear them next month for the first time in years. Weird, typing this now knowing that when you read this it will have been published more than a week after I wore the beads. Better stop…I’m starting to make my brain hurt.
This didn’t necessarily help Mama but it helped us, and gave me a sense of purpose for her side of the closet, which I have to wait until Monday to do because tomorrow we take down Christmas decorations and I’d like her to have the surprise. It did free up a lot of hangars for her, too. She uses a lot of wire hangars, and I couldn’t help but see that hangar scene from Mommie Dearest over and over in my head… (It’s on YouTube, but don’t watch this scene with your kids around. It reminds me a lot of my father…I wasn’t prepared to see it when I mentioned it above…)
I’ve been going at this #40D4W thing for a week, and most of the sacrifices have been Labor. I’m learning some things but I want to go another week before I talk about them, just to see if they stick.
I am finding myself more aware of little things I can do…and be.
Tomorrow come down the Christmas decorations – Christmas is not over until the Baptism of The Lord, you know – and The Boyz prayed tonight that it wouldn’t be as stressful as it was putting them up. There were no hidden glances my way…they were full-out stares.
Guess I know what my sacrifice is going to be tomorrow!
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