Check! It! Out!

Goal 31 - Get all papers filed.


BEFORE

AFTER
Well, okay, they're not really all filed unless you count moving all the extraneous boxes of mother-in-law documents into public storage at great expense, as well as the six boxes of old stuff I moved into the closet last year, and then throwing everything that's not glued down into other boxes and stacking them in the newly cleared space in the closet. But hey, it seems to work, at least for me. Now I guess I have to take the boxes out of the closet one at a time and deal with the contents.

So this goal is not actually accomplished yet. But hey, it sure looks better!

They say the best way to get your house in order is to throw a big party, which is what we did. I co-hosted a baby shower for my daughter, along with her mother-in-law. Since her mother-in-law lives out of town, we had to have it at my place, and I seized the opportunities afforded by this crisis, like Rahm Emmanuel says to.

Along with boxes of documents, I took all non-essential furniture to storage as well, and gave some of it away to our progeny who showed up for the baby shower. Yay for opportunities! Then we hired a cleaning company to come in and clean. Nothing like throwing money around in a situation like this. Fortunately I had a little bit to spare at the time, and I think it was money well spent. The place looks so great!!!

Bonus picture:



Happy Expectant Family (in clean apartment!)

Goals 76 and 80 - Virtuosity!!

I knocked off Goal 76 yesterday! I returned some music and books I had borrowed years ago. Several months ago I thought to put them in the foyer where they would be a constant reminder that they didn't belong in my house--and there they've been sitting waiting for inspiration to strike me about how to transport them. The last couple of days I carried them around in my backpack, which was a pain, and then yesterday the iron was hot, so I struck it. I was fifteen blocks from their destination, so I called the owner and hiked uptown and delivered them! He didn't even remember they were gone.

AND, I have decided on a new virtuous habit (Goal 80 - Develop 5 virtuous habits):

Bust that Clutter!

Most of the clutter in my house is paper. Specifically, mail that has arrived and not been dealt with.

So I hereby resolve to absolutely deal with the mail as it comes in every single day. That is: 1) throw away junk 2) open all the envelopes 3) put whatever it is away, i.e. file anything that needs filing, or put whatever it is where it's supposed to be, like in the ScottieDog pile. Yesterday I did two days worth. And of course there are huge piles of backed up mail sitting around (see illustration above--NOT MY ACTUAL PILE, because I don't drink sodas, but you get the idea) that I will have to try to deal with in pieces...I guess I can tackle some of that along with my daily mail duties, and then eventually it will all have gone away! That's the plan, anyway. Wish me luck!