Clutter

If you've been to our house before and you're a neat freak, thank you for not commenting on the constant disarray of our living space. I am definitely not a neat freak, but even I find the mess a little overwhelming at times. The difficulty is that there always seems to be something else to do rather than clean. We like to have people over and that definitely doesn't help with the need to clean - more people, more mess.

But it's fall, and I think a good time to get the house into good shape for winter. My goal is to get the hubby to start finding better places for all of his sports gear. Yesterday I said to him that I seem to have hardly anything in the house - everywhere I look it's hockey stuff, or golf stuff, or computer or work-related stuff that isn't mine. Even the storage in our bedroom is uneven - I get 5 drawers, he has 6, I get slightly less than half the closet (it's not clothes that take up his side - it's STUFF.) While I don't claim to be terribly organized, I do think that I tend toward getting rid of stuff rather than being a pack rat (like my brother - hello Andrew!) The only thing I've held onto with no real idea as to its future is my wedding dress. The hubby, however, is more of a collector and so we have some work to do in de-collecting.

In one effort to get myself going re: housework, I bought a laundry basket. You might not know this, but our hamper is actually a drink cooler in the shape of R2D2. It's quirky, but not that practical for laundry. It wasn't my choice for a hamper. Over the years, I've slowly taken over laundry in this house. The hubby is now prohibited from doing any laundry that involves my clothes... I got tired of pulling things out of the dryer that really shouldn't have gone in. I also felt like a nag every time I said that jeans HAD to be turned inside out before washing, and, well, I'll stop now before my laundry-related OCD comes out. So anyway, new laundry basket! It's been a great addition because now I can transport clothing without rolling R2D2 all over the place. R2D2 is probably a little jealous since he doesn't get to move around much any more. What he doesn't know is that there is a whole other R2D2 sitting in another bedroom, waiting to take over as laundry hamper #2. Did I mention how boys are weird?

I had a discussion with some teens once about laundry - in particular, the sock/underwear drawer. Some of them were of the type who throw everything into the drawer without any folding or sock-matching. Ridiculous! Even though I basically own 12 pairs of the exact same sock, I always match them up (and roll them up) before they go in the drawer. And underwear is ALWAYS folded.

So if I tell you I have to organize my sock drawer rather than going out, at least you know I'm not avoiding you - I'm just being domestic!