I don’t know about you, but I don’t find it comforting to purchase something, only to discover I had it all along. That’s what happened today. Because I finished painting the bathroom trim yesterday, I finally got around to putting all of the paint and assorted paint supplies back into the laundry room. As I did, I noticed a nearly-full container of grout sealer. When I was searching for it over a month ago, I would have loved to have come across it at that particular time; however, since I didn’t (after looking all over the house and garage for it), I wound up buying a whole new container. Great! Now we have two! And since that was the last ’tile job’ we needed to complete, it looks like we’re going to be stuck with them (unless we can find someone else that can get some use out of grout sealer). Nothing drives me more bananas than wasting money on stuff I already have, especially when it’s something I won’t likely need or use in the future. Clearly, it’s time to get serious about cleaning the laundry room!
And what better time to do it? Since I am still unemployed and have all the time in the world, I might as well take a crack at it. My low energy reserves (and lack of ambition) are going to make it a bit challenging but it’s time! There is also the incentive of not turning into a hoarder like my father. I do not want my home to wind up like his, with every conceivable counter piled high with assorted items and a narrow trail (littered with paper) as the only means to access any of the spaces. That man had far more than 2 of everything, he had more like 6! In his bathroom alone, he had at least six cans of shaving cream, six bottles of cologne, six boxes of hair dye, along with multiples of just about every hygiene product you could ever want or need. Oh, crap! I don’t want you to look in my bathroom because you might find that there are some similarities between us. Off the top of my head, I just realized that I have a drawerful of bar soap, 8 tubes of toothpaste, 6 bottles of shampoo, and at least 15 different types of hand and/or body lotion. This is not good!
The laundry room is no better. As a huge fan of Tide powder laundry detergent, every time I find it on sale, I buy a box or two. Currently, there are at least 6 boxes in my cabinet above the washing machine. I don’t even want to talk about how many plastic grocery bags are taking up space on the shelves. My husband and I have a conversation about them approximately every 7-10 days. It always starts out with, “I thought you were going to take these back to the grocery store and put them in the recycling bin?” to which I reply, “I am, I just need to sort through them first. I want to use the ones (without the holes) for poop bags.” Meanwhile, the pile just keeps growing and growing. That might be a good project to knock out tonight! It’s not labor intensive but it is going to take some doing to get through all of them. I just keep hearing that the government is going to completely ban plastic bags and I want to make sure I save plenty because they actually work out great for collecting dog poop.
Geesh. Just thinking about it makes me tired. When I walk into the laundry room, it’s hard to know where to start. To my left, there’s a blanket pile on the counter and to my right, there’s another counter covered in a pile of assorted ‘stuff’. Directly in front of me, there is no rhyme or reason as to what’s going on with the shelving system. It’s basically a giant ‘catch all’. On one of the shelves, the items range from picture frames to river tubes to electrical supplies to archived files to heat registers to an old humidifier. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve stood in front of that shelf and stared at that humidifier and thought to myself, “When is the last time we used that damn thing? It has definitely never been touched since we moved into this house. In fact, I am pretty certain that the last time it was ever powered up was when the kids were small. Maybe I should get rid of it?” Regardless of how much sense that makes, my brain cannot help but follow up with, “What if someone stays here with a sick baby and could use it? If you get rid of it, they’ll have to go out and buy a brand new one.”
Ack! It’s no wonder I’ve avoided cleaning out the laundry room for as long as I have! It’s filled with all kinds of things that make me pause. I just realized there is another thing that I find very upsetting, even more than buying something I already have. It’s when I get rid of something that was perfectly fine and have to go out and buy it again (when I realize I gave it away prematurely). I know, I know, I am really beginning to sound like a hoarder. It’s probably why I’m so fascinated with watching ‘Hoarders’ and ‘Hoarding, Buried Alive’. I do understand the need to hang onto stuff; however, in my defense, I do not save garbage AND I only buy multiples of stuff like detergents and hygiene products because they’re on sale and I know that I will eventually use them. Oh, no. Even I don’t buy that argument. I sound just like one of those nutty people on TV! Ok, wait! In my defense, the top of my stove is completely clear (along with the entire kitchen floor) and the only place there is animal feces is outside (in the yard).
There are no rodents running around (that I’m aware of), my house doesn’t smell like ammonia or garbage, I’m not pooping in a bucket and dumping it in the backyard, and I’m definitely not sleeping in a tiny ‘cubby’ surrounded by piles of clothes and what-nots. I don’t want any of you folks developing ‘funny’ ideas about how I keep my home. Yes, there are a couple of overturned chairs in my bedroom, a medicine cabinet and vanity light in the entryway to the house, and a whole lot of stuff in the laundry room; however, aside from that, the rest of my house is basically clutter-free (just don’t look in the coat closet). Man, I’m starting to develop a complex! I find myself trying to explain away my ‘mess’, concerned that you might judge me. How did I wind up ‘here’? I was talking about getting things done and I ended up in ‘Hoardersville, USA’. If that’s not enough incentive to clean, nothing ever will be. Of course, the laundry room is just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous other projects to tackle!
The bathroom is oh-so-close to being done, but it’s not done yet! We still have to paint all of the doors (4 of them). Once that’s complete, that still leaves the linen/mop closet. It’s part-turquoise and part-yellow and it could really use a fresh coat of white paint. After all of the bathroom painting projects are finished, I still need to empty all of the boxes in the cabinets and organize all of my ‘stuff’. Ugh, I just remembered that we have yet to caulk around the tub and the shower. After that, it’s onto finishing the kitchen and the art studio and the livingroom and the two downstairs bedrooms and the master bedroom. I don’t know how we managed to skip so many steps when we were working on different things throughout the house, but without fail, we left at least one or two (or more) things to do in every single stinking room. Looking around and continually noticing things unfinished makes me weary. It’s hard to relax when I glance at the baseboards (while casually sipping on a cup of tea) and notice that none of the nail holes were ever filled in.
My whole house is like that! Guess who is responsible for painting all of the baseboards? Yep, moi! If I had to grade myself, I’d give myself a ‘D-‘. Unlike my husband, I rarely completely complete anything. It’s no different than when I ‘do the dishes’. If I get around to washing the dishes, I usually wash all of the stuff in the sink but I have a tendency to conveniently put one or two of the dirty pots and pans (currently there is a pizza stone and a cast iron skillet) in the oven. In my defense, that’s what my mom always did. Out of sight, out of mind. We don’t use the oven that often so I guess when we need to cook another pizza, I’ll make a point to clean the pizza stone and maybe the cast iron skillet, too. Anyway, I guess if I’m going to make any headway on the plastic bags, I’d better get to it before I talk myself out of it!! Thank you so much for stopping by. For the folks that are ‘following’ me, I am grateful for you and the continued interest you have in reading my blog. If all goes well and I haven’t run you off, I trust you will return tomorrow as will I.
My entire family is insane. 