pro.duc.tive

Today, I spent the whole afternoon cleaning. I completely disregarded the to-do list for the next three weeks and threw caution (and my better judgment) to the wind.

It started with the hall closet. Some might be inclined to call it a pantry. I would too, except a pantry suggests food, and there has never been, and never will be, food in it. I just call it the hall closet. It's bigger than a coat closet, more of a walk-in closet size. It has shelves going up to the ceiling, which is very high. Until today it had been the dumping ground for all the well-intentioned recyclables, the stuff that had been tossed our way from well-meaning relatives, and cleaning supplies, kitty litter, brooms, baskets, buckets, a pair of skates, blankets blankets blankets, and fabric.

Now, it is a well-organized, recycling facility. Combined with an art supply storage area. It has hooks holding a bag of plastic bags for the litter, skates, and scoops. On the higher shelves are the less-used items. A box of yarn and knitting supplies, winter mitts, the bread maker, our fold-up deck chairs, the spare leaves for the table, and number two of our two mini coffee makers.

Of course, in making a mess, by way of cleaning up, I managed to extend my cleaning scope out to the kitchen, which I scrubbed, scraped and shuffled. I also made my way to the craft room, which needed some intense organizing and cleaning. Jane's fluffy toys had been making fluffy babies behind dressers and desks. Cameras were spilling out of and off of every surface. And paper, paper, paper.

The product of this productivity is a clean craft room, an organized file box of papers, a clean desk, shelved books, sorted cameras, a clean closet, a clean kitchen, a clean under the sink area (which has been a breeding ground for plastic bags of every size, style and description. (I also found several odd wood cleaning products, no fire lighting fluid and oven cleaner, and yogurt container full of pennies and little army figures.)

The most exciting of the output is the three bags sitting on my back deck. One for papers, one for plastics and one for garbage. It's quite exciting, believe me.

Upcoming on the Cleaning & Organizing Spree of 2008: Composting. And also: deciphering the mystery of the cupboard.