Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Not all my projects are impressive ones.

I wrote myself a list of projects for the weekend and realized at some point that I was in danger of not completing a single one before Sunday ended. So I deliberately chose one I knew I could finish just to be able to cross it off my list. It was the kitchen junk drawer. Do you have one of those? Stuff just seems to accumulate and soon it starts spilling out whenever you open the drawer. I started by dumping the whole mess on the rug in the den.
There were the usual outdated coupons and mystery items that could be thrown away. And then: Six cell phone batteries, but I have no idea if we still have those cell phones. A number of keys that don't go to anything that I know of. A microwave light bulb that I never could figure out how to install. Two books of matches from a hotel in Athens, as if I need matches to remember the view of the Acropolis at night. After putting things where they belonged - plastic bags in the drawer that hold plastic wrap and foil, nails and a screwdriver in the tool box, ponytail holders in my dresser, paperclips and pens to the desk, boxtops counted and in a bag for my son to take to school - I was left with this incredibly organized drawer. I showed it off to my older son and he said, "Why'd you do that? It'll just fill back up again." He has yet to learn that much of adult life is an endless Sisyphean cycle of doing chores that will only need to be done all over again.

40 comments:

  1. So true, and so maddening when you really think about it, but hurrah for crossing something off of the to do list

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  2. When I do that, everything just gets re-distributed between other drawers. That's why my house looks like a municipal tip.

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    1. I try to limit myself to one junk drawer for just that reason.

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  3. Many a junk drawer have I cleaned, but now I don't have one. I have a junk dish which is in not in a direct line of sight so it rarely accumulates anything. One thing I did this week to reduce chore work was to pack away a bunch of plates. If my kids want to use a clean plate, they're gonna have to clean the one they just used!

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    1. That sounds like a great idea. I'd be happy with them regularly putting their dishes in the dishwasher!

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  4. oh man....we have to do this...and the top of the fridge quite often....i think they suck everything to them....and great job getting one crossed off..smiles.

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    1. My top of the fridge is okay because it's too high for me to reach easily.

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  5. So now to start on all the other drawers that are stuffed to overflowing with things that shouldn't be in there....

    Eeeek!

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    1. I do have other clutter, but mostly things are where they belong. I just need less things.

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  6. Oh yes, I have drawers like that. :(

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  7. Doc...
    It's no longer a junk drawer!!
    What you've created is a miscellaneous utility items drawer.
    Always on the cutting edge you are!

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  8. The junk drawer is necessary in every household. It does have to be emptied out occasionally to make room for more junk, but it's a vital organ in the body of a house!

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    1. I really can't imagine that I won't always have one.

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  9. " It was the kitchen junk drawer. Do you have one of those?"

    Yes I do! Except mine is not in the kitchen, it's the drawer in my desk. OMG...it's so full of crap right now it looks like junk yard. Once a month I will throw stuff out and then rearrange it; only to have it go right back to the way it was a month before....JUNK!

    HA!

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    1. My office desk drawer is like that. And I do the same thing, only to have the junk mysteriously reappear.

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  10. I don't have drawers in the kitchen but I do have cupboards and the one on the left of the sink I slam shut every time I happen to open it. It scares me.
    XO
    WWW

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    1. I have a couple of food shelves in the kitchen that are frightening and disorganized.

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  11. even if it fills up again it's impressively empty now!

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  12. What you should have told him is that you did it so you could close the drawer. :)

    I don't have one, which is odd. Maybe it's because every room in the house is a junk drawer.

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    1. I have this theory that if I can make the spaces that hold junk increasingly small, I can fix my life. :-0

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  13. Unfortunately, we have more than one junk drawer, and much more junk than just a drawer can hold.
    But I love to have lists....crossing things off a list is one of my favorite things!

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    1. I love crossing things off lists, too. I make lists all the time.

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  14. Tackling a manageable job always feels great...and I'm still impressed by your results!
    I have a kitchen junk drawer, a desk junk drawer...and DR has a junk shelf (or two) in his bookcase in the bedroom :)

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    1. I prefer junk drawers to shelves so you don't actually have to see the junk very often.

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  15. The Sisyphean cycle would not be too bad if the rock was little.

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  16. I'm glad you left me a comment! I've been unable to find you so had given up.....I recently did exactly this with several areas of my house, kitchen junk drawer included. It doesn't matter at all that it'll just pile up again. For the time being it looks great!

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    1. I didn't blog for a while and only recently came back up for air. And I agree - better to do the clearing out repeatedly than never at all.

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  17. First time commenting on your blog; you did great with cleaning out your junk drawer! Yep, we are guilty of having one, in the kitchen. Ours usually gets cleaned out when we move, which had been about every two years or so. Sometimes I'll do a quick clean out; it is amazing how much junk one really can find in there!

    enjoy Wednesday!

    betty

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    1. Thank you, and welcome. I have lived in this house for five years, so it was definitely time.

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  18. Argh - my daughter is getting ready to move out of her room. She cleaned out her desk drawers and now there are so many pencils and such in the kitchen junk drawer that I can't even open it. How did she accumulate 18 glue sticks?

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    1. It's because you buy all new school supplies every year and the old ones just stay forever.

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  19. Way to go! I was just telling my friend at bowling yesterday that I have to write a list of something to do each day. (I am very lazy and OCD on my computer ALL day) My junk drawer sounds just like yours only I have a few of them!

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    1. I often write a list while I'm at work of things I need to do at home, and then write a list when I get home of things I need to do at work!

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  20. Your closing sentence contains huge wisdom.

    I'm going to need you to stop by my house one Sunday real soon, 'k? We have this desk drawer that terrifies me to open.

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    1. Yeah, but I'd be ruthless with someone else's stuff. There's virtually nothing I won't get rid of.

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