Tag Archives: cleaning

Shrork

I just wanted to give you a glimpse of the laundry situation that we experienced a couple months ago, over the weekend of my 28th birthday.

No, we didn’t remove all the laundry from the baskets and just pile it on top for dramatic effect. There is laundry in the baskets and on top of the baskets.

I’ve christened the pile ‘Shrork’. It’s a name that fits his monstrous persona, don’t you think?

And using this ploy, I have an announcement to make–we are not moving!

We are not passing ‘Go,’ we are not collecting $200.

Yes, I’m aware that I didn’t say that we were thinking about moving. . . but now you know the whole story. That we were thinking of moving–and that we’re not moving. You’re just getting the whole package at once.

You can thank me later for withholding this information since suspense can cause high stress levels, and if there’s one thing I’m not here to do, it’s to add stress to your life.

One day I still hope to have in-building laundry so that I don’t have to lug my dirty undies all over creation. However, though that day has not come yet . . .

. . . it’s still gonna be okay. Right? Shrork?

January purging part 4: 111 things in 1/11

Here it is folks: the final installment of the January purging (111 things in 1/11 initiated by Jenny over at Words on Wendhurst). You can hop on over to parts 1, 2, and 3 if you missed my thrilling tales of trashing socks, underwear, and a Lazy Susan who just hadn’t been pulling her weight in our household.

After getting rid of 30 things for the past 3 weeks, technically I only had 21 things to go. However, I’m OCD, which means I also had to get rid of 30 things this week. I’m sure you understand. At least some of you–the ‘weird ones.’

I’ve always loved the weird ones. They are my friends because I am one of them.

So this week I finally faced the fact that we have about 50 cassette tapes hiding behind a row of novels on the bookcase. And we haven’t listened to them since we were teenagers, so it was time to purge that area.

While I only got rid of 13 tapes, the rest of the mixed music tapes will be listened to one by one over the next couple weeks, probably while I cook. If I hear a song I love and must have, I’ll jot it down and purchase it on itunes. Then, the tapes will go the the tape cemetery to make room for the digital age.

Some expired and dried-out make-up products went next:

I think I’ve had that CoverGirl powder for . . . nine years.

Also due to go were a couple books, one of them a very disturbing and depressing French novel from my college days. I have no idea why I’ve kept it around for so many years.

It was also time to let go of some jewelry, in particular this silver horse that I treasured dearly when I was younger.

Yes, I was a typical horse-obsessed human girl. Posters, figurines, Breyer plastic horses, jewelry–I collected anything to do with these majestic quadrupeds. I’ve shared this picture before, but my dreams all came true on this day:

Horse. Check. Flowing gown. Check. White gloves. Check. Long hair. Check.

An oversized, unflattering black sweater and a black scarf went as well. They kind of look like an amorphous cloud of darkness in the picture, so you’ll just have to trust me. The most mangled of my mangled old bras is hiding underneath, and don’t worry–that went straight to the trash.

And that belt. It just wasn’t working.

And now, I feel compelled to examine my head and heart and see if I’ve learned anything from the experience.

-I’m too attached to stuff, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Just like I exercise my body in yoga, I can exercise my will and let go of things. Each purge is like stretching that emotional muscle that will allow me to hold the things of earth loosely.

-Purging is a great way to free myself not just physically but also emotionally from my possessions.

-A life lived in subservience to the stuff you own is no life at all. It can be emotionally crippling to think you ‘need’ stuff.

-Freedom, freedom, freedom, ooo-oooh freeeeeedoooooom! *in Aretha’s voice*

Aloha! Adieu! Auf Wiedersehn! I’ll catch you guys on the other side of this weekend.