Pressure Cleaner

I havent been blogging as much lately as my job has somewhat taken over my life and as I dislike that intensely, it has led to some unhappiness and indeed, grumpiness over the last few weeks.

However today I have been cursed (or is that blessed?) with a bit of an allergic reaction to something and have been sent home from work- hurrah!

As well as, or maybe because of, the takeover work has imposed on me, I have become a bit obsessed with clearing things out. My parents are about to sell the Ranch as well and that means I have had to go home to clear out my stuff there- which I had never deemed either good enough or relevant enough to bring to the big city with me (like Barbies and Enid Blyton books). My first chore was to clear out "My Cupboard" which was a huge wardrobe cupboard completely filled with everything I have ever owned. EVER. This includes every school book I ever wrote in, every letter I ever received, every box or pretty bag that a present ever came in, old candles, receipts, art and craft crap, magazines, "pretty things" like ribbons or glitter or bows, old ornaments, etc etc. I threw exactly half of that cupboard out- to the opshop, to my baby girl cousins, to the tip, and mum filled it up with her excess linen.

But this weekend just gone I went back for the second cull. This time around involved books. I chucked all the ones that werent meaningful, or that I hated, or that were "creepy" as mum called them. "The Fog Girl" was the winner there. I kept the english pony books, the Enid Blytons, the presents "To baby Zoe, on your 1st birthday, love Mummy and Daddy" and the ones I loooovvvvveeedddd, such as my Return to Oz omnibook. I also chucked out a whole lot of clothes that I took down from Melbourne thinking I would need them there, but as all I ever wear down there is trackpants, warm jumpers and dodgy singlets, I've never used any of them. Gone.

As I did this mum chucked out about 12 doonas that were extraneous, as well as countless blankets, old pillows, sheets, etc that they never use and therefore are better off at the opshop. Then we started on my brothers room. It seems the habits of keeping wierd stuff and storing magazines is running through my family. Brother had no less than 50 baseball caps stuffed around his room, as well as a HUGE collection of plastic bags- which he claimed all had the receipts in them in case he needed to return something. He also had piles of magazines in all corners, which I found hilarious, as I have a pile of mags almost as tall as me in my lounge room, and my mum has about 20 years of Country Styles hidden in the shed.

After we had filled the car with things to donate we stopped. And now I am back in the city and am eyeing off everything storage unit I have just desperate to clean it out.....I have the bug. Clearing out things I dont need or like or want is soooo cathartic for me. It makes me feel organised, and in control, and on top of everything. I know where things are, everything is useful and practical, and I have space. Its my own kind of feng shui. And when I go to work during the daylight hours and then come home and stare at the mess in the house before going to bed and repeating this exercise five days a week, its a good feeling to clean, and at least know that your house is organised. Even if it only lasts one day.

So here I am at home. Today will include The Stuff Behind The Books on my bookshelf, The Stuff in The Kitchen Drawers, and then The Stuff At The Back of My Wardrobe. If I am super organised I will even pop down to the hardware and get some shelves for the bookshelf that needs more, then I can put things on them, and this will clear up other space! And when I go back to work tomorrow, I will feel more at ease. Thats the plan, anyway. Its highly likely I will get distracted almost immediately by old mobile phones and photo albums and never make it any further. But it does help. And while on the one hand I enjoy having stuff to "go through" every now and then and reminisce over, I've decided that if I keep sentimental or "good" stuff, and give away all annoying or useless stuff, I can build on the good things and over time enjoy some nice meaningful things in my life rather than a whole lot of cheap junk that does no one any good- which as I type I realise is EXACTLY the methodology behind my ideal wardrobe! Amazing. I cant stand the pressure any longer- I must leave you now and go forth with plastic bags!