Confessions from the Queen of Clutter

My plan for the summer was to declutter the house. I made some progress. Two drawers were emptied, reorganized, and still remain neat. My bathroom counter is almost always cleared off. I organized the house files so that I had a place to put all the incoming mail and paper that I need to keep. The files look beautiful and there are less papers on the kitchen table because of it, but its hard to tell. Sometimes I have a pile next to the file of things that need to be filed. I have 2 bags of clothes packed to donate and I finally made the call for a pick up.

That's where the decluttering projects have come to a stand still. I still can't manage to keep my bedroom or the kitchen counters and table clean. Sometimes there's a pile of stuff that I'm going to send to Jason...when the pile gets big enough. Sometimes there's a pile of stuff I need to do or mail or give to somebody. I'm just naturally a piler. When I'm stressed I don't get around to sorting through those piles so they multiply. I'm sure I'll get a few more things done in the next month, but I have sooooo many excuses and other things to do. There are 2 things I have finally accepted that I probably won't deal with until Jason gets home, even though it feels silly.

1. I have purposely not washed 3 of Jason's dirty shirts. He left them in the hamper almost 4 months ago. I pulled them out and set them on his dresser. They're still there. Why? Originally I thought I could wear them, smell him, and feel close. I haven't. I still can't bring myself to wash them or put them away.

2. There are 11 messages on my answering machine. Most are from Jason. I don't listen to them very often, only when I need information from one of the other saved messages. I can't delete any from Jason and I forget to delete messages from others. Lizzie and I enjoy one where Jason is being silly. Whenever she hears it she stops what she's doing and smiles, "Daddy being silly."

If you come to visit and you can't see any surfaces you'll know my excuse. I'm sentimental. I'm finding meaning in every pile.