On being a closet organizer...

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. ~ Robert Heinlein

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I’m afraid this quote by some guy I don’t know (which I stumbled on quite by accident… when I went looking for quotes on goal-setting) pretty much sums up my life. Or, at least, the past 18 months of my life.

Since moving to Alabama, I’ve been a SAHM (“stay-at-home mom” for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym), something I never always wished I could do. Yet over the past 18-odd years, I somehow found it a relief necessary to work outside the home, at least until my kids were old enough to be in school all day, thus allowing me eight uninterrupted hours for napping blissful soul-searching and personal growth and development.

And I’m happy to report that, in the past 18 months, this is what I’ve accomplished:

……………

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Not a blessed thing.

OK, I did get a new house in order. A job that should have taken all of two months, but due to my obsessive-compulsive nature desire for perfection, took much longer because I had to completely repaint the entire house, including the closets.

Yes, that is sad, I know. Ever since wandering through a model home one day (a favorite weekend pastime of ours when we lived in Virginia during the crazy housing boom) and seeing this incredible kids’ room which featured, among other things, a closet that was painted in a contrasting color to the room, I’ve not considered a room “finished” until I’ve ripped out all the cheap ClosetMaid contractor shelving, patched five million dozen holes the size of a moon crater, and repainted not only the walls, but also the ceiling and trim. All in a space no one will ever see except said occupant of the room, and even then, it’s unlikely my fine handiwork would be evident behind the racks of clothes, shoes, toys, books, games, purses, hats, sports equipment, and various other junk that probably shouldn’t be in the closet yet somehow found it’s way in (like empty pizza boxes and soda cans, and let’s not even go there). But when the closet is EMPTY, it looks really cool!

And let’s not forget the organizers. The closet organizers that I saw in the model home that coordinated beautifully with the painted closet and were going to solve all our clutter problems, and these weren’t the cheap contractor grade wire shelves that leave lines on your sweaters and make it impossible to slide your hanger more than 5 inches without hitting some obstacle, oh no. These were the laminate, you-can-build-and-install-it-yourself-if-you-have-an-engineering-
degree closet organizers that were destined to make us feel like we were living like the rich and famous but without the bank account to back up the lifestyle, because it was drained to pay for the closet organizers.

When we moved to Alabama, I said, “Enough!”

That’s right, enough. If we’re going to spend a small fortune on organizers, let’s get the very best. Elfa.

So one Saturday around 11 am, shortly after having moved to Alabama, when we were still giddy from having sold our house in Virginia during what would prove to be the early days of the now-obvious housing bust, and actually had money to burn (which is to say we had a paid-off credit card with an available line of credit burning a hole in our pockets), I said to the kiddos, “Let’s go to Atlanta!”

They were so excited! A trip!

It took two hours to get ourselves ready, and another five hours to reach our destination: The Container Store!! I spent four hours designing the perfect closet organizing systems, nearly had a heart attack when I saw the prices, but put on a brave smile and ordered enough to deck out two of the 10+ closets in the house. Please don’t even ask me what the kids did during this time frame, because I really have NO idea, but I can tell you that when I got back to Alabama, I still had three children in my van, and I’m pretty sure they all belong to me, although sometimes I wonder.

I think I’ve lost complete control of where I intended to go with this post.

Oh, right… I was going to talk about my goals for the new year, and how, in the absence of goals, we tend to get so wrapped up in the trivial routines of life that we can no longer imagine setting, let alone reaching, any kind of goal beyond the monotony of our daily life… or maybe that’s just me.

More on that tomorrow, after I drink my coffee, skim through the paper, catch up on the posts at my favorite forums, drink more coffee, take the dog out for his “daily constitutional,” read my favorite blogs, post some comments, do my devotions, play the piano for a bit, shower, eat breakfast, drink more coffee, update Quicken, pay a few bills, send some emails, play a game of Spider, make a to-do list, drink more coffee, check to see what’s in the refrigerator, look for the source of the stink coming from the kitchen (ah! it’s the dirty dish cloth!), unload the dishwasher, take the dog out for a couple rounds of fetch, go fetch the balls he’s chased but then left out in the woods, work a Sudoku puzzle, check to see if anyone’s posted a comment in response to my comments, then respond to those comments, and wonder why it’s noon and I haven’t accomplished anything on my to-do list, including updating this blog.

But, as you can see, I’m very busy.