cleaning out my office

 

Many, many years ago I took classes and practiced calligraphy. This is not easy for a left handed person, but I persevered and was proud of what I accomplished. Here is an example with a quote from George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) that I have always appreciated. Of course these days my handwriting is pretty bad, so the calligraphy memories are happy ones.

of mice and women

 I've been saving this photo for a no news day. The wonderful cleaning women saved this delightful pile for us after their first visit. I wasn't great at vacuuming and dusting under furniture as you have now ascertained. Annabelle and I were so happy to be reunited with her little pals.

ultra clean and organized

 The three young women took charge of Chez Stein for six hours yesterday. Man, what a wonderful difference. They even made sense of the rat's nest charging station here in the back porch. Nothing missed their diligence: stove, refrigerator, medicine cabinet, under furniture, ceiling cobwebs, etc. I am one happy woman today. Never underestimate hard working women. 

my, this feels good

 Yesterday three house cleaners came to do all those things that I ignore: stove, microwave, window blinds and under furniture mopping and vacuuming. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? For sure!

down the drain(s)

I am still cleaning and tossing the treasures in Bill's office. One such
gem was an old newspaper clipping of How to Clean Drains using
baking soda and white vinegar followed by hot water. So every single
month, with the blessing of Husbando, I become Ms. Handyperson.
Once again I apologized to Himself for wailing "Why the Hell do we
have so much white vinegar?" after I began the clean-up, clean-out
process two years ago. OK, I get it.

today I salute...

Dyson V8 lightweight miracle vacuum

...friends and lightweight vacuums that actually pick-up cat fur.

Thanks Redundant John for this suggestion. Under $300 now.

still hating this

We both thought we were pretty damn good for going to the Salvation Army
every six months. However we neglected to think about all the papers and
photos and crap we have accumulatd here. I wonder if we had moved in the
last 40 years? Then I hear of folks who just box it up and take it all to the new
home. Lately I've been working on the old orange (bright orange, another
temporary piece of furniture that we bought 2nd or 3rd hand and kept forever)
desk in the foyer. Once in awhile a letter or memory will bring a smile to
my face, other times it's more like "Who the hell is Sandra Johanssen and
why did we save this dumb birthday card?"

I no longer need the solitude of my office since I have the entire house
so I use it as a dumpster now. Someone said that in other cultures (Norway?
Sweden?) the oldsters are expected to get rid of their accumulations once
they reach a certain age. It should be fifty. Here we wait to "downsize"
when we move into "assisted living". I ain't going nowhere but I don't
want to leave this mess for others to paw through. Plus I like tidy.

Is it me? Most of these memories don't really warm my heart. More love
notes from Bill to remind me how funny he was when love was new. Will
I ever finish this tedious project? File this under grrrrrrrrr.

here we go again

I'm cleaning and organizing my office ~ so much for the paperless society.
I am moving slowly and reluctantly, determined to actually toss stacks
of papers that I don't need. I also need to donate a bunch of books that
I will never read again and I like to picture someone picking up one of
my old books, plunking down 10¢ or a quarter and loving the book as
much as I once did in my life. But this is a slow process and not one
that I like very much. Ick.

not bad at all

Here is the "after" photo. It took me one double espresso and most of
the afternoon yesterday, but my office now welcomes me. It helped to
listen to Leonard Cohen and also to pretty much know that slipping
papers into a file folder isn't nearly as rewarding as putting them into
the blue recycle-only garbage can. I do love clean flat surfaces.

The rest of the day sped by. Downtown for new glasses (Cobra) and
reading Falling which I will review tomorrow, as I should have finished
it by then. Work today, back on the #33 for some more writerly fodder.