Last Thursday I went to my client and of course everything went wrong - including my laptop dying and I did not have the cord with me. The drive home took 2 hours, but at least my car did not stall. I got home late and had to finish up from work around making dinner, etc. that evening. A rather anxiety causing day.
Husband is a big James Bond fan and he has a collection - of just about anything James Bond. Last year we managed to clear some book shelf space in our bedroom to move his books into there from our office as we needed the shelf space for other books. (We have LOTS of books of a variety of types, mostly informational, as opposed to fiction such as the Bond books.) I figured out I could store the stuff that had been on the shelves in the bedroom (moved there for safety when the house was treated for bedbugs) which was other assorted Bond items - magazine articles and such in plastic boxes on one side of the floor in the spare bedroom closets (a suitcase and a wheeled backpack take up the rest of the floor space - each filled with some other similar pieces we wanted to keep when we cleared out our luggage a few years ago). There are also 4 “tubes” with posters of varying subjects - including, of course, James Bond, that are stored standing on the floor.
Husband also has a shortage of space in his dresser for his clothes. One drawer was filled with additional James Bond stuff. So I had an idea. We bought 2 more plastic boxes (making 4 all together) and I fit the stuff in the drawer, the rest of what did not fit in the first 2 boxes, and some Bond items in an office closet into these 2 boxes.
I then went back to the bedroom and started going through husband’s sock and underwear drawer. He has more socks than he needs, but has trouble finding socks, so will not get rid of any. I moved the socks that he rarely (meaning never) wears to the bottom drawer that had the Bond stuff in it. I moved his junk jewelry to the bottom drawer - never used. I moved his new shoelaces “collection” to the bottom drawer (and will add the ones in my drawer when I guess a chance). I moved his warm weather socks to the bottom drawer - you know, the very heavy ones that one only wears if the temperature is really low and one’s feet might freeze. I separated the items in the bottom drawer into shoe boxes (and a space between them) to organize them for him. I then went back to his top drawer and sorted the socks so each style of socks was separate - with a space for the ones in the laundry. I had a shoe box on one side of the drawer for eyeglasses, cases for same, and pocket knives. I found a “space pen” that we had not been able to find and had replaced. Not bad for maybe 45 minutes work at most.
I was so glad that now his drawers would be neat - after all I had previously organized his sweatshirts, tee shirts and pjs right? I showed him what I did (understand he knew I was going to do this in advance) and he was happy (not egacstatic - who would be, but “great, that is wonderful” happy).. I had not been able to find some socks I knew he had for sleeping and asked him about them. He found them on top of his dresser and I stored them in the drawer. Finally, done!
Ha, ha. He showed me the tee shirts stacked on his dresser top. I thought that they were in use - no, he had no place for them. I started pulling open the middle drawers as everything used to fit. One drawer was partially filled with clothing and partially filled with electronics - mostly old electronics and some space around it all.
So, when I get another 45 minutes or so, this drawer will gone through to see what is in there and what can be done with it. I had found plastic photo slide cases (for one to set their own slide film into slides) in his top drawer - do you all remember slides? I then put them in with other photo stuff elsewhere.
I have been working on the notes for the talk I am going to give next week (hopefully it will not snow and result in a canceled meeting) at my embroidery chapter. I have also been noting photos I want to print to show the members. I was bound and determined not to rush and do this at the last minute (even this is later than I planed to do it) and I am sticking with that.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Sometime someone in your household needs help with their organizing. Help them - but offer first, don’t just “touch their stuff” without permission. If you know what you will do explain it to them first. Don’t throw out anything (unless it really, really is garbage) without permission. I know that every scrap of paper was something he wanted. The one or two tiny scraps I was unsure of I asked about and was told what they were and that they needed to be kept. We all have stuff that makes no sense to others for us to keep, but we really feel those items are special.
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