I am sure that all of you read books about organizing. I have read lots of them over the years (decades?). One of the reasons I started this blog is that circumstances and problems in the books seem so remote from our situation and I am guessing that others feel this way also.
For the past couple of decades husband and I go to a chain book store (which one we go to has changed several times due to store openings and closing) on Friday nights after dinner for someplace to go. I tended to wander around while he looked at what he wanted to look at. I found the section of cartoon books and started reading them - I read quickly and would read while we were there, mark the page where I left off in my small, pocket notebook and pick up again the following week. Then I was wandering around in the book store one night and found a book on a subject I did not know existed - organizing! I started reading that book - one thing it did was tell me that there were people whose homes were much worse than mine. I finished it after a couple of weeks and found another - and another, etc. Every now and then I would have read all the books on organizing and decluttering in whichever book store we were in and I would have to wait until new books were written and arrived. I did this year after year after year. I found that while that while I did not necessarily get a lot of actual help from the books - every now then and idea worked or helped me figure out what would work - it did give me the impetus to keep working on clearing up our house.
Then something else caught my attention. Remember we are reenactors (or living historians which is the classier name). I found “BBC History” magazine. I loved it and decided to subscribe. The US price was $75 and there was no electronic version available in the US. (Yes, I liked it that much. I read nothing in the electronic version, but to get a subscription to this I was willing to.) So instead of reading books on organizing I would instead read the magazine when we at the book store. After several years of doing this, a $45 US subscription was offered this past fall and I can now read the magazine - slowly and savoring every article not rushing through reading what was of the most interest and hoping I made it to the articles of lesser interest as I had to do before at home. (And yes, I did repurpose one of the plastic magazine holders which was leftover when I convinced husband to get rid of the collected issues of a magazine we no longer subscribe to - I am scanning in the articles he is interested in, into the computer for this magazine, but we ended up with a couple of empty magazine holders.)
Also during this period the book store we go to cut their hours back so Friday nights they close an hour earlier than before, so we don’t always get there on Fridays any longer - with the crazy weather we have had, we have not gotten there much at all this year so far. I suggested to husband that we go there once a week in the afternoon for something to do and we did so this past weekend.
I checked the list in my mobile phone and found which books I was in the midst of reading when I switched to reading the BBC magazine and found that one of the books was still on the shelf and I settled into a chair to continue reading from where I left off.
Now I know that our life is different as we have no children and are together and home almost the time. Also we each have a small professional practice which is run from home (which takes much less space since I scanned all of client’s tax returns and papers other than the most recent year into the computer and he has few files) as well as small craft business we also run from home (and none of these make money). But when I started reading this book I was reminded of how the authors tend to think that everyone’s life is the same - or very similar - in what they tell one to do.
Have you found your life to be the same as the lives being organized in books about same?
In the past I attributed the fact that we have no children and much of our “stuff” is work related to what made the books seem lacking in universality to me.
Everyone has sooooo much clothing. Get rid of the excess! Get rid of clothes you have not worn in a year (umm, warm winter, no snow - get rid of my coat and boots that I will need next year? no party this year - dump the party dress I will need again sometime?)! Store your sports equipment like this. Food shop like this. Make separate areas in your kitchen for each type of cooking! Set up your children’s stuff like this! Have a lovely neat walk in area around your door with a mirror and table (room for neither in our entry)! Keep track of all those things you have to do - parties, work events, children’s events like this (if we have one event a year it is a lot)!
I suddenly had an epiphany reading this book as to why what the professional organizers write is so unrelated to reality as husband and I live it - they are dealing with the homes of people rich enough to pay them to come in and organize it for them!! They are not dealing with the homes of people who could never think of paying them as they need their money to pay for the food and house and other items they need.
What made me suddenly realize this?
The author of the book I am currently reading states that one should not buy cheap clothing as it does not last even a year. Surprises me. I have tee shirts that I bought for $8 more than 20 years ago - some have holes or stains and have been made into nightwear, but the others are going strong in my wardrobe. She seems to feel that if that if one “only” spends $100 a piece of clothing it is junk. Do any of you feel this way or spend that much on a piece of clothing? We don’t, well I guess I did, my wedding gown (with hat) was $275 custom made for me - and I thought it a waste of money at the time, but had to make my mother in law to be, happyish. (I wanted to elope.)
Along the same lines as clothing, the author in talking about finding the furniture and storage that one needs in their home says to buy “good quality furniture” and that the sort of furniture Ikea sells will not last at all - not even a year. About half of our furniture is knock down (the sort of furniture, like Ikea’s, that one buys flat and assembles themselves), especially in the office and our studio, as well as storage pieces. I know that some of the “kd” furniture is better quality than others and would rate Ikea’s pretty good. When husband quit his job and we switched to trying support ourselves with our craft business and my tiny accounting practice he constantly complained that his computer desk was not enough space. After a lot of convincing him to change - we bought our first purchases at Ikea - a small computer stand desk and a long table to put next to him (they make and L shape) so he could deal with orders and such easily. (Desk was easy to assemble - table involved much screaming and arguing as more complicated.) 11 years on they are still in great condition. But along with my idea that the professionals are used to working with people able to afford their services, the idea that something reasonably priced - or what I would think is reasonably priced and she would consider cheap, would work well, would not occur to her.
So, I now know why the information in the books seems to not be realistic to me. It is based on a life style and budget beyond ours.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
If you read a book or article about organizing, take into account that the people the professional organizers work with and their problems are probably those of wealthier people. Use the information to help you decide what will work for you, but if it makes no sense for you - remember that it may not be aimed at someone like you (or me). We all have common sense - it is in us somewhere, think about what makes sense to YOU in how to do something.
I know even within our house, what works for me does not work for husband. I like a small work space in our office - he likes a large space to spread out (as per the work table he needed from Ikea). I like to have papers that I am likely to need oftenish in folders in a stack of folder holder trays next to me - he likes all the papers laid out so he can see all of them all the time. It took me decades to convince him to let me sort his shirts by color, now he likes them that way.
What works for you that is not something that works for others? I would love it if some of you would reply to the blog with your thoughts - I know you are out there.
I wish you a Happy Easter or a Happy Passover if either applies to you.
Showing posts with label entrance hall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrance hall. Show all posts
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Missing items and items forgotten about appear when decorating and decluttering
Last week I talked about putting out our outdoor Christmas decorations. I also had the boldness to say that because I know where the Christmas items are stored it is easy to find them. I apparently lied without knowing it.
We had not put our battery candles in the front windows when we put up the lights outside. While technically inside the house as they are placed inside the windows, their purpose is to be seen from outside, so I consider them to be outside decorations. When we remembered that we had forgotten to put them in place I immediately went to my candle drawer (holds all manner of candles) where I know I keep them. They were not there - I took everything out of the drawer to check. I looked in the drawer next to the candle drawer to see if I stuck them there - perhaps the candle drawer was too full? These drawers are under our living room TV which is (old and analog and) in a cabinet we bought for it and the drawers are in the cabinet. I then looked in all the “logical” places - the drawers in the end tables next to the sofa, the secretary - shelves and drawers - no candles.
Where could they be - maybe in with the inside the house decorations in 2 boxes in the basement? I got the two boxes and opened and went through them - no candles. I figured that sooner or later they would show up in my Christmas decorating and I was not going to go crazy over them.
I decided that since the boxes had been brought up and were sitting there and I had a hour or two until we went out for dinner, I would start putting out the decorations. The decorations are artificial greens and swags and other small items to put out. I started on the dining room decorations as husband still has his loom set up in the living room. I put items here and there in the dining room and front hall (the items in the same box). I came across two candle rings (small fake flowers in a ring intended to sit around the base of stubby candles) and I had an “aha” moment and knew where the window candles were.
In addition to the plastic boxes in the basement I have 3 decorative boxes with Christmas items upstairs in a trunk at the top of the stairs, with some other Christmas decorations - two large angels and such. The candles for the rings are in one of the decorative boxes - and I knew that the window candles must be in one also. I went upstairs, moved the 3 families of bears who “live” on the trunk and opened it - there were the boxes and yes, the window candles were in there. I took them out and put the boxes and bears back for now. I put the candles on my desk as they have timers and have to be lit at the time I want them to go on. A couple of days later I remembered at the right time and set them up with batteries and put them in the window - at last the outside lights are finished for this year!
I have been somewhat busy since then as I had my embroidery chapter meeting today and had to get paperwork together for it. Also, I was not doing the project the group was doing at the meeting as I thought I would be away, so I had to pick something to bring to work on at the meeting.
I also did a bit of decluttering. We have 2 corner cabinets in our living room - they each have display shelves in the main part of them and then 2 shelves in a closed door cabinet at the bottom for storage. One of them has items I somewhat often use for Thanksgiving, Christmas etc. The other has items we either have never used or have not used in decades. In addition to wanting to get rid of them in general, I figure with the tax law changes under discussion, this might be my last chance to donate them and get a tax advantage from same. My husband is big on keeping things - “we might need it one day” or “maybe we could sell this, keep it”. I would never get rid of anything of his, but I have to argue to get rid things that are mine also. So while he was busy upstairs, I went through what was in the bottom of the cabinet. I pulled out to donate glass serving bowls, glass platters, glass cake server which also can be a punch server, several candy dishes (in unopened boxes). I brought them all to the kitchen, listed them on a piece of paper, and stored them in large shopping bags in our studio on my side of the room - he would just figure it was bags of my stuff (or his) if he saw them. I also had some things to go on computers (not electronic stuff - paper holder that attaches to a monitor and the like) which had been waiting to go to storage or donation for at least 15 years. Also a decorative jar that the lid just sits on -does not screw on for storage. 6 small wine glasses with a silver dipped edge - his mom’s, we got them after she died and we had previously discussed that they could be gotten rid of. Lastly - when we replaced our mailbox earlier this year, we put the old one aside in the garage “in case the new one did not work out”. This past weekend he had tripped on it in the garage while putting up the Christmas lights and swore at it - it was definitely time for it to go.
Normally I would have put all this (5 bags worth plus the mailbox) in the car Tuesday nights - along with the soda bottles to be returned for deposit - but it was raining. The soda bottles went out earlier in the evening, but not the donations. So this morning I loaded them into the car. After my meeting and various errands I drove to Goodwill and donated the stuff and then went to Walmart and returned the soda bottles. Well, a small bit more room in the house. I am trying to figure out what should now go in the bottom of that cabinet - there are some items I kept - mostly a hand crafted coffee set someone gave us as a wedding gift - I kept it as it is from someone he knew and won’t get rid of it without permission. There are also display items in the cabinet for the items (a set of bear figurines which I rotate by month and need to raise some up so all can be seen) in the cabinet, which I left - I did find a box of the figurines I bought in the last couple of years as they have made a reappearance at flea markets and back stored stock of a store; I knew that there were more of them than I had found! I have to organize all the new ones so they join the right month’s group of the ones I have. (You know - lovers in February, flowers in May, graduates in June and so on.)
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes even when one thinks all is organized one is not - and items may happily appear as one unpacks items to be put out or when one goes through items to get rid of.
I hope that none of you are in the area of the terrible fires in southern California.
We had not put our battery candles in the front windows when we put up the lights outside. While technically inside the house as they are placed inside the windows, their purpose is to be seen from outside, so I consider them to be outside decorations. When we remembered that we had forgotten to put them in place I immediately went to my candle drawer (holds all manner of candles) where I know I keep them. They were not there - I took everything out of the drawer to check. I looked in the drawer next to the candle drawer to see if I stuck them there - perhaps the candle drawer was too full? These drawers are under our living room TV which is (old and analog and) in a cabinet we bought for it and the drawers are in the cabinet. I then looked in all the “logical” places - the drawers in the end tables next to the sofa, the secretary - shelves and drawers - no candles.
Where could they be - maybe in with the inside the house decorations in 2 boxes in the basement? I got the two boxes and opened and went through them - no candles. I figured that sooner or later they would show up in my Christmas decorating and I was not going to go crazy over them.
I decided that since the boxes had been brought up and were sitting there and I had a hour or two until we went out for dinner, I would start putting out the decorations. The decorations are artificial greens and swags and other small items to put out. I started on the dining room decorations as husband still has his loom set up in the living room. I put items here and there in the dining room and front hall (the items in the same box). I came across two candle rings (small fake flowers in a ring intended to sit around the base of stubby candles) and I had an “aha” moment and knew where the window candles were.
In addition to the plastic boxes in the basement I have 3 decorative boxes with Christmas items upstairs in a trunk at the top of the stairs, with some other Christmas decorations - two large angels and such. The candles for the rings are in one of the decorative boxes - and I knew that the window candles must be in one also. I went upstairs, moved the 3 families of bears who “live” on the trunk and opened it - there were the boxes and yes, the window candles were in there. I took them out and put the boxes and bears back for now. I put the candles on my desk as they have timers and have to be lit at the time I want them to go on. A couple of days later I remembered at the right time and set them up with batteries and put them in the window - at last the outside lights are finished for this year!
I have been somewhat busy since then as I had my embroidery chapter meeting today and had to get paperwork together for it. Also, I was not doing the project the group was doing at the meeting as I thought I would be away, so I had to pick something to bring to work on at the meeting.
I also did a bit of decluttering. We have 2 corner cabinets in our living room - they each have display shelves in the main part of them and then 2 shelves in a closed door cabinet at the bottom for storage. One of them has items I somewhat often use for Thanksgiving, Christmas etc. The other has items we either have never used or have not used in decades. In addition to wanting to get rid of them in general, I figure with the tax law changes under discussion, this might be my last chance to donate them and get a tax advantage from same. My husband is big on keeping things - “we might need it one day” or “maybe we could sell this, keep it”. I would never get rid of anything of his, but I have to argue to get rid things that are mine also. So while he was busy upstairs, I went through what was in the bottom of the cabinet. I pulled out to donate glass serving bowls, glass platters, glass cake server which also can be a punch server, several candy dishes (in unopened boxes). I brought them all to the kitchen, listed them on a piece of paper, and stored them in large shopping bags in our studio on my side of the room - he would just figure it was bags of my stuff (or his) if he saw them. I also had some things to go on computers (not electronic stuff - paper holder that attaches to a monitor and the like) which had been waiting to go to storage or donation for at least 15 years. Also a decorative jar that the lid just sits on -does not screw on for storage. 6 small wine glasses with a silver dipped edge - his mom’s, we got them after she died and we had previously discussed that they could be gotten rid of. Lastly - when we replaced our mailbox earlier this year, we put the old one aside in the garage “in case the new one did not work out”. This past weekend he had tripped on it in the garage while putting up the Christmas lights and swore at it - it was definitely time for it to go.
Normally I would have put all this (5 bags worth plus the mailbox) in the car Tuesday nights - along with the soda bottles to be returned for deposit - but it was raining. The soda bottles went out earlier in the evening, but not the donations. So this morning I loaded them into the car. After my meeting and various errands I drove to Goodwill and donated the stuff and then went to Walmart and returned the soda bottles. Well, a small bit more room in the house. I am trying to figure out what should now go in the bottom of that cabinet - there are some items I kept - mostly a hand crafted coffee set someone gave us as a wedding gift - I kept it as it is from someone he knew and won’t get rid of it without permission. There are also display items in the cabinet for the items (a set of bear figurines which I rotate by month and need to raise some up so all can be seen) in the cabinet, which I left - I did find a box of the figurines I bought in the last couple of years as they have made a reappearance at flea markets and back stored stock of a store; I knew that there were more of them than I had found! I have to organize all the new ones so they join the right month’s group of the ones I have. (You know - lovers in February, flowers in May, graduates in June and so on.)
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes even when one thinks all is organized one is not - and items may happily appear as one unpacks items to be put out or when one goes through items to get rid of.
I hope that none of you are in the area of the terrible fires in southern California.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
SAGA OF THE NEW MAIL BOX
Getting things done moves slowly in our house. To give you an idea of how slowly - we have been in the house over 25 years and still have not had a house warming party. Most things do not take that long, but we tend to be over cautions and take our time. We shopped for 3 years before buying a new snowblower - our old one not having been used in decades and was no longer working.
Now some background. For over two decades we had a great Post Office where we live. The mail was delivered with no problem. When we went away for summer vacation and had our mail held, when we picked it up there was no problem and mail delivery was immediately restarted. About 3 years ago we started having problems with our mail delivery - in the past 2 years, when I started keeping track, three items for my accounting business from IRS - with all my personal and business identification information in all three - went astray and never made it here. Two credit card statements - from two different banks - ditto. A few bank statements from assorted banks - ditto. Several pieces of mail - mostly ads, but still they could have been important mail, has shown up having been opened by someone else and then taped closed again - obviously delivered to someone else and opened in error by them, taped closed and dropped back in the mail. We have gotten a number of items addressed to other people and delivered to us. Now, I don’t mean the neighbor next door or down the street - these are addressed to people on streets we have never heard of and we have lived in the immediate area for almost 40 years and husband grew up for another 15 or more years, so these are not streets in the nearby area either. We have been working on switching our mailing address to our Post Office box, which is at a different Post Office than the one our house mail goes through. When we mail items out they go through the Post Office with our box. (Due to the design of the different Post Offices’ coverage areas by community our Post Office is further away from us than two other Post Offices as we live at the far northern end of the coverage area, so we have always used one or the other of these two nearer Post Offices to send out mail.)
When we used to travel by car and stay at hotels we would take several weekend trips during the year and a longer summer vacation (up to 3 weeks when husband was working). We would not have our mail held for the weekend trips - we would leave after Friday’s mail was delivered and take it in before we left and then just Saturday’s and possibly Monday’s mail would be delivered depending on whether we came home Sunday or Monday night. We would have the mail held by the Post Office for summer vacation and then go in, pick up the mail, and restart delivery. (We would not notify the other Post Office to hold the Box mail either, except for the summer as they automatically set aside in the back any excess mail over the size of our box.)
We now tend to travel in the middle of the week instead of the weekends for our short trips - and there are fewer of them. It is easier to get a space at a RV park midweek - a reservation at an RV park generally cannot be canceled close to the date so we tend not to make reservations for short trips until we know for sure that we are going. Also the place we normally go for short trips is a heavy tourist area with a lot of weekend visitors which crowd many of the places we go and annoy husband, so we go midweek instead. Now when we go away the mail three to four days of mail ends up sitting in the box in front of our house. (We tend to leave earlier in the day on the trip as some local main roads are under construction and we have to get to a certain point after the worst of rush hour and before construction starts for the day, so the first day of the trip’s mail is now in the box where before we took it in before we left.) So we now feel more uncomfortable leaving the mail in the box in front of the house while we are away. We don’t want to have the mail held as this has become a problem with our Post Office. The solution? We decided last year that we need to have a locking mailbox for the front of the house.
We have a post mail box, meaning we have the type of box that sits on top of a post, similar to those in more rural areas where the boxes sit along the side of the road so that the postal delivery person (who used to be the “mailman”) can put the mail into the box without leaving his vehicle. However, we have our post and mailbox adjacent to our front door not at the street - just a bit more secure than having the mailbox at the street.
On and off since the beginning of 2016's travel season we have been looking at replacement mail boxes. We picked out one that we liked - it is shaped like a regular post mail box (round top), but locks closed. Somehow that idea got set aside for the winter and nothing was done - not unusual as I mentioned at the start of the post - for us.
About a month or so we again went out looking at mail boxes. This time we decided that box was too small and we were looking at larger rectangular boxes. We have a choice of buying a mail box at Home Depot or Lowes. I guess Ace has them too, but they are more expensive. We made our choice.
Last week husband brings up the subject again - we go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare what they have and the prices. Looking at the box we were planning to get, we started thinking - “Hmmm, does that make it look like there something really exciting in the mail box as it is so large and locked. Will it make it more attractive to someone to break into it?” We decide to get the first mail box which looks more like a regular mail box and might not be more attractive.
Sunday we buy the mail box. Now remember, we are not morning people and our normal Sunday is a trip to Costco, BJs, and a different Walmart than usual in the next county, with lunch at the Costco. So by the time we buy the mail box and head home it around 4 pm. (Can you see where this is going?)
We take the mail box into the garage (and climb over the snow blower which we still have not bought a shed for it to live in and over the leaf blower we used 2 years ago, etc. plus all the power tools set up in this with all in disarray as husband always says “I really have to clean up in here” but we never do). We open the box and check the mail box and it looks fine. It come with 2 matching sets of 2 keys (four keys which each fit both the front and back locks on the box). The keys are there and of course get taken out of the envelope they came in. Logic would say to put one set of keys in one of our pockets and leave the other set of keys in the envelope, but both sets are taken out of the envelope.
First thing to do is remove the old mailbox from the post. We do this very easily - four small screws, two in each of the left and right sides of the mailbox. The old mailbox is set aside in the backyard - just in case this all does not work out.
We had to buy a piece for the mail box which allows it to be on the post, on a different type of post or on a wooden arm (in choice of 2 different directions). So the second thing to do is attach this piece to our post. We open the piece and take out the instructions and find the hardware needed to put it on the type of post we have. This involves putting four LONG screws into the wood of the post - two in the front and two in the back. Now understand, husband has a major assortment of power and hand tools. Problem - the hole in the piece is slightly larger than our post - it will not affect the piece sitting around the post, but the piece has to be level with the top of the post, but slides down it. We both have the same idea - he screws a scrap piece of wood diagonally over the hole and now it sits on the top of the post. We place the piece in position on top of the post. He takes out a battery operated screwdriver and starts screwing one of the back screws through the piece and into the post. It stops about half way in and will not go further. Husband goes and gets a plug in drill and tries - same problem. “I guess I should have drilled a pilot hole.” He unscrews the screw and gets a thin drill bit. The drill bit goes partway in and breaks. So now there is a drill bit in the wood where the screw needs to go. We decide to ignore this screw for now.
He goes to the front and, with a larger drill bit, drills a pilot hole and with the combination of battery operated screwdriver, plug in drill, and hand screwdriver - he finally gets the screw in. Yay! This is repeated on the other front and the other rear screw - these having their own problem as he stand on the flattened (for this purpose) branches of a shrub.. Along the way he looks at his watch and says “so much for dinner” - it will be too late to go out for dinner, as we do on Sunday evenings, when we are done. We can’t stop as it will be too dark to finish later and we won’t have a box for Monday’s mail delivery.
We test the piece and it rocks as it is missing the first screw which we were unable to put in. What to do? I came up with the idea of using the four small screws that we took out of the old mail box and post. The side of the piece to hold the mail box has holes in the side for a different assembly - but that assembly is for the piece to be raised up so the sides overlap the holes. We manage to get these screws into the side holes and the piece no longer rocks.
Third step - putting the mailbox in place. We need a key for this as the bolt heads go inside the mail box. I go back to the garage - I can only find one set of keys. Rather than waste time I figure husband has the other set and this set is plenty to work with. Putting the mailbox in place actually goes rather well. (It does bother me that a security mail box has nuts on the bottom of it connecting it to the connecting piece, which itself is screwed on by accessible screws - so either set of screws can be removed - but that is how it is.) We try the doors and they work - there is room to open the back of the box from the house door (we were worried it was too close to the house).
I then mention the missing keys. He does not have them. We go back into the garage and find them. We go into the house. I immediately take one of the keys and put it onto my key ring - just in case. We have dinner and the evening passes.
Husband suggests that we put up a “decorative” hook in the front hall for a mailbox key to be hung from - “we will look for one”. Oh yes, more time wasted shopping and juggling the key in the interim and how long will that take? Then I remember something which I did not donate when I thought to do so. A nice, small brass plate with a double hook at the bottom. I think we got it as a gift from his sister - that is in the back of my head. It was a bit “Victorian” for our “Georgian” style decor so we did not buy it. But there it is - in the bottom drawer of my desk - wow I even found it exactly where I thought it would be. He likes it and rushes to put it up.
Now we have to put a key on a piece of yarn to hang it up - here’s the single key on a ring - where is the other ring with two keys? (How can I be able to find something I haven’t seen in years on the first try, but a set of keys for something we bought the same day keeps disappearing?) We find them and I put in them with the instructions, etc. to put away. He puts the key on a piece of yarn and hangs it up.
The mail box works! We have taken in mail from it for three days now. It is not a problem to open with the key. Now we can go on a trip and not worry about the mail sitting at home snug in its locking box.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Find something you keep putting off doing - one thing. And do it! Every step forward is something done.
Epilogue -
We had to take the old mail box into the garage due to a MAJOR rain and wind storm Monday. I plan to clean it up a bit and take it to Goodwill on my next trip to same with items to donate. This will keep it out of the garbage and help someone who can use the mail box as its only problem is that we wanted a locking one - the box itself has much life left in it.
Now some background. For over two decades we had a great Post Office where we live. The mail was delivered with no problem. When we went away for summer vacation and had our mail held, when we picked it up there was no problem and mail delivery was immediately restarted. About 3 years ago we started having problems with our mail delivery - in the past 2 years, when I started keeping track, three items for my accounting business from IRS - with all my personal and business identification information in all three - went astray and never made it here. Two credit card statements - from two different banks - ditto. A few bank statements from assorted banks - ditto. Several pieces of mail - mostly ads, but still they could have been important mail, has shown up having been opened by someone else and then taped closed again - obviously delivered to someone else and opened in error by them, taped closed and dropped back in the mail. We have gotten a number of items addressed to other people and delivered to us. Now, I don’t mean the neighbor next door or down the street - these are addressed to people on streets we have never heard of and we have lived in the immediate area for almost 40 years and husband grew up for another 15 or more years, so these are not streets in the nearby area either. We have been working on switching our mailing address to our Post Office box, which is at a different Post Office than the one our house mail goes through. When we mail items out they go through the Post Office with our box. (Due to the design of the different Post Offices’ coverage areas by community our Post Office is further away from us than two other Post Offices as we live at the far northern end of the coverage area, so we have always used one or the other of these two nearer Post Offices to send out mail.)
When we used to travel by car and stay at hotels we would take several weekend trips during the year and a longer summer vacation (up to 3 weeks when husband was working). We would not have our mail held for the weekend trips - we would leave after Friday’s mail was delivered and take it in before we left and then just Saturday’s and possibly Monday’s mail would be delivered depending on whether we came home Sunday or Monday night. We would have the mail held by the Post Office for summer vacation and then go in, pick up the mail, and restart delivery. (We would not notify the other Post Office to hold the Box mail either, except for the summer as they automatically set aside in the back any excess mail over the size of our box.)
We now tend to travel in the middle of the week instead of the weekends for our short trips - and there are fewer of them. It is easier to get a space at a RV park midweek - a reservation at an RV park generally cannot be canceled close to the date so we tend not to make reservations for short trips until we know for sure that we are going. Also the place we normally go for short trips is a heavy tourist area with a lot of weekend visitors which crowd many of the places we go and annoy husband, so we go midweek instead. Now when we go away the mail three to four days of mail ends up sitting in the box in front of our house. (We tend to leave earlier in the day on the trip as some local main roads are under construction and we have to get to a certain point after the worst of rush hour and before construction starts for the day, so the first day of the trip’s mail is now in the box where before we took it in before we left.) So we now feel more uncomfortable leaving the mail in the box in front of the house while we are away. We don’t want to have the mail held as this has become a problem with our Post Office. The solution? We decided last year that we need to have a locking mailbox for the front of the house.
We have a post mail box, meaning we have the type of box that sits on top of a post, similar to those in more rural areas where the boxes sit along the side of the road so that the postal delivery person (who used to be the “mailman”) can put the mail into the box without leaving his vehicle. However, we have our post and mailbox adjacent to our front door not at the street - just a bit more secure than having the mailbox at the street.
On and off since the beginning of 2016's travel season we have been looking at replacement mail boxes. We picked out one that we liked - it is shaped like a regular post mail box (round top), but locks closed. Somehow that idea got set aside for the winter and nothing was done - not unusual as I mentioned at the start of the post - for us.
About a month or so we again went out looking at mail boxes. This time we decided that box was too small and we were looking at larger rectangular boxes. We have a choice of buying a mail box at Home Depot or Lowes. I guess Ace has them too, but they are more expensive. We made our choice.
Last week husband brings up the subject again - we go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare what they have and the prices. Looking at the box we were planning to get, we started thinking - “Hmmm, does that make it look like there something really exciting in the mail box as it is so large and locked. Will it make it more attractive to someone to break into it?” We decide to get the first mail box which looks more like a regular mail box and might not be more attractive.
Sunday we buy the mail box. Now remember, we are not morning people and our normal Sunday is a trip to Costco, BJs, and a different Walmart than usual in the next county, with lunch at the Costco. So by the time we buy the mail box and head home it around 4 pm. (Can you see where this is going?)
We take the mail box into the garage (and climb over the snow blower which we still have not bought a shed for it to live in and over the leaf blower we used 2 years ago, etc. plus all the power tools set up in this with all in disarray as husband always says “I really have to clean up in here” but we never do). We open the box and check the mail box and it looks fine. It come with 2 matching sets of 2 keys (four keys which each fit both the front and back locks on the box). The keys are there and of course get taken out of the envelope they came in. Logic would say to put one set of keys in one of our pockets and leave the other set of keys in the envelope, but both sets are taken out of the envelope.
First thing to do is remove the old mailbox from the post. We do this very easily - four small screws, two in each of the left and right sides of the mailbox. The old mailbox is set aside in the backyard - just in case this all does not work out.
We had to buy a piece for the mail box which allows it to be on the post, on a different type of post or on a wooden arm (in choice of 2 different directions). So the second thing to do is attach this piece to our post. We open the piece and take out the instructions and find the hardware needed to put it on the type of post we have. This involves putting four LONG screws into the wood of the post - two in the front and two in the back. Now understand, husband has a major assortment of power and hand tools. Problem - the hole in the piece is slightly larger than our post - it will not affect the piece sitting around the post, but the piece has to be level with the top of the post, but slides down it. We both have the same idea - he screws a scrap piece of wood diagonally over the hole and now it sits on the top of the post. We place the piece in position on top of the post. He takes out a battery operated screwdriver and starts screwing one of the back screws through the piece and into the post. It stops about half way in and will not go further. Husband goes and gets a plug in drill and tries - same problem. “I guess I should have drilled a pilot hole.” He unscrews the screw and gets a thin drill bit. The drill bit goes partway in and breaks. So now there is a drill bit in the wood where the screw needs to go. We decide to ignore this screw for now.
He goes to the front and, with a larger drill bit, drills a pilot hole and with the combination of battery operated screwdriver, plug in drill, and hand screwdriver - he finally gets the screw in. Yay! This is repeated on the other front and the other rear screw - these having their own problem as he stand on the flattened (for this purpose) branches of a shrub.. Along the way he looks at his watch and says “so much for dinner” - it will be too late to go out for dinner, as we do on Sunday evenings, when we are done. We can’t stop as it will be too dark to finish later and we won’t have a box for Monday’s mail delivery.
We test the piece and it rocks as it is missing the first screw which we were unable to put in. What to do? I came up with the idea of using the four small screws that we took out of the old mail box and post. The side of the piece to hold the mail box has holes in the side for a different assembly - but that assembly is for the piece to be raised up so the sides overlap the holes. We manage to get these screws into the side holes and the piece no longer rocks.
Third step - putting the mailbox in place. We need a key for this as the bolt heads go inside the mail box. I go back to the garage - I can only find one set of keys. Rather than waste time I figure husband has the other set and this set is plenty to work with. Putting the mailbox in place actually goes rather well. (It does bother me that a security mail box has nuts on the bottom of it connecting it to the connecting piece, which itself is screwed on by accessible screws - so either set of screws can be removed - but that is how it is.) We try the doors and they work - there is room to open the back of the box from the house door (we were worried it was too close to the house).
I then mention the missing keys. He does not have them. We go back into the garage and find them. We go into the house. I immediately take one of the keys and put it onto my key ring - just in case. We have dinner and the evening passes.
Husband suggests that we put up a “decorative” hook in the front hall for a mailbox key to be hung from - “we will look for one”. Oh yes, more time wasted shopping and juggling the key in the interim and how long will that take? Then I remember something which I did not donate when I thought to do so. A nice, small brass plate with a double hook at the bottom. I think we got it as a gift from his sister - that is in the back of my head. It was a bit “Victorian” for our “Georgian” style decor so we did not buy it. But there it is - in the bottom drawer of my desk - wow I even found it exactly where I thought it would be. He likes it and rushes to put it up.
Now we have to put a key on a piece of yarn to hang it up - here’s the single key on a ring - where is the other ring with two keys? (How can I be able to find something I haven’t seen in years on the first try, but a set of keys for something we bought the same day keeps disappearing?) We find them and I put in them with the instructions, etc. to put away. He puts the key on a piece of yarn and hangs it up.
The mail box works! We have taken in mail from it for three days now. It is not a problem to open with the key. Now we can go on a trip and not worry about the mail sitting at home snug in its locking box.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Find something you keep putting off doing - one thing. And do it! Every step forward is something done.
Epilogue -
We had to take the old mail box into the garage due to a MAJOR rain and wind storm Monday. I plan to clean it up a bit and take it to Goodwill on my next trip to same with items to donate. This will keep it out of the garbage and help someone who can use the mail box as its only problem is that we wanted a locking one - the box itself has much life left in it.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
A STEP FORWARD
It is amazing how fast a week goes past. This applies both to posting on this blog as well as to getting things done.
Last night I finally got around to moving our DVD storage box (a piece of furniture on wheels) from the dining room back to our living room. Why does it get moved? Well, in December it has to be moved as the Christmas tree goes in the living room where the box normally is kept. Normally in our dining room our table is pushed to the far wall. (This was the normal thing to do in the 1700s. Furniture was kept along the walls. One would move out what one needed and then put it back after it was done being used. This was called putting the room to rest.) It matches the period of the room. Our table is 40"x40" when closed down. So when it is moved against the wall there is space in the room to walk around and space for any other uses we may find for the room. It also cuts down on how much stuff gets tossed on the table as it is further away from traffic in the room so one has to actually walk over to it to put anything on it. When the DVD storage box is in the dining room for Christmas the dining room table is moved to the center of the room - great for Christmas decorating.
The DVD storage box has extra DVDs on top of it. Last year I got rid of unused drinking glasses (almost never used in the almost 38 years we have been married) by donating them, and move some of our “good” glasses from the secretary in the living room into the now free space in the kitchen as that freed up space for DVD storage and had stored away all of the DVDs that were on top of the box - except for one set. Oddly there seems to now be more DVDs on top of the box than I found room to store last year. I will have to figure out what else to get rid of from the secretary - or where else glassware in it can be stored - to make more room for husband’s DVDs. Lots of bar ware which has never been used - I hope to talk him into getting rid of it. For those who might not know as it is no longer a common furniture piece - a secretary is a cabinet with glass doors (generally with green fabric curtains on the inside of the doors) in front of shelves for the top section and large drawers in the bottom section. Between the two sections is a door that opens downward and makes a desk area - hence the name. We used it as a bar with storage for same, plus other ‘good” glassware on the top shelves and for storage of items such as tablecloths and napkins in the drawers.
So, yes, I am still putting away things which were moved for Christmas. The dining room table is back against the wall. However, I had left a board in it just in case husband wanted to use it to take photos of table runners he has woven, but it is rare that he does so. I will pull out the board and store it in the front hall closet - the four boards are stored in a crateish piece that they came in, which is located behind the coats in this closet. I also have to put back a roll up foam pad and a green felt cover for the dining room table which came out of the same closet during the holidays and never went back.
Lest you think I now have a lovely neat dining room now - I still have the large plastic boxes to store the teddy bear Christmas village in, as well as “gift” boxes which have Christmas decorations in them - the boxes go under the tree after the decorations are taken out and it makes it look like there are gifts under the tree. These “gift” boxes store in the trunk that the teddy village is on and cannot be put away until the village is packed. I took assorted reenacting items which we are not using at the current time and had been stored in one of the box benches we bring to events and had not been bringing, but had to come out of same when we started taking the box bench to events again, into a single fabric bag and put that on the box bench until we can figure out what to do with it. There are also some items from our RV which have to go down to their new home in the basement.
Tell me, honestly, are all of your Christmas items stored away yet?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Anything done is a step forward. Every step forward takes you on your journey to a neater, more organized house. If a step backwards happens - work at getting back to where you were and then taking a step forward. Walking is one step after another, so is organizing.
Last night I finally got around to moving our DVD storage box (a piece of furniture on wheels) from the dining room back to our living room. Why does it get moved? Well, in December it has to be moved as the Christmas tree goes in the living room where the box normally is kept. Normally in our dining room our table is pushed to the far wall. (This was the normal thing to do in the 1700s. Furniture was kept along the walls. One would move out what one needed and then put it back after it was done being used. This was called putting the room to rest.) It matches the period of the room. Our table is 40"x40" when closed down. So when it is moved against the wall there is space in the room to walk around and space for any other uses we may find for the room. It also cuts down on how much stuff gets tossed on the table as it is further away from traffic in the room so one has to actually walk over to it to put anything on it. When the DVD storage box is in the dining room for Christmas the dining room table is moved to the center of the room - great for Christmas decorating.
The DVD storage box has extra DVDs on top of it. Last year I got rid of unused drinking glasses (almost never used in the almost 38 years we have been married) by donating them, and move some of our “good” glasses from the secretary in the living room into the now free space in the kitchen as that freed up space for DVD storage and had stored away all of the DVDs that were on top of the box - except for one set. Oddly there seems to now be more DVDs on top of the box than I found room to store last year. I will have to figure out what else to get rid of from the secretary - or where else glassware in it can be stored - to make more room for husband’s DVDs. Lots of bar ware which has never been used - I hope to talk him into getting rid of it. For those who might not know as it is no longer a common furniture piece - a secretary is a cabinet with glass doors (generally with green fabric curtains on the inside of the doors) in front of shelves for the top section and large drawers in the bottom section. Between the two sections is a door that opens downward and makes a desk area - hence the name. We used it as a bar with storage for same, plus other ‘good” glassware on the top shelves and for storage of items such as tablecloths and napkins in the drawers.
So, yes, I am still putting away things which were moved for Christmas. The dining room table is back against the wall. However, I had left a board in it just in case husband wanted to use it to take photos of table runners he has woven, but it is rare that he does so. I will pull out the board and store it in the front hall closet - the four boards are stored in a crateish piece that they came in, which is located behind the coats in this closet. I also have to put back a roll up foam pad and a green felt cover for the dining room table which came out of the same closet during the holidays and never went back.
Lest you think I now have a lovely neat dining room now - I still have the large plastic boxes to store the teddy bear Christmas village in, as well as “gift” boxes which have Christmas decorations in them - the boxes go under the tree after the decorations are taken out and it makes it look like there are gifts under the tree. These “gift” boxes store in the trunk that the teddy village is on and cannot be put away until the village is packed. I took assorted reenacting items which we are not using at the current time and had been stored in one of the box benches we bring to events and had not been bringing, but had to come out of same when we started taking the box bench to events again, into a single fabric bag and put that on the box bench until we can figure out what to do with it. There are also some items from our RV which have to go down to their new home in the basement.
Tell me, honestly, are all of your Christmas items stored away yet?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Anything done is a step forward. Every step forward takes you on your journey to a neater, more organized house. If a step backwards happens - work at getting back to where you were and then taking a step forward. Walking is one step after another, so is organizing.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 2
Well in the last week I have managed to put out most of the Christmas decorations that go inside the house. I have learned over the years the order that the decorations have to be placed in - as well as the order they have to come down for storage. The decorations, their storage, placement, etc. need to be organized almost more than the house in general does or it will take too much time to put out and put away. I also have a system for storing the empty boxes in the basement (where they are not stored during the year), but it all depends on everything being done in the right order - putting up the decorations and taking them down. The trees are put up last and taken down first.
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Organizing books don't work for me.
How about a bit on organizing books and how I have found they don’t relate to me? Do you find this to be true?
I have read my way through all sorts of books on organizing, decluttering, etc. I have found that none of them really seem to apply to me and my situation. I am guessing this is true for many people.
My house must be the smallest one there is. For example, my bathroom is, according to several organizing books, smaller than the average closet. It has no counter, one small drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, no room for permanent storage to be added to the bathroom. It has a cabinet and sink so small, that when we went to replace them to the current ones we have, we had a choice of almost no sinks or vanities. The ones on display in various stores did not fit into our bathroom. And this is our larger bathroom! This is far from the extensive bathrooms described in books.
Front entrance hall? Another example. Just about every organizing book I have read has an extensive section on the front entrance hall of the house. The latest book I have read talked about what needs to be in the front entrance hall. Maybe it would all fit in Downton Abbey’s entrance hall, but not in my front entrance hall. There is a small closet. There is a small mirror on one side of the front door and the door bell mechanism on the other side. There is no room for a shelf or piece of furniture. With either one will not be able to walk through this tiny space. Even more unlike the description of this room in books, we do not come into the house through it. Our kitchen door is immediately adjacent to our driveway and much more convenient so that is what is used. There is no mud room or other room when one enters through the kitchen. When one walks in, one is between the stove and the counter. No place for items waiting to go out (unless they are hung on the door knob), keys, shelves, storage etc.
Alternate ideas had to be found and they were found more by logic than by suggestions from books - this is an important idea one must use logic in organizing.
Next week, I will tell you how I got started trying to get organized and my early efforts.
How about a bit on organizing books and how I have found they don’t relate to me? Do you find this to be true?
I have read my way through all sorts of books on organizing, decluttering, etc. I have found that none of them really seem to apply to me and my situation. I am guessing this is true for many people.
My house must be the smallest one there is. For example, my bathroom is, according to several organizing books, smaller than the average closet. It has no counter, one small drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, no room for permanent storage to be added to the bathroom. It has a cabinet and sink so small, that when we went to replace them to the current ones we have, we had a choice of almost no sinks or vanities. The ones on display in various stores did not fit into our bathroom. And this is our larger bathroom! This is far from the extensive bathrooms described in books.
Front entrance hall? Another example. Just about every organizing book I have read has an extensive section on the front entrance hall of the house. The latest book I have read talked about what needs to be in the front entrance hall. Maybe it would all fit in Downton Abbey’s entrance hall, but not in my front entrance hall. There is a small closet. There is a small mirror on one side of the front door and the door bell mechanism on the other side. There is no room for a shelf or piece of furniture. With either one will not be able to walk through this tiny space. Even more unlike the description of this room in books, we do not come into the house through it. Our kitchen door is immediately adjacent to our driveway and much more convenient so that is what is used. There is no mud room or other room when one enters through the kitchen. When one walks in, one is between the stove and the counter. No place for items waiting to go out (unless they are hung on the door knob), keys, shelves, storage etc.
Alternate ideas had to be found and they were found more by logic than by suggestions from books - this is an important idea one must use logic in organizing.
Next week, I will tell you how I got started trying to get organized and my early efforts.
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