Ok, the subject line has nothing to do with my entry today but it was too funny to not mention.
I’ve spent the past weekend cleaning every nook and cranny in my apartment. I started with the entertainment center from hell then moved onto the bedroom closets. Here’s a tip for you, your closet is deeper than you think. I found stuff back there I didn’t recall buying.
I finally made my way to the kitchen which took two days instead of one because of a nasty bout with suspect yogurt. Sadly, there was little I felt I needed to donate/sell so the kitchen remained the same except for some rearranging of cabinets.
Last night, I finally hit the utility closet and tonight I hit the behemoth. We have this closet that was supposed to be our coat closet. However, through the year, we kind of shoved everything we didn’t want to see or deal with in it. It’s been dubbed our storage closet. All my Christmas and holiday decorations are in there as well as a giant air conditioner that requires a kick stand (I’m not lying about this. The AC came with a kick stand for the window.) and a bunch of odds and ends that I’m a bit fearful to find.
Sadly, cleaning this closet out is necessary not only for my sanity but because the cleaning in the other rooms has produced a plethora of memorabilia that I just don’t have the heart to throw out. I have a ton of stuffed animals Lrudlrick bought me way back in the wooing stages and Lrudlrick has two big boxes of train parts for his toy train.
So I need to clean the storage closet to make room for more storage items. Sadly, we’re still on our wait list for additional storage in our building.
I’ve tried to live my life as simply as possible but I always seem to accumulate so much stuff. I swear if I lived like a hermit in a cave in New Mexico, I’d still fill it with tons of stuff. I’d have piles of twigs and rocks all over the place.
Speaking of rocks. I found a rock on my bookcase and I can’t recall why I have it. I have a ton of rocks from various places here and there but this one in particular rock is alluding me. I have a piece of Blarney Castle. I have two rocks from BI. I just can’t figure out where this other rock is from. My only guess is Florida. It seems highly probable that I took a rock from Sea World to commemorate our engagement but you’d think I’d remember that.
My husband doesn’t question my rock collection anymore. He just smiles and lets me lug boulders in my bag. Honestly, the Blarney rock was the scariest rock for me to take. I was afraid that customs would question a rock in my bag but they let me pass. A rock was ok but matches and a lighter not so much. Go figure.
So I’ve managed to compile a nice hefty pile of donate, sell and store. Problem is the only place to donate used clothes for the Katrina victims is in Queens. All other locations I found only accept new clothes. Queens would require driving which requires gas which requires your first and second born.
I contacted Dress for Success but they only allow drop offs once a month. So I think I’m going to head to Goodwill, Salvation Army or Housing Works.
If you haven’t prepared your closets yet for the Fall/Winter season, I suggest you do and please think about donating to one of the many charities out there. If you live in NYC, here is a great list from DOS of organizations that take donations.
Oh and if anyone knows of a place in Louisiana/Alabama to mail some blankets and everyday items for the hurricane victims, email me.
