17 September 2007

Getting to know me...

*Edited and entered into Scribbit's September write-away contest.


I am learning a lot about myself in the process of purging my house. It's not an overdue Spring cleaning that drives me, but a necessary attempt to get organized as we put our house on the market. Who'd have thought that such a process could lead to so much self discovery?

I am crafty. Now there's a word I hate. I'm not sure why. I guess in my mind, "crafty" spawns images of bows and painted t-shirts. Holiday themed outfits. Gawdy decor. But "crafty" is taking on a new persona. Today's "crafty" women are artists in their own rite. They are creative and they are entrepreneurs and I am definitely one of them. There's no more denying it; I've got 2 or 3 crates full of craftiness to prove it: paint and brushes, canvases, ribbon, material scraps, stamps, cardstock, scrapbooking paper and mod podge to boot.

I've always thought of myself as a reasonable woman, not too "high demand" if you know what I mean. Manicures are not for me. But 51 pairs of shoes tells me I've just found an alternative source of self indulgence. It's all beginning to come together now - the little vein popping out of my husband's forehead, the mysteriously low discretionary funds. Can I plead the 5th on this one? Luckily the home we will be building promises a master closet that will house 4 times this many shoes. Being the visual man that my husband is, space will engulf my shoe collection and he might actually think I have parted with a few pairs.

I am totally unprepared for Christmas this year. It's shameful, really. I usually have a good stash hidden behind my clothes by now! I looked back there today and literally gasped. The cupboard is bare, my friends. Christmas is but 3 months, 7 days, 7 hours and 28 minutes away! I hate fighting the crowds during November and December. And I much prefer to sit back and enjoy the season than run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. So I should have begun preparing weeks ago. That way by December I am stresslessly baking and listening to Bing Crosby.


While I may have no presents to wrap, I do in fact have plenty of wrapping paper, ribbon, cards and embellishments. Each Christmas morning I am equipped with 2 things - a bag for recyclable ribbons and a box for recyclable cards, wrapping and tissue paper. Is it bad that my kids know how to unwrap a present without ripping it? I mean, I am teaching them frugality. That's a valuable trait. Please tell me this won't leave them feeling repressed.

I am oblivious to the basic nutrients needed to sustain a family in a crisis. I have plenty of chocolate in my food storage: chocolate pudding, hot chocolate, brownie mix and chocolate chips. (So hey - if I'm menstruating, at least I'LL survive.) But where are the legumes? Where is the rice? Protein, schmotein, surely we need antioxidants more! And the fixin's for a party. That'll be my solution to the mayhem or emergency that requires the use of my food storage to begin with.


You see how much progress I am making here? I guess a closet can tell a lot about a person. Mine was much messier than I realized. I keep a fairly tidy house though, so what else does that say? Ah forget it, I've learned enough about myself for one day.

14 comments:

Jennifer @ Fruit of My Hands said...

I am not a "Crafty" person, but I am very creative & artistic as well. You will not see me & a glue gun in the same scene, but you may just see me painting on the walls & making sculptures.

My closets...oy vey.

They would tell you that I haven't unpacked since we moved in, just shoved giant ziploc bags into them hoping they would organize themselves and put themselves away in the appropriate places. My shoes would say I need to go shopping, I have maybe 4 pairs..but I must have really good shoes or they hurt my feet, and good shoes are hard to find.

Insides of my dressers are pretty empty, because like I said, a lot of the stuff hasn't been unpacked yet and is piled up in my room. I did put away 2 totes worth of clothes, take a load of junk to DI today, and I put away some of Jordan's outgrown clothes. That is progress!

Ask me again next week and my closets will tell you I am a very tidy, obsessively organized person, with a place for everything and everything in its place, plus an extra for an emergency. LOL.

Yvonne said...

I am righ with you regarding Christmas--I usually have gifts bought and wrapped by now, and here I sit without one purchased ; ) The worst part is I will be gone from Oct. 24 - Nov. 19, so I better get some done in the next few weeks. I hate the crowds and to go out when it's snowy and freezing ; )

I am not a stylish person so I wear things that I wore 10 - 15 years ago. I also love shoes. I'm good at purging my kids closets but lousy at purging mine ; )

Good luck with all you're doing.

Annie-Savor This Moment said...

You are cracking me up! What will my closets say about me? Not much, because I have 1 (yes, that is right, o-n-e) closet in my whole house. It is a big closet, but not nearly sufficient for our family of 6.

And chocolate? I've been stockpiling bags of chocolate chips and brownie mixes in my food storage also. Glad I'm not the only one!

someone else said...

When we downsized to this house, I went through closets and cupboards like a mad woman. It was invigorating to get rid of so much stuff, and I was shocked at how much there was.

Sounds like you're having fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... the master bed closet says I am disorganized and my dh holds on to way too many things for way too long (oh, the things in that closet...). The spare bedroom (a.k.a. nursery...one day) closet says that dh cannot part with any of his old clothes (even if they are 10-20 years old). DS's closet says mommy needs to do some purging (stuff he outgrew 18 months ago!). The hall closet says we are prepared (72 hour kits, extra jackets and blankets). The food storage closet says we are somewhat prepared (with a bunch of food I can't eat right now) including a supply of chocolate!!!

AJ said...

Lei- You have one of my favorite songs playing on your blog right now, and it was so good to hear it tonight. Sorry I didn't pick up the phone. Thanks for being a friend and awesome example of a creative woman. I admire you. ~AJ

utmommy said...

What a fun post!

I am also a shoe diva, I think we have about the same amount of shoes in our closets. I do have to admit that about 20 of them are flip flops. You do need a pair in every color? Right?

Lisa said...

I wish I could be as ready for Christmas as you are! It's harder when your kids are older. The presents are just different.

My husband has to build shelves for my shoes. I don't have 51 or near that many, but he can't stand them on the floor.

Montserrat said...

My closet is the only spot in our home that stays completely and totally organized every minute of every day. I think it's because my children are not allowed in there. We are going through the purging process with all my kids' "treasured junk." Where do they get the hoarding from?

I usually do the same thing with my Christmas preparations. I like to have it all done and Christmas cards addressed by the end of October. They don't get mailed til the first week in December but it's so nice to have it all done!

elasticwaistbandlady said...

A lady at church arrived on Sunday wearing one of those big clunky painted wood necklaces. Remember those???? It had big hearts strung on a red ribbon and I just sighed hoping it won't come back like the leggings under mini skirts and jelly shoes has.

My closet would say, "You share this space with too many projects and other people and not enough decent clothes." That's because most of my clothes are not nice enough to hang up and they get stuffed in a dresser, instead. I share space with my own buckets O' craftiness and one husband and Christmas ornmanets and one 4 year old clothes-horse daughter.

Scribbit said...

Well if ever there was a need for food storage to be used, I'll be visiting your house :)

Anonymous said...

Hello, friend...if you divide your shoes by season, then you don't really have 51 pairs all at one time.

Can I rationalize, or what?!

Tigersue said...

The first christmas I spent with Michael, we had to teach him how to tear the paper off a package. He grew up with a dad that saved every piece of christmas paper and reused them. :)

Sallie said...

I loved this post... very open and heart warming..

God bless,
Sallie