Of Orbits and Things
How helpful of Google to remind us of that meteor shower. Everyone gonna jump out of bed predawn tomorrow to look for it? I know someone who probably will. ☺ One year, I distinctly remember doing this. It was cold that early in the morning and I went out behind my former garage, which in those days was a falling down shed like structure. I stood looking at the southeastern sky and soon was rewarded for rising that early. (This time it will be the northeastern sky.) John tells me that same year he got up early and took off for the highest point of land where he had a wonderful view. This time, we could watch together, but somehow I'm thinking our collective old bones would prefer to remain abed.
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Goodness! One might think that a small room (the former guest room) would be a breeze to clean. It isn't. This is going to be a project that will take me another week at least. (I promise NOT to talk about it every day.) My problem is attention deficit disorder or something. I can not pick up anything without thinking about it and remembering who gave it or where I got it. Often, I don't know what to do with it...at all...so it continues on its orbit around the room getting set down a few feet from where it started. Years last a long time in my sewing room.
Then I myself am in some sort of a whacked orbit. I start out with good intentions of working my way around the room until everything is in its place, but bounce over to an opposite corner and get stuck there. Okay. The metaphor of orbit is not going to work here. I'm a pinball. That's it!
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I suspect that a few of you are pinballs, too. Please share your organizing process, if you feel inclined. I'd love to know!
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I used to be really organized, putting things in their place right away. Now, I'll collect things from the kitchen or bathroom that don't belong and pile them on the dining room table. They usually sit there for a few days until I get tired of looking at them and finally put them away.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think this laid back form of tidying evolves from being retired and there's no hurry to do things any more. So, I guess you could say I have pinball syndrome too. :-)
We've had three days of rain so we are not seeing much of anything! I was able to see the Super Moon in its' early form before the rain moved in and it peeked out from the clouds a bit last night. But we needed the rain so I will not whine much.
ReplyDeleteI should be finished with my latest organizing project today. It is mostly finished with four sacks of stuff going to charity. Good stuff, too. So I'm taking all of it to the thrift store in town that supports the homeless shelter.
I'd love to say organization and I go together hand and hand, but that just isn't true. I am a definite pinball as well! When I am REALLY desperate to organize something I call in re-reinforcements. One of my younger sisters has been crowned with the title of organization. She's sooo good! But when I am on my own I take my time, dwell on things a while, and make lists. Good luck in there! I am anxious to see how it all turns out. Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteI have moved so many times, I have nothing left to organize!
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem. I move things around until they look better. I feel satisfied that I've worked on it, call it a job well done and walk away. lol I mentioned you in my post this morning. Sweet hugs, Diane
ReplyDeleteAh, it's much better to be a pinball than a pinhead! Hahaha... When I get on a mission to tidy up, I usually get it done. I try to do the hard things first. It's easier to finish up when only easy tasks remain. The hardest part for me is getting the momentum to even start. And I have been reluctant to undertake anything that requires a substantial amount of time to finish because I know that I will get interrupted. That's been going on for over a year, as you know. I am on call 24-7, so organizing things or doing personal projects get a low priority.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I think I am more of a pinball as well. I start out in a room and then get distracted by every little thing in it :) I usually get everything organized, but it's a long process. Although sometimes I just take everything out of the room and then slowly bring is back in and put it in the proper place.
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday, Vee!
I am like you - I move things around. But now I packed half our items and the house hasn't sold! LOL how are you? I didn't see the meteor shower.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. It looks like we're all a bunch of pinballs here! Yep, me too...although I am taking note of Donna's comment. ;) I have one distinct advantage...I have a 20-year-old daughter who is my partner in organizing and she keeps me on track (mostly). She is helpful and decisive and reels me in, and when she leaves the nest, I will be ricocheting all over the place.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a pinball. I need to give the "studio" a good cleaning ... paint and paper and stuff everywhere. I need to clean out a file drawer first to make room for the paper. The file drawer houses all my museum notes... all the lectures I gave, all the research. I know I won't be doing any of this again, but golly ... it's hard to attack that drawer!
ReplyDeleteWell, like you, I tend to find myself in this type of predicament and have to go into the room with a plan of action. Namely, that I will begin on one wall and proceed in an orderly fashion around the room (an orbit if you will). The first wall is the hardest. Always. I also have to go in determined to rid myself of things that have not been used in years, and therefor clearly do not have the immediate potential for the makings of a wonderful project that I thought they did. Once you have that first area cleaned up it's a real kick in the pants to proceed with the other four. As much as you may want to keep each sentimental thing that someone gave you, chances are that they have already forgotten that you have it. They are not going to check and make sure you have kept it. They want you to be happy not stressed. Enjoy the memory and then into the give away or trash box it goes. The load that doing this will remove from your shoulders is priceless. Good luck, I feel your pain. My entire basement needs this process!
ReplyDeleteOh, my, Vee! I can relate! This has been the summer of emptying houses: my parents', my in-laws', and my husband's aunt's. Three houses to empty, and all of them full of heirlooms and old things, all of which are hard to part with. Now my house is filling up (it was already full) with yet more stuff that must be put away. Trouble is, all the places I go to put something away need to be cleaned out first! And, like you, I go round and round, moving something to the other end of the table, to the next room, to the floor in the corner, but never really getting it put away. I'm beginning to loose hope that I'll ever get my house in order again...
ReplyDeleteThe best meteor shower I ever watched was where I grew up - on an island with NO lights..........it was the most amazing experience. I live in a large city's suburb now and it is difficult to see them, now that I know what it really CAN look like. : = )
ReplyDeleteAs for purging/cleaning - when I do it, which isn't often enough I get really intense and channel my inner Aunt Phyllis and purge danged near everything. I am not very sentimental so it's easier for me than some, but it is important we just get tough about it if we want it done.
Wish I could come help, I really would. I need to get my basement straightened up, it's awful but all I wanna do is read novels lately. : - )
The clouds have rolled in her just in time for the meteor shower so I won't be trying to catch it. It would be quite nice to see one, though. It's been a long time since I've seen an unobstructed sky full of stars!
ReplyDeleteNow about organization...things have gotten so out of hand that pinball is the only way to go after it. I could get my sister Lana over here and she'd whip me right into shape. Her name spelled backwards is ... She's the one that reminds us of that. Have a lovely day, Vee. You bring joy to my day!
or...rolled in here!
DeleteI used to be so organized! The older I get the harder it seems to do so. I have issues now with having too many irons in the fire so to speak. I catch myself doing a little of this and a little of that and not a lot of anything! I need to be revived and get a BOLT of energy for starters! I keep thinking...IT WOULD TAKE ME A WHOLE YEAR to organize the rooms in my home....then that depresses me! LOL! And to top it off I am a pack rat and my husband is the opposite. Needless to say that tends to cause an issue at times. Maybe...just maybe...when the weather gets cooler I will begin to revamp and organize..(Sounds good anyway huh?) Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteThe only way I ever do a complete job of cleaning AND organizing is 1) the house is going on the market or 2) I am having out of town guest stay at our house. Sometimes I beg folks to come visit not so much because I want to see them as I want to get my house back in shape-pride can occasionally be put to good use.
ReplyDeleteThe one time that I got up in the wee morning hours to see a meteror shower we pulled out a mattress and made up a bed outside. No craning our necks to watch the sky and no chill either. So fun! We counted over a hundred shooting stars in an hour and the stars shot different colors!
I don't believe we will see any meteor shower, pouring rain..I am afraid I can not be any help in the organization dept..as I am the same way. (wink)--thanks for the smiles..I look foward to your posts. Blessings
ReplyDeleteWe don't have very good 'luck' with meteor showers. Once when we lived in Florida there was going to be a big one, so we drove way out where there were no lights and waited, and waited. We saw maybe two in two hours. That seems to be the way of it. But I'd love to see a big shower so I may get up. Depends on the weather, of course. It's rainy today.
ReplyDeleteI am not naturally organized but I hate clutter! So I work hard at it. I understand exactly what you mean about certain things that just seem to orbit around….
Deanna
Meteor shower?? Now I have to find out what time here.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you reminded me of the meteor shower. Has it happened? I need to do some research. ~ Organizing. . .I do it the same way you do. Hope you get some expert suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI actually organize a room just like you. : )
ReplyDeleteI am working on mine today and will probably finish. It really just needed some straightening up, I don't have to get rid of anything.
Seems like there's a host of pinballs careening around the internet today. I'm in major procrastination mode today after being so virtuous yesterday. Perhaps it's the low pressure system that's moved in. At any rate, with all the cloud cover I won't have to feel the least little bit guilty about not getting up to see the meteor shower.
ReplyDeleteI am a pinball too. I start in one room and then go to another room to retrieve a dust cloth etc. and get sidetracked. At the end of the day, neighbor Betty comes over and the entire house is a mess!!!!!! It is not evident that I have done anything all day!
ReplyDeleteTotally a pinball here...I have stacks of unfinished projects to prove it too. I do like the idea of keeping myself in one room though...flitting around the whole house is a BAD THING. I do have a process though that works well for me when it come to painting a room. I do one wall at a time, baseboards & trim included...move furniture away from wall, take everyhting off walls, wipe them down, paint everthing that needs painted, let dry, put stuff back on wall (different or the same, depending), replace furniture then go to the next wall. It works for me, anyway!
ReplyDeleteI really do think that we're going to have to put our house up for sale in order to get motivated to get anything in order!
ReplyDeleteDon't know that I am motivated to get up in time to see a meteor shower, either. :) I'm just sleeping good about that time of morning.
I start out in one area Vee and then get distracted and move to another; not a very good example. I doubt I will see the meteor shower-just don't enjoy getting up in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteHave a great afternoon.
Hugs, Noreen
I'm not very intellectual, but I'm really organized. It's my forte. Maybe that's your problem ... you're too smart by half. Try shutting off the thinking, just dig in. Before one knows it, the room is better and it's all done.
ReplyDeleteWe sure are having a lot of wonders in the sky this year, aren't we. We'll be up early but for a different reason. Probably won't have time to watch the sky this time. That's too bad, too, because I enjoy watching a meteor shower. ~:)
I think I am fairly organized! I HAVE to be to live in such a highly occupied house!! I start at one end and work my way around. LD wants me to help him in his music room. That gives me pause. It overwhelms even ME!!! So far I have spent the ENTIRE day in the kitchen and laundry room - including the pantry! Guess the den will have to wait til later in the week. I told Louis Dean I NEED to clean it soon because the couch is CRUNCHY when we sit down!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a plan to tackle our guest rooms next week as we have guests coming on two separate occasions in the near future. After reading your post I went and took a good look at the rooms that I decluttered about 6 months ago. I see I 'saved' some things that need to find their way into the trash or second hand store for someone elses pleasure. I'll come back here for some inspiration:)
ReplyDeleteOkay, YOU cracked me up over this one! I needed this! I can now say I am acting like that game we use to play PINBALL...
ReplyDeleteIf I were close I would come help you clean or to keep a list of what you were doing or what your next step was!! Right you can trust me NOT..
Yours, Roxy
Rabbit trails are the nice thing about cleaning, You never know what you'll find and where the memories will start and end. But it does slow one down … but maybe we're at the age where those memories serve a purpose--to slow us down!
ReplyDeleteI love to organize, but I have to be in the mood. And when the mood strikes I take full advantage of it. Just reorganized/sorted all my clothes. Now cleaning . . . that's where I'm a pinball . . . it's no fun, and I'm always thinking of other things to do. So vacuuming can take an entire day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the alert about the meteor shower Vee. I wasn't aware of that. I'll take a peek in the wee hours if I happen to wake up; I usually do sometime in the night. Just checked outside (it's 9:30 now) and right above the skies are clear but there are clouds around the perimeter. Keeping my fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteAs for organizing, I have no system or plan or schedule . . . and thus when the mood strikes, it takes a long time to accomplish the task and the same goes for deep cleaning too. I actually enjoy both but I am hopelessly impulsive about it all.
I rarely enter the guest room...unless someone is coming. And since no one else enters it either...it doesn't take much cleaning or organizing. As for the rest of the rooms of this house...that's another matter! I'm great at making things look clean and organized...as long as you don't look too hard. :) Drawers and cupboards never seem to stay organized! So...no tips for you. :)
ReplyDeleteA pinball! I love that! That is exactly what happens to me when I am on an organizing adventure. I get bapped from one corner to the next. I tend to find that the biggest disorder is in the smallest spaces. I'm not sure why that is, but the larger a room is here, the more orderly it seems to be. My advice won't be better than what you already know. Sort into two piles of "definitely toss" and "possibly keep" first, and then resort the possibily keeps into smaller piles.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think there it is beautifully romantic that you two recall the other meteor shower and were doing the same thing separately. It's like an old movie or something. (Maybe I'm just thinking that way because I have Lauren Bacall on the brain.)
And FWIW, I love to read blogs where someone is organizing or changing a room so you can post and repost about your current adventure, and it would be dandy with me.
When you find the secret of organizing, PLEASE post it so I will know. :)
ReplyDeleteVee, I know exactly what you mean about picking something up and thinking about where it came from and who gave it to me. That is how I packed up my house to move west--everything I wrapped had a story attached to it. I told V that I felt as if I had relived my whole life over.I always need a "push" to get things done as I'd rather read or putter. Hope you got your chores done!
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't see the meteor shower because of the moonlight. It was beautiful out though. And I've no help to offer. I'm a sister pinball. :-(
ReplyDeleteDoes it mean that I'm a pinball if I have way too many projects going on at once and the house is a mess??? Oops - no helpful advice from over here either. I always have good intentions though if that means anything.
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