Skip to main content

The Homeless Crisis

I have four, count them FOUR, new books to read. Confession time... I haven't read all the way through an entire book in a couple years now. Skimmed yes, read all the way through, no. I think I've found my tribe; Dana K. White, A Slob Comes Clean, Emily P. Freeman, The Next Right Thing, Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius Way and Myquillyn Smith, the Nester. 

I love reading about cleaning, style and routine. Of course, I need to be careful here as Dana has warned, it's much more fun to read about cleaning than actually clean! Oh I can come up with the plan. Yes Ma'am! It's the daily execution that is a lot more trying! 

Over the past few years I've noticed something in my home. I have a homeless crisis. If you were to peak at my calendar, it would often say, "Deal with the homeless crisis." The homeless crisis in my home is a crisis of too many things that have no home. The REAL problem is "too many things". So my focus in the coming weeks and months, as we prepare for our move to Fresno, is to deal with this crisis. 

Like with the looming national homeless crisis, this problem cannot be solved by just sending the problem down the road. When one is found in our fair city to be illegally camping, the police come and ask them to move along. This happened the other day and I noticed that the illegal campers moved themselves around a corner. About 100 steps away from where they had been originally. And there they will camp until the next time they are asked to "move along." The problem hasn't been alleviated in any way. It's just moved.

That is exactly what happens in my home. The problem gets moved. People are coming over and I move all the homeless into the laundry room. Then after company leaves those items get dug out again or moved yet again. "Just putting these items away" is not possible. There is NO room for them. The spot they go is perhaps already overflowing. I do NOT lack space and even if I did, the problem needs to be handled. 

Marla Cilley, the Flylady, famously notes... Clutter is nothing more than delayed decisions. 

I've truly been making progress in this area. Cleaning out cabinets and drawers and rooms and making room for what counts. Sometimes finding what brings me joy, in the Marie Kondo way and sometimes just picking low hanging fruit of easy decisions. Sometimes each and every item has a story. On my piano there is a tiny - I mean less than an inch x inch little shelf with a tiny mushroom on it. It belongs to a Cuckoo clock at the cabin. It broke off quite some time ago and I always mean to take it with me to the cabin and glue it back on the clock. The clock would be so much the nicer for having it's missing piece glued back. I've been to the cabin probably 7 times in the last three months and every time I forget that little piece every time, because it's so little it evades my notice as I rush out the door. 

I long to have a home with a place for everything and everything in it's place. I'm making good progress towards my goal and hope to get to a place where the one in, one out principal will actually make a difference. I've heard it only works if there aren't 10 things that need to go for every one thing you bring in!!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Super Bowl Love Story

In late August 1996, I attended a bridal shower tea for my sister in law to be, Melanie Hull.  Her Aunt Shirley had created a beautiful party out on the back lawn, flowers and china and everyone in girly dresses. But most lovely of all was Melanie. I fell in love with her dress. It was my dream dress. Floral print. Georgette. Flowy. Bell/Cape Sleeve. Tea Length. Perfect Tea dress. I “pinned” it in my mind. That’s what we had to do back then. I knew that if I ever married – and hopefully that dashing Frank – that was the dress I wanted for my bridesmaids.  Furthermore… I had always hoped that if I could, I would provide the dresses for my bridesmaids. I had been in a couple of weddings and the expense was always difficult. It seemed like kind of a boobie prize to me. Hey, my dearest friends in the world, please be in my wedding so I can shove you over the precipice and into debt. Oh and make sure you check out my bridal registry! In January 1997, I was pretty h...
1 comment
Read more

Weekend Treasure

  Here are some stock photos of the love seat, chair and ottoman we purchased on Saturday at the auction.  These pictures don't really do the set justice.  But we have determined that the retail price for these now discontinued pieces was $1899.  We topped out our auction at $500.00, so after sales tax and the 15% auction fee, we did pretty well.. paying approximately 1/3 of retail. As an added bonus, they were sold to us as "durahide" which means fake.  Frank and I used to say that Nogahide should have been named NOTaHide.  But after looking them up, they are 60% leather.. the parts that don't matter -the back, are not.  BONUS!  They are now all safely home and put away... where you say?  Where could you possibly have put all these lovely pieces of furniture? Oh, I forgot to mention that they are for the cabin.  The hope is that mice will be thoroughly repelled by the very idea of gnawing on cowhide.  And besides that, they ...
6 comments
Read more

The Fourth

The Fourth didn't feel much like the Fourth here in Hawaii.  We were very surprised!  New Years Eve is a huge time of fireworks all around the beaches and everywhere you go.  But the Fourth, not so much.  We could have gone to one of three large fireworks shows on the islands, but we didn't feel like fighting traffic and people.  We opted for a drive around the island to explore new sights and places.  We drove through Hale'iwa town and investigated some kayaking rental places for later in the week.  We headed on up the island and around to the Turtle Bay area.  Years ago, my folks were blessed to be able to use a condo over in this area and always came home talking about the shrimp trucks.  If you know, or knew my folks, you probably know they aren't really "taco truck" sort of people.  However, we stopped at fumi's and picked up 2 pounds of fresh uncooked shrimp.  Never frozen, people! Heads, tentacles, and eyeballs still i...
Post a Comment
Read more