There was a lot to catch up on before getting down to work on letting go of stuff in the upstairs guest room. The ironing board was up in there and there were things that needed ironing, so after pressing four shirts, two blouses, a skirt, and two placemats I was able to put the ironing board away and get down to business.
I have to admit my heart wasn't in it. Maybe weekends are supposed to be for rest days from projects just like rest days from real work. I made myself do the hard part first-the basket holding a stack that had been moved from the dining room table when our small group came over got first place on the to do list. I decided to abide by two rules I have read about in the past-set a time limit for the work you are going to do and pick a project that is manageable enough to finish and clean up after yourself .I had decided I would only work three hours because I had spent longer than that earlier this week and it had made me tired and depressed. Adding to that feeling, it seemed like I was making more of a mess than making progress. I remembered that Julie Morgenstern had described herself in her early years as hopelessly disorganized. I saw myself on pages 58 and 59 of her book, Organizing from the Inside Out, where she described trying to clean her room when she was a young girl. Faced with putting things away in spaces already full, she wrote, "Figuring I had to make space, I'd begin by dumping out all the drawers and emptying all the closets in an effort to decide what 'junk'I could get rid of." Uh oh........I just went back to quote that section and read some more of her account that I had forgotten...."in the course of sorting through this stuff, I would rediscover treasure I hadn't set eyes on since the last time I'd attempted to get my room in shape.....slowing the clean up process to a crawl--followed by 'Oh, no, I forgot to send this letter! or Ooops, I never finished making this scarf' which would bring the process to a grinding halt as I tried to complete each unfinished chore that second." I guess I should have just put away the ironing board and not ironed the clothes.
I think I will go back and read the "Strategies" chapter again. I need a plan of action. Have I told you we are having company next weekend? That's a good thing! Nothing motivates cleaning the guest room like the fact that someone actually needs to sleep on the bed and have a place to put their suitcase!
Furthermore, although I would like to be farther along with actualizing my vision for the guest room, I celebrate with anticipation how easy it will be to get dressed for church in the morning with so many nicely ironed clothes to choose from!
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