In which I am MIGHTY!

[katallison]

Yesterday morning I woke up actually feeling *good* for the first time in a week, reflected with some satisfaction that the zinc + rest combo seemed to have cut this latest cold down in its tracks, got up and drank some coffee, opened the blinds and took a good look around the place, and staggered back in my tracks, clutching my heart. Dear god, the horror, the mind-boggling SHAMBLES of randomly-strewn DVDs, books, dirty dishes, used tissues, tapes, half-empty food containers, lint wads, dirty socks, and general filth and chaos.

I entertained brief fantasies of just torching the place, but knew the upstairs neighbors wouldn't appreciate that at all, so I chugged some more coffee, took a deep breath, and started digging.

And today? This place is -- I just don't have words for how lovely it is to be sitting here in a house that is clean and organized and spacious. All horizontal surfaces are *bare* except for items of immediate use or ornamental value. All books and DVDs are neatly organized and put away. All socks have been washed, paired, and put in the drawer. All my dishes are clean. *boggle* And my desk is completely and entirely free of crumbs, dust, mold-breeding ancient coffee cups, CDs missing their cases, fallen-down post-its, and AC adaptors of unknown purpose.

Prodigious amounts of crap were thrown out--including (with some sad nostalgia) a whole bunch of videotapes that, honestly, I was never going to watch again. (Granted, I still have at least a hundred, but at least they're neatly boxed up and labelled so I might stand a chance of finding what I'm looking for.)

There's still a lot to do--the basement is a nightmare, and I want to completely reorganize my bedroom sometime soon--but *man.* I feel like I can breathe freely again, and not just because the phlegm has left my respiratory tract. Now all I have to do is convince myself that it's really a whole lot easier and pleasanter to devote 20-30 minutes a day to *keeping* things like this.

Comments

[rhi]

::laughing:: Yes, you know you're well when you wake up, relize you have a job like that ahead, and go and do it. Congratulations on both feeling better and the pleasure of having it all clean and organized, Kat!!

[maygra.livejournal.com]

It's amazing, isn't it? I have perfected the fine art of totrally ignoring the clutter until I stub a toe or something...but as messy as I am, I really do prefer things to at least *look* neat and together. (And dusted!) but amn, it really does take discipline to keep it that way.

Go you!!

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

Holy cow -- congratulations!

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I hail your mightiness!

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful feeling... I can see you having a nice hot cup of something in the midst of your newly tidy space.

[thisisbone.livejournal.com]

You GO, girl.

We're collecting things for the AmVets pickup this week. Five bags full so far, including a set of flannel sheets with dogs and cats cavorting in suspicious ways. I look at them and wonder what the hell I was thinking when I bought them...

We recently donated a bunch of videos to the local library book sale. We'll get a tax deduction, they'll make a little money, and they're out of my house! Whee!

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

That's one of my favorite feelings in the world. Well, healthy, and with a clean house. Add a full fridge and a good book to read, and I'm in heaven.

So glad you're feeling better!

[kestrelsan.livejournal.com]

Dear god, the horror, the mind-boggling SHAMBLES of randomly-strewn DVDs, books, dirty dishes, used tissues, tapes, half-empty food containers, lint wads, dirty socks, and general filth and chaos.

That pretty much describes the current state of *my* house, and I don't even have the excuse of having been sick. I take motivation from your industriousness, and hopefully will get my own hell-hole under control today *g*. In other words: yay! clean house=good.

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

I woke up this morning with the same feeling as you did yesterday. Given that two people live in my house, so the clutter isn't ALL mine, I feel less responsibility to take care of it today (read: he's at work and I'm damned if I'm going to do heavy-duty cleaning without him), but your house sounds soooo niiiice. I am jealous. And impressed. My DeathFlu recovery days were mostly spent celebrating the joy that was leaving the house.

Glad you kicked the cold!

[eliade.livejournal.com]

You have inspired me!

*attacks apartment*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

You may well be my hero. *admires*

[arallara.livejournal.com]

Holy shit, you're amazing! *g*

I just don't have words for how lovely it is to be sitting here in a house that is clean and organized and spacious.

Oh my god, I love that feeling. That's the best. My roommate and I go on cleaning binges every couple months, and it's always so incredibly pleasant just to *hang out* in the living room afterwards. Just sitting there amidst all that clean and organized space is so calming.

Now all I have to do is convince myself that it's really a whole lot easier and pleasanter to devote 20-30 minutes a day to *keeping* things like this.

Yeah, see, that's our problem, too. Only not even 20-30 minutes, but, like, the 30 *seconds* that it takes to wipe up the kitchen counter if there is spilled sugar or coffee mug rings on it, say. We're not so good at that stuff.

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

*cannot wait for phlegm to phlee respiratory tract* Want to come over here and clean?? *g* Actually, I felt good enough to do the dishes this morning, which is amazing, though one thing I swore to myself was that even with the units gone from the house I was going to keep up on dishes if nothing else. And I've been good about it. Nothing sits for more than 24 hours if I can help it. Possibly, with so much else to do and no energy to do it with, that's the best accomplishment I can hope for right now. Glad you're better!

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

You did that in a DAY? Either it wasn't as messy as you describe or you really ARE mighty. I prefer the latter explanation.

:::::peers around own dwelling and considers doing the same::::

[heresluck]

Fantastic!

I cannot *wait* to be living in my own place again so I can do exactly that. Even though I have to pack up all my crap and move a state away in order to do it. *g*

[namastenancy.livejournal.com]

I bow to your wonderfullness! It's never to late to discover that dirt and clutter are Not Your Friends! I am and always have been very neat and simply cannot function in a messy space. So, I take no credit for what appears to be a genetic trait (you can decide if it's a bad or a good Thing). But ain't it grand to be able to find things, breathe clean air, have clean socks, and a desk that you where you can actually see the surface. Of course, one of your old coffee cups was probably growing the next miracle mold that will save the world - but hey! You can't have everything.

Congratulations.

namaste SF Nancy

[vagabondage.livejournal.com]

Pete and I did a ton of spring cleaning this weekend, too. It's wonderful when it's all clean and pretty! Sure, it actually snowed a little more today, but I have faith that spring is coming. I feel as if I'm coming out of my hibernation.

[copernica3.livejournal.com]

I love that feeling, and yet have a hard time compelling myself to clean, especially when I am 1) happy or 2) very depressed. My space is very clean only when I am on a deadline that relates to something else or trying to actively shake myself out of a funk. At all other times it is a blizzard of assorted media, clothing clean or dirty, and coffee cups.
I am trying to change this, but well aware this falls into category 2) trying to shake myself out of a funk and that the test will be when I go foward or backward and try to maintain order through it instead of ceasing to care. Anyway.
I am glad you feel better and have a nice clean house. :-)