Welcome to my February challenge, Clearing Space, a 15 minute daily practice dedicated to reclaiming my home…reclaiming my life, one small area at a time. Fifteen minutes, no more, no less. And nothing can be shuffled off to another space. It must be put away where it belongs, thrown away or recycled.

And because this is an art blog there will be an arty ‘after’ photo to inspire. ‘Before’ photos would only be too upsetting and might land me a gig on some cheesy cable reality show. And I have too much on my plate to be a TV celebrity of the hoarding kind.

Although I might be open to a guest appearance on Ellen. Might as in YES! Pick MEEEEEEE!

Note to Ellen: See below.

Today’s project: Day 3, the dresser.

It was my father’s dresser, a lovely old mahogany thing with slider trays in the top drawer and dividers in the next couple down. I was always fascinated by it as a kid, that it had all these clever ways for organizing his stuff.

Well now it’s mine. The top drawer with the sliders and dividers is a jumble, as are the other five. But this is not about the drawers, their day will come. And trust me, their contents are shocking enough to warrant their own post in this series.

This post is about the top. The part that people see when they walk into the bedroom. Not that there’s much foot traffic in our bedroom but I see it. And Mr. Spouse sees it.

Or maybe we don’t see it.

Because when I had at the pile today I discovered:

• The ratty old baseball cap Mr. Spouse wears when working outside, the one he’s been looking for for quite some time. The one I snatched from the jaws of a dog in the middle of the night, tossed it on the dresser where I was reasonably sure she couldn’t retrieve it. And then I went back to bed and forgot all about it. 
• A lovely sweater Dear Daughter hasn’t worn in 10 years and no longer wants and “Why do you still have that thing anyway, Mama? Give it away” 
• The Christmas table runner I couldn’t find at Christmas. And several empty department store bags from Christmas shopping.
• A brand new unopened pack of panties I vaguely remember buying. Bright cheery colors just in time for spring. Except the teal with daisies. My ass doesn’t do daisies. Seriously. Just. Doesn’t. That gem might become a paint rag right off.
• Four perfectly good pens (three blue, one black), one broken pencil and two thick luscious rubber bands. Oh, and a roll of Scotch tape. 
• Two notebooks and a notepad, grocery list still attached.
• Drugstore reader cheater glasses. Two pair mine, one Mr. Spouse. Although maybe his is actually prescription. Note to self: Be sure to show him those glasses.
• A grocery checkout women’s magazine that guarantees I will lose 184 pounds by March 1. Unfortunately March 1 is coming up way too soon to fulfill that promise. And if I lost 184 pounds I would not only cease to exist, there would be nothing left of me–not one single atom–to remember me by, just a black hole of she who used to be. I think there’s some sort of quantum theory about that sort of thing but as math was never one of my strengths I just have to make one up. Which is what theoretical physicists do anyway.
• The rough outline of an online class I want to teach. Mixed Media. Start saving your pennies because you know you want to take it. And by the time you’ve got the money I might have the class ready.
• Customer service number for the phone company along with my not too concise notes as to why I was calling them. Something about wtf are you charging me this for!!! Except if I remember right I started off polite–I always start off polite–and they were polite and everything worked out fine. So WTF never crossed my lips.
• Pajama bottoms
• Five CDs.
• One Kettlebell book, one QiGong book and one book about attitude and weight loss, which if I’d read that women’s magazine I wouldn’t need.
• One rock. A nice rock. I’m sure it meant something to me at one time or another.
• One clock radio which unfortunately has to stay. At least as long as I’m employed.

Sounds like a lot, like a humongous pile. But the thing is, it didn’t look like that much stuff. It really didn’t. I can be a neat stacker when it comes down to it.

Am I protesting too much?

Well, whatever. That was then. This is now.

The Dresser

One more exhale…. 25 to go. Ahhhhh…. Feels so good!

What do you think? Cleared any clutter lately? Would love to hear whatever’s on your mind (unless it’s politics) in the comments below.

See you tomorrow!

xoxo

Side note to Ellen: I dance and I tells jokes (as long as you don’t need both the set up and punchline). But most of all my friend Laura would be sooooo jealous if I was on your show. Laura would be an okay guest too, I guess, so you could have us both. She does chicken tricks. Call me, okay? I’ll see if I can clear my calendar.