I'm pooped

I just went through nearly three hours of sorting, shredding, and putting away things. Still working on the living room. I found a treasure trove of old papers, mostly pay stubs and that sort of thing, but also articles and some other things I wanted to save. I recycled a lot of stuff, including magazines and the shredded papers. I put some of the important papers away and stacked up the books and magazines to keep. I can't believe it took so long to do it, but I had to go through every scrap to see if it was important. I had pay stubs from 2005. Really. So everything from 2005-2010 went into the shredder, although I kept my tax records themselves. Pretty much everything else mail-wise went into the recycling bin.

I also emptied the hall closet and put the two little wire carts that have papers on them aside to go through another day. I think it's the old game notes and some school notes, the latter of which can probably go. I need to gather all the bags, purses, totes, etc. and put them up.

I'm not quite sure what to do with the books I have that don't have places on the bookshelves yet. I have a little room on the shelves between the living and dining area and some under the table in front of the window, and I think they'll fit there for now. The remaining magazines are in two baskets, with the ones I don't want to read again recycled or set aside to take to work to send to put in our box to send to the troops.

Here's the plan, although it might take a few weeks. Finish the living room. Get everything neat if not exactly organised in terms of books by subject for the newer ones. Get the rest of the house in order. Then start working on the drawers and closets. I don't really have a place for my clothes; the bedroom closets have books in them, the walk-in is for stuff that might get wet and survive (since it's leaked twice since I've been here), and the drawers just have STUFF. Lots of detritus from my life. And books. If I can get the drawers cleared, then I can put my clothes there and stop living out of hampers. One closet in the bedroom also has some boxes to go through. The plan is to by, say, fall, to have everything organised from top to bottom. The idea is to keep the stuff worth keeping and chuck or recycle the stuff I've been hoarding that has no real value.

You know, it's amazing how someone who spends her professional life organising other people's things--and who keeps an incredibly neat desk and workspace, can get so overwhelmed with stuff at home. I know the tendency to hoard is pathological, and I'll probably fight it all my life. And part of it is that I've got over 44 years' worth of stuff crammed into 750 square feet. But I will get a handle on this, one way or another.