I stood in front of the pantry. I exhaled through the sides of my mouth and shifted cans and boxes around, searching for dinner options. I discovered forgotten inventory and added “organize kitchen cabinets” to my mental to-do list.
Meanwhile, Stockton decided to finish sanding and painting our dining room. No small job when plaster walls are involved. He dons a respirator and contains the cloud of dust by taping plastic sheets over the doorways. My sensitive eyeballs approve.
It’s a multi-day project. When he reaches Paint Day, I decide to sort kitchen spaces. This might take awhile. I open the Pandora app on my smartphone. Soon I’m jiving as I’m organizing, throwing stuff out, and making progress. The only creatures whining are the pets, restricted by a toddler gate from the wet paint area.
Hours pass. I don’t notice the time. I move from cabinet to cabinet, acquainting myself with jars of ingredients and towers of reusable lunch containers. The Four Tops, Depeche Mode, and Nirvana all take turns keeping me company. One verse, one instrument at a time, I’m beating clutter. Eventually, I hear Stockton sealing paint cans. It’s quitting time. I close doors and drawers and smile. Housework is fun when it gets a soundtrack.
What area in your house needs some attention? How do you stay organized? What’s the oldest foodstuff in your pantry? Do you dream about the Container Store and envy the decor in IKEA catalogs? Tell me about it.
Adventures in Low Vision 
There’s something in the air: I’ve been decluttering as well! I feel so much more productive when I finish clearing my desk. My favorite “cleaning” chore is to rearrange the pile of books I’m currently reading or planning to read—and the pile of notebooks I’m writing in (because of course there’s more than one) .
Go team! I support the idea of multiple notebooks.
Great start to the New Year, well done. I just spent a rainy weekend throwing away paper. Where does it all come from? Oldest thing in my cupboard? Probably some dried fruit going back several Christmases, waiting for that cake I am unlikely to make.