Susan’s Personal Organizational Issues (grin) (May 2007)

Susan's Thursday morning note May 3, 2007 
Susan's Organizational Issues (grin)

Oh, the smell of brewing coffee – I absolutely love this five minute period of my day!!!  Birds are singing outside my door – it’s a great start to another day (probably the only five minute period of normalcy!).  You may be interested in a little bit of strange behavior in my life this week.  It is to the point that possibly serious psychiatric help is finally called for.  I made the mistake Tuesday at a salon in picking up a magazine entitled Living Simply, giving busy women suggestions for getting organized within their homes.  I was entranced with the many ideas that seemed so incredibly easy that had never entered my little head.  Upon exiting the salon (which in itself brings a self-esteem challenge to me) I headed to the infamous Wal-Mart to recreate the magazine pictures within my own home.  Not to be daunted by the aisles and aisles that I rarely venture into, I began loading my cart with baskets, hanging paraphernalia, and misc.  assorted organizational creations by someone that doesn’t have my same thought patterns.  I loaded down the entire trunk and back seat and entered my home – with only our little hamster, Chip, observing this new woman entering his daytime domain.

Yesterday morning from 5-8 a.m.  this little Chip observed strange strange patterns in the home.  A woman he didn’t recognize coming & going, coming & going, up & down our stairs.  Each time with a few orange boxes with large letters on the side.  He observed this woman going out the front door and putting these boxes in her trunk (after making sure no neighbors were watching).  After filling the trunk with these orange boxes, and who knows what else, little hamster friend then observed something quite uncommon from his owner – determination with the garbage containers outside.  Once again making sure no one was watching, his little owner began to load the already full containers that were out at the road with these orange boxes.  They were now overflowing and the front of our home was an embarrassment to even the hamster’s favorite friend.  Well, once 18 of these orange boxes (with the word TIDE on the side) were hauled past his pen he then observed the following action from whom he used to be so proud of.  His owner now looking left and right, then proceeding to add some of the 18 orange boxes to the already full neighbor’s bin.  The humiliation.  The mess.  The horror if anyone saw what was happening before the garbage trucks arrived.  Then – at the end of a few hours of serious clothes hanging, redoing of closets, and carrying out of the stash of laundry boxes – Chip then witnessed the unthinkable.  His little owner entering her home, locking her front door, shutting her curtains, and just praying the garbage trucks would come so so soon.  What’s that noise out front?   Oh, no – the lady of the house peeked out the window – a pizza box added to the top of the horribly overflowing neighbors bin – CAUGHT.  And did she go out to apologize?   No.  She just repressed what she had just done (and repressed the fact that Martha Stewart would die of shock that “the Susan” from Susan’s Books and Gifts would be so unorganized in the laundry department that she had 18 empty boxes of Tide next to her washing machine.

Needless to say, I have decided to add an organizational section to the store (if I can get organized enough to look for some good ones!) I’m sure I’m not the only one that makes a semi-decent first impression with my home, but knows in the back of my mind that my oven is full of hidden dirty pans I need to clean, and my laundry room is something I hope is not a reality when I dream the scene!  I hope that those of you that do not deal with life like me can pretend you didn’t get this e-mail, and the rest of you can feel quite confidant in just dropping into my home at any time of the day, for now you know some of my “dirt”!  We have “dirt” on the mind with all of this construction out front – so let me reiterate – THANK YOU for coming in the back, for trekking in the front, for continuing to shop in our little store.  Susan