Closet Hoarder

If you know me well, you know a couple of things.

1. I am an anti-hoarder - like, it's so bad that my kids know that I throw EVERYTHING away so they have a box that they have to keep things in that they don't want to end up in the trash can. They come home from school with something, I look at it and in the trash it goes. (I know - Mother of the Year).

2. While I like things clean, I am not very organized. I want to be, I love the look of organized homes, pantries, cabinets, etc., but I just lack something that organized people have.

So, last night, I'm texting my friend Holly (we kind of have this habit of night time texting - and it's always random and hilarious. I joke with her that she's my late-night rapid fire texting buddy). Anyway, I'm texting Holly, and somehow we get on the subject of houses/cleaning/organizing/weird OCD traits, and during our text convo, I tell her that my house is ALWAYS picked up before bed. Things are put away, dishes are done, toys picked up, bedrooms cleaned. I can't stand to wake up to a mess. Then I proceed to tell her that while I do all of that, she should see my closet/pantry. It's awful. Unorganized. Hideous. Picture the most beautiful closet you've ever seen. Now, picture the exact opposite of that. That's my closet. We laughed (via lots of LOL's) and sent each other a few pictures of weird things in our home and then we said goodnight. Yes, this is really what we do.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I got thinking about our texts and went in my closet to take a real good look. I was disturbed. My base boards in there - never and I mean in almost 7 years - been dusted. Piles of junk. Shoes EVERYWHERE. Boxes, that I thought I needed to save, still in there about 5 years later. A high school duffle bag that I used when I cheered (with my name on it) - yep, still up there. It was embarrassing. Something had to be done. Immediately. So, I go to the kitchen, grab a bunch of trash bags, and I went to town. I whipped out my vacuum and all the fancy tools that people normally don't use and I cleaned every nook and cranny in that place. It still wouldn't make the pages of a magazine, but it's better. I don't fear the Hoarders TV show and a group of friends showing up at my front door for an intervention anymore. I walk in there and feel so happy. I filled our giant trash can today with just stuff from the closet. I was on a mission. Landfills don't scare me. I'm filling the land with a bunch of old junk and I like it.

I expect Green Peace at my door soon. I may need an intervention after all.

Before

And AFTER