Monday, March 25, 2013

Spring Cleaning! It's fun!



CHERRY BLOSSOMS
 
April is almost upon us, the time of newness, the time of throwing out the old, and the time to take a deep cleansing breath of fresh spring air. (If you suffer from allergies, please ignore the last suggestion.)
At my house, the first thing we do is open all the doors and windows. We feel as though the air is stagnant, since it's been behind closed doors during the cold months. So, out goes the clogged air, and in comes fresh air.

But cleaning the house and porches are necessary tasks, and while they may be fulfilling to my soul, I personally like to clean my own personal space better.


1. Clothes closet--this cleaning job is complete. Instead of doing this in the spring, I work on it here and there until I have winter clothing on the back of the racks, and newer spring clothing toward the front. Any article of clothing I haven't touched in two years goes to Goodwill. It's pretty clear I'm not going to wear it.

My desk and surrounding area--
It's a very small desk with a two drawer file cabinet next to it.
The top of the file cabinet gives me a little more space.
 
2. Tasks:
--Go through cup with the cat on it that holds pens, pencils, and a nail file. Check each one--throw out the dry ones or nearly empty ones, and if a pencil hard a hard eraser, chunk that in the trash, too. Then go to stash of brand new shiny never-before used Foray Stylemark Fine Tip pens and choose the hot pink, purple and a new black one.

--Go through small wicker basket that holds various business cards for doctors, Holy Week church schedule (I now have it memorized), old receipts, and several small sheets from a notepad with insignificant or outdated information.

--From the desktop, remove prescription bottle that reminded me to order from Caremark, a stack of 5x7 cards with dozens of notes that are now indecipherable, four sticky notes from last week, a catalog for Clinique special for this month, a flyer that explains how to download Free Books for my Kindle from my library because the instructions don't work, and a little pile of colored paperclips.

--From the top of the file cabinet, throw out old notes and, spiral notebooks, and an old yellow legal size notepad.

--To my left, keep the all-important 9.5 x 6 spiral notebook I use for "Tasks for today." When I have everything checked off a page, I turn it back and begin a new page. This works really well for me. Also, break open the package of new 3/4 colorful notepads and choose pink (remember, it's spring.)

--Not to be dismissed lightly, please do dust and clean all surfaces as you go, including your computer.
TA-DA!!!!
CLEAN, ORGANIZED LITTLE DESK
IT'S NOT BIG, BUT I LOVE IT.
AND I CAN LOOK OUT THE BACK
AND WATCH THE BIRDS AND DEER.
--Last, but not least, nor can it be done in one day, Delete all old files, manuscripts, notes, etc. that's loaded on the computer. But by all means, be careful--do not delete anything important.  However if I do, I can retrieve it from the Recycle File.

There. Now I feel better.
Try it--you'll like it.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/celiayeary
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25 comments:

  1. Great job on your spring cleaning! It's snowing here today and I'm scoring so it was nice to relax and read your inspiring post on tossing and cleaning. :)

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  2. Great job on your spring cleaning! It's snowing here today and I'm scoring so it was nice to relax and read your inspiring post on tossing and cleaning. :)

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  3. Cute post. :) I'm in the middle of mine. I call it the annual purge. People will actually ask my husband "is she spring cleaning yet?" Hmm..The stuff of legend I suppose. I don't know about you Celia, but it's a must for me. It's a renewal of sorts, and it really helps put one's mind in order.

    Rose

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  4. Celia, one question. Does your work area look that neat while you're writing? Sometimes it's difficult to find the surface of mine, crowded with books, papers, computer, phone, iPad, container of pens & pencils, and framed photos of grandkids. Hmmm...maybe I should reassess this whole idea of spring cleaning.

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  5. Celia, how inspiring. But although I've always been an organized person, I am becoming a procrastinator. Maybe because I have to do this in duplicate, FL and then KY. It is so easy to say, I'll do it next time we're here, or there. And organize my computer? Don't I wish. But I am going to pull unworn forever clothes from my closet, I promise.

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  6. Diane--As long as I inspired someone, I'm happy! Thanks for taking a few minutes to read my blog--now that you're relaxed, you may return to the scoring.
    Thanks!

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  7. Rose--I like calling it The Purge. I don't like clutter or things in disray. If it get that way, I have to stop and neaten up the space or I can't continue.
    Thank you fro visiting!

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  8. Tom--you see, I am a teensy bit Obsessive/Compulsive. If I saw your desk, I'd have the urge to clean that up for you!!!!
    Also, I think there is an adage about a space filling up according to size. Big desk---big stack of stuff. Little desk---not enough room, so it doesn't stack up.
    But you do it your way!
    Thanks so much for reading it and commenting.

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  9. Linda--of course, you're organized! Wouldn't I know that?
    However, I believe the procrastination comes from too many thoughts and creative ideas, and it's difficult to make a decision and begin..anything.
    Amyway, that sounds better than being lazy.
    Yes, throw out old clothing. I think I've thrown out bags of old clothing, but when I look in the closet....I don't see any empty space.
    And don't believe that I follow that two-year rule. I still have my wedding dress and my going-away suit Mother made (which I tried on no long ago, and found I could get the skirt up my hips and zip it almost up, but could not fasten the waistband.
    Thanks for visiting today.

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  10. I open my windows in the Spring. Compared to you I'm a hoarder. LOL
    My desk is a filled with a line-up of resource books, a wireless printer, 3 containers of pens, pencils, markers and stuff. Even my walls have more on them than your neat and tidy pictures. I have 2 bulletin boards I use for story boards. And my closets? Well, there's stuff in there I'm sure I haven't worn in ten years. I know. Sad but true.

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  11. I think I'll procrastinate a little longer. ;)

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  12. Sarah--I think you and Tom are related. And don't worry about being a hoarder. Some of the lovliest people I know are hoarders and very messy. If I had a bigger space, I'd probably have things like a bulletin board, etc. But this is in our master bedrom. Hubby has the spare room, his man cave, and he has two long desks, the printer, two huge file cabinets with some of my stuff, etc. He wants me to take the third bedrom, but there's a queen bed in there for guests, and besides, I really like my little space. I don't want anything like a printer--he does that for me. Plus, I being in the center of the house instead of a corner.
    Too much information? Eeek, sorry.

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  13. R.E.--there's nothing wrong with procrastinating. And yes, what might appear as profractinaiton, might very well be a busy mind, busily creating a plot for a story.
    Thanks for coming by---

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  14. I have been cleaning out our closet. I did not find it refreshing, but it certainly looks better. We are in the process of cleaning out everything due to putting our house on the market in a couple of weeks. In the future, I vow to try your method of a bit at a time all year.

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  15. I go through a similar process. Do it twice a year. Before Easter and before Christmas.

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  16. I'm like Tom. My desk is piled high with papers, books, photos and good junk that I can't decide what to do with. (Ooh, bad sentence there!) But you have given me ideas, Celia. Maybe after I get past the Dreamin in Dallas conference I'll motivate myself to sort things out. Only I still need to finish the last couple chapters of my WIP, and then there's the formatting for Amazon, and I really, really must get my books back on Nook and, and . . .

    Hmm, it may end up being fall cleaning for me. Darn!

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  17. Caroline--I like to clean my clothes closet with seasons change. That works, because I'm moving clothing around, anyway.
    I wish you much luck with your house.

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  18. Nike--those are good times to clean closets. Spring and winter.
    Thanks for visiting!

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  19. LYN--okay, now I think you and Tom and Sarah are related. I guess you're in good company!
    Procrastination is my worst fault--I prefer to call it "selective tasks," or something that sounds better.
    And those WIP, etc? Yes, me, too...I'm ashamed of myself for starting stories that are promising, and I love interest, or something else takes over.
    Thank you for visiting--i appreciate it.

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  20. Celia, it's a big job. I just got done cleaning Joe's room, the boy's bathroom and dusting Andrew's room. Took me 2 hours and I earned 7 points for housework, low effort!! But there's so much to do. You're right - it can't be done in a day. Next is spring break for the boys. I hope to get more cleaning done then. Your post is "pitch" perfect. Inspirational and motivational without being in your face. Time to find the dust rags. hehe

    Smiles
    Steph

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  21. Congrats on your spring clean! I'm impressed by your organisation! I had my 'spring-clean' of my office last autumn when I had the decorator here, and also had a new carpet laid, so everything had to come out of the office (and believe me, that's a lot of stuff!)
    That's my first reason for not doing to spring clean again now. The second reason is - spring? We had snow today, and have a week of bitterly cold weather. It feels more like winter than spring! They're even forecasting a 'White Easter' for us. What on earth has happened to the seasons??

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  22. Steph--I shudder, remembering spring cleaning the kid's rooms. Even if they have the job of daily tidying their rooms, they cannot clean like mom does.
    Actually, my intent for the post was to talk about spring cleaning my files--and mention WIPs, what I should do with some, etc. But it turned into an post about physical cleaning of space. Ah, well.
    Thanks for your comment!

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  23. Paula-you have snow?? Yikes! We do have a "cold snap," as some say, in the 30s during the night, warming to about 55 during the day. That was unusual for us. Now, it's warming up a bit, and it appears we'll have nice Easter Sunday weather.
    Oh, if I had recently redecorated and was forced to move everything, believe me, I wouldn't do it again!
    The seasons are, indeed, very topsy-turvy.
    Have a great weekend.

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  24. You are way ahead of me with your spring cleaning. Although I lost a piece of paper a week ago and had to sort through various stacks to find it, whittling them down as I went.

    Where does all this stuff come from? I'm always amazed at what I hold onto.

    I'm with you on the clothes. If I haven't worn it in 2 years, out it goes.

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  25. Maggie--like you, I wonder where all this stuff comes from that takes up residence on my desk. Mind you, it's probably not much compared to Tom and Sarah, but still, for me, it's a lot.
    At least you understand the clothes thing. I read that years ago in a fasion magazine and hold to that as much as I can.
    Make-up is another thing we should clean out. Anything over six months old should be thrown out.
    Thanks for making it over to comment. I know you're so busy right now.

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