Project: a large or major undertaking, especially one involving considerable money, personnel, and equipment
I can assure you that no money was involved during this, stay-at-home-and-stop-the-spread, undertaking.
And, as far as personnel, I am all of that. A singular body. A personage, in my own right. Here in my home, anyway.
The scene: My home office.
Well, honestly, it wasn’t/isn’t as bad as this photo. Close, but no cigar.
The first two weeks of being unemployed and relatively sequestered at home, I did very little. Oh, I thought about projects which needed my undivided attention. I made notes, lots of them. Initially, the novelty of not working was almost a feeling of being on an extended vacation. Suddenly, there was such a large window of free time in front of me with no pressure in having to do something. As I’ve written before, time was now on my side to think about it, talk about it and formulate a plan to get it done. Eventually.
And then it became real, starting with a slew of photographs. We all have them. Somewhere. Go look! As I shared recently on Facebook, for me, it was an accumulation of more than 50 years of memories, some sad, most happy. Images of new life, celebrations and precious moments captured by a camera lens. I laughed, to myself, about how times have changed where pictures are concerned. How many of us have photo albums, gathering dust on a shelf, or stashed in a closet? Now, SD Cards chronicle our passing years in a digitized format.
From there, it was greeting cards and notes. Birthday, holiday, thank-you, get-well, anniversary….why do we save them? I didn’t, except, of course, for every card given by my grandchildren. No respectable grandparent will ever discard that scribbled note or handmade card from the loves of their life. Oh, I’d better add the little notes always left behind from our oldest daughter when she visits. She tucks them here and there around my home for me to find when I open a drawer or some other spot where I’m certain to find them. Keepers.
On to the supply drawers. Equipment, of sorts. 12 boxes of Chalk. Who uses that anymore? Why do I even have it and where the hell did it come from? Markers… definitely keepers. Crayons..always come in handy. Pencils…Mongol, 5 boxes, all in need of sharpening but I can’t find the electric pencil sharpener. Stickers, Post-it notepads, paper clips, staples, pens, envelopes and…57 one cent stamps. 57. Don’t ask.
And then, the BIG stuff. Business documents. Invoices, ledgers, tax paperwork (ugh), check stubs, certificates…all now infringing on my personal, home office, space since we closed our retail operation a few years ago. The rule of thumb is to save all for at least 7 years. Let me tell you, my next purging is going to be a bitch and cannot come soon enough!
For now, I’m just about done, at least with my home office. I’m on a roll, ready to forge ahead and tackle clothes closets, starting with…The Husband’s. It’s all good with him working and giving me some prime time to go in (as I do yearly) and get rid of questionable menswear. Most wives know…those jeans that are “good for when I cut the grass”, or…”when I work on the cars”…soon to be history! Also departing the homestead, a protective “male” device worn by The Husband when he played softball, 30 years ago. Why do men hang onto possessions like this? I’ll be asking myself this as well when I go though my closets and heave everything that I haven’t worn and have no idea why I purchased some in the first place. I did get rid of my Disco Dress in last year’s purging. It was difficult, but I did it. I’m on a roll!
From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…Write about a project you recently started.
