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01 May 2007

Today's decorating update [More:]I am no nearer to painting this room than I was last weekend.

Today I have spent the whole day going through the many, many folders of paperwork that have accumulated in drawers and cupboards over the years. And yes, there is a lot of it. A lot.

Gas bills, electricity bills, council tax, water rates, phone bills, credit cards, every bill and bank statement I've ever received in the last ten years. Hell, every piece of paper I've acquired in the last ten years, or so it seems.

So I've been shredding for most of the day. I have this ridiculous little shredder that won't sit on the top of a large round bin, so I can only use the tiny hopper that it fits on. Shred, shred, shred, shred - empty shredder. Repeat, repeat, repeat ... But it was bearable. I put some mindless TV on and watched Maury (you ARE the father!), Dr Phil and Cheaters, but had to switch over when Jerry Springer came on, despite teh hawtness of Steve the security guard.

I filled 9 recycling sacks with the shredded remains of my life. The only bills I've kept are the most recent ones and I've vowed to shred them when the next ones arrive.

I also sorted out all the drawers in the dresser my ex-husband is having. What a load of rubbish was in there.

I still have the bookcase to clear out and sort - I'm going to keep only the Sue Grafton A-Z series, the John Lescroart novels and a few others. Most of the rest can go to charity, and there's a few I'll think of selling on eBay.

But I can't face the bookcase today. At least, not yet. I've been waking up ridiculously early, before 6am, and I'm one of those people who, once I wake up, I'm awake for the day. I've also only eaten two cinnamon and raisin bagels (or 'bygels' as they call them in east London), one at 7am and one at noon. I smell funky and my hair is dirty. So, although I'm a power shower girl and normally hate soaking in the bath, I think I might make an exception today and have a soak, a face pack and a deep conditioning treatment before I settle in for the evening to watch the football.

Tomorrow, early start on the books, yoga mid-morning, and, I hope, a big delivery to the charity shop with all my unwanted goodies.
That sounds like a nice way to relax! Makes me wish I had a bath tub :( Good luck with the book shelf! I know what that's like and it is a giant pain but it's great to free up all that space! Then you'll have the space for more books! :P
posted by LunaticFringe 01 May | 11:05
The bookshelves are part of the dresser the ex-h is having, so I'll be without shelves for a while, with the books I'm keeping boxed up.
posted by essexjan 01 May | 11:10
But now you can go shopping or antique hunting and get a cool, new bookshelf! Or, if you like the zen look, you can just stack the books on the floor in creative patterns. Less stuff equals more room for creativity!
posted by LunaticFringe 01 May | 11:22
In the hall, I'm planning on something like this. Because I'm on the ground floor and there is a staircase in the middle of the building, I have a kind of U-shaped hallway, which has a lot of space at the bottom part of the 'u', and, in common with many sixties buildings, there isn't a whole lot of storage space. With these sliding doors and some of adjustable shelving/baskets/racks inside, I'll be able to conceal all the junk that tends to stay in corners or is otherwise so inaccessible on the top shelf of my only fitted wardrobe that it's never used.

But the hallway will have to wait until after I get back from NY. While I'm in the Big Apple, my new bathroom is being fitted. Woo!
posted by essexjan 01 May | 11:52
(*applauding wildly*) Go, Jan! I'm facing a similar project (though only two file drawers' worth), and god, I am so not looking forward to it. One upside is I can probably haul all the to-be-shredded stuff in to the office and run it through the Mega-Shredder of Speed and Ferocity, instead of feeding a page at a time through my wimpy one at home.
posted by kat allison 01 May | 11:59
Have you adopted the mesmerized shredder-watching expression? DwighT ShruTe.
posted by chewatadistance 01 May | 13:10
I don't know if this is a problem for you but I am a bit of a pack rat and always afraid to throw paperwork out. I came to a compromise with myself a while back though which has lessened the problem. If I have a stack of power bills, I'll keep 1 from each year, or maybe just 1 from each of my recent addresses. This makes me feel okay about throwing out the others. It's helped me cut back by 90% on lots of stuff.

Good luck with the rest. With the power of yoga, you can do anything.
posted by scarabic 01 May | 17:56
Happy May Day and Happy Birthday to richat! || AskMecha

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