Cleaning Up

I have been under the weather the last couple of days. Still uncertain if I might have picked up something while out in the wild frontier last weekend. I have taken the "at home" time to do a little Spring cleaning. I guess I still have a few weeks until the technical onset of summer, so "Spring" cleaning it is. I started with my bedroom drawers and closets. The amount of clothes that I have that I don't wear is ridiculous. I generally have a rule that if I haven't used something in 3 years, it is time to get rid of it. Well, I have some clothes going back 10 years that I haven't worn in a while, like suits and formal dresses. I always hesitate to give them away. What is really amazing is that I believe I have gotten rid of more stuff since moving here that I have bought, and it still feels like I can get rid of more. I abhor having "stuff" around. It literally drains me. Piles of crap = stress for me.

Funny then, that my husband is the consummate pack-rat. He would love to live in a little fortress of piles of "things" he just can't part with. Fortunate for me that when he is on the road I get to go through stuff and secretly take it to the Goodwill (wha ha ha ha). Sometimes I get off scott-free where he can't seem to recall what it is that he's missing. Other times it's, "honey, have you seen my such and such?" Oh, crap! Then I have to do my best impression of a dumb blonde, "gosh hon, no I haven't. When was the last time you saw it?" He will then wonder off, trying to remember where he had last seen the item in question.

One time I actually tried to find a phobia for not being able throw things away. I couldn't find anything specific regarding the action of discarding items, but did find a phobia relating to the garbage can itself. I asked my husband if he had such a fear. Let's just say he didn't find my humorous jab that funny. I have just come to accept that he and I are different in this regard and that I will always be the one de-cluttering our life, and he will be the one filling it back up. Such as it is in marriage.

Now...on to the garage! Do you think he'll notice if I get rid of some of his tools? Hummmm... better not.