A Little Epiphany - (and a newbie delurking)

[Dia]

Taking a quick break in the middle of cleaning/reorganizing the kitchen. (fix the *issues*, right?) I am by no means a neat freak, but some things need to be clean and organized to be functional, and a kitchen is one of them. Went through the pantry cupboard, threw away a bunch of (badly) expired stuff, wiped down the shelves, arranged and organized what was left. Did the same to the open shelving in the kitchen. At last I can see what we have and what we don't with a quick, visual inspection. Frequently used items are at my fingertips and an amazing amount of useless clutter has been thrown away.

H has already thanked me about 17 times, AND given me a hug for my efforts, but I did it as much for me as for him. For me, I'll be doing most of the cooking for as long as I'm here, so I need the kitchen to *work*. For him, clutter and disorganization really weigh on him psychologically, and the absence of those make him feel happy, light and free. Let's just say it wouldn't be such a bad thing for him to associate the happy, light and free feelings with me.

Additionally, at least in the past, he tended to blame much of the clutter on me. If I'm actively cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing, perhaps I can eradicate that particular identification.

He and I both have tendencies toward clutter, but in different areas. I used to allow papers, mail, books etc. to pile up on end tables, around beds and couches. His tendency is more toward never throwing stuff away which means cupboards and closets become unusable. And each of these drive the other one batchit crazy in a hurry. We're like that about cleaning, too - interlocking mess. I can't stand a moldy shower stall or a grimy sink but those don't faze him at all. I can overlook crowded surfaces or clothes on the floor, but he can't. In an ideal world, this would work perfectly. I'd clean the stuff that bugs me and he'd clean the stuff that bugs him - but somehow it never worked out that way.

Here's to better times!!

Oh, and another small sign. My kitty has to eat special food, so I've taken over buying the catfood. While cleaning the kitchen, I asked H what I should do with the approx. 20 lbs of kibble that my kitty can't eat. He said he'd give it to friends who have cats.

Hmmm, so if my cat and I are allegedly leaving in 2-4 weeks... wouldn't you want to keep those 20 lbs of cat food??

One day at a time. And fortunately for me, they're good days, so it's pretty easy.

Ok, back to kitchen cleaning...