Things completed: 26
Things worked on: 4, 24, 29, 38, 40, 51
Number 26 completed! That one had to do with going through a closet. It looked much worse than it was. I thought it was jam packed with stuff I didn't remember, but it turns out that I was just too lazy to put things back where they belonged. I did take everything out and evaluate before putting it back in, using an organizationally much improved method of storage. Needless to say, things are often in closets because they aren't in use. The question I began to ask was whether I would ever use these things.
It is easy enough to say, "Yes, I will probably need these light bulbs, even if not today." It is also easy enough to say, "This hammer is good." But I ran into a very interesting phenomenon I call "The Surprise Cache of Aprons." I'm not sure how widespread this is.
There was the apron I made for myself about 8 years ago. I think I may have used it once. There is the apron that was a Christmas present for me this year. It is really nice and I should make a point of wearing that one. It has some French words relating to cuisine (I am guessing) on a small tag on the front, so I have a feeling it might make me speak with an accent.
The next apron I found was one of many my mother made when I was a kid. I am pretty sure of the following facts, but I was probably in a lower single digit age when this was going on, so I reserve the right to claim that I am making this all up. My family used to help out with a Pulaski Day celebration held every October. This involved sending off a group of people to march in the Pulaski Day parade held in New York City and then having a dance when they returned. We would go to the Polish Church and help make food and participate in the party activities – although I'm not sure anyone in my immediate family ever marched. I believe at least one year, my mom decided to make aprons for people, many of which featured some cute little patch or some Polish words. The apron I have has the silhouette of a boy and girl holding hands and kissing with a little heart over their heads. I remember others had polka dancers on them or beer with "Na zdrowie" written above it. This is what I found in my closet and put back in with all the others. That one has some sentimental value that outweighs the fact that I have not to this point, found aprons particularly useful.
There was one more apron that I found that came to me in a bag with random things supposedly from home. I have no idea what the story is on this and have no memories attached to it at all. Unlike the others, this one is only a half apron, which means to me it is really for show and not as practical as a full-body apron – well, at least for the way that I cook. I don't know why I have it and don't think it is useful. There is some chatter in the family about a visit from my mom, so I decided to keep this one until she arrives and can explain its significance, if any. If there isn't any particular significance, then I believe that the cache will be down by one apron before the end of the year.
Within the past year, I have also been evaluating objects in my house for whatever the negative version of sentimentality is. It is time to eliminate those things which remind me of times that I would rather forget. Why keep these reminders of unhappiness sitting around? Something as innocuous as a tupperware container makes me think of the lousy roommate I had. As powerful as objects are to remind us of fun and love and happiness, some others can be surprisingly dark, even if the cheery orange lid says otherwise. Happily, I found none of those types of things in this closet. I know there are a couple in the other closet on my list, so it might take a while for progress on that cleaning/organizing to begin.
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