Ms Unorganized

After watching the TV show Hoarders, many times, I came to the conclusion that my mother was a hoarder.  Let me first say that she wasn't as bad as many who have been helped on that show.  But after she moved from an apartment to assisted living, everything in her apartment was packed and moved.  Later, my daughters and their husbands and I cleared out a completely filled double storage unit, where her things had been taken.  Thankfully, all of her things had been packed by people who knew what they were doing.  Still, it was a reminder that she never threw anything away.  I've always believed that was because she grew up during the Depression, when so many did without.

My dad, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.  His closet contained his clothes and a metal shelf that held his stamp collection, which was his prized possession.  The top two drawers of his bureau held his keepsakes.  Other than two bins of his philatelic things, I have two boxes of his personal items.  That's it.  Two, medium-sized boxes that contained his life of nearly 77 years.  His father died when my dad was ten, and he quit school in seventh grade to go to work to help his family.  He also knew what it was like to do without.

Unfortunately, I lean towards my mother's hoarding, although not to the her extreme, and I do purge, whenever possible.  I wish I would have learned more from my dad.  It sure would save wasted time, hunting through drawers, stacks of papers and what not.

Why the difference?  I don't know.

Genetic?  I'm adopted, so I can't blame my poor habits on that.  Shucky darn!

When it comes to writing, my system is very much like Joan's.  Yes, I duplicate many of the things in the folders on my computer, but as I commented, that comes in handy.  I don't have a laptop, but I can still carry my story-bible-in-a-notebook with me and work wherever I go.  Call it OCD or whatever.  It works for me.

I'm a visual, hands-on human.  It has its pros and cons.  Pro, because it enables me to visualize.  Cons? (Note to Self: Add blogging dates.)
 Well, I sit here at my desk, I see three calendars.  One isn't even current.  I also created a monthly calendar for my desktop, hidden right now by my browser.  I add things to it when needed.  Our WARA meetings, a note for when I need to remember to take my oldest granddaughter to ice skating lessons, NO SCHOOL days, so I know in advance when I'll have four to five grandkids here all day, and whatever else I should remember.  One of my jobs is to take and pick up all five grandkids at school.  Four trips a day.  Luckily, the two schools are two miles or less miles from home and on different schedules.  Does that sound crazy?  I have alarms set on my cell phone for each time to leave.  If I didn't do that, I'd be getting phone calls from panicked children!

While my home is rarely ready for guests and I sometimes because frustrated when I can't find things, I manage.  I am semi-organized.  There are times when I'm so focused on what I'm doing that I don't notice the confusion around me.  Will I get better?  Maybe.  If I'm lucky, I might even have time to organize and purge this weekend!  Or next weekend, since my To Do list keeps growing, even today.  Or the week after?

And that doorknob in the photo at the top?  It's a wish.  There's no door on my office.  Which might be a good thing.  Those g-kids can create a disaster in a matter of seconds.  Genetic?  Maybe....