I'm surprising myself

If you know me, you know that I am a mild clean freak. But if you're my mother, you also know that I am a clutterbug. Clean, but cluttered, really. Sanitary - but messy. I think I did a fair job of controlling my clutter when I had roommates, or at least controlling it in shared spaces, but I do admit that the sanitation was a little questionable that last year of college in B1 (we just gave up).

Anyway, living on my own has been a whole new new thing for me. I have 100% my own space - nothing is shared except the laundry room, and that's practically all mine anyway since it's two steps outside my door. I've been LOVING it, because I don't have to confine my stuff to smaller spaces - I can take over.

And that's been a bit of a problem. When I say clutterbug, I really just mean that I fail to put things where they belong. I come in the door, take off my shoes, drop my keys and my purse and my mail... and there it sets. I change clothes, and they will stay either on the bathroom floor or on the back of my chair or on my bed until I toss them onto the floor. Jewelry sits on my dresser. Books rest on the floor. Receipts stay on my makeshift computer desk, which in normal use is known as a cedar chest/trunk. Dishes that are mildly used stay on the counter. Bags stay on the table. Yesterday's gym bag stays full until I take it's time to replace everything with today's stuff, and then I dump yesterday's stuff on the chair. Today's lunch containers will stay in the lunch bag until I need them again.

I think you get the picture.

So this summer, I'm ridiculously busy on weekends. Did I write about this yet? I'm out of town doing something every weekend until mid-August. And usually weekends are when I straighten up my apartment and put all of those things where they belong (well, the dishes usually get cleaned within 24 hours, just so you know. I cook too much/don't have enough counter space for that). And if I'm not here on the weekend... when am I going to control my clutter?!

I'm envisioning disaster. So two weekends ago, my last weekend in town, I decided to get my life in order, and keep it in order. I got everything set that I needed for the following two weekends, cleaned up, organized my receipts, did all of my dishes, etc. I vowed to put things where they belong immediately. IMMEDIATELY!

Truth be told, this wasn't destined to last very long.

HOWEVER - it's still a success!!!! For two weeks now, I put things away as soon as I come in the door. I hang my clothes back up (you know, the dry-clean-only stuff that you wear to work and don't wash after only one wear) when I take them off or put them right in the hamper. I wash my dishes after every meal. I log my receipts in my Quicken software as soon as possible (that was never really a problem... I'm obsessed). Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

I'm so impressed with myself. And, my apartment is wonderfully uncluttered. I wonder if this is the start of an OCD tendency now?