See this?
This tiny little thing lead to this...
And "that" it was just a portion of every single item that once resided in the junk drawer.
Now, I'm sure you are wondering how that tiny little item caused the above mayhem...
About a week or so ago, I noticed that tiny white thing - that usually resides on the blinds pull string - on the floor in the kitchen. Since I was in the middle of something, I picked it up and put it on the counter, with every intention of putting it back where it belonged.
Of course, I forgot about it.
Then on Friday, I remembered and went looking for it. It was not where I left it - which meant The Husband hid put it away for safe keeping while cleaning the kitchen. The logical place for him to hide put it was in the junk drawer.
When I opened the drawer, I was confronted with that mess pictured up there. So, I up-ended the contents of that drawer onto the counter and proceeded to go through all of it. And guess what I discovered?
Ninety percent of those items had a "home" and that no one - I repeat, NO ONE, has EVER gone to that drawer looking for a random screw/nail clippers/batteries/other random item. So I put all the things in their "homes" and was left with what was intended for that drawer - notepads, pens, scissors, ruler, and candle lighter thing.
And then I located the thing that had kicked this little project off and put it where it belonged...on the window blinds.
And I felt like I had really achieved something.
Then I emptied the dishwasher.
I generally don't pay too much attention to the state of our cabinets - other than the glasses and plates cabinet. Until I had to put a mixing bowl away and discovered an unsteady tower of nested mixing bowls. And I sighed and sat down to put that cabinet to rights.
Then, fool that I am, I opened the other cabinets to discover the same type of chaos.
I realize that the kitchen is The Husband's domain...but ordered and neat is not one of his strengths - so I ended up setting the majority of the cabinets to rights; all while uncovering multiple, duplicate items. I set all the duplicates aside for the moment.
Now here is the shocking part. He actually agreed that all of the items I had set aside could leave his kitchen. I almost fainted.
Seriously.
And then...he said he is beginning to see the wisdom of quality over quantity. Color me shocked.
Then, totally un-prompted, this morning The Husband plucked a random spice rack thing that has been sitting on our counter, unused for God only knows how long, and said, "I don't need this and it's only taking up space."
Can it be? Is he finally beginning to come around to see some things the way I do? We shall see. At any rate, our kitchen cabinets are in order (for now - we say for now, because I know him all too well) - we will enjoy that small victory.
***
On another note, I would like to discuss the US Postal Service - but we CANNOT because we don't do politics here. And the fact that a US Postal Service discussion COULD become a political discussion is absurd and inconceivable...but yet, here we are.
So, while we side step THAT whole discussion, I have just ordered a slew of stamps and cards online. Now, here's the problem. My circle of real-life friends is fairly small. As in, off the top of my head, I can think of three immediate people that I could send these cards to. I'm sure if I were to scan my contact list/address book I could come up with a few more.
I searched around online about various pen pal sites and determined that could possibly open up a can of worms that I don't want opened. After giving it some serious thinking (i.e., maybe three seconds), I thought I'd throw this out there. If you are open to it, send me your info via email (gigirambles@gmail.com) and I will be happy to occasionally send you a card and consider it my small contribution to do my part. There is absolutely NO obligation on your part to write back. If you DO want to write back, include that in your email and I'll make sure you receive my contact information. Who knows how long I will keep it up - but I shall try.
I realize this is where trust comes in. I am only willing to do this (and share my info, if you wish this to be more of a pen-pal situation rather than an "Oh look! SURPRISE real mail" event) with people who have been around here for a while. And, I solemnly swear, that I will never share your information and that once I have it and written it down, I will delete the email immediately. I also solemnly swear that I will not fill your inbox with stuff. MY inbox(es) are overloaded as it is; why would I do that to you?