Sunday, January 04, 2009

I know EXACTLY...

…when I switched to Google Reader—early 2007. How do I know this? By the dates on my oldest “starred” items. Sigh.

This is me in November:

Trim the kitten’s claws. Decide to put the clippers away in a new, handier spot.

Here I am in December:

DH: Sid’s claws need trimming.
ME: Hmmmm.

I KNOW I put them in a better spot. No memory of where that would be. So I start looking in the most logical place. Only that place—a catch-all drawer—is a mess and I don’t spy the clippers right away. So I move on to some other logical
places. Nothing but cluttered messes.

I panic, seriously. Not only is my memory completely blank (a shitty feeling), but my “spaces” are cluttered. I can’t think amidst clutter, just like I can’t hear well if there is too much background noise.

This dovetails right into the working Mom/wife guilt I’ve been carrying. If I were still a SAHM, these spaces would be clutter-free and I would have known exactly where the clippers were instantly. Furthermore, the cat’s claws would have already been trimmed again.

So keep this picture of (admittedly self-induced) harriedness in your head…
It’s late December now:

We are on the other side of holiday madness and I belly up to Google Reader. No surprise that there are over a thousand unread posts. I didn’t have a lot of time to read—anything—this month and purposefully chose to save this pleasure
for during and after Christmas week.

Oh boy, just minutes into reading, I see some “Best of 2008” lists. Yay! Love
those. As I will want to compare them to mine, I move to “star” them. Hmmm. Better check my “starred” items. It won’t make any sense to drop more posts in there if it’s already too crowded, right? Better to take a minute and make sure it’s clear. OMG. It’s a fucking abyss. Overflowing with reviews that caught my eye, topics/discussions I wanted to revisit or comment on later, etc. I NEVER meant for this to happen. For me, “starred” items are akin to a To Do list. Something like:

· Add this to my TBR list
· Write related post on this topic
· Include link to this review when I review this one

Instead, my “starred” items grew unchecked into nothing more than a virtual junk drawer. No way could I put all of the Best Of lists in there. They would disappear like the cat’s clippers.

January is here:

And yes, I’ve cleared, cleaned and reorganized both my physical and virtual junk drawers. 2009 may proceed. Just letting you know you all have the go ahead. More Best Of lists please.

5 People Gabbed:

Lori said...

I am SO damn jealous. You've cleared your junk drawers? Isn't there some kind of law against that?

Marg said...

But did you find the clippers?

I totally need to get organised. I have loads of half written posts, books everywhere, and still some boxes from when I moved! Must move away from the computer and do something!

Jennifer B. said...

*ducking* Yup! Every inch of our home suffered my wrath last weekend...seriously, I was ruthless. A Jeep packed full of items for Goodwill and an extra 2 bags of garbage to put out last night. Even DH commented on the extra trash bags we carried out. And you already know I went through and weeded my TBR stacks, LOL. Like I said, ruthless.

And Marg, the clippers were in that first drawer, LOL. As was an extra remote garage door opener that we needed for the third vehicle (the gas-saving car).

I can think now, LMAO. AND, if I can just figure out which job and schedule I will be keeping for the new year...I'll be all set. Sigh.

Tracy said...

Yes but did you find the clippers? lol

Jennifer B. said...

LOL! Yes! In the first messy drawer I had looked.