Wednesday, January 20, 2010

At the Risk of Appearing Bonkers . . .

. . . let me tell you what I did this afternoon that made me feel really good.

First of all, I found a new blog that I think I'm going to like a lot. The post today kinda sorta had to do with Valentine's Day. As we grow older, we tend to lose the sense of joy and romance in our every day routines. The author of the blog suggested several simple things to do that might give us a boost out of our ruts. She said we might even "be gentle with ourselves and lower our insanely high standards just a bit." Also, she wrote how nice it would be to do something that makes someone else feel good, and equally as important, something that makes us feel good.

One specific suggestion you could do for yourself was:

"Declutter your make-up drawer and line it with beautiful paper so that it makes you smile every morning."

Now don't you laugh. This hit me smack in the middle of my forehead. The drawer that holds my make-up has been truly yucky for some time.

I know my make-up drawer isn't very cluttered (there would be those who would say I NEED more make-up but we won't go into that right now) but it is dirty and that bugs me every time I go in there. But, really, (that old kill-joy voice in my head said) who sees it but me and there are lots of other household-y cleaning chores I should tackle before that drawer.

But, listen carefully 'cause it really gets crazy here. I dropped everything this afternoon and tore into that drawer!

Oh, gross! Full of strands of hair (my brush and combs are kept at the very back --- the drawer doesn't pull out far enough for you to see them) and balls of brownish gray . . . brownish gray . . . stuff! (What the heck is that stuff and where did it come from?) If the Sanitation Department had made a house call, I would be in jail right now.

Not only did I clean the drawer thoroughly but I actually threw out twelve lipsticks I'd been hanging on to for probably that many years. (And never using.)

I didn't stop there. I was on a roll. I even sorted and cleaned the other two drawers that WERE cluttered.

I lined my drawer with red paper. Why RED paper? Because red is vibrant and exciting and passionate. And I am vibrant and exciting and passionate. (Uh-huh, and I spend afternoons cleaning out bathroom drawers.)

But ya know what? I am definitely going to feel good every time I go into that dad-gum make-up drawer of mine for who-knows-how-long. What a life altering act! I'm so proud of me.

13 comments:

Erin said...

Good for you! And I know all too well what that strange hair/lint/whatever combo is that you found in the drawer, LOL! I would do the same except my stuff is in a basket since we have had our bathroom cabinets halfway ripped out for a year now :)
So tell us, do ya feel purdy now?!

Mama Pea said...

Erin - I feel pret-ty, oh so pret-ty . . . :o)

Jennifer Jo said...

I'm needing new lipstick---I wish I could've sorted through those tubes before you chucked them!

Jo said...

Oh man, my drawers need a cleaning just to be on par with your dirty ones!

P.S. I dare you to change the title of this post to 'Dirty Drawers.'

:)

Chicken Mama said...

Okay, Mom . . .

a) Your 'before' picture and your 'after' picture are purdy much the same!

b) At least you HAVE a make-up drawer! I can't even boast that.

c) If anyone needs to de-clutter in our immediate family . . . well, let's just say "it ain't you"! ;)

Oh, and d) I've never had the . . . cahones . . . to throw out lipstick. Foist it on girlfriends, yes, but never throw out. Wish I could . . . .

Jenyfer Matthews said...

At least you have a drawer! I have a couple of give-away bags I keep my stuff in (mostly the free samples that the bags came with!)

And I'm with Chicken Mama - in awe of throwing away lipsticks. I rarely wear it either, but I like knowing it's around...

;)

kate said...

Looks great! Love the red!

beth said...

That was such a nice post. I smiled the whole time! :) No wonder I come visiting your blog so often....I like to smile!
My drawer's a mess...but I don't want to clean it today!

Karen Sue said...

I'm in the middle of a 'simple' bathroom redo. I do more DIY that hubby, but neither of us messes with this kind of plumbing. Old blue tub out, new large,white shower in, old ornate (read UGLY) medicine cabinet out, new bigger, sleeker (read wipe-off-able) in, old vanity with blue sink out, new white in. So I am hearing you about the clutter and the tossing. The old vanity just went into a dumpster, so I just pulled the drawers out. I did throw a bit out, but I will be relentless when I put stuff back. Great time to get rid of junk. I combined 3 boxes of band-aids into one box, along with collecting them from where they had scattered through out the drawer. It's good to be me. I get such joy from some small acts of cleanliness.
Congrats and pat yourself on the back! Job well done. Sometimes this can be catchy! Watch out!!

Mama Pea said...

Mama JJ - How desperate are you? I can still fish them out of the trash.

Hi, Jo - PERFECT! So where were you when I was staring at the blank computer screen hurting my brain trying to come up with a decent title?

Hey, Chicken Mama - I know. The hair and other glunk just didn't show up in the picture. And, frankly, I was too embarrassed to take a shot of what was growing under that blue plastic basket when I took it out.

You have no idea how long I've had some of those lipsticks. I did save one "pricey" tube for you though.

Hi, Jen - Well, I probably wouldn't have had the gumption to toss all those lipsticks if I hadn't recently found the most perfect one. It looks good on me (I think) and is a muted shade that seems to compliment any color clothing I have on. And I'm not kidding when I say the ones I dumped were old. Can you believe early 90's? (Oh, I'm so ashamed!)

Hi, Kate - Gotta admit I was thrown for a second there this morning when I opened the drawer and the RED jumped up at me! But I like it.

Hey, Beth - So glad it tickled you. I really wondered if people would start reading it and delete me from their computers forever. ("Good gawd, what drivel!")

Hi, Karen Sue - Wow. Wanna come redo our bathroom?

Jennifer Jo said...

Mama Pea, I gave you a little head nod/award-but-without-the-award on my blog this afternoon. Come and get it!

-Yours truly

RuthieJ said...

Way to go Mama Pea! I know it's sometimes hard to throw perfectly useful stuff away, but if you haven't or don't use it anymore, why let it stay around and take up space? (7 half-empty bottles of perfume I don't like anymore went in my trash last week!)

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Ruthie - I keep thinking about what they say about material possessions that clutter up our physical surroundings clutter our minds, too, without our knowing it. The less "stuff" we have, the freer our minds are. Hmmm. I may be in trouble.