Sometimes I Annoy Myself

I have a little problem. Clutter stresses me out. At work we all switch desks, depending on the nurses working and which doctors are in the office that day. There is only one desk that is acceptable to me. The others are piled with papers, post-its, pens, paper clips and dust. It's very troubling.

I'm the same way at home. I have figured out my own system for keeping the clutter at bay and it works for me, as long as I have some time to devote to de-cluttering every week. If, for some reason, I don't have time to take care of little things here and there, I get irritable. If things pile up too much, I get down right grouchy.

At that point, I have to stage an intervention on myself due to the condition of my own house. We eat cereal and sandwiches for a weekend, the kids watch way too much tv and I clean, de-clutter and toss stuff for 48 hours. It's pretty exhilerating.

Every once in a while, the breaking point occurs at the same time the kids are gone for a few days. This is convenient because then I can get everything done much more quickly and not feel as if I'm border-line neglecting them.

The aforementioned problem occurs when I get so caught up in the organizing and cleaning that I can't relax. I'll cook dinner with the intention of eating and watching a movie. When I'm done eating, the kitchen has to be cleaned immediately or I won't enjoy the movie. Then I'll realize that the floor needs to be swept. I might as well mop, too. Which leads to the bathroom floors. And that reminds me that the bathroom trash cans are full. When they're emptied I see that the big trash can is full and carry it to the dumpster. Surely you see where this is going.

And so we return to the title -- Sometimes I just really annoy myself.