hello

Hi. It is a rare day that I have all to myself. My mom, who lives with us, was taken out by a friend for an outing. She is not able to get around by herself anymore. My little kids are at school and my big kids are sleeping in. I had a myriad of choices of what to do today. I decided to do that task tha that has been pulling at my sleeves for days, weeks and subconsciously, months.

I cleaned out the linen closets. One is in part of my closet in the bedroom. No problem. A few things got taken out, some things are getting thrown away. Mission accomplished.

The other linen closet is in the large bathroom and has been an eyesore for a very long time. There are always beach towels (even though we don't go that often, something we hope to change this summer) falling over each other on top. Oh, by the way, it is a free standing cabinet that sits in the corner opposite the toilet (so we get to look at it everytime we sit for a spell). The sheets and pillow cases inside are pushed in every which way and the doors do not properly close, ever.

I had not planned on tackling this closet. But the house was still quiet and it was only 9am or so. I lost track of time. Cleaning can do that to me. I decided to go for it. My first course of action was to put the beach towels where the reams of toilet paper rolls are kept. Never mind the worry that "WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT THE TOILET PAPER?!" I pulled out the rolls and starting folding the large beach towels and stacking them on top of one another. They fit with room to spare because that shelf is extra long (the shelf that divides it in two sits on the bottom because the little shelf holder inserts are lost forever).

Next was the sheets. I began refolding and organizing. Fitted sheet with matching flat sheet on top was the order. I even remembered how my mom had always tried to teach my how to fold fitted sheets and I never cared enough to do it until today. It worked beautifully. The sheets look marvelous - perfectly folded and sitting squarely one on top of another. I thought about how important it was for my mom to fold the fitted sheets correctly and I just never did it. My poor mother gave up. But now, decades later, I remember what she showed me and I finally appreciate the technique enough, or care enough, to use it!

Lesson: Do not be discouraged if your children do not learn what you teach them the moment that you teach them. Keep doing what your think is right, best, wise, etc and maybe one day, when the moment is right, they will finally get it. It encourages me to keep living the best I can and not be anxious if my children do not pick up on everything right now.........

Again, I took out a bunch of things - several King size sheets in colors that no longer match our bedroom but I had bought on sale back when I didn't know what colors I wanted in my room, or again, didn't really care as much. Funny how life changes. My dog, Oli, snuggled in those sheets until I put them with the discards from the other closet. And then, the miracle of all miracles! "THERE WAS ROOM FOR THE TOILET PAPER ON THE TOP SHELF!" I put in the last roll and shut the door - incidentally, they all shut properly now, or at least, for now. (Have learned that you can't get too excited about a finished cleaning project because you never know how long it will last.) Then I said to myself :

(Lesson) " Everything fit just by taking a few things out!"

Immediately I thought of life. There are so many things I want to fit in my life. There is music, family, teaching yoga, getting a Master's Degree and all the incidentals to that, making a home, cleaning, cooking healthy meals..............how to fit it all in. So, perhaps if I just dive into the closet of "want to do's", take a few things out , maybe everything that needs to will fit.