Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Miracle of the Closed Doors

A miracle occurred yesterday.  I was able to close my bedroom closet doors.

This was due to an error on my part.  When the Common Household Husband and I were driving around on errands in the morning, he asked me, “What are your plans for today?” 

This was one of those rare days when I didn’t have specific plans.  I should have just said, “I plan to water the garden” or “I plan to create world peace” because really, how could he argue against either of those?  But instead, I foolishly said, “Well, I could either start cleaning out my closet, or I could clean out one of the file cabinet drawers.”

He said, “Or both!” 

Ooof!  Immediate regret at suggesting either one!  I back-pedaled.  “No, absolutely only one of those things.” 

He said, “Okay, make it the closet.” 

My bedroom closet area has been so cluttered that I couldn’t step up to the closet to hang up clothes in it.  I had to sort of launch myself at the overstuffed rack and hope the hanger went in the right place.  It’s amazing I haven’t ended up with a broken ankle.  I don’t have a ‘before’ photo because it’s just too embarrassing.

My husband has suffered with my mess, sometimes in silence. He has also suffered living in a pink bedroom for almost 20 years. It was that color when we moved in, so it isn’t my fault.  A few weeks ago he threatened to have it painted, because apparently painting the bedroom is part of the bat mitzvah preparations.  He said to me, “I’m going to call the painter to get this bedroom painted.  When are you going out of town again?” 

So my action on the closet was proactive, in case the painter starts painting while I am out getting groceries. I got further motivation from my cousin and other bloggers to tackle this now. 

Using the mental technique suggested by my friend the psychiatrist to overcome Passivity, Procrastination, and Perfectionism, I decided to get to work right then, for one hour, and not decide ahead of time what I could or couldn’t finish.  Result: floor area cleaned! The closet is still overstuffed with clothes, and there is a huge stack of books nearby, but my allergies have kicked in big-time, and I need a break.

The miracle continues today (I can still close those doors!) but so far the painter hasn’t returned my husband’s phone calls.  I guess I’d better get to work on that file cabinet drawer now.  Or maybe I could spend a few hours pondering paint colors.  Maybe blue with white trim.  Or white with blue trim.  Or how about dusky rose with mauve trim? Wait, that’s what we have now.

What color scheme do you suggest that would be approved by the World Husband Association (WHA)?  


4 comments:

Angie said...

Andrew and I recently cleaned out his closet. With similar satisfaction.

Cassi said...

Our closet is walk-in, and luckily hasn't reached capacity yet. There are rooms in our house, though, that have :-)

I don't think I could live with a pink room for very long. I love blues that tend toward violet, and sunny yellows. For me, those are happy colors.

Alison said...

Ditto on the blues and sunny yellows (see my kitchen for corroboration). That mauve/rose combination is downright nauseating!

Congratulations on the closet. That is an enormous achievement. I think closets attract clothing, shoes, and general junk that was originally lost in the Bermuda Triangle, and pops up in our closets.

I also think that the rings of Saturn are made of unmatched socks that were lost in the forced, heated rotation of our dryers.

Anonymous said...

Hooray! I bet you feel so pleased with the result.