something clean happened here

A couple of weeks ago, Jessica over at ABIAT put her closet on a diet.  It seemed like such a good idea! I was jealous! I have a messy closet! I need to get rid of shit!

So, very behind schedule, i present to you: a giant, boring blog about how i am messy.

Now, one might think, based on these photos, that i sent a small child into the closet to wreck it, just so i might compete on the same level as Jessica.  Wrong.  I am a messy messy slob.
There are multiple factors contributing to this mess.  One is that when i moved home, there was no room for my dresser until our roommate moved out - therefore, no room for my clothes. (The space shown in that photo is LITERALLY all of the space i have for clothes.)  Mainly though, it is that having too many clothes, & too little decision-making capacity, i will try on thirty things & then end up with a discard pile i don't touch for the rest of the month.

I started with shoes.  I thought it was going to be a monumental task, judging from the box in my closet, and the fact that i had to brave my scary basement to retrieve another sack of shoes, including this lovely moldy pair.

Not counting slippers, it turns out that i had 33.5 pairs of shoes.  That's right. I had half of a pair.  That lonely heel!  I was disappointed to only rid myself of 34% of my shoes, but then i realized that 22 pairs of shoes ain't bad for a lady!  And, really, how much space does a pair (or seven) of balletesque flats require?

With shoes out of the way, that left only a mountain of everything else to comb through.

It was actually less of a mountain, & more of a mountain range - stretching through three rooms, possibly visible from outer space.  It contained such jewels as:

- My gi for a martial arts class that i attended for one month. 
- A hideous sweater that i have owned since i was five & refuse to get rid of, despite it being my beau's most hated article of clothing ever (now i keep it, not only because it is warm, but also because i am spiteful.)
- And my beat-up denim jacket from my punkier days that i can acknowledge that i will never wear again, but cannot bear to part with all the same.
I did not get rid of any of those items.
Hardest thing to get rid of that i actually did: Long, pleated, pastel, plaid, wool skirt.  I love you wool skirt!  But, in three years, i have maybe worn it twice.  It was perfect in every way.  Except that i could never find the right color/length/texture of shirt or shoes or tights to match it.  However! So perfect was it that i didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it before Lauren snatched it away, off to a land where it will be worn & appreciated more frequently.
I guess i should rephrase.  That skirt was the article that i got rid of that i wanted to the least.  But, it was not actually hard to part with, in that it was a perfect example of why i had to get rid of so much stuff!  Nice in so many ways, but if i rarely/never wear it it has to go.  And, more importantly, if it only goes with one specific article of clothing, then i don't need it! No unitaskers in the closet!!

Twelve hours later, i had rid myself of only 28% of my wardrobe!

But, i am not disappointed. I think i had more of an organizational issue than a hoarding problem. And! There is an entire drawer in there that doesn't even have clothes in it anymore!  Besides, i had gotten rid of a large number of clothes before i moved away, so thankfully, my problem wasn't nearly as dire as some people's in the first place.  Does this mean i lose? Or was i a winner to start with?

let's go fly a kite (or not.)

Sometimes, cute things happen that i take cute pictures of & then having nothing cute to say about them.  Like the time Lauren & i drove out to the Dorothy Akin Memorial Prairie..

& we wanted to fly the cute kite that a friend had sent me while i was in the Keys.

Sadly, the wind did not care to participate. That previous shot was a fluke.  The rest of the afternoon looked like this:

Which was still pretty cute.

spring is happening. thank god.

A couple of years ago, i planted bulbs in the tiny 'yard' behind our house.  Crocus & tulips mostly.  Those that have survived the low-light, high-traffic location bloom throughout the spring.  They aren't very impressive, there is no color scheme & the still young bulbs do not produce thick stands of blossoms, but i still get excited.  I feel like they are saying, 'You didn't freeze to death! Great job!!'

The bulbs are the only thing that will grow back there.  I am trying (once again) to grow herbs in terra cotta pots.  My plan is to buy several of each & hope extra hard.  I only have one basil, & i only bought the curry & thyme plants because they were cute & smelled nice, but i also have two different types of rosemary (which my being excited about makes for pretty boring blogging, obviously.)

I do not have any pictures of my herbs.  Even the cute ones that smell nice.  I do, however, have picture of the non-food plants in cute containers.  Tropical plants do better than edible plants with the lack of light, so i keep a lot of them around to make me feel better about my other failures.

I plan to donate my greententions, my aspirations of tomatoes & melons & delicious delights, to my friends whose yards are more hospitable.  Like my friend who accompanied me to the nursery & fell in love with the lemon tree.

After a couple coats of gold spray-paint, a layer of moss & violets, i was jealous, but too exhausted to wish i could have fruit trees of my own.

there's no place like home...

This last Thursday evening, i hung out on my back porch with my gurlfriens, drinking box wine, enjoying the weather.  Then, i walked behind the house to see my favorite band play. It made me glad to be home.  In fact, i cannot remember the last time i was so glad to be anywhere.

Elvis Karaoke

Elvis Karaoke
Originally uploaded by Herschell Hershey

This made my day.

o. hai.

We moved to Big Pine, & i got a different (much, much better) job on Bird Island, i even had a truck for a couple of weeks. These are things that happened while i was away. They would have been great to blog about (if by great i mean fun for me & likely boring for you,) but i did not have a computer, & i was just too damned lazy to type anything up on my mobile browser.
Big Pine was great, & my new job was great. But, all great things must come to an end, & now i am living back in Kansas. If you must know (which i guess everyone must, since it is all i am ever asked,) it is freezing. Duh. No joke. Holy cow it is effing freezing. Aside from that, it is really wierd to be back. There is a nice young man who lives in the part of the apartment that was formerly our office, & all of my furniture is still at my parent's house, so it's strange to be both in my own house, & also kind of in someone else's house.
I have been home for about a week now, but haven't actually done anything. I've left the house a couple of times, but haven't looked for a job yet, & haven't unpacked at all. Except for my kitchen.
I suppose it makes me a little old lady, but it was amazing to cook with my own appliances & accoutrement. Who knew how much you would miss a knife? Or vegetable peeler? Oh! To have pots & pans again!! Yep. Nerd.
So overjoyed was i, that last night, i made (what is hopefully) all my dinners for this week. Maybe even a couple of lunches! After prepping five heads of garlic, six onions, four carrots, four potatoes, & six beets, i compiled a pot roast & a beet-pear casserole while making a pot of chicken stock (which also results in a whole cooked chicken!)
Tonight is yoga, so i started the pot roast a couple of hours ago, to be enjoyed in a few more. Hooray!