Thursday, August 21, 2008

Finding My Office

My office always looks like a hurricane blew through it. A category 5 hurricane. Books and papers, notes and pens, folders and scraps of paper litter pretty much every free surface. And now, I've got a gerbil living in here as well. Chaos. Controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

Well, since we're having a houseful of people coming on Saturday, I certainly can't have them see what a disaster area I work in - so I had to clean...

And you know what I found?

My office. My desk. My floor. =)

My desk is actually clear - I have space to work, space for my notes and files, and even space for the gerbil's tank. (Well, technically it's a cage, but she will be getting a tank. The cage spills fluff all over the place.)

Now, it needs to be dusted, but other than that, it's no longer the embarrassing hole it was. I'm not the neatest person in the world, and truth be told, I clean only because I have to. When I can write in the dust, it's time to dust.

The funny thing is, I like things neat. It's just that, especially when I'm working on something, neat tends to fall by the wayside as I build pile after pile of printouts of research I've done, or books I've pulled off shelves, never mind several drafts of manuscripts. And by the time I emerge, the mess is almost out of control. So, once every couple of months, I plow through everything and cull the herd, so to speak.

And now? Well, let's just say it's the neatest it's been since last October, when we first moved in. And I'll say what I say every time I get my office put back together -

"I am never letting it get this bad again!

"And this time, I mean it!"

6 comments:

Sassee B said...

That sounds like our computer room. Except, you know, without the "it's now clean" part.

Jen said...

*sigh*

I r jelus of your office space! I had (notice the past-tense there?) an office space in the basement. That lasted about one week, before it was taken over by gallons of tiny Leggos and stampeding hordes of plastic dinosaurs.

One day.

Still, I bet it feels really good to have a neat, organized space. It's like new car smell, ain't it? :)

Kim said...

Oh... yes... I loves me my office - especially when it's clean. Every so often, little people's stuff finds its way in, but then it finds its way back out.

Even the gerbil seems content now! =)

Kim said...

Oh... yes... I loves me my office - especially when it's clean. Every so often, little people's stuff finds its way in, but then it finds its way back out.

Even the gerbil seems content now! =)

Becky Mushko said...

Wait a minute—offices are supposed to be clean? Y'all are kidding, right?

My desk top does get cleaned periodically, though—everytime the cats need a place to nap they push off the pile (which gets replaced by another pile as soon as the cats leave).

Kim said...

Put the cats to work - they usually make great bookends! =)