Time to tackle the yearly...uh, weekly!...task of eliminating dust bunnies from the clutter in which they've lived so peacefully for months. Uh, days....
Yes, yes...I know.
I should've done this before the fuzzy little darlings began asking for their own cell phone (again!) to keep in touch with their friends on the other side of the room...uh, house.
Currently, we're at an impasse on that one.
No socks, no cell.
I know and they know I know they snatch socks from the dryer when I'm not looking and then hide them gawdknowswhere.
For the record, I'm not a slob, only a semi-professional genealogist. Instead of chasing dust bunnies, I prefer to chase deceased ancestors.
Some think this is a creepy hobby. Be assured there are no actual dead bodies or remains involved, and many of my ancestors are infinitely more interesting than some of my live relatives. (If I've called you in the last two months, or your calls haven't gone to voice mail and then never returned, you're not one of the boring ones.)
Genealogists by nature are clutterers. If you meet a family historian who claims to have "everything" about his or her entire family history in one 3-ring binder...and you probably will over the holidays...trust me, this person has not gone beyond the grandparents!
What real genies call "the low-hanging fruit".
Those truly addicted...yes, addicted...to this pastime will have piles of files around their computer and on the floor. (Doesn't everybody use the floor as a filing cabinet??...)
Oddly, they will be able to recite from memory the birthplaces of all 10 children of 3rd great-grandpa Cupp and his second wife, and if pressed, can extract in a matter of seconds the documentation for same from those piles of files.
From the Harader file.
Well, silly, Harader was the name of the traveling preacher who baptised all of them - where else would they be filed! (Don't go there.)
Years ago in a rare fit of Getting Organized, I purchased several storage tubs (with lids) that hold hanging file folders. And then another...and another - because at no time did it occur that for this "system" to work, I actually have to put the files back into the tubs after making copies to mail to new-found cousins.
But the lids do come in handy for stacking files on the rare occasions they can't be on the floor (vacuuming, for instance). They're also a favorite spot for dust bunnies to congregate, so that's the first stop with the feather duster.
Maybe I'll even find a sock!
5 comments:
What is it about socks--two go in the dryer but only one comes out? It's magic and I find the best thing to do with dust bunnies is to make friends with them--but then I'm not a genealogist:-)
JamaGenie....When it's time for a big cleaning around this place, I find myself tossing things or boxing them up and putting it in the garage. So much easier to get to those dust bunnies and the spiders usually tangled up in them! Since I'm allergic to dust, I'm not all that eager to go after them in the first thing, so my first line of attack is getting rid of as much as possible. As long as I don't disturb them, they don't disturb me. It's a win-win situation! As far as chasing dead relatives, I have a hard time keeping up with the live ones. I do find myself missing them around the holidays. I have narrowed down where everyone came from to Russia, Poland, Luthuania and Austria. A few from Ohio and New York as well. From my mom and dad's generation on, everyone came from Californina. Except for my sister, no one was into collecting dust bunnies. A bunch of clean freaks! On the other hand, my sister was so bad at cleaning at one point that she could have had a dead body stuffed under everything, and no one would have ever found it. She's gotten a lot more tidy in her old age, and now she's just a shopaholic who stores most of everything she buys and holds garage sales to get rid of it. I on the other hand can't stand clutter! Sometimes I wonder if we are really related? Just one of those curiosities of nature!
TOYTYME, what an interesting mix of ancestors! And I like your attitude about dust bunnies - box 'em up and move 'em out. Alas, I'm the type that before I give dishes or clothes to Goodwill, I'll wash them! How clean freak is that?
PPR (pinkpackrat), the missing socks thing IS magic. Like how the light comes on in the fridge when you open it, and blinking neon signs. But there's a whole a whole family of teensy-tiny Little People that take care of this. They used to turn on dial tones, too, until they demanded a hefty pay hike, so phone makers had no choice but to invent cells.
But only dust bunnies snatch socks. I know this because as soon as I start brandishing the feather duster, missing socks *magically* re-appear in the back of the sock drawer or in plain sight under the bed. No one else could've put them there. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)
Nice to see you here.
Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment.
I had to smile at your post about being a Saturday's child but, speaking as a Wednesday's child, I think I possibly draw the short straw...
Enjoy your holiday.
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