Well, finally! We got some April showers last week. Even though our May flowers been up two or three weeks now, it was a good thing. The ground needed a soakin. Plus, the rain forced me to stay inside and tend to some long overdue spring cleaning.

I don’t know about you, but the hardest thing I find about spring cleaning is that it’s spring. The sun’s shining, daffodils and tulips are up, birds are singing. I want to be out doors, puttering around in the yard.

‘Course, I don’t spring clean like my mother or grandmother. You know, movin’ the furniture, washin’ the curtains, the knick knacks, the walls, the wood work. But I do try to make an effort in that direction, giving the baseboards and geegaws a good wash. Cleaning out the catch-all drawer, and the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. And alright, havin’ Charlie move our barkalounger for me. Darn! It’s just amazing how much hidden dirt there is in a house. Why some of those dust bunnies could give little Scamp a run for his money!

But the house isn’t the thing that’s been drivin’ me crazy lately. It’s my closets and drawers. We’re havin’ such a crazy spring, aren’t we? With seventy degrees one day, forty the next? Which means I’ve been rummaging around in them big Tupperware containers holding my summer clothes, pullin’ things out willy-nilly. The end result? Pandemonium. There’s a summer dress hanging next to a wooly sweater, winter slacks squeezed up against a summer skirt, a jumble of short boots, flips flops, sneakers, heels. And don’t get be going on my underwear, which is a mess ‘cause the closet’s outta control and it’s catchin’!

So, I kinda worked through it over the week. The hardest part to a project like this just makin’ a start. It is for me, anyways. Since I couldn’t find anything in my underwear drawer, I decided to begin with that.

It’s always so satisfying to dump it out onto the bed and really look at everything. I tried it all on, including pantyhose. Every item had to pass the Goldilocks test: is it “just right”? If not, out it goes, into either the giveaway or throw away bag.

Sure, I know it’s temping not to try on your pantyhose and tights, but I’m always glad I did. I don’t know how many times I’ve been getting ready to go out for some big shindig, runnin’ late, when I yank on a pair of pantyhose and there’s a run. So, I take it off, put on another, and there’s a snag. Then another, and it’s perfect, except for the fact that the control top’s not only causing a serve case of muffin top, but a lack of oxygen to my brain, to boot.

You know those small bags that come with the “free gifts” at the cosmetics counter? (Pet peeve: How come what I want is always a few dollars shy of what you need to spend to get the gift? So, what do I do? I buy something else, or two of the thing I came there to get in the first place, spending twice as much money as I intended, to get a bag full of stuff that I don’t really give a hoot about. But hey, it’s free.) Anyhoo, I finally found something to do with those little bags. I filled each with pantyhose, dividin’ ‘em into colors. It’s a great way to organize your pantyhose, and keep ‘em from getting’ mixed up with all the bras and slips. Try it out!

Then, onto switching over to my summer clothes, and getting my closet in order. I organize it the way my mother taught me with all the slacks together, then the skirts, tops, dresses and jackets. Each category sorted by color: white, beige, brown, yellow, orange, pink, purple, red, green, blue, black. That way it’s easier to put outfits together. Smart gal, my mother.

I confess, I had a dilemma with my pants drawer. Since I’ve been doing pretty good on the WW since January, I can now fit into a few things that were a little on the snug side last year, but I just wasn’t ready to part with. That’s feels good! But what to do with my “fat jeans.” Well, I deliberated over that one, and decided to put my favorite summer “fat clothes” in the Tupper with my winter stuff. If they’re still too big come next summer, I’ll give ‘em away. Kind of hedgin’ my bets with that one, ‘cause last summer I give away a ton of thin clothes I thought I’d never fit into. And I bet I could’ve worn ‘em this summer.

Oh well, guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and go shopping. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!)

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side! Listen to Ida's podcast.

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