Sunday, August 17, 2008

Flotsam

I'm on a bit of an organizing kick, and after tackling MQ's closet and bookshelves I have moved into the kitchen and am organizing one of the worst areas of our home: the kitchen desk. Catchall of all clutter, the desktop, four drawers and shelves above it have long been disasters. This evening I was sitting on the kitchen floor emptying the last two drawers. The bottom drawer held mostly recipes I've torn from magazines and downloaded from the internet over the years - some of which I've tried and most of which I haven't. I was going through them, throwing most away but still setting aside a small pile of things I'd like to try (with hopes of doing some of them this very week).

Then I found it.

A clipped coupon that expired in 2001.

Before The May Queen was born.

We have moved TWICE since 2001. How on earth did a clipped coupon get packed and unpacked TWICE?

I think this cleaning out is a wee bit overdue.

25 comments:

flutter said...

I still have my softball glove. FROM JUNIOR HIGH.

Melissa said...

OMG, I found the same type of stuff when I did all of my cleaning a few weeks ago. And I always feel so stupid when I do find it. Embarrassed even.

But what are ya gonna do? As long as you throw it away this time, right?

Laski said...

Sadly, I find stuff like that all the time. I swear there is a creepy little pack rat deep inside of me . . .

thailandchani said...

I recently found the stub of a utility bill from 1994. Tell me about it! :)


~*

Chrissy said...

Can you come to my house when you are done? I have a stack of papers in the 'to-be-filed' pile from at least the last two moves. yuck.

JCK said...

Um...yes. And I'm only saying that because I can relate. Too well.

the dragonfly said...

We move all the time, and I'm always finding random stuff..

..but I think that one takes the cake. Thanks for the giggle. :)

Jen said...

I think the coupon fairy is friends with the sock fairy. The sock fairy steals the socks from the dryer and then turns them into out of date coupons which mysteriously return to our drawers just so these fairies can get a good laugh. ;-)

Mary Beth said...

Do you ever find things and SWEAR you've never seen them before? Yeah, me neither. I need to go on one of them there cleaning kicks. Someday...

Tiffi33 said...

I once opened a box that was full of OLD magazines (think 4-6 years old) that was moved at LEAST 3 times..if not 4...

I am a packrat..currently in recovery..i think..

Amy Y said...

Not to be the devil's advocate... or to enable this behavior... But you have been busy in the last 7 years. And really, how much fun is throwing away old coupons? ;)

Cynthia said...

Every time I think I have finally edited out the garbage, I find something like that!

imbeingheldhostage said...

Hah! If it's any consolation, I actually gathered up scrapbooking memorabilia out of a bathroom drawer (?!) two moves after the event.
Congrats on the organization-- I'm envying you right now!

Kyla said...

We found a receipt the other day from a toll road from before EITHER of the kids were born. It is odd to think a single piece of paper has been in existence longer than your children. How was there ever a time before them?

Aunt Becky said...

Found something similar in Dave's office. It was a receipt from Target from 1999. For a wastebasket.

Glad he saved it, right?

Angela DeRossett said...

LOL! Wanna come organize mine too? *wink wink*

Tania said...

It must be the season - I just decluttered my kitchen desk too! Nothing from before 2005 though.

Maddy said...

I also have small piles, huge hillocks and moody mountains all over the place. Packing a coupon twice does seem very dedicated.
Cheers

Angela DeRossett said...

Tagged you for a meme today!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

I have TOTALLY done that. My best story is of the bottle of sunscreen that got moved not once, but twice. And it was expired BOTH times, too.

Classy.

Emily said...

I'm getting the organizing bug, as well.

When we moved to Colorado, we had a moving company do the whole thing from packing to moving. All I had to do was unpack and put things where I wanted them. It was wonderful. Until I opened the FIRST box of trash. The packers had literally put our kitchen trash in a box. (Later I found 2 boxes of bathroom trash.)

LOVELY!

Chantal said...

I just read over your last few posts. It has been a whirl wind in your neck of the woods :)

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Oh now that's just all sorts of funny pm. Crap just multiplies like rabbits! And once you start cleaning, it becomes an obsession and then the cycle continues.

Crap. Clean. Crap. Clean.

Woman in a Window said...

Funny what we keep and what gets passed by. Clean on, wild woman, clean on.

Alex Elliot said...

It's amazing what we accidentally hold on to or my husband's case, intentionally save!