declutterbug

i ran a bath but the water is too hot. i was already online and so i thought i'd post while i am waiting for it to cool down a bit.

my room is cluttered. a row of boxes and bags with filing and dance videos live on my floor. i'm sure ther are some other things in there as well, but that's the bulk of it. they are backed up against the TV/bookshelf to allow me a 3ish foot gap between them and my bed so i can get through. the "grouping" of boxes and bags is about 3-4 feet wide by maybe 6-7 feet long and 2-4 feet high. in a 10x12 room, that doesn't leave a lot of space.

how did it get here?

well, i'm supposed to tape the vhs dance tapes for my ex. and due to her roommate's issues they needed to be out of her house. but the vhs/cd/dvd cabinet is still over there and i can't move it myself. i can't put them in the storage unit (5x5) even if there was room because i need them to tape and i also watch them regularly as i use them to prep for the dance classes i teach.

and the filing. the filing cabinet is still over at ki's, too. i cleared room for it but, like the dvd cabinet, i can't move it myself (too heavy and stairs are involved). yes, it's all the stairs' fault! bad stairs!

seriously, though, it's stressful to be in my room. there's no place to put the excess. this makes it hard to clean, too. it's almost impossible to get into the armoire where i keep my socks and pants and sweaters.


i also suffer from a lack of flat spaces. everything is maxed out; if it's a shelf or the top of a piece of furniture, it has books or my hamster cage or whatever. there's no open space. i don't like this, but i've looked through my "decorative" possessions, and there really aren't many. i have don't have tables of items displayed. i have a few photos (3 to be exact), three votive candles and a small bowl of crystal/stones. that's pretty much the extent of my knick knacks. oh, i do have a menorah and a railroad tie backpacker thing my mom got me (and which sits on otherwise unusable space on the TV). other than that, flat surfaces are all used by something utilitarian. hamster food. boom box. lamp. and so on.

i find myself laying out my clothes for the next day on top of the boxes, so they remain flat and relatively unwrinkled.

what to do?

first order of business would seem to be: be home more.

but i wonder if my being home would mean i actually decluttered, or if i'd just feel horribly trapped and not sure what to do next. probably a little of both.

being home is pretty much a pipe dream anyway at this point. i have something every single night from now until who knows when.

to give you an idea: tonight, i was supposed to have dance practice with my foxtrot partner. but i had something i needed to do for work (the boss set up an after-hours activity). not one, but two activities. after work.

the fact that i'm home right now is an anomaly; i typically work 7am to 4 or 5 or even later pm (i am technically off at 3 pm) and then i have either dance, or teaching, or a meeting of some kind.

for financial reasons, i am adding tutoring into the mix. i'll be doing sat prep and college admissions essays with some elite sf students. it will be good work, and it pays well, but it's in sf, which is an hour and 30 to two hours away, depending on the traffic. so i'll have a 3-4 hour extra commute (round trip) 1-2 times a week.

got busy?

yes, yes, i do have some extra busy if you'd like some.