Spring Cleaning

It is definitely springtime in Sacramento-- my terribly itchy eyes and runny nose indicate this quite well. It seems like the rain may have stopped, and now we will be blessed with cloudless/sunny 70-80 degree weather which is perfect for frisbee.

But in addition to frisbee-playing (which unfortunately, last week, gave me a left knee contusion and sprained right shoulder--- ouch!), I have been a bit manic in recently doing some extensive spring cleaning.

I am overall quite a neat and organized person by nature. When I was younger, I used to compulsively clean my room and run around the house in a "Cinderella" apron. I remember that our "attitude towards cleanliness" was one of the questions on our college (roommate- matchup) questionnaire. I remember that Cathleen's mom would not let her send in her form with her original reply, "moderately neat," as she felt it was untruthful! In fact, our room often (well, mainly her side ;), was often in a state of quite disarray; however, it didn't tend to bother me, because it wasn't my stuff. We got along extremely well as roommates and continued friends!

I have been frustrated lately by the clutter that has accumulated in my small one-bedroom apartment, which lately has been feeling way too small. My living room includes the storage of: my bike, which I refuse to leave outside for fear that it (my reliable transportation to work) could get stolen, an electronic keyboard I bought last year, as well as various items of now-necessary "gear," including skis/poles, snowshoes, a tent, camp chairs and Thermarests, sleeping bags, etc. I have a lot of stuff which I just don't think is dispensible!

However, after visiting grandma in MN in April and watching various TV shows on the "pathology of hoarding" (yikes- eye openers indeed!), I have vowed to make my place neater. When my Dad stayed with Grandma after her hip surgery in February, he basically either chucked, or relocated (she's still not sure which) her various cluttering knickknacks, decorations, etc. to the spare bedroom (which was impassable, necessitating my sleeping on the couch). When she moved from the farmhouse to this apartment in town, she tried to hold onto a whole lot of stuff which she's found it hard to part with. I hope I never accumulate so much "junk" over my lifetime.

While we were in Vancouver, Rocky told us a story about one of her patients who recently died. Probably due to an absence of close family and due to Rocky's name being all over papers and medications, the police called her, as the patient's primary care doctor, to go to the patient's house. In short, the patient was found lying down in the only patch of free floor space in the cluttered apartment, which was stacked high with magazines and other junk, her various pill-bottles (most unopened) piled high on her bed. This was a sad story, but combined with the various shows I watched on "why people hoard," was incredibly motivating to me to never ever get that bad. I know that moving frequently tends to initiate purging of "stuff," and perhaps since I've stayed put for the last 3 years here in the same apartment, I have gotten a bit lazy. However, in anticipation of the possibility of moving again next year, I thought I'd start weeding stuff out now.

So I have spent the better parts of the evenings over the last few weeks, sometimes staying up well beyond my preferred 9:00 bedtime, going through the various parts of my apartment, trying to organize and jettison large amounts of stuff. I was very successful with my desk and vertical file rack; my desk is now incredibly clear and open. My notes from med school classes are now recycled (I always find it so hard to throw away "knowledge"!), and several textbooks have found new homes with UC Davis med students. A few Target "gray bins" later, my "kitchen corner" looks drastically neater. My closet is organized (it hadn't been this way since last March, when Cathleen [formerly the messy one!] voluntarily arranged all my clothes for me!), my dresser is cleaned, and clothes given away. The bulky (and not that effective) foot/calf massager that sat under my desk, and the aerobic stair-stepper I schlepped from MN (and have used a grand total of about two times) are on the market on Craigslist (where I had never attempted to sell anything before now). Even if no one buys them, they are going to go.

These are big steps. Now, if I can only stay away from spring and summer yard sales :)