Thursday, December 30, 2010

toys and trash bags



Last night Dave walked into the living room and said, "are you organizing again?"

We've organized all kinds of nooks and crannies around here. The boys' games and toys are tidy and regrouped and each have new, carefully-thought-out homes that are either in Isaac's reach or not-at-all in Isaac's reach or in Isaac's reach, but behind a locked door.

The bathroom cabinets have been cleaned out and purged and restocked with oft used things right up front and rarely used things waiting in the depths and it looks so nice in there that I plan on showing all visitors in the next week or so the beauty of the bathroom cabinet. It'll knock their socks off, I tell you.

The office area has been restocked with clean notebooks and new pens. My datebook is ready to plan out many cool and crafty projects for the next 12 months. The cluttery spots that normally surround me as a write out these posts have been cleared away for the new year.

It would seem that most of our home is tidy and well organized.

Except for the multiplying bags of trash right by the front door.

The city's response to Sunday's blizzard is under a fair amount of criticism right now. There are still streets that just have not been plowed yet, which is pretty unusual for how the city handles snowstorms. The subways and bus routes are still seeing lots of delays and routes that have been suspended altogher. It's all so strange because normally this city stops for nothing. And although this storm was a big one, it wasn't anything we haven't seen before. (It would seem we could use a Secretary of Transportation with lots of snow experience. Dad, you interested?)

One of the things that has been suspended "until further notice" is trash pick up. And for apartments like ours, with no outdoor area for holding trash until pick-up day, our foyer is holding the trash instead. I've never been so happy that we use cloth diapers.

So, were you to visit today, before noticing the glory of the bathroom cabinets and the alphabetized legos, you would first have to climb over a not-at-all organized pile of trash.

Lots of really clean. Lots of really messy. I'm choosing to call it balance.




White Cheddar Biscuits. Fantastic.

16 comments:

Cat said...

reading this, I really appreciate living in the suburbs and having a small yard. Trash never stays inside very long! Do you have an alley you could bring the bags to?

Ruth said...

I've been reading in DH's FT all about the rockstar mayor of Newark and his response to the snowfall. Mr Bloomberg should be following his lead, by all accounts! I do hope your rubbish pile doesn't become a mountain!

Dave said...

Really? Rockstar mayor Newark?

Susan? Is it true?

Mama V said...

Those biscuits look almost like down home southern goodness. Yum!

And I love Booker! And not only because he's my good friend's brother. (Susan and Robyn: his brother is Farmer John, that guy I keep telling you about). Love that he got out there to lend a hand himself. Our mayor has treated our city sanitation workers like trash after laying them off this month and expecting them to work the storm without pay. That's a huge part of what caused all the hoopla in the first place.

We were rejoicing and jumping up and down when we saw a snow plow down our street. Not like it made a difference to us, but it felt like a sign of movement. Grateful we DON'T live in the suburbs where we would have been dependent on buried cars and not able to walk a block to the store for basic needs.

Not sure about Robyn's street, but Cat: we get fined if we put our trash out far in advance of trash pick-up day.

Looking forward to inspecting those bathroom cabinets on Saturday!

Cat said...

Mama V: I'm lucky enough to live in an "old suburb" where I can walk to the grocery store (2 in fact), drugstore, bank, dollar store, sushi shop, elementary school, parks... I would like to move but I think I'll have a hard time finding a location that is as good as this one!
Sorry that the trash has to stay inside and hope it doesn't last too long!

Mama V said...

Cat: I want to move to your 'hood!!

Ruth said...

Mama V: Come on over to West London!
Robyn: I didn't mean rockstar in the literal sense, but maybe he has hidden talents?!

Susan said...

Booker and Farmer John are brothers?! That is so cool! Do you know him, Vanessa? The mayor, I mean?

I live in Newark and we're pretty happy with our mayor but, uh, things here aren't much better. Lots of barely plowed streets, trash piled everywhere. I'm luckier than Robyn in that, in theory, we do have an outdoor place for trash but our landlord chose not to have the drifted snow cleared from the trash storage shed so we can't get to it nor can we remove the now very old trash from that shed on trash day (not that that's our job, either but this isn't a good place to whine about my landlord, is it?).

But, that said, I definitely have a way cooler mayor than Robyn ;)

Susan said...

Robyn everyone calls Booker a "rock star" because he's so popular all over the country. I've never heard him sing or anything :)

Dave said...

Hey now! I'm all for calling people that don't really sing Rockstars. Case in point: I call myself a rockstar at least once a week. Probably more.

I just didn't know that the mayor of Newark wasn't a scoundrel. Sorry Q, and Mama V, I assumed that Newark politics were ick.

But I know as much about politics as I do about rockstars. Which isn't a whole lot.

Susan said...

I don't blame you, Robyn. Booker is our first mayor EVER to not be indicted. So far. But people aren't worried about him being corrupt--even his enemies can't find scandal. Our previous mayor just got out of prison and he is still wildly popular. It's a strange place we live.

Melissa Belmonte said...

I'm JEALOUS of your organizing! So far I've managed to make a list of things to organize. I don't like having so much space sometimes- it makes us keep too much! Sounds so comforting to think about living in a clutter-free space. Maybe I'll go tackle that junk drawer right now...

Rhona said...

Robyn, I really could do with someone like you around here to organise me! I'm looking around and not knowing where to start at the moment. I'd love an organised home!! Well done! x

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

Bummer about the trash. Out here in the boonies we have no trash service & have to take it to the dump ourselves. Needless to say, left to DH the trash just piles up before he'll make that drive.

Congrats on the organizing though!

debs14 said...

Oh my goodness - you are the American version of my sister!!!!
That is uncanny! Her bathroom cabinet is scarily organised, as is her whole kitchen. She sighs in disbelief when she comes here and looks for something!

Cat said...

Mama V, I hope you like the suburb of Montreal, Canada... you're welcomed here anytime!