It’s spring cleaning time although I admit I can’t remember the last time I cleaned my house from top to bottom in the spring like my mom used to. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but finding the time was hard in the midst of a busy life. This year, however, I am working on making a change. I am in the simplification mood.

My problem is in the starting gate. Where do I start? I decided to tackle my office. How long could that take? I started with the closet. The closet held many of the items from my former computer business. It was time to purge.

What you need to understand is that computer technicians that own their own business, at least in my case, barely ever throw anything out because you never know when you might need a piece of software. Remember I have been out of business for three years.

I had software for Windows 98 computers, Windows XP computers, Windows Vista computers — well, you get the drift. Then there were all the cords and cables that I might need — someday. The old computer person in me still had a hard time purging, even though most everything is now useless. I tend to have that I-might-need-it-someday attitude not only with computer supplies but everything else too. A few months ago I was able to let go of three of my monitors and two of my printers.

The closet was clean and then I looked at the closet door and decided it needed painting, so I visited the basement and dug in my paint stash — yes, I have a hard time letting go of paint, too. I found what I needed and painted the door. Then I looked at the wall where we hang our coats. I decided the piece of paneling the carpenter had fit in over the old window 20 years ago was not in sync with the look, so I puttied the crack and then decided I needed to paint something cute and clever.

I drew a box with the white paint and painted a large word Umbrella down the wall. That hook would hold my umbrellas. Since I don’t do normal I decided the side of the closet toward my door needed to have the holes puttied from the hangers that didn’t hold. I knew from experience putting new hangers up would be futile, so I puttied those holes but did not have any blue paint that matched to hide the holes.

Of course, again I don’t have that picture perfect home so I decided to have some fun. I used my white paint to make a couple of circles and in those circles in gold I painted the words Hang Around, Hang It Up and then a question mark, a period and an exclamation point in three different tiny circles. Those words are what guests will see when they walk in the door.

Did I mention I get distracted easily when I am doing things? My porch, which is my office, is painted blue, yellow and red. I have clouds on the ceiling and clowns, and other unique things friends have given me over the years on the walls.  A bright, colorful, fun room sparks my creativity. It was originally painted and designed for my grandchildren to play in when they were young, but they have now moved on to bigger and better activities. I love my colorful porch office. I imagine when the time comes and we decide to sell the house, it will all have to be painted in tan tones to appeal to a buyer, but until then I will leave it as it is.

I know many feel sorry for my husband. I can’t always do the normal and expected things. I have to have at least one room where I can create away, and my ideas are sometimes off the wall. While I was busy painting, I realized one of the happiest times of my life was when we bought this house and I spent the first year painting and making do with the materials I had on hand to make my house a home. Doing what I did to my office this week gave me joy.

I still feel that joy as I write this even though this morning my body is stiff and creaky from crawling up and down a stool, and moving causes me to elicit a slight groan. It is well worth the stiff zombie walk I am doing today.

My spring cleaning ran into a hitch. I cleaned a closet and then got lost in painting. Isn’t that how we spend our life? We plan one thing and then get distracted by something else. Maybe our spirits know we need a distraction to give us new energy to complete the rest of the task. Onward to the task of spring cleaning.

 

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at hermionyvidaliabooks@gmail.com. Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/julie.