The Shortest Month

February is the shortest month, so why should I be surprised that it has gone by so quickly?  We even have a bonus day this year, but March will be here on Thursday. 

At the beginning of the month I was thinking that February would be a good month to start those resolutions that I didn't make at the new year.  I figured that since February is the shortest month, it would be easier to maintain those promises I make to myself.  It's only 29 days...surely I can maintain self control for 29 days.

Apparently not!  I never got around to exercising regularly, drinking more water, avoiding salt, and eating more vegetables. And now February is almost over and I've only got time for a quick resolution.  It's too late to drop 10 pounds or become physically fit.  So, I decided to take the few days left in February and organize my life. 

I started my organizational frenzy with our mail basket.  The original idea of the mail basket was a temporary resting place for the mail when it was brought into the house.  It has become, however, a long-term storage area for any bit of paper that doesn't make it to the trash.  I actually found bank statements from 2010!  Unopened! 

The spouse says, "We really should review those statements to make sure we're not being embezzled."  Note the use of the pronoun "we." 

I decided that if the spouse hadn't reviewed a bank statement in the forty years that we've been married, he probably wasn't going to start now just because I had the urge to get organized.

I actually do review our accounts regularly, but now I do it online.  I almost never write checks, everything is done electronically or with a debit card.  Most of our bills are paid automatically.  Why do I still have all this paper clutter?

I have now gone through all the paper in the basket and have a huge pile of bank statements from the past three years to shred.  This morning I visited our two credit unions to get passwords for online access to those accounts.  I'm in the process of switching all our statements to paperless.  Now I'll just have electronic clutter! 

I'm going to spend the February bonus day preparing for the electronic onslaught.  I'm collecting all the web addresses, passwords, and account numbers in a big notebook just in case I'm hit by a truck and the spouse has to start reviewing statements online.

Nana Spreads Some Goodwill

I spent yesterday in the closet.  Or, should I say closets?  As I posted on Wednesday, it was time to clean out my accumulation of shoes.  I tried to channel Peter Walch, Oprah's organization guru,  and I developed criteria for any pair that I was going to keep.

• in good condition
• comfortable
• fit well
• meet a need in my wardrobe or I just love them

I started with 102 pairs, but along the way I found a few more pairs under the beds or tucked away in the back of the closets.  My goal was to reduce by 20%.  The first five or six pairs to toss was easy and included four pairs of black pumps.  I kept one pair of basic black heels, but numerous black dressy pumps...you know, for that once in a blue moon that I dress up.  But, a girl's got to have strappy heels for summer dress-up and fancy closed toe shoes for winter.  I'm down to only two pair of lime green shoes, summer sandals and spring loafers, but I've still got my four pairs of pink shoes. 

I have two big bags of shoes in the trunk of my car to take to Goodwill.  I culled 18 pairs from the collection.  I said goodbye to three pairs of gray heels...but I still have at least three pairs of gray shoes in the closet.  I really was surprised that I had so many gray shoes. 

I found a pair of brand new slippers, still in the box, in the back of the closet.  So I threw away two pairs of slippers that had seen better days.

Once I was in the closets (notice it's plural, I use two walk-in closets in the two back bedrooms) I started in on the clothing.  When my daughter lived at home, she was my fashion Nazi.  It wasn't until she moved out that my collection of holiday sweaters grew to epic proportions.  Without her input I do have what could best be described as "some poor choices!"

I kept reminding myself that I am retired and my wardrobe meets different needs now.  I have two boxes of suits going to Goodwill also.  I tried on almost everything in the closet and if it didn't fit perfectly, it went in the donate pile.  Eighteen suits are gone, but I still have almost that many left in the closet.  All the brown suits went.  I don't particularly like brown, so I'm not sure why I bought those particular suits in the first place.  I'm left with classic black and blue suits.  I guess I'm not totally ready to let go of my working life, or I would have let all the business attire go.

I enjoyed reading the comments from my earlier post.  I do wish all of you lived in my neighborhood...what a great field trip we could have shopping for shoes!  Oh, I forgot, I'm not buying shoes; I have enough shoes.  Let's go shopping for leisure wear...I've got some room in my closet now for a new retirement wardrobe!