Onely.Org

Procrastination, Filth, and Flowers July 16, 2008

All week I have been simultaneously looking forward to, preparing for, and putting off a major cleaning and thorough organization of my living quarters. This tension between starting and stopping, beginning and pausing, always occurs. If I were responsible to/for anyone else, I am sure this habit would become a major annoyance, maybe even a deal-breaker. But I’m not. I am Onely. Here’s how the process unfolded this time [a bit elongated because my summertime-school schedule allows me to extend the process]:

Day 1: Too sick to begin. The thought of cleaning makes me tired. I assess the situation, then take a nap.

Day 2: Friend calls at 9:30 a.m. to see if I want to travel with him to Bloomington, Indiana, for the day (an hour and a half drive). He has to return a recent purchase. I go, happily.

Day 3: Have a meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wash sink full of dishes before meeting. Check out some books at school library before heading home. Come home, eat dinner, watch TV until it’s too late to seriously begin cleaning.

Day 4 [today!]: Major step accomplished! Put away all major clutter (stacks of old papers and mail on desk, dirty and clean clothes sorted and placed in appropriate receptacles, loose change collected and stored, etc.). Mentally organize next few steps — major cleaning means I need major cleaning products. Trip to Target. Spend much more than anticipated (have always wanted a fan that functions as an air cleaner/freshening-via-ions, so took the plunge), but have all the products necessary to remove nasty mildew stain underneath kitchen sink and to get rid of my dog’s inevitably doggy odor from carpets. Energized by thought of dust-free apartment, decide to splurge and purchase flowers at Lowe’s for large cement planters in front of building which are currently sprouting weeds. Arrive home, pot new plants and repot overgrown mint plants which I’m growing on the fire escape. As I’m placing mint back out onto the fire escape, I see my jalapeno pepper plant is actually growing peppers!

Day 5 [anticipated]: Will organize all loose/disorganized papers needing to be filed (lots!) and place them in the designer storage boxes I bought from IKEA in May. Will assemble new fan/freshener/ionizer [p.s. can anyone tell me what ions are, exactly?]. Will assemble new lamp (on sale at Target).

Day 6 [anticipated]: Major actual cleaning day!!!!! In background: America’s Next Top Model marathon (begins at 10 a.m. on MTV). Bye bye dust, allergens, funny smell in the kitchen!!!! Maybe I will vacuum dog, too. 🙂 — L