My Name is Kellie and I'm a Pile Junkie

I've slacked off lately and haven't been following Fly Lady like I should. Starting Monday I mean to get right back on track. Since I've let things slide a little I've been working hard to clean the house today in time for company to arrive tonight. Usually I can concentrate on the living room/kitchen/guest bath and be good but this particular guest we haven't seen in 6 years so I'm pretty positive that will mean a tour of the house. And as much as I'd love to show off my piles of Need to Hand Wash delicates in my bedroom and stacks of outgrown clothes on top of the kids' dresser I figured it was time to Clean Up.

I realize that Clean Up means different things to different people. For example, to me it means scrubbing the dining table and chairs so that they don't have traces of food smeared all over them. To David it means getting rid of the pile of papers next to the kitchen phone. It's his pet peeve, that pile of papers next to the phone drives him nuts every day. I admit I'm a bit of a piler. Piles don't bother me but smears of yogurt on the dining room table and a dirty bathroom do. David wouldn't know a dirty toilet from a clean one but a hint of a pile forming somewhere in the house drives him out of his mind.

I need to work on my piling habit, but for now it happens to be my filing system. At least in the kitchen. The kitchen pile changes constantly because it's the stuff I need to deal with Right Now. You know: bills that are due, the Safeway ad and grocery list I'm working on, the wedding invitation I need to keep so we can send a card/gift, a coupon I'm planning to use that week. I'm sure I can come up with a better organizational system then piles but for now that's what it is.

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting it so here's to my becoming a Reformed Piler. My husband just might cry tears of sheer bliss if I get to that point and that's all the motivation I need.