one very special girl

For months I have been somewhat overwhelmed by all the minutiae that infiltrates my life: bank statements, tax forms, bills, notices from product vendors for the business, wedding planning info and contracts, mementos, photos, church stuff, and on and on. When I was on the mountain there was a minimum of space for tracking all this, so things would accumulate in piles. In the new house I've got more space to manage it all, just lacked the time to get it organized, and so the chaos multiplied and intensified. It has been driving me crazy, and gotten in the way of getting other things done. Sometimes when I get overwhelmed I can also get paralyzed, and I was nearing a state of constant paralysis. I knew I needed help.

Enter Sammy, about whom you’ve heard before, daughter of my friend Debi. She’s a bright, creative, and thoughtful teenager (yes, they do exist!), and it occurred to me that she might be willing to give me a hand and get me past the paralysis. Yesterday we grabbed some lunch (well, not grabbed, it was leisurely!), then plunged in. I let her determine the process, and we began going through the piles that were in my office. Four hours later we had eliminated unnecessary material, organized most of what remained, and concluded that some items simply didn’t fit into any logical category. Like the Isle of Misfit Toys in The Abominable Snowman, they have their own designated repository like a junk drawer.

There were moments when I surveyed it all and let out a sigh. So much to deal with. Sammy would look at me and say cheerfully, “you need a hug,” and one was forthcoming immediately.

After four hours there were no more piles in the office, and on the dining table there are now a handful of organized stacks that need file folders and then a chance to be put away. The open spaces that now exist in my office serve to remind me of what is possible, and under my own steam, while Sammy was still here, I began to sort through and deal with other items that needed attention. What a relief.