Hello 2012,
Today is the last day of the year and I think I am ready!!
Last night I had my semi-annual sock matching party. In the past this was a New Year’s eve tradition but I did it a day early. Yippee!
I have always had a hard time telling the boys clothes apart. Between hand me downs, stray clothes from random friends, 4 big boys and their dad, I really don’t know whose stuff is whose, especially socks. ( I never had a problem with Jillian clothes) This has been a struggle my entire life. Now that my children are grown and this shouldn’t be much of an issue, Right? I guess this is where my lack of housekeeping skills also plays a part. I would rather quilt than clean!
Kids have moved in and out, taking only what they “needed” and the leftovers remained so I once again have orphan socks. One year I cleaned the entire house hunting for any lost socks so I could get ready for the upcoming sock matching party. Once I was sure they were none of those little devils hiding, I packaged up all the pairs and took them to Goodwill. I bought several pairs of one style sock, all the same size, that ALL the males in my household would wear.
Makes perfect sense.
Or so I thought, then one little pesky stray sock makes it way into the cycle and here we go again. All the kids were here for the holidays, they live local so it is no big deal if they do not take all of their belongings —- More stray socks.
For years, Gary was in bed early for New Years Eve because he had to work at 3:00 in the morning. My big event was having a sock matching party, tricking some of the kids to help, setting all the clothes back an hour and ringing in the New Year.
You may wonder why I set the clocks back an hour?
I live in the central time zone which gave me options on which channel to watch the festivities in Time Square. The ball would actually drop at 11:00 on one of the channels. I would let the kids stay up to watch the ball drop, blow their noisemakers, drink apple juice in plastic champagne glasses and GO TO BED.
This gave me a full hour of silence and reflection, not counting the I’m thirsty or Jarrod hit me interruptions.
An hour alone when you have 5 kids and a husband that works from home was sheer heaven.
Kids have moved in and out, taking only what they “needed” and the leftovers remained so I once again have orphan socks. One year I cleaned the entire house hunting for any lost socks so I could get ready for the upcoming sock matching party. Once I was sure they were none of those little devils hiding, I packaged up all the pairs and took them to Goodwill. I bought several pairs of one style sock, all the same size, that ALL the males in my household would wear.
Makes perfect sense.
Or so I thought, then one little pesky stray sock makes it way into the cycle and here we go again. All the kids were here for the holidays, they live local so it is no big deal if they do not take all of their belongings —- More stray socks.
For years, Gary was in bed early for New Years Eve because he had to work at 3:00 in the morning. My big event was having a sock matching party, tricking some of the kids to help, setting all the clothes back an hour and ringing in the New Year.
You may wonder why I set the clocks back an hour?
I live in the central time zone which gave me options on which channel to watch the festivities in Time Square. The ball would actually drop at 11:00 on one of the channels. I would let the kids stay up to watch the ball drop, blow their noisemakers, drink apple juice in plastic champagne glasses and GO TO BED.
This gave me a full hour of silence and reflection, not counting the I’m thirsty or Jarrod hit me interruptions.
An hour alone when you have 5 kids and a husband that works from home was sheer heaven.
TIP: Don’t count the socks becasue the numbers could be overwhelming. I think about cutting quilt pieces for the newest project. If a quilt pattern requires 1,890 pieces, how eager are you to jump on in and tackle the project? I don’t count, I just start cutting. (or folding if talking about socks.)
These are the remains of my sock matching party. A dozen or so remain sport ankle socks tied with the one lone black sock. One more laundry cycle and if their mate doesn’t magically appear these guys are gone!!
Closets are Cleaned
I guess once a girl scout always a girl scout. Always be prepared was my motto in my closet as well.
Monthly bloating? better keep that bigger size of pants.
Laura Ashley dresses may come back in style, better keep it just in case.
Never know when you may need a pair of bowling shoes, or a pair of railroad coveralls for a Halloween costume?
Well that is all gone except I did keep the bowling shoes.
I tend to shop for clothes like I shop for fabric. I like plaids, florals, textures and patterned pieces which I have learned doesn’t make for a very versatile wardrobe. You can use a beautiful floral print in several sewing projects, but the gals at work would certainly start to wonder if my washer was broken if I wore the same floral shirt too often.
So I de-cluttered the closet, bought all new thin coated hangers and even some little clothes divider tabs like they have in the dept store. You know the kind that separate the mediums from the larges? Just write on the tab and hang it over your clothes rod to keep the short sleeve blue shirts separated from the long sleeve blue shirts. Yes, I know I must be sick.
This obsession will pass but I thought I strike while the iron was hot.
Wait there’s more…. If you hang all your clothes with the hanger going backwards on the rod, once you wear them, hang them up in the right direction. The next time I am ready to purge, I can quickly see the garments I haven’t not worn all year.
The clothes that the hanger is still backwards on the rod. I am trying it!!
Monthly bloating? better keep that bigger size of pants.
Laura Ashley dresses may come back in style, better keep it just in case.
Never know when you may need a pair of bowling shoes, or a pair of railroad coveralls for a Halloween costume?
Well that is all gone except I did keep the bowling shoes.
I tend to shop for clothes like I shop for fabric. I like plaids, florals, textures and patterned pieces which I have learned doesn’t make for a very versatile wardrobe. You can use a beautiful floral print in several sewing projects, but the gals at work would certainly start to wonder if my washer was broken if I wore the same floral shirt too often.
So I de-cluttered the closet, bought all new thin coated hangers and even some little clothes divider tabs like they have in the dept store. You know the kind that separate the mediums from the larges? Just write on the tab and hang it over your clothes rod to keep the short sleeve blue shirts separated from the long sleeve blue shirts. Yes, I know I must be sick.
This obsession will pass but I thought I strike while the iron was hot.
Wait there’s more…. If you hang all your clothes with the hanger going backwards on the rod, once you wear them, hang them up in the right direction. The next time I am ready to purge, I can quickly see the garments I haven’t not worn all year.
The clothes that the hanger is still backwards on the rod. I am trying it!!
Imagine trying to purge your fabric stash with this approach. The fabric you haven’t used in a year, purge?!! Goodness NO! Fabric is better aged, it will not go out of style like my high waisted pants or the Laura Ashley dress I had since high school.
The dress did make it into my fabric stash. It was 100% cotton, imagine that!
The dress did make it into my fabric stash. It was 100% cotton, imagine that!
TIP: Once your side of the closet is all pretty, you might as well go ahead and tidy up the hubby’s side. I didn’t organize his with dividers for long sleeve or short sleeve but it is color coordinated.
Outdoor flood lights (you know the ones too high to reach) all have a bright shiny new bulb in them. Tall kitchen cabinets cleaned. Thanks, Jarrod.
Christmas is all put away and I even have Valentine’s towels in the guest bath.
Christmas is all put away and I even have Valentine’s towels in the guest bath.
Some one please take my temperature!
I think I am ready for 2012. Let’s make it a good one!
Just READING this made me too tired – I think I'll tackle some of those chores another day . . . .
Happy New Year Lissa!
You're scaring me. While I was reading this post, I kept thinking of the guy in the movie Sleeping with the Enemy. 🙂
Happy New Year!
I like that hanger idea. I have about 20 or so white shirts. Blame Helen Hunt. Maybe 30. I'm a simple girl, keep my wardrobe simple, less thinking that way. But, alas, I still have my Laura Ashley skirt. I still have shirts from the 80's; saving them for a quilt (or losing xx lbs). Have a Happy New Year! Please show some sneak peaks of the new lines…
My two boys are grown and out of the house, but I remember the singleton sock problem quite well. We tried the same style sock for everyone, but somehow my husband would pack one of the kids socks in his gym bag. We tried writing their initials on the toes–can't remember what went wrong with that. I headed up a singleton sock drive at work for homeless people. It's surprising how big a problem this is, but the homeless appreciated every clean sock they got.
Thought you were writing about my four boys and DH. Handkerchieves have been a nightmare for me too.
Happy New Year!!!
All I can say is WOW!
Whoa, girl. I'm speechless!