Spring Cleaning

I'm writing this post from my sick bed.

How's that for dramatic effect?

About 3 week ago I was struck with a nasty virus that seemed to linger forever. For 4 glorious days last week, I thought I was over the worst. Last Thursday however, I started back up with a few sniffles and moved on to bone racking chills and feeling like death warmed over yesterday. This leg seemed to be a fast albeit brutal round 2, though, and I think I'm on the mend.

To combat these stuffy nosed blues, I've been started to think about spring cleaning. Bright, spring decorations are all up at my house and I'm getting that antsy urge take stock of what's been lying around my apartment all winter long unused and unnecessary.

When I was young, I had a hard time throwing things away. I think mostly owing to the pack rat tendencies of my father and grandmother. (unless it came to stuff us kids left lying on the stairs, my dad never had much trouble chucking those things indiscriminately!), but also I was so afraid to get rid of something that I might want again someday. The older I get, however, the more I recognize that all of the things that we fill our lives with are never that important. And if the only reason I remember something exists is because I pull it out from under bed storage and dust it off every few years, I think it's safe to assume I'm not going to miss it all that much now or ever. Not to mention, there's something about the fresh spring wind that just makes me want to feel light. To open up space in my world for the promise of this new year so recently begun.  To head into the warmer days and longer nights without all the baggage of a long winter.

I have some lofty plans for what I'll organize and clean out this year, but I'm going to try to start small, lest I get a little to crazy. First order of business? A good, old fashioned, shredding party with my ever growing stacks of papers, receipts, and documents that are now old enough to make their way out of my file box. I can't wait!

Are you planning out your spring cleaning? Or will you attack it one breezy day on impulse? Or not at all?