Very early this past Monday morning, I opened my linen closet to grab a small band-aid from the First Aid/Medication shelf. After several minutes of Tetris-like maneuvering of everything stuffed on and into this shelf, I stopped and looked. “When’s the last time I cleared out this shelf,” I thought. “And what about the overstuffed Personal Hygiene/Cosmetic shelf below that?”
What a cluster mess. There was no moving into the day, not to mention, the week, without tackling this mess.
I threw the entire contents of the First Aid/Medication shelf onto my bed. Most of the stuff was empty boxes and containers.
A quarter of the stuff was expired medication and prescriptions; one in 2007; another in 2012. I mixed the expired pills and tablets into coffee grounds to safely dispose of them. Then I blotted out my personal information on the containers and tossed them.
Too much of the shelf was also comprised of mysterious plastic objects. Bed pans? Vomit receptacles? Some had measurement indicators on the side. Did they belong in one of my kitchen cupboards? I knew I could use some measuring cups.
But I had to move on. Even though the Personal Hygiene/Cosmetic shelf below the first one was a bit less chaotic, it did store these alarming items:
Two hours later, these two shelves (of seven) in my linen closet were freshly organized, and I finally had access to the small band-aid that started this epic cleanup.
I stepped back and gazed at my hard work — so closet to my heart. But then I grimaced. YUK! That has got to be the ugliest shelf paper EVER. But damn if I am going to empty those shelves any time soon!
I love reading your words. I too have a mountain of junk to wrangle – compared to your molehill. But I enjoyed your journey nevertheless. ❤️
You are always the good sport, Neola. Thank you.
Adrienne FaceTimed me as soon as she saw the photo of the shelf-improvement garbage bag in the last photo in this post which I just had to text to her. “Don’t you feel better now that the closet is organized?” she asked.
Of course I did . . . but I could tell that she did, too. What is it about things neat and tidy that makes us feel better even when it’s not our stuff?
Oh dear. This is kind of alarming. Each pack of thin Stim-U-Dents includes 40 Dents. That means I have 1,080 Stim-U-Dents which will last me a little under three years. That’s probably the next time I’ll need to clear out that linen closet shelf.
Just did this task myself only under the bathroom sink. I have you beat on the expiration dates. You have to start somewhere. Bravo you. I hope the place that needed a band aid could wait patiently.
Charlotte, you have me BEAT on expiration dates?! God bless you.
Some of the stuff on those two shelves in my linen closet would have no doubt been stuffed under the bathroom sink. But my sink is a pedestal one so I had to find room somewhere other than the floor beneath the sink.
I needed the small band-aid for a small cut I sustained while deadheading some flowers in my front garden even EARLIER yesterday. By the time I finished my shelf improvement that cut had half healed. I didn’t need a band-aid.
It is satisfying just to read about your chore, as if I’d completed it vicariously.
I remember reading a poem by Ted Kooser, which may have been about a garage sale, that described each of the items. I decided to try a similar writing project while tackling a few boxes in my storeroom. A box marked “Gram’s Recipes” (my great-grandmother was an excellent cook) was filled with recipes clipped from the newspaper! But the real find in that box was an insert from the Chicago Tribune for the World’s Fair! I was the third generation to receive this box of newspaper recipes! The only thing I kept was the insert, the rest I recycled.
Completely fascinating, Beth. Maybe writing this post was my “Ted Kooser” creative response. And that Chicago Tribune insert was indeed a real find. I still have the entire newspaper that included my birth announcement. Perhaps I should write about that.💕
I loooove a clean out opportunity! Mental therapy! I even felt better just reading your post and seeing your pictures. 🙂
❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, Kelly!