Of mice and men

My 8 year old is an almost-official hoarder. If it comes in a cardboard box, like those that contained his Star Wars Legos collection, he wants to keep the box "just in case it breaks." He also very seldom plays with any toys, other than the occasional hot wheels party or Bakugan battle, but insists on keeping all of his toys in his room, rather than in the basement "man cave." We compromised, and if he can keep the toys in his closet, with the doors shut, then he can keep them upstairs. He must also not pile them so high that clothing bar is unusable.

Oh, and have I mentioned that our house is surrounded on three sides by fields, and that this week, the owner of said fields decided to mow them? Are you following me here?

So, yesterday morning, I was cleaning up the house in order to take pictures for a photo home tour. Rather than leave the clean laundry piled on the couch, I thought I'd put it away before inviting people in, if only virtually. Not paying any attention, I opened Jake's closet and reached in for some hangers. I felt something, and looked up, and a freakin' MOUSE was pole dancing on the clothes rod!!! Being the strong, rational woman that I am, I screamed and jumped back, running into his desk in the process. I also managed to wake up Steve, who came to my rescue with mouse traps. The plan for the rest of this week through the weekend is to give the mouse time to die, and then clean out all the crap from that closet. Boxes are trash, toys are going to the basement, and all non-current essentials such as extra blankets and off season clothing are going to be stored in plastic bins.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Tackle it Tuesday: the Paper Monster

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the project to share.

As an instructor, I generate a lot of paper clutter: exams, term papers, general assignments, notes to myself,etc. At present, I have 2 shelves full of papers, some from last semester, and some from the current semester. I am sorting, tossing, and filing all day until I get the paper under control.

I have a 2 filing drawers, and lots of folders, paper clips, etc. I need to keep exam papers and attendance records from last semester, all of the other assignments are going into the trash! Everything from this semester will be graded, recorded, and returned or trashed by the end of this week.

For more Tackle it Tuesday, head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wish me luck!