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Monday, September 26, 2005
Before/After: The Desk
***UPDATED*** (see below)
I can't believe I'm about to show you what I'm about to show you.
I've decided that it will be fun (ha ha!! yeah, in the way that going to the gynecologist when you have a yeast infection is fun) and probably productive to document my organization attempts (see previous post) with Before and After pictures. And if I post the Before pictures here, not only will I utterly humiliate myself, but I will be FORCED to complete the task so that I can post an After picture, and those of you who don't swear off friendship with me forever after seeing the "Before" can see that I can improve things if I really really try. And maybe I can see that too.
Anyway. Without further ado, here is our computer desk. I would love to say that it's not usually this bad -- but it usually is, because even when I clean it, it's this way again within a couple of days. HABITS MUST CHANGE, no?
Witness the multiple water bottles. The CDs. The 3 1/2" floppy disks which have NEVER EVER been in our two-year-old computer. The archaeological-dig-style layers of STUFF. And if you ever talk to me again, I'll know that you must really love me.
OK. I'll edit this post with the After picture in an hour or two. Assuming I survive.
*******UPDATE*******
OK, so it was more like three and a half hours (!!!). But that time included actually going through a lot of old floppy disks and CDs, deciding what to toss and tossing it, rather than putting them aside to examine later (and when would 'later' be exactly?).
Without further ado, here is THE DESK.
Ha ha! hee hee. That was a joke. Ooh, I think I may have just given T a heart attack. Don't worry, sweetie; I didn't have a credit-card fest at Staples and the local home decorator's office. (stop drooling, Rachel.) No, here's the real picture of our actual particle-board desk with our actual ugly knotty pine walls and the whole shebang.
You can actually, you know, SEE it. (that's a picture of C, age about 15 months and covered in spaghetti, on the screensaver. And you can see the front edge of our totally destroyed rolling chair. Those are on our "someday it'd be nice to finally replace those" list.) Nice if it could stay this way.
Next up (probably tomorrow; it's time to go cook supper): The Junk Drawer. (cue scary music).
Comments
I can't wait to see the after picture! this morning, I cleaned out my hall closet. It literally had stuff jammed and cramed on the floor 5 feet high! Yes! 5 feet high. So I took it all out and cleaned it. I was feeling VERY proud of myself, looking at the beatiful closet. The only thing it has in it is the vaccuum and a easel. I had spent some time putting alot of the stuff away. Hanging up stuff and so on. then I looked on the couch. ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot of the stuff from the closet was on the couch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ACK! I was not done yet! Or should I say, I am still not done yet. =)
I read your post from what you wrote earlier and don't look at it like you need to organize all the house at once. You will get frusterated that way. You dont have to get it all done today. Today I am tackeling the closet. Tomorrow I start on the kitchen. ONE DRAWER at a time! We can do this! Does that sound familiar?? hee hee.
Posted by: debi at September 26, 2005 11:57 AM
Um, yeah, doesn't look all that different from ours. Oh, except our trash-can is green and not white. As a matter of fact, your computer desk is almost the exact same configuration as ours. We've got a flappy-thing that covers the keyboard and accumulates an extra layer of papers, though. I am looking for a basket or some sort of bin to put on the top shelf on the right-hand side to hide the junk in. It used to have the sub-woofer on it but the new computer does not have said device. Oh yeah, and the chair was next to the wall and gouged holes in it. We spent Saturday spackling and painting and rearranging furniture to fix THAT little problem. All this is to say that YOU ARE NOT ALONE and we will not abandon you. :) Looking forward to seeing the "after".
Posted by: mary at September 26, 2005 11:59 AM
Is that a picture of your dh at the bicycle bumps?? waaah!
Posted by: debi at September 26, 2005 01:30 PM
Um, honestly, it doesn't strike me as that bad... which probably says more about my desk than yours. Actually, I want to get my desk clean and usable by November for NaNo, so maybe I'll join you with the before/after thing. Hmmm...
Posted by: Kat at September 26, 2005 02:07 PM
Ooh! Before and After pictures sound like fun. :o) The archaeological-dig-style layers of stuff look familiar-- probably because our house has them in several different places, too. Like you, I clear off the desk (or our kitchen bar-- I'd almost swear that "stuff" *grows* there on its own!), only to find it as bad as ever within a day or two. I'm looking forward to seeing the After picture. Maybe you'll motivate me to tackle some of my layers of stuff. ;o)
Posted by: Michael at September 26, 2005 02:16 PM
BEAUTIFUL, RACHEL! JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!! My hall closet is beautiful too, exept it is now a HUGE pile on the couch!!!!!! still. =(
Posted by: debi at September 26, 2005 03:23 PM
Very nice! Inspiring, even. Of course, I did not even get started on mine tonight... sigh.
Posted by: Kat at September 26, 2005 07:26 PM
LOL Debi! WhenEVER I clean my room I am so happy until I remember how much crap is on my bed...I need to do my closet SO bad. Rachel, that desk did not look that bad. Considering, however the amount of room you have on it you did an EXCELLENT job on organizing. Still, yours at its worse was twice as good as mine is at its worse. So don't feel bad!
Posted by: jenn at September 26, 2005 07:55 PM
Rachel, I was in fits when I saw the pretend desk. I was like "How did she go from 'that' to *THAT*?!? Totally taken in.
However - I was still impressed by the 'after' pic - well done. Give yourself a pat on the back :-) In fact - have a latte!
Posted by: Carol at September 27, 2005 08:42 AM
I agree - it looks great! I nearly fell off my chair, too, when I saw that after shot! Too funny!! I know after visiting my house that you think areas like those don't exist, but that was simply because I had WEEKS of notice to get ready for you guys. And it's only because of Dan reforming me for the past 10 years that I'm any different at all. Pre-Dan? I was way, WAY worse that your pictures so far. Great job - it looks awesome!!
Posted by: Susan at September 27, 2005 12:16 PM
Wow! You are making me want to do before and after shots as well, because trust me, your computer desk is CLEAN compared to mine! Hmmm... I have a lot of spare time tomorrow, we'll see if this urge lasts through the night.
Posted by: Maria at September 28, 2005 07:00 PM
