So. I haven’t been on the computer much lately. But I have been decluttering. Which is quite surprising.

Surprising? you ask. What’s the big deal about decluttering?

Well, the big deal is, I’m usually trying to find ways to avoid most forms of houswork. I’m uptight and particular about many things, but a spotless and clutter-free house is not one of them. So when it comes to housework, I procrastinate and rationalize and practice advanced avoidance techniques. It helps that I have a high tolerance for dust and concealed piles.

Yes, I said concealed piles. I like the kitchen counter to be cleared off. I don’t stack things on the coffee table. But give me a closet or a cupboard, or pretty much anything that closes, and I’m likely to stash stuff there with little concern for the number of items accumulating.

Until this week, apparently. This week, I was seized by the overwhelming urge to just clean some things out. Certainly not normal for me, but I went with it.

It all started with the hall closet.

When we moved to this house, I decided that in addition to coats, the hall closet would be used to store things like light bulbs and extra school supplies and board games — things that we might need at any given time, and wanted to have handy. I bought a little two-drawer organizer, set things up and kept it that way for the past four years.

But on Monday, I decided that I actually need the vacuum cleaner in the hall closet. At this point in our family’s development, it seems that I have to vacuum our main level twice-weekly daily constantly. (Apparently, my kids can generate more  than their body weight in crumbs and itty bitty scraps of paper on a daily basis.) Currently, however, the vacuum lives upstairs, in our bedroom closet. And lugging it up and down the steps all the time makes me grouchy tired. Things would be so much easier if I had it readily available on the main level of the house.

Great. Problem solved.

Except it’s a small cloest, and there was no room for the vacuum.

Okay, so all the stuff in the closet had to move elsewhere. I quickly decided that the cabinets under the half-bath’s sink would be the perfect place for light bulbs and the other random household supplies that were currently in the closet. Perfect.

Except for the fact that those bathroom cabinets were full of…well, other stuff.

So I started there. Within an hour, the half-bath cabinets were streamlined and organized, ready to welcome my handy two-drawer organizer from the hall closet. Another hour or so later, the hall closet was happily housing the vacuum. In the process, I also generated a large garbage bag full of junk that could leave the house entirely.

But did I stop there? Oh no.

On to the storage room.The storage room is the half of our basement where I stash anything that doesn’t have a home, along with clothes from C. that I’m saving for L., books that don’t fit on the bookshelves, holiday decorations, and about a million other things. It is a scary place, because I’ve been somewhat less than organized in my stashing.

I’m currently in the process of going through every single item, storing like things together, and actually labeling containers. I started months ago, but I have a feeling it will never actually be done.

Monday night, I attacked seven more boxes, filled a bag of clothes for the local mission, set aside a basket of toys to give away, and produced another two garbage bags full of, well, garbage. Whew!

You’d think that would be enough for a housework-avoider like me, but oh no!

Last night saw me finally dealing with the “to-file pile.”

Confession: I hate filing. I like things to be filed, but I hate the process. So I tend to let the to-file pile grow. And grow. And grow. Until I literally cannot fit another item on it. It stays hidden in our computer armoire, where I can be careful to not look at it. But anyone who stops by our house is likely to see it, since the armoire doors are often open. So I’m perpetually embarrassed about it, but still manage to not do anything about it for months at a time.

Here’s what it looked like last night at 8:00 p.m. (And no, I can’t believe I’m posting this for all the world to see.)

And here’s what it looked like at 10:30 p.m.

Ah, much better. I love when it’s all cleaned up. So why don’t I file more often? I have no answer for that.

Not surprisingly, there’s no point to this post. Except: I’ve been decluttering. Which isn’t much of a point, if you ask me.

But I do have to admit that purging the closet and cabinets and storage pile and computer armoire has been — if not “enjoyable” — fulfilling. It feels good to know that the piles aren’t actually taking over my house, and that I’ve gotten rid of a whole bunch of stuff that was either expired or unnecessary or useless or extraneous. Who knows — with my new lightened load, maybe I’ll actually have room in my brain for blog posts.