Saturday, March 24, 2012

Moving Mountains, Battling With The Disorder

It's almost end of classes for the second term, and I am again confronted with a mountain of "disposables".   I mean those year-long accumulation of handouts and other photocopied readings, notes I've taken down recklessly (been planning to organize them in a notebook...failing).  Books strewn about.  Note cards. Trash can overflowing with crumpled paper.  When you are a teacher it's really difficult to keep things spic and span.  The order of the day is always disorder.  Well, yeah, you could keep a neat stack.  But there will always be lots of stacks.  So eventually, everything looks so...disorderly...so...stressful. :-(

So before I get about to checking my students' final exams and some backlog quizzes, I decided to clear my space and clear my mind. It seems to have become a ritual for me.  I just couldn't start checking with all the mess around me.

My space, by the way, is that spare room on the ground floor which I call my mess room.  It houses all my stuff that get used regularly, and so are impossible to keep  neat and still in any shelf.  This room becomes messy no sooner than I have cleaned it up.  All my precious things are in here. Books of all types, arts and crafts things, souvenirs, framed photos, baubles, and many more.  It's like a little shop. Little shop of horror.

Last night I couldn't sleep.  This clear-up thing was bugging me.  That's me. When I wanna start on something and I couldn't wait to get started, I couldn't sleep.  So I get started anyway, even at midnight and down to the wee hours of the morning.

I started with the books.  I do have lots of books. Some I've read once. Some over and over. Some never.  So I put together books of similar subjects and types.  Then with the handouts. I threw away most since I wouldn't be using them anymore.  I'm freeing my mind of the possibilities.  And if ever, I could easily make new ones anyway.

My mini-library, or the half of it.




This wall-mount bookshelf is one of those "can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-it" projects I had in my line-up and I did  it overnight about a week ago.  My body was sore the following day.

My bags, hanging from the bag holders  I purchased from my friend Lynette G.

Baubles in a bracelet bar I bought in a Chinese store ("wawa").
  Mug racks are a good option to keep your shades out of harm's way.
  They 're also a great place to hang your kikay stuffs like necklaces,
ID holders, bracelets, anklets, etc.


If they're too long, hang them from S-hooks.
My students' rock art projects back from when I taught  Humanities I.

Old photos tacked on to a wooden wine box that serves as a book end as well.

Coated wire rack used in bookstores  for holding greeting cards.


Last Christmas I bought some plastic boxes like crazy.  My husband would tease me whenever I came home with at least two of them. They were on sale, buy one take one.  I'm happy that I "hoarded", because at the onstart of the year I saw the same boxes at the mall,  priced twice as much, per.  I use these plastic boxes to keep loose ends.  Those items that I couldn't attend to at present I stuff inside the boxes, with the thought in mind that I shall get back to them when I have the time.  At least they are contained for the meantime, and I know exactly where to find them.
I love these stackable plastic boxes that come in various colors.
I knew I should have gotten more when they were on sale.
These boxes hold my scrapbook materials.
Ending is, I finished clearing up at the first crow of the roosters from a distant household.  I laid down to rest and get what little sleep I could before the birds made noises outside.  Well, I might have been sound asleep since I didn't hear the birds. I snuggled  a bit more, and a bit later my youngest son came into the room and plopped beside me.  He was gonna take a bath (he likes using the bathroom in this room because the shower is strong) but the prospect of a warm bed lured him to snuggle up beside me and bide some more time.
Sofa by day, bed by night.

When I finally got up I was feeling braced for the day. I'm now ready to take on the next battle: checking and computing grades.  When I'm done with these tasks, I'm ready for summer. And the next phase of my life.###


2 comments:

Unknown said...

ay you can donate the junk paper to us. we re-use them pambalot ng lansang etc :) you can just leave it at the hardware.. thanks in advance! :)

Unknown said...

Posting Facebook comment from my friend:
Jo Ann Amparo: Wow Ate Espie! Ang galing naman, nag 5S. :) Wish I could do that, too.... organize my stuff! First I have to get rid of things I have hoarded for the ___ years! Packrat me! ha ha!
Saturday at 11:25pm · Like