One Man's Junk...

You know the saying one man's junk is another man's treasure, right? It's practically a prerequisite to have a junk drawer in your house. I remember looking at houses a little over a year ago. As we would walk through each house, I would comment about a drawer in the kitchen that would make a nice junk drawer. Our realtor said she hadn't heard a comment like this before. She said she had heard things like, "great cupboard space, nice work area," but never what terrific potential junk drawer! Glad I could spice things up a little.

So last week I was looking for a pair of scissors. Shouldn't be a difficult task. The scissors should be in the junk drawer. We have three pair that are fairly sharp and meant for general purposes. I open the drawer and there is not a single pair to be found. Come on. Three pair? Not one in its intended storage space. I have drilled my mantra into my family's heads. Everything has a home. Use it, and return it to its home. I guess on this particular day all three pairs of scissors had appointments or were on vacation. I looked in the usual places. The office was the first place. Nope. Then Gracie's room. No luck there either. To the basement I went. I did a quick scan and found nothing. Back up the steps and out to the garage. There they were. All three of them. How could I be mad? Gracie and some friends had been crafting. They are so creative. It brought a smile to my face.

Still smiling, I returned the scissors to their rightful home and noticed what a messy home it was. So I did a little purging. This cleaning out business is therapeutic. Really. I found a few things that could definitely be tossed. For example, a bra extender. What's that? Well, about twelve years ago, pregnant as a pumpkin, I was feeling a little uncomfortable. Yes, the bra was a little binding. I went to a department store to buy new ones and the sales lady suggested this little hook and eye contraption. Her logic was that I was only going to be this chest size temporarily, so why not buy a temporary fix and spend all of my money on nursing bras. Well, in theory this was a good idea. In truth, I never used the puzzle piece bra extender. And I never will. I'll toss that.

I tossed and recycled a few other things, too. I feel lighter and less burdened. I'm not kidding. The scissors are safely tucked in for the night. My junk drawer is tidy. I have a few things for Goodwill. Perhaps someone will buy these items and to them they will be treasures. One never knows.

©2011 Ann M. De Broux