Order Makes a Visit

Pardon me for bragging, but I'm tired of praising myself all by myself.

My pantry door has been swung open about 20 times this morning, I do believe, by yours truly, a woman who is THEE biggest "orderly house" hypocrite you would ever care to meet. When I purge, I cannot stand to stay away. I must open. And reopen. And look at it from different angles, each time subconsciously pretending to be surprised.

THEE biggest 'orderly house hypocrite? Yup.

That's me.

For the most part, but certainly NOT every moment of every day, it is important to me that my abode at least appear somewhat orderly. I highlight 'appear', because, as we all know, not everything IS as it APPEARS. Go ahead, look through my home...but should you make the unfortunate decision to open a closet door, heaven help your skull, for goodness-knows-what might strike it from being jammed into the upper shelves. { hmmm...where did this standard florist glass vase come from? I really want it, but I'm not going to Goodwill anytime soon...so.....hmmm, I'll stick it up here. Door closed. Vase forgotten. Until it hits husband searching for old flashlights on the head}.

But I regress. Back to the pantry and all of it's 'orderly from the inside out-ness'. Last night my husband barely got inside the back door when his beaming wife quickly ushered him to the pantry door. With pride and expectation, I swung open the door {for he of all people, knew of it's former disgraceful state}. Then he said this:

"Wow! Now THIS is a pantry of an efficient, organized and amazing woman!"

I would have given him what he really wanted right there and then {even though he does appreciate a pantry in order}, but the children were clamouring for dinner.

Speaking of my darling husband....see these pitiful little plants below??

They were once flourishing, happy bushels of mint and basil, but to their great demise, they were purchased for me to tend to and use. He even told me when he brought them home, that he felt bad sentencing them to their death like that {by purchasing them for me, the renown 'plant killer'}. I tried! I really, really tried!

But they died. And i mean D.I.E.D.

But Carl Compassion just cannot believe that with a little of HIS brand of TLC, they can't be revived...and insisted on sitting these potted carcasses on my kitchen counter. I knew that if I threw them away immediately, he would notice and subsequently go out and look through the trash for them. Yes, he does that. He randomly takes a gander when he opens the trash can drawer to see if I've thrown away any 'perfectly good thing' that we 'just might need someday'.

This time I wisened up. I stuck them on the bottom shelf of the pantry, as to give it a few weeks, see if he mentioned anything and if he did... i would whip them out, showing him that they were still here after all.

Today they are leaving. I am going to keep the circle unbroken and spill their soil onto our own.

Besides, they did not fit into any 'category' in the new and improved pantry. (and I REFUSE to have a 'plant hospice' on any of those shelves).

And so I close this visit with a sincere thank you...for sharing in my joy of a pantry whose door is now free to be opened. If you stop by within the next two weeks, I'll be happy to show it to you. Two weeks? That 's the maximum time "Order" stays in my closets. She leaves for a few weeks to several months, but then she's back for another two week stint.

I always pray that the closet inspectors visit soon after she does.

So long!!