Friday, July 24, 2009

"Clean House"

When Nancy cleaned out her classroom after 34 years of teaching elementary school, she ended up with overwhelming piles of bins and boxes of craft supplies and memorabilia all over her downstairs. If you've ever watched the show "Clean House" on the Style channel (one of my guilty pleasures), think of the "before" scenes and you'll get an idea of what she was facing in her little craft room. Big Problem. So...who do you call when the "Clean House" crew is in L.A. and you're in Portland, Maine? Why, your slightly OCD, label-maker-toting, organizing diva of a big sister, of course. There are probably few other people who get as excited as I do when presented with a pile of clutter, plastic containers, and a labeling gun. Did I mention that, in addition to the boxes and bins, Nancy had also been given her old oak teacher desk to keep as a momento? Yup, we had to fit that in her 9' x12' craft room too. And so the fun began!
We spent two days sorting, tossing, organizing, labeling, gabbing, sweating, laughing, and driving back and forth to Goodwill. We brought the craft supplies to Kristen's Goodwill "Creative Skills" Program in South Portland and they were thrilled to get them. I threatened to come back today and reorganize Nancy's hutch in the dining area but, after hearing her tell the oncologist that she had been having muscle cramps in her neck the past few days (wonder why?), I decided to do her a favor and stay away today so she could rest. Even big sisters with loaded label-makers know when to back off! So, to those of you who have been spending your days lying on the beach this week, you have no idea what a good time you missed...right, Nancy?
p.s. the photo above is not Nancy's room...took it off of Google Images...Nancy's "before" was much worse!

1 comment:

  1. I'm probably the only other person on this earth who would like to get their hands on this ! So thrilled with the good news Nancy ! Love, Joanne

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