Update

Wow. I wish I dared post a picture of the bathroom right now. I've been working on it basically non-stop since I wrote that last post and, even after three hours, I still have quite a ways to go.

So far, I've cleaned the tub (got that out of the way first thing!), cleaned the toilet, gotten the cobwebs out of the ceiling corners, and begun the organizing process on the shelves, linen cabinet, and the under-the-sink cabinet. To start with, I pulled everything off the shelves and out of the cabinets.

I once saw a movie clip of Mary Poppins pulling things out of a "magic" bag. The bag itself was small, but she pulled lots and lots of large things from it; a wall mirror, a hat stand, etc. I believe our bathroom cabinets and shelves must have taken lessons from her. Stuff just kept coming and coming and coming.

There were things in the back recesses of that cabinet that must have been there since Mom and Dad got married. Never mind that they didn't move into this house until later, and the cabinet has been sorted through numerous times since then. I'm sure that has nothing to do with it. ...Well, actually....perhaps it's been cleaned a few times. :)

Okay. In all seriousness, there was a LOT of stuff in there. I think I must have uncovered 25 bars of soap, five toothbrushes still in the packages, four bottles of expired iodine, an unlabeled jar of something that smelled terrible, lots of other expired stuff, bedsheets I hadn't seen in months, duplicate bottles of things...

And then there's the under-the-sink cabinet. The one a bottle of liquid soap somehow managed to spill in, and escape unnoticed. ...Until today. Did anyone ever tell you that using wet paper towels to clean up soap makes suds, and spreads the soap further? :)

It all makes me wonder what why we humans collect things as if there's no tomorrow, and then let 75% of that stuff go unused and unnoticed. We're strange. Our basic physical needs are so simple, ...aren't they? I suppose it depends on your definition of simple.

I hope the bathroom will have an air of simplicity by the time I'm finished with it. Right now, the stuff that was in the cabinets is all over the bathroom floor and hallway floor. It seems like a momentous task to tame those heaps of clutter, and I'm feeling tired. It's a good mood to be in, 'cause I'm more than ready to throw stuff away; and that's unusual for me. Usually, I don't even like to send glass jars to the recycling center; I'd rather keep them in the basement so I can look at my collection. :)

I've taken a quick lunch break, and I suppose I ought to get back to work. I think the first thing I'll do is collect all the cleaning supplies into tidy little red containers and put them neatly under the sink. Then I'll put the TP and paper towels on a shelf of their own. ...Then perhaps I'll feel ambitious enough to attack those millions of bottles and tubes of whatever it is that collects in bathrooms.

You know something? Right now, cleaning the tub doesn't sound bad at all.