Lemon Trees and Clutter

It is an understatement to say that I have a penchant for cleaning. A clean house is better than a dip in a pool on a hot day or the smell of crisp mountain air for me. Wouldn't you know that I married a guy who has a propensity for clutter. I call this one of my *life lessons*. How to find balance between the two. The need to find order and clean on a weekly basis has been challenged even more so during the past 4 months with my physical limitations. Again, *life lesson*.

For years I have struggled in blending his hoarding and my purging. I've concluded that the behavior is fear based. (See? I've intellectualized it so I don't get the emotion of raging insane fury and pull my hair out.) His logic: What if we may need x-y-z someday? My logic: if we haven't used it in ___ amount of time, we don't need it and chances are we won't remember where we put it. During our first 6 months of marriage, J came home one day to find all of our clothes on the floor and me hanging them back up on nice wood hangers, color coordinated and sorted by article type. I resisted throwing out his Cosby sweaters although it was beyond tempting. When we moved last summer I also resisted throwing out his 90's rugby shirts, but I did get him to agree in giving 2, yes 2, ties away to goodwill. I even tried throwing out my own medical lab coats only to find them somehow in our front closet in Boston. When I inquired how they got there he said he was concerned about my name being embroidered and someone stealing them out of our garbage to impersonate me. Seriously this man thinks I'm that awesome that someone would want to pretend to be me and walk around a hospital giving out referrals to meals on wheels. He's a cute and dedicated husband.

On Wednesday we traveled to the surgeon for my 1 month check-up. I got a timid green light to "advance activities as tolerated." J, being his usual careful self, had the doctor emphasize the slow progression to prevent me from thinking I could vacuum, mop, and haul 30+ pounds of stuff around the house. Its been 2 days now and I have resisted the inclination of taking down that damn Christmas tree by myself and finally doing my seasonal recycling of my wardrobe. Its like an itch I can't scratch. Compound this with my premenstrual dose of crazy and ooh, golly, I'm a good time.

On a parallel track, one of my best girlfriends has (finally) launched a website exposing her talents as a master stylist. She is one who instinctively knows what are lasting trends, classic impressions, and soulful paths. Plus she can do this on an individual level or for your home. She even does this with feng shui. This year she made a pact with herself to stop giving away her brilliance for free. (I've linked it over on my faves.) Women have a tendency to underestimate their skill worth mostly because the bulk are intangible. How do you define your skill set? (Note: I did not say "your worth.") But, I'm getting off track.

I could handle the hoarding if it were selective and organized. For now what we have is a lot of clutter. (Yes, I am posting pictures so hold me accountable of cleaning them up. Motivation via embarrassment.) Piles of papers sit on desks next to computers that bit the dust first almost a year ago and then again in August. Bookshelves are jam packed with others lying on top of the vertical rows because there isn't any more space. Intuitively I KNOW it is bad feng shui. What do you do with so much stuff and no place to put it? I will totally admit that the majority of the stuff on the floor is stuff from my office...that is when I actually had a job. No job = no place to put it.

This is where the lemon tree comes in.

This morning I called Ms. AP about various things like the sudden termination of home health (yes, I was upset and had a small cry over it), mini diva's impending birth on Monday (go Stace!), her leadership of the daisy troop (Brownies for 5 year olds), and the luscious fragrance of lemon trees. We both agree that our favorite flower is the stargazer lily not only for their sturdy blooms and brilliant center hue, but the fragrance will perfume your whole house. My third favorite on the fragrance line is the tuberose. I was telling her about my second favorite flower scent is the lemon blossom by referencing my mom's that she diligently nurtures. Its an indoor tree and Utah isn't exactly known for their citrus so she hauls it outside on the front stoop in the summer and on warmer days spring and autumn. She gets rewarded with ambrosial flowers and one or two tiny lemons. I went on to say that I really wanted a lemon tree to call my own.

When I was younger the good Catholic family that I came from would have a recurring conversation called, "What do you want to be reincarnated as?" Mom and my bro would always say a bird, Dad would always point to the family dog, and I would say a lemon tree. I thought feeling the warmth of the sun and soft taps of the rain then giving pretty sunny fruit sounded like a good gig. Getting a lemon tree of my own will probably be the closest thing I can get to in this lifetime. I noticed that Williams Sonoma are selling them this winter for outrageous sums, but I was determined to get one. This was especially true once I heard that yellow is a perfect color for the center of your house as it represents the health section of your bagua and living things accentuate it. Good hell. What do I have to lose? Its not like my spine (aka "back bone" of my health) has been totally awesome these past few months. I then found a wholesale website that was having a sale. Hello? Serendipity? I then bought a couple of used books on amazon about de-cluttering your house, de-clutter your life. I think I may start with the 9 things like AP suggested come Monday when I'm out of school...