DEFINE SUBLIMATE!

Okey, dokey, the holidays are over. A new year has begun and I started things out right this year by rearranging the entire bookstore on my days off. Actually, it was kind of an example of a small task that snowballed, turning me into an avalanche of activity - kind of like crossing OCD with ADHD. No, it wasn't too much caffeine! You all KNOW I'm a barista and a high caffeine tolerance comes with the territory. I think maybe it was my mom's intensive housekeeping gene kicking in a few decades late. Yeah, that's it. Maybe.

First I decided to stop procrastinating and defrost the freezer on my small refrigerator or the door wasn't going to close. Then I figured I might as well tackle the big one as well. Thinking about how inconvenient it was in the back room, it dawned on me I'd be getting less exercise if that fridge was closer to the sink in the middle room. Hmmm, but if I move THAT, where am I going to put the antique desk that occupies that space? The next thing I knew I'd drafted my husband and our friend Kevin to move refrigerator, bookshelves, desk, table & chairs - everything but the proverbial kitchen sink - into new positions. That's after I removed all the books from the designated shelves to lighten the load. Delores the mannequin & the chair she was sitting in got moved into temporary storage & the place looked like it had been tossed. I turned off the lights, locked the door & went home.

Move the clock forward 3 days (and how I wish I could really do that). Everything is put away. Furniture sits in new and interesting places and somehow the room has grown. Now customers walk into a more open, welcoming space. Coffee drinkers can pull an interesting book off the shelves & sit down with an espresso. Friends can visit & chat more comfortably and the entire ambiance has changed. It was charming before, but crowded (I thought of it as cozy). Now the lighting seems brighter and magic has happened: there's much more space. There is room for more books now, even though I re-shelved all that I had removed. I must have done a better job of organizing and consolidating this time because there are now FOUR EMPTY SHELVES that I could have sworn were filled to overflowing before. Not sure how that happened. I'm a better organizer than I realized (she said proudly, patting herself on the back).

Spring cleaning? Think I'll skip it this year, or maybe that's exactly what I was doing, if a little early. Maybe my unconscious self is taking its cues from our weather. Winter & Summer are confused, so why not Spring? Whatever. The only problem on my horizon is that I still have end of the year bookkeeping tasks to do.

Aha! Eureka! That's exactly what this binge of activity was really all about - I'm avoiding doing the work to get ready for taxes! Well, duh! I wasn't really energized to improve my surroundings, I was just procrastinating again! Oh well, I have plenty of space now. Think I'll sit down at the table in my newly organized shop & have a cup of coffee while I force myself to at least consider doing my taxes - soon. Or maybe tomorrow.