Am I the only psycho organizer here?

[Lucinda]

EVERYTHING in my kitchen has a place.
In the fridge, in the pantry, in the pull out cabinets.
We've lived here 7 years and Bill still doesn't know where the plates go. Well he knows the general area, but not the actual PLACE. :) He's just not wired that way.
Am I the only organization freak in the world?

I'm also a psycho about loading the dishwasher.

[The empressof all]

1. Gosh...Could you come and visit?

I aspire to be organized but am a total failure. My dream is to have a place for everything but I have too much junk and not enough fortitude to keep it in it's place. Long story short... I'm a fricken mess. :rofl:

[Lucinda]

2. It's only my kitchen!

But I'm actually working on organizing the office now. Go me!
And I probably have way more time to ponder the correct location for my stainless steel salad bowls than you do for your stuff! I have no life. :rofl:

[Tesha]

3. If something's out of place...

things tend to go wrong...

You know how when you're in the groove and you're cooking up a storm and you go to reach for the salt - and someone's taken the salt that always right within the cook's reach?

So you have to stop the process and go find it... and you get back to cooking and you say... "now, where was I" ... and later when you're serving your wonderful dinner and you say..."oh, something's missing".

That's why everything has a place in my kitchen - and why we have lots of salt shakers ;)

[housewolf]

4. Kind of...

I like for things in my kitchen to have a "home" where they live, and where I know where to find them. It doesn't so much matter to me if something's hard to get to, as long as I know where it is, I'm okay.

My sister recently moved back in with me and brought her kitchen stuff with her - she's pretty much a minimalist when it comes to kitchen stuff but she did have some things she'd recently bought and used and likes, so I had to make room for her stuff. Talk about disorienting! Not to mention friction-causing - I was willing to make space for her but needed to know things (like for what, how big, how often used, etc), and she was feeling guilty about causing me the inconvenience... pretty uncomfortable scene for a couple days.

As for the dishwasher... am I the only one who likes to have the silverware sorted IN the dishwasher so that I don't have to sort it when I put it away????

Oh, me and my idiosyncrocies! :rofl:

[pengillian101]

11. As for the dishwasher... am I the only one who likes to have the silverware sorted IN the dishwasher

Not a bad idea! I will ponder that.


Pondered - nope ain't gonna work for me. I am so disorganized, while he is the organized one. Oh well, he unloads and puts away, so what do I care?
:silly:

But I want my spice cabinet in some order - it never actually IS - but I have a way to know where it is, kinda like knowing my messy desk: I know exactly where everything is. :+


Then there's keeping track of what's in the half-door fridge freezer and the upright freezer. I kept a list at first, then lagged. Now I have no idea. That's my project to work on.

[GoCubsGo]

5. I'm a wannabe psycho organizer

The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. I love having things organized, but I just can't do it and keep up with it.

[Lucinda]

12. It's harder to keep up with it if you aren't the only cook.

I like the actual organizing if it gets out of whack. I just crank up some great music and DO IT. :)

[pengillian101]

19. It's harder to keep up with it if you aren't the only cook.

Yes, indeedy! We shop about every three weeks - I make the list, type it up, fax it in and confirm. A small effort.

But he does the heavy lifting, as a 173rd Airborne VN veteran can be counted on to do.

Using an electric wheelbarrow, he wheels it up the disabled ramp the VA paid for.

God bless all you Veterans!

[Dover]

6. I open the door to my frig or pantry and just stare, mesmerized, as if into a black hole.

Pots, pans, utensils are much more organized than the food.
I have begun the process of organizing these spaces but have not, as yet, gotten ahead of the
chaos. The only persons that find value in this lack of organization is the local food
pantry who gets the spill-over every six months or so. I've also pondered whether it would be
helpful to get one of those refrigerators that have shallow shelves so as not to lose things that
make their way to the back. Out of sight, out of mind. Particularly when it comes to items I
don't use regularly, like some condiments. In truth I have made improvements by simply not buying
things I'll only use once that would leave me with leftovers. Wish some things came in smaller sizes for single meals.

...sigh....

As for my office......well....this is all the self-criticism I can handle for one day.

[Lucinda]

13. My fridge has the pull out glass shelves. Love it.

I am much less likely to lose things in the shuffle now. I have WAY to many little sauce and condiments thwarting my efforts though. Bill makes killer Asian food so we have all sorts of things to add to simple sauces.

[tigereye]

7. well, not generally, but my husband is about the dishwasher

I kind of roll my eyes and tell him I've been loading dishwashers since I was 8. I always joke that some guys (not all) just can't see things if they aren't right in front of the cabinet or fridge and aren't willing to move stuff to look!

:D


on edit, we try to improve our organization every so often, but generally we can find stuff in general areas!

[madmax]

10. Are we sharing the same husband?

I remember Rita Rudner doing a skit about men and how they can't find things. Can't remember it all now but, the punch line of one of her jokes was, 'it's behind the milk.' When I say that to my husband he knows what I'm talking about because I must use it at least once a day.

[tigereye]

16. I've heard her do that! All of my women friends say their husbands do the

same thing. :hi:

[Lucinda]

14. My organizational lust is mostly aesthetic at this point.

I designed our house so the drawers and what's in them are task specific...but i really LIKE having it tidy and organized. It makes me happy. Weird eh?

[tigereye]

18. no, it's nice when things are tidy- I just don't always feel like i have time

or would rather read or do other things. I've had more time lately to try to "tame the complexity," as my husband would say, since I haven't been working quite as much. I feel like I'm still catching up from when my kid was a toddler and he's now 14! I found things in a closet recently that I had forgotten I owned!

cool that you were able to design your home to fit your specs, my husband (who is 6'4") would probably love to have done that.


:rofl:

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. Earlier this year

I started reorganizing and deep cleaning my kitchen and planning a rotation menu.

I wanted to clean out the pantry and the freezer - and the spice cabinet. I wanted to replace the shelf paper and wash all the pots and pans and dishes that haven't been used in awhile. I wanted to thin out the stuff in the kitchen. I live alone and rarely cook large quantities of anthing. I'd planned on moving those large scale items out of the kitchen into a storage area - and adding some new smaller scale pots and pans and bakeware.

The rotation menu is an effort to eat healthier while being more efficient and cost effective. It really isn't convenient for me to go to the store every couple of days to shop and I abhor wasting food so that makes planning important. I also find it easy to get in a rut so this helps me get more variety - and to meet certain dietary goals. It also makes it easier to shop and to not accumulate stuff in the pantry and freezer. I've tried not to be too rigid by building in some flexibility to try new things and to enjoy seasonal items.

I'd hoped to be done with this project by now. But, well, life gets in the way sometimes. I've been tending to one very sick doggie and I've lost a lot of people this year.

[Lucinda]

15. Awww...I'm really sorry. I hope the next year brings you joy. This one has been tough for me too.

I need to follow your example and rotate more. I tend to get on a kick of eating one thing over and over and it really is not the best thing for a balance diet. I have had my veggie pearitos every day for lunch, for a couple of weeks now... :).

[trud]

20. Coyote

how is your doggie?

[Coyote_Bandit]

21. For now he seems to be

holding his own. He still has a fungal infection on his feet - but doesn't appear to have any other infection right now. He drinks a lot and pees a lot. His hyperglycemia has proven to be hard to manage and that is beginning to affect his vision.

He was boarded late this summer while I took my parents and my niece and nephew to a family reunion. The trip was cut short when we got the shocking news that my brother and only surviving sibling had died suddenly and violently.

Apparently the kennel where the dog was boarded did not use the disinfectant appropriately. The active ingredient in it is a category 1 pesticide. The dog had ulcerations to his abdomen, his chest and all four feet. Most of them did not heal until sometime late October. His feet remain tender, sensitive and crusty. We've dealt with everything from prolonged pain to recurrent infections to medication reactions and bloody diarrhea. The dog is now hyperglycemic and shows signs of Cushings - both autoimmune disorders. He's seen the vet 10 times since being boarded.

I've put together a narrative documenting the sequence of events, done some research on the disinfecting product that was used (and its active ingredient), consolidated all the vet bills and identified expenses related to this unfortunate event, and photographed the injuries. Today I'll be mailing the kennel a certified letter and supporting documents demanding payment for past and future veterinary expenses - and detailing the dog's suffering. I assume the veterinary kennel that boarded the dog will turn that demand letter over to their insurance carrier. Wish me luck representing my dog's interests. And send my old dog lots of good wishes.

Thanks for asking.

[trud]

23. coyote

I'm sending lots of good wishes to your dog, and I'm very sorry about your brother.

No matter how carefully we try, once a pet is temporarily out of our care, anything can happen. My blood still runs cold and I get furious thinking about how someone at the vet hospital let it slip long after the fact that my cat had scared one of the technicians and he'd been rough with the cat. The vet hadn't even mentioned that to me, although in retrospect a couple of her comments should have clued me in if I were the kind of person who detected subtleties. Some people have no business having anything to do with the care of animals.

[madmax]

9. Fellow traveler.

I :loveya: Maybe I'm not crazy after all!

Major neat nut here. When I want something it had better be in the place it's suppose to be or my bp rises and my head explodes. I find comfort in organization and routine. Also, it saves time and money.

May sound silly but, my husband just puts things anywhere. Cooking becomes a frustrating treasure hunt for a untensil, a pot, a bowl. Same thing in the fridge, I never know where I'll find anything.

This is going on for 27 years and I still get as frustrated now as I did the first year we were married. I may have to kill him. It's the only way. :evilgrin:

[Lucinda]

17. Fortunately mine is a great cook.

It's the only thing that's kept him alive :)

I haven't felt well lately and Bill has been putting stuff away, so of course the pantry is a mess. It's on tomorrows to do list. :rofl:
I've come to the conclusion that his mess making is just a fact of life. 27 years of it for you, eh? I think you deserve a medal. :)

[pengillian101]

22. I hope you are feeling better!

:-)

Ya, 22 years of living together for us - yikes - how DO we do it? :toast:

[Lucinda]

24. Thank you!

My icky health is chronic. Some days much better than others. Gorgeous day here today though, and I'm feeling ok. Hope you have a great weekend!