So the past three days, there has been A Fire In Me ™.

I’m still blaming ChoreWars.  I’m locked in a vicious battle with GreenApples for the top spot in our group — we go back and forth being number one.  And I have to admit — the competition has been not only fierce, but motivating.  Yesterday, I was literally looking for things to wash, just so I could get the wash-fold-put away points.  I’ve been decluttering like a mad fiend so that I might be able to get ahead.  I’ve been sweeping things I swept two days prior (and finding that the dogs really DO shed about a dog’s worth of hair a day, and that perhaps I should be sweeping daily ANYWAY….), doing the dishes by hand right after we eat, vacuuming upstairs every time my husband so much as walks through….I even found myself wishing that it would warm up outside JUST so I could wash the windows without having the Windex freeze into fractal-like ice.

In short, I’m scaring myself, but my house is not only GETTING clean, but STAYING THERE.

Last night, when my friend Nikki was over, I mentioned that I really wanted to clean out the closet in my master bedroom.  That I have clothes that are totally Wish List items at this point, thanks to the expanding nature of my ass.  (My activity level dropped to nil when I moved from the northwest to the midwest, since I have allergies that keep me from being outside most of the time.  As such, the weight came over to say Hi and never left.  Ugh.)  Being just a touch OCD herself, she offered to cheerlead while I decluttered.

Over the next several hours, I threw away or gifted more than 50% of what was in my closet and my dresser.  There are EMPTY DRAWERS NOW.

I know.  I almost fainted, too.

Before:

I know this doesn’t look all that bad to some of you.  I’ve been slowly clearing out the bottom of it for several weeks, even before the ChoreWars Mania hit me.  But it was really hard finding stuff to wear, because the whole thing was disorganized and crammed full of stuff that didn’t fit.

We don’t have a linen closet, either.  (Well, we DO, but the mice know where it is, so we don’t keep anything in it that’s not in sealed rubbermaid containers, and no linens.  Otherwise, there is poop and chewed holes, not necessarily in that order.  I know, ewwww, right?)    So our towels resided partially in that one cubbyhole and in that laundry basket on the floor.  Not really an efficient use of space, and honestly, most of them had seen better days anyway.  We started with that, and got rid of all but about a dozen towels, six washcloths, and three hand towels.  They don’t all match, but that can be a project for another day.

Then we started in on the hanging stuff and the shelves.  What didn’t fit, was stained or threadbare, or didn’t look good on me…GONE.

We ended up with NINE GARBAGE BAGS FULL.  Nine.  And this:

the right side:

and the left:

Excuse the pictures — it was 2 a.m. before we were done, and there’s little light in there.

I still want to do something with the walls, since they’re still the blue that my master bedroom used to be (as in: retina-searing blue), and maybe get some better storage options in there, but OMG.  FUNCTIONAL CLOSET.

People are starting to arrive for S&B, so I need to get running so I can shower and get the cupcakes frosted (and a second batch made).  But I had to pop over here to squee a little bit about that closet and the fact that I’m actually DOING IT.

It already feels less congested and more free in here, and I’m not even remotely done yet.

I can’t wait.

(And ooh, the points!)