This week's prompt - "Topic: Holiday Activities.  So much can happen in only a few short days but there is always one thing that should stand out.  By reflecting upon the weekend" . . , I will share a memory while it is fresh on my mind.

On Labor Day, Monday September 3rd, my wife Diane was off work for the 5th straight day.  We had just spent two days moving everything out of my mother's house in Ogden, Utah prior to having an estate/garage sale next weekend.  So almost everything in the house was moved to the large garage.  This was exhausting to both of us.  We had help from two Ogden residents who bid on all the hardware at the back of the garage--nuts, bolts, fasteners, etc.  It took them several hours to load the bottles of screws, etc. filling a pickup truck as well as a trailer.  And they weren't finished, yet.

So..... when Labor Day came around, both of us were very tired.  But I had not been able to work in my den (man cave) efficiently since retiring from teaching school in May.  With moving things around, bringing stuff from mom's place, and just not getting to the things I wanted to get done, I was in a mess.  So much so that when I went to work on any project (and I have several that I would like to accomplish), much of the time I was not only non-productive, but would catch myself staring blankly at a computer screen or at all the mess in the room!  I was actually to the point that my thought processes weren't making any sense to me, and I was "as slow as cold tar moving uphill in the winter."

Diane sensed this, and as tired as she was, she not only urged me on, but came to my rescue.  As we went through each cabinet, everything was evaluated and much was thrown away.  In the process, the room was a shambles.

Traditionally, I have been able to know exactly what was in my stacks of organized chaos.  And things worked well as long as no one moved them, or (as Diane had done a couple of times) filed things away.  Once in the files, they were not only out of sight/out of mind, but essentially lost!  So "de-cluttering" did not work for me!  At least, not if it was done for me! So with her promise to help me get through my perdicament and help me get organized so that I could once again be productive, my promise was to keep working a bit at a time to get the stuff organized and put it together in such a way that I could find it, but also keep the room organized.  I suppose it could be classified as a professional organizer's dream -- or nightmare, depending on how you look at it.

To add dimension and color to my story: Here's a photo of my 'den' the day following Labor Day 2012

So . . .  we spent much of the day moving all the files of tax returns and receipts to the garage, cleaning out most of the cupboards, and then another hour going paper by paper from the top of my "desk" and making a determination as to where each paper should go--and put questionables into another group that I still need to go through.  But I am encouraged that if I can spend an hour a day, by the end of the week, not only can I see the floor, but I will have an organized den, and I will be able to find things.  Now that I can spend time each day working at home--no more school to teach so I can't just close the door until I get to it the next time I can arrange it--., this should be quite a memorable weekend.  So much for our Labor Day Holiday activities. But at least we spent it together!