Christmas in November

This afternoon Bert took Una out of the house and I found myself with 3 hours of peaceful bliss while Duet slept. I guess she's making up for her lack of nighttime sleep (I am happy to report though that for the last 2 days she's slept in until 6:15am. What a sad commentary on my life as of late that 6:15am is considered sleeping in). Anyway, after Duet fell asleep I really just wanted to curl up with John Steinbeck (I don't think it's possible for me to love East of Eden any more than I do. So far it's one of the best books I've ever read. But I haven't finished it yet, so if you know what happens at the end don't spoil anything for me. And can I just say that I was thrilled to discover that both Steinbeck and I chose the name Una for one of our characters? If he, the Nobel Laureate for literature chose Una and I too chose Una, then by the transitive property I'm practically a Nobel Laureate. I'm feeling like a better writer already). I looked at my book and the couch and the warm inviting blanket and then I remembered my new challenge.

With a heavy heart I trudged upstairs to Una's room where I could clear some things out uninterrupted. She had quite a few items I needed to part with without her there to protest their dismissal from the house. Chief among them were some broken preschool craft projects, torn books, and a puzzle with missing pieces (or more accurately contaminated pieces that were thrown out a few weeks ago due to this incident). I ended up working in there for over an hour (talk about exceeding my 10 minute de-cluttering goal) and came away discovering that:

1. The top of Una's dresser is a lovely shade of brown. It's amazing what projects, clothes, papers, kleenex, and post-it notes can hide.
2. We will not need to buy any Christmas presents for Una or Duet this year because like every good mammal, I have been squirrelling away goods over the last few months. All of those bargains that I just had to get have been sitting unused (and unseen by either child) on the top shelf of Una's closet waiting for the day when I would bestow them upon my girls. Of course since there's so much stuff in my house I'd completely forgotten what exactly was up there, but I uncovered some gems today and effectively did my Christmas shopping in the closet.
3. Una is in need of another dress and (now that the cold weather is upon us) some tights to go with that dress (this is truly a need. She only has two that fit her at the moment and one of those is a sleeveless summer dress). The good news is I spoke with my mom today and she's going to be sending money so that I can buy the girls some Christmas gifts from them (this is not laziness on her part. She has 21 grandchildren and 4--soon to be 5--great-grandchildren. She doesn't know what each child wants and so she lets the parents do the shopping for her. It's a system that works great for us). I've decided to use Una's money to get a Christmas dress and tights from her grandparents, Cougar and Bear (yes, that's what she calls them. It was her idea, I can assure you, not my parents'. Although they're totally into it. Especially my dad, Cougar). Una loves to wear dresses so she will be thrilled with this gift. And I am thrilled to be using the money for something she needs (as well as likes) instead of something that will just add to the clutter in my home. Win-win. Or, if you're a fan of The Office, I think you'll agree when I say that this is one of those rare scenarios that can be called "win-win-win."

This exercise today has left me wondering what other treasures I will unearth as I devote my 10 minutes per day to de-cluttering my home.