The Dreaded Drawer

You know the drawer I am talking about.  The one in your kitchen that holds all of the junk.  Don't even try to tell me that you don't have one because I know better!  You might call it the catch-all drawer or the junk drawer.  I just call it The Drawer.

My drawer is very important.  It is the biggest drawer in the kitchen, twice as wide as all of the others.  I thought it was the perfect place to hold all of the phone books and instruction manuals for appliances, etc.  (Yes, I am probably one of the few people left in America that still uses phone books!)  And so it began.  In the 21 years that I've lived in this house-on-a-slab, lots of things have gone into that drawer, but nothing ever comes out.

The last time I attempted to clean out and organize The Drawer, I emptied it.  Had the contents all over the kitchen table, trying to sort things to figure out what was what and what should go where, when I got frustrated, threw up my hands, piled it all right back in the drawer and closed it.  And that was that!  I can't remember any previous times when I was successful, although there surely must have been some.  I mean, The Drawer could still be closed if I held things down.  No problem, right?

For the past few months, I've noticed that The Drawer wasn't operating smoothly.  There is a metal rail on the bottom and a wheel that runs inside the rail to keep the drawer from falling forward when opened.  I figured something was up with that, but I'd worry about it later.

Today was "later".  This morning, in an effort to keep moving and trying to be productive, I decided to tackle some small spaces that needed to be cleaned off.  I started with the stuff piled on top of the dryer.  That little task--long needed--only took five minutes.  Wow!  I'm on a roll!  Then I pulled out The Drawer to put some new phone books in, and it flopped forward.  Oops!  Time to do something about that.

Oh, what treasures abound!  Dowel rods used to hold the windows up.  Two locks--one, the fancy kind that Meg used on her storage unit.  Some extra oil lamp wicks.  (Kept finding more and more of those.  I think the final total was ten.)  Instructions for small appliances and things that have been long gone--like the grandchildren's booster seats and a doll that swims.  Electrical switches and wall plates.  A couple of phone cables.  Several Scotch tape dispensers.  Lots of little screws and nails and other electrical notions--like the basketball chain that hung from the ceiling fan in Ryan's room.  (That would be the fan that we took down when we gave him a loft bed years ago.)  A squeegee.  Some hooks and pins and electrical adaptors.  Three votive candles in tins with lids.  Oh, yes...and the phone books. The list goes on--most of it just the flotsam and jetsam of life that has me scratching my head.  "What did THIS go to??" 

Thus, I have spent a lot of time on The Drawer today.  When I am done, most things will have been thrown away or repatriated to other places in the house where they can actually be found when needed.  I did locate a screw to replace the one that had come out of the under-drawer wheel thingie, so The Drawer is repaired.

Normally, I would feel a sense of accomplishment with this little project--a fete accomplit.  Problem is, when all is finished, The Drawer will be closed and the kitchen will look exactly the way it did when I started.  No one will be able to see how I spent my day.  Not that anyone is ever here to see how I spend my time...but somehow, it seems unfair!

I also clipped my fingernails today.  Does that count?