Question Of The Day

With the invention of the internet, many establishments offering free wi fi and internet enabled phones, does anyone use a phone book anymore? Why lug out the fifty pound phone book, when you can look up a number online? I ask this question because the new phone book was delivered a few days ago. We live in a fairly decent sized area so we had not one, not two, but three books delivered. Poor Caroline dragged them up the stairs, thankfully without hurting herself. One huge white pages, one huge yellow pages and some smaller one that I didn't even bother looking at, all arrived on our doorstep.
Honestly, I haven't looked at a phone book in ages. I've been known to peruse them if I'm bored in a hotel room, but I've not used one for it's intended purpose in years.
Why should I? I can just look it up online.
I suppose the only time I might find myself in need of the phone book is when the internet is down and I need to call the cable company to fix it. I don't know about you, but I do not have the Cox Communications number committed to memory. Heck, I have a hard enough time remembering my phone number. And don't even ask me to remember Craig's cell phone number. I have a habit of mixing up the first three numbers and have called this poor unsuspecting woman, with a similar number to Craig's, more times than I should. Clearly, I'm not a numbers person.

The delivery of the phone book, which I find almost unnecessary these days, just got me thinking a bit. I don't even know where to store the three phone books. I could find some hidden space, but I'd be willing to bet that once I do, I'll inevitably need the darn thing and I'll have forgotten where I hid them. As for now, they're in our front coat closet. I'm not happy with their location, but it will have to do for now. I prefer for all things to have a home, not just in a pile on top of an art supply caddy.

"A place for everything, everything in it's place" thus sayeth the ever wise Benjamin Franklin.

Every so often I go on a rip roaring organizational binge. I get an itch to declutter and organize and I will not be appeased until it's done. If given the opportunity, I think I could spend myself into serious trouble at The Container Store. I find it much easier to think in a clutter free environment. She says as she stares hatefully at the pile of Legos and various items belonging to Caroline's friends. Caroline's buddies have the habit of bringing their things over and leaving them for days. Every so often I'll make a "if it's yours, take it home" pile. After a few days, they take their stuff and more often than not, they'll leave something else behind in the process. I have three bags full of sidewalk chalk, bubbles and all the accompanying paraphernalia, an octopus sprinkler toy and a box full of lemonade stand supplies all in the garage. None of it belongs to us. And yet, it's there. Annoying the stuffing out of me on a daily basis. It's my fault because I forget to remind the kids to take their crap home.

Now that I've been yapping about organizing, I suddenly feel the urge to grab a garbage bag and declutter. Growing up, my mom used to call that "Bag Day." It's amazing how much junk three people can accumulate.
Caroline is with her friends for a birthday party/sleep over extravaganza, so the afternoon and night (!) are expected to be delicously quiet. Hours of uninterupted house decluttering and beautifying sounds good to me. Especially since Caroline won't be around to sniff around the bags and see what possessions of hers have "accidentally" made it into the trash.

With all this free time today, Craig and I happily went on a very uncharacteristic outing together; we had lunch and then ran some errands, which involved stops at Michael's, The Vitamin Shoppe, World Market, Safeway and Wal Mart. We didn't buy anything fun or particularly interesting, but we managed to cross off all the things on our list: cake boxes, super glue, chocolate, hand sanitizer, blister pads, hair clips and acipdophilus. Like I said, utterly uninteresting, but all necessary. It was fun, nonetheless. Craig and I haven't had lunch together since right before school let out. Otherwise, we're both tied down to the schedule of Queen Caroline. Since Caroline is not a fan of girly princess stuff, she's bypassed the Princess title and gone straight to Queen. Craig and I are her loyal subjects.

OK, enough chit chatting, time to grab a bag and get to decluttering.

Yay!