Clutter Conquering

I'm not sure if I'm conquering clutter or if it is conquering me...you be the judge.

I have cleared off the dining room table. In fact, I accomplished this momentous deed last night about two minutes before dinner arrived at the table. I cleared off all the crap (piling it out of sight in a chair, in truth) and put a clean tablecloth (my "fall" tablecloth, which makes my heart sigh with happiness when I look at it) on the table just in time for DH to bring dinner out from the kitchen.

There is a very reassuring and comforting feeling to a clean tablecloth at a clean table, devoid of everything but the appropriate eating implements and food vessels. It just makes my heart warm. Ahhhhhh. I was able to enjoy my dinner with my family, and this morning I tackled the pile of clutter that was perched precariously on one of the chairs. I have torn up junk mail credit card solicitations and put them in the woodstove, I've thrown out magazines which I know we will never read, and I have a tidy little pile of things to be filed.

Here is the rub, however--we don't have a place to file them. Our old filing cabinet was falling apart, so we not-so-cleverly threw it out before we moved (a, *ahem* year and a bit ago) and just moved the filing drawers (which were overstuffed anyway). So now I am sort of hobbling along with some filing boxes, including some leftover file boxes from my graduate school days. (To digress briefly, I emptied out some miscellaneous journal papers to render them ready for use and oy, I can remember it like it was yesterday...when do these psychological scars bad vibes go away, huh?)

So, I see a trip to Goodwill to hunt up a working file cabinet in my future. DH has already requested that I find some type of magazine/newspaper rack, as he doesn't like the (admittedly unsightly) pile of them next to the birdcage. What progress we have made...in the early years of our marriage, we would have bought a swanky looking brand new (and flimsy, as our past cabinet attests) file cabinet from Staples or some such Office Supply Store. DH would not even think of buying anything used. Now, seven years later, we are happy to buy used furniture and remake it into our own style (via painting, sanding, whatnot) and can't see the sense of buying something new for an outrageous price when we can find stuff to fit our needs elsewhere or buy something equally functional with some good design for a good price at IKEA. And that warms my heart just as much as a clean table--especially when I look at our credit card balance!!