Stuff, stuff, and more stuff!

This month alone I've visited Goodwill three times and divested myself of 8 t-shirts, 9 jackets, 6 sweaters, 2 dresses and a pair of shoes. You might assume that this means my dressers and armoire and closets are now spacious and organized. You would be so wrong. This entire condo is still a mess, overrun with STUFF.

I have a terrible time parting with things. Going through my clothes, I imagined I was with Clinton and Stacy from TLC's What Not to Wear, and they're encouraging me to toss the obsolete, inappropriate and season-after-season unworn pieces. That helped a little. But I still suffer from "donater's remorse," and wonder would it really be so awful to go into Goodwill and buy some of my stuff back.

Of course it would! A family of three once lived in this condo, which I – just only me – have filled to the brim with my crap.

It's my goal this weekend to get my wardrobe completely in shape. Everything that goes back into a closet or a drawer has to fit, be in style and be wearable. That may mean a little rendezvous with the tailor or dry cleaner, but so be it. I have got to get a handle on this clutter and mess.

And so far, we've only discussed the clothes. I can no longer eat at my dining room table because of all the paperwork strewn across it. I can't spread out on my sofa without kicking a stack of magazines onto the floor. This condo is overrun with STUFF. I wonder at what critical juncture I will cross from the line, going from merely messy packrat to pathological hoarder. I wonder if I have crossed that line already.

Well, wish me luck. I fully intend to spend today, tomorrow, and Monday if I must, getting this condo presentable. I'm not talking House Beautiful or Martha Stewart Living. I'm saying that I should be starting the summer in a home that wouldn't leave you shaking your head and wondering, "How does she live that way?"