Oprah Pissed Me Off
Mar 6th 2007
Julia LondonMy Life As A Plebe
Yes, she is a great humanitarian, and she’s a fabulous role model, and I watch her. But sometimes she is not in touch with reality.
Okay, here’s how it started: I have wanted to clean out my closets for the longest time, but I never do it! They’re horrible! We have so much stuff we don’t even know what we have any longer. We stumble on little treasures and remember how we accused each other of taking it, or hiding it, or it throwing away. We have clothes in various sizes, enough to fill an entire Goodwill store. 
We have thick winter coats we never wear in Texas, shoes that so beat up they ought to be burned, and boxes. Empty boxes. Because my husband lives in mortal fear of the Christmas when we don’t have enough boxes to wrap gifts.
Enter Oprah and her pal, Colin Cowie. For those who don’t know him, he is some mega-event planner to the stars. She had him on one day to talk about fine living at home and they had a little tour of Colin’s
First, the kitchen. Dishes are all white and stacked exactly in the middle of the shelf. Matching pieces are likewise stacked, by height, in perfect little rows. 
There is not a single Big Gulp cup anywhere, not a plastic cereal bowl to be found. His stemware is arranged by color, height, and in perfect formation like little army guys. When Colin dines alone, he believes it is important to dine well. He sets a table with a mat, a charger, a dinner plate, salad plate, a desert plate. And a linen napkin, two wine glasses and a water glass, as well as some candles for ambiance. For his Lean Cuisine! 
He has a gift room, and has gifts already wrapped and ready to go, because you know you should never go anywhere without a wrapped gift. His gift paper, ribbons, and bows are all neatly arranged on shelves, and there is a table, free of clutter, for wrapping gifts. The man’s closet is where I got really pissed. He has an enormous walk-in with a big cabinet in the middle that they could roller derby around. His underwear is folded and lying in drawers according to color and style. Ditto the socks. His shirts, suits and pants are hung according to season, style, and color. And then—THEN—he gets out this little plastic thing and shows how “he” folds his sweaters so that they are all uniform size and will stack neatly on the sweater shelves by color so everything looks showroom neat and he can see what he has. 
Oprah is gushing over his place and says, “I have my sweaters folded that way, but of course someone does it for me.” And then she and Colin giggle. Oprah! Reality check! Most people don’t have plastic things to fold their sweaters, much less anyone to do it for them! I have plastic thingies, but my thingies are plastic tubs into which we shove everything. What I really need from you is a tip for how to code them so I don’t have to get them all down from the attic to find the one item I’ve been looking for since 1998!
Let’s just suppose, for the sake of discussion, that you have one of those plastic thingies to fold your sweaters. Do you have a cabinet in a vast walk-in where you might spread out the sweater to fold it just so? Do you have the shelf space to stack your sweaters neatly above your shoes which are all lined up and pointing toes out in a special shoe rack? Do you get out the china for Lean Cuisine, knowing that someone will have to wash it and that someone will probably be YOU? Do you keep your gift paper in shelves according to event with matching ribbons, tissues and bows, and a stack of customized gift cards so that you never, ever, have to stop in at Walgreen’s and find a thank you card? What does your closet look like? If there is one thing in your house you could make sparkly clean and neat this week, what would it be?
41 Comments »
41 Responses to “Oprah Pissed Me Off”
KMB25 on 06 Mar 2007 at 1:18 am #
Good God….see, that’s what you get for watching Oprah….
I don’t think REAL people actually live like that. There’s no possible way…it’s all a show for the cameras. I get 2 out of the 3 closets in our bedroom and I can never seem to keep them organized! Although, I’ve tried my hand at organizing–I’ve even gone so far as to buy those under-the-bed plastic storage boxes…but then I never remember that they’re down there and what’s actually in them (so I suppose they’re not very helpful are they?)
And wrapping paper? They still have that stuff..hehe…I just buy those fun gift bags at Walgreens–you know, the ones that have the matching tissue paper all set up?…all I have to do is stick the present in!
diamondlil on 06 Mar 2007 at 1:54 am #
Wow…..It’s taken three hours of thinking time for me to decide that yes I really am going to reorganise the pantry. There’s still time for me to change my mind, and think about doing the whole house instead!
Nabiya MacPherson on 06 Mar 2007 at 5:02 am #
Now I really want one of those plastic thingies. But I’ll probably end up chucking it under my bed cos that’s where all my things go to die. Wouldnt you feel so angry all the time if you lived with that guy though? I think I’d be plotting ways to kill him with his plastic sweater folding things.
Okay, sorry…I’m not very organised myself, and when people talk about how organised they are, I just get very annoyed. I suppose what we could do is not watch Oprah.
Ronda Inman on 06 Mar 2007 at 5:26 am #
Good grief! She is a wonderful person, agree with you there. Know she started out ‘poor’, and has come up in the world, etc. I read recently she has 9 homes… yep, you read that right N I N E homes… And probably each one is staffed to the rafters with employees at her beck & call.
Oprah AND Dr. Phil AND his wife AND his kids tick me off regularly. Took Dr. Phil’s televison program OUT of my TiVo ‘to record’ list. Anyway, talk about digress… They are just too goodie goodie.
Agree they need a reality check! Along with politicians
I’d really like to see them ‘make it’ on minium wage and with NO health insurance, etc. etc. etc.
I am fortunate that I have a large walk-in closet. Doesn’t have much in it as I am a hermit, NEVER go shopping (hate it), wear sweat shirts and/or t-shirts I’ve won or been given, and sweat pants and/or shorts all day, every day. In fact, bought the shorts at the grocery store. LOL
I saw on internet an Asian video showing how to fold shirts and really like that. Very neat, lie flat, etc. Do my clothes folding on the bed THEN lay them in the dresser drawers. LOL
Don’t have any of those storage things except a couple in the garage. Rubbermaid one to hold rags another to hold the ‘give away’ things. Stuff we’re getting rid of but is still in good condition or something I’ve won that I don’t want, etc. Use these things when the various thrift stores have a collection… put what you’re giving in a bag, tag it, put on front porch, they collect… POOF! Gone…
I’m married to a neat, tidy, well organized man so think some of his good habits have rubbed off on me. I’m not nearly as sloppy and unorganized as I used to be.
Eee gads how I do ramble on and get off topic. LOL
Ok, I’ll hush now.
Bye all. Healthy Happy
Terry Jo on 06 Mar 2007 at 6:22 am #
There is someone around my house who folds clothes, that would be ME, that is why most of the clean laundry is sitting in baskets in the laundry room, waiting patiently for me to deign to fold them. About once a month I go on a hormonal cleaning binge and fold and put things up. When that wears off, it’s right back to the baskets.
If I could have one room cleaned neat and tidy, it would be my living room, because it is so very lived in.
Should we assume that we don’t have to do the cleaning, just sit at our computers and direct while nibbling chocolates and sipping fine wine? Now, wouldn’t that be the life!
Maggie Robinson on 06 Mar 2007 at 8:09 am #
For about five minutes once, I organized my closet by colors. It really was great. I could dress myself in the dark. If I woke up feeling “red,” I knew where to grab. Unfortunately when we moved I never got around to being so organized again. My closet is a disaster and dangerous; things keep sliding off the shelf perilously near my head every time I open the door. I’ve got stuff in there I haven’t worn in a couple of years. Thanks to your blog, maybe I’ll spend next weekend Cowie-fying my closet. Nah.
Karen Hawkins on 06 Mar 2007 at 8:23 am #
I organize my closets only when I’m very, VERY upset. When I was going through my divorce, you could have eaten off the floors. Everything was on matching hangers, tucked neatly into labeled boxes, compulsively washed, folded, pressed, and hung.
Now, of course, things are back to normal and my closets are overflowing with clothes, boxes and bags, old throw pillows and Christmas decorations, books I love but can’t fit on the shelves, the childrens’ artwork, and Other Things.
But ah … like Maggie, I feel a bit guilty. Darn that Oprah!
Maybe I should work on my closets this weekend. I have to say, there is a certain amount of satisfaction when one opens the closet and it’s all EXACTLY the way it should be.
Karen H in NC on 06 Mar 2007 at 8:23 am #
HA..this is so funny. That’s why I like to watch ‘Mission: Organization’. It always makes me feel better when I see those people messier than me!!
Somehow, I don’t think even this Colin Cowie guy does his own organizing, folding, dish washing, etc. I’m sure he has ‘people’ to do those mundane chores for him.
lisapbailey on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:26 am #
i think most of us would be more organized if we had the kind of space you described in Colin’s closet. We have a miniscule closet in our master bedroom and it is at most times just shy of disaster. It’d be nice to have the space to attempt that level of organization but in truth, it’s just a little too anal for me. Creeps me out.
DebMarlowe on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:31 am #
Puulease. Someone install a hidden video and show me the footage of this guy scrubbing his immaculate refridgerator or folding his own underwear, and then I’ll believe it. What we would really see is him being all b*tchy to his paid help and them grumbling endlessly behind his back and spitting in his Evian.
What we would not see was a wife or life partner or kids, because who could live up to this standard of perfection? Who would want to?
This is why I don’t watch daytime TV…grumble grumble
Deb
Karen Rose on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:36 am #
Oh, please. Cowie and Oprah have no teenagers, obviously. My closet is actually kind of organized - pants hung from the bottom rail, shirts from the top and dresses from the the full-length side. I’m pretty dang proud of myself.
If I could clean one space, it would be my office. My office is a series of piles of paper. I can identify the time of the year the pile was generated like geologists identify rock formations using strata. Oh, March 2005, a very good month! When I fill up one work space, I move to another until there are no more workspaces in the house - then I create more piles. It’s like that kids’ book - “The Man Who Never Washed His Dishes.” My role model…
But I do recycle aluminum cans - does that count?
Julia London on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:42 am #
Ronda, don’t get me started on Dr. Phil! His wife (it used to bug me that she’d sit so adoringly on the front row and then wait for him to come and get her at the end of the show) she wrote some book that had her on the Times list for weeks! Taking up premium space that schlubs like me dream of seeing! I can’t remember the name of the book, either…I think it was “My Name is Dr. Phillis and I AM the Perfect Wife” or something like that.
Susan K on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:44 am #
Well my closet is so stuffed that my fiance can’t even put his clothes in there. About half the clothes on hangers are hung inside out. Too lazy to turn them right side out until I actually want to wear them. Same goes with clothes folded in the dresser drawers. And my underwear doesn’t get folded. It gets crumpled in a ball and shoved in the underwear drawer.
The christmas wrapping paper is under my bed. The bows and ribbon are in boxes in the laundry closet, above the washer & dryer. I have a greeting card box somewhere but I never seem to remember where I put it. For that matter I’m lucky if I remember to send a card.
As for setting the table with all those dishes. We don’t even eat at the table. My fiance and I are usually in front of the tv. And it’s paper plates or plastic bowls.
It’s very hard to be as organized as Oprah and Colin when you live in a small one bedroom apartment. About the only thing that is organized is my bookshelfs. Those are always perfect!
Julia London on 06 Mar 2007 at 10:03 am #
I think attempts at recycling or having a box with greeting cards definitely count. So do having piles. That is no disorganization — that is organization for the very busy. I once asked my great aunt on the phone what she was doing. She told me she was moving piles with her eyes. That gets points, too — she had every intention of physically moving them one day, but she was doing her pre-planning work.
Plastic tubs under beds, in attics, and stuffed in closets: Points for getting the plastic tubs and putting stuff in it! Even if you can’t remember what’s in them or where you put them! The point is, you intended for it to better organize you!
Nicole Jordan on 06 Mar 2007 at 10:05 am #
Boy, and I thought I was anal! LOL. I’m a neat-freak (actually I’m a control freak and being neat is my way of controlling my life) but I’m not nearly that bad.
NicoleJ
kimber on 06 Mar 2007 at 10:09 am #
Ok, now I’m ticked too. I don’t even have a coat closet in my house. I would kill for a linen closet. Just the thought, sigh. Half of my clothes is in laundry baskets taking up room on my bedroom floor. There are boxes of stuff in my living room because there is no storage space and if we send stuff to the garage we can never find it again. About once a month I try to clean up little spaces here and there, or occationaly I’ll tackle a room and then 2 weeks later its back the way it was. Imagining someone that folds Oprah’s sweaters for her makes me want to smack someone… Thanks for a good rant topic, I feel better now. lol
Sabrina Jeffries on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:14 am #
If I had the time, I would have a closet and kitchen like that. Once. Then my husband would forget the order of the stuff or I’d be in a hurry and forget to put a glass up or . . . then I’d be back to my usual state of pseudo-organized chaos.
This always happens. I have bouts of hyper-organization followed by bouts of laziness. Clearly, I need people, lots of people.
Ashefrog on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:26 am #
Isn’t this what SPRING cleaning is for. Not that I do it annually or anything. More like every couple of years, so by the time I get to it, organizingwise, it is overwhelming.
I have a friend that’s home is immaculate. But she is the first to say “Don’t open any drawers or closets” so ….
If I did have someone come in, they would have to do it annually at least to keep it that way.
I have done the closet organizing many times and it works wonderfully but the maintaining is the problem.
Gift wrapping is usually organized but after the holidays, what a mess. It is March and I have not reorganized that mess.
claudia dain on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:33 am #
Okay, coming out of the closet (ha!) to admit, here and now, in public, that I am neat. I am also organized.
My closet is organized by color and season and type.
My shoes are neatly paired and staring at me.
My underwear is not folded, but it is in charming little matching baskets on shelves.
If I run out of room, I throw stuff out. Because it must look lovely. It must be easy to navigate. It must. It just MUST.
I blame this on my parents, naturally. Who else? My parents were complete and unashamed Neat Freaks. My mother threw piles of stuff away almost on a daily basis. I like to throw things out. I like to organized my pantry.
I can’t help myself.
Sabrina Jeffries on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:54 am #
“Gift wrapping is usually organized but after the holidays, what a mess. It is March and I have not reorganized that mess.”
Me, too, ashefrog, me too! Right now, it’s kind of low on my list of priorities. Sigh.
I was going to out Claudia, but since she already outed herself, I must say that if I had my druthers, my house would be like hers. I do like organization. I just can’t keep it up. I have plenty of space–it’s not that. But I’m always in a hurry, and that’s where I fall down on the job.
Must . . . stop . . . hurrying.
Julia London on 06 Mar 2007 at 12:09 pm #
Claudia, do you live alone? I would like to be that way, too, but I have a husband who can’t grasp the concept of certain dishes in certain places, or clothes even hung up, much less in a particular place.
Secondly, can you come to Austin and do my closet? Please? I will fill you with wine and chocolate!
Kay on 06 Mar 2007 at 12:15 pm #
Martha does not live here, and I don’t have a staff. I have two kids, two dogs and two cats, along with a wonderful husband who is a packrat (so am I).
My desk has piles of piles, my closets are bulging (we live in a 50’s rambler with tiny closets), and the dining room table is COVERED with stacks of clean, folded laundry. It just hasn’t made it to the closets yet. The kids check the table BEFORE they check thier closets!
Thank goodness for digital cameras, and computers, so the need for organizing photo albums is gone. One less thing to feel guily about.
I love to cook, and garden, so that’s where the organizing time goes. My pantry is reasonably organized. Once a year, I take eveything out of my clothes closet. My desk will only be cleaned off by a fire. So be it. I don’t think my kids would be happier if the clothes were put away, instead of us going sledding afer a snowstorm, or goiing swimming in the summer. There are only so many hours in the day, and I refuse to give up family time to be more organized.
I have solved the gift wrap problem. I have a grocery bag full of various sized gift bags (many of which are recycled), and blank cards with nature photos. It works for me.
Adrienne on 06 Mar 2007 at 12:40 pm #
No, my closet looks like a closet not a display at Nordstroms. My kitchen looks like I actually cook in it, and my house looks like people live here. It’s not dirty or cluttered, but it’s also not that sterile hotel room like environment that the guy on Oprah lived in either.
colinfirthfan on 06 Mar 2007 at 1:16 pm #
My house looks clean every week for about 4 hrs after my cleaners come and then it is back to toys everywhere, books everywhere, folded clothes waiting to go up. Right before the cleaners arrive, I scramble and put away the clothes, stcak the books and make the kids put their toys away (just so they can actually vacuum)
My closet is sort of organized. My kitchen is reasonably organized. What is truly messy is the mail. Piles of mail all over the place.
I need a week at home alone to clean out my entire house and throw out old clothes, books and toys.
(Sigh!!)
Suzanne Enoch on 06 Mar 2007 at 1:52 pm #
I didn’t even take down my Christmas tree until February.
And I do have many of those plastic bins — because that’s where I keep my still-in-the-box action figures.
Remember that episode of “Friends” where Chandler finally opens the door that obsessively neat Monica always kept locked? And TONS of junk came spilling out? I bet Cowie has one of those rooms. I do, too — except mine’s been open for years.
TheNightPoet on 06 Mar 2007 at 3:03 pm #
Oh man! That guy has got to be a female in disguise!!! lol Just kidding. I mean I’m female and don’t have my closets THAT clean!!! Then again, I don’t have the luxary of a big walk-in closet where I can organize everything the way he does. I recently cleaned my room and my mom helped me organize my closet to what I like to think is order. I now am able to have my closet, which is the length of one wall, organized with one side having winter clothes and the other side having summer clothes. I have those lovely pull-out doors and have to stand there in front of my closet to pick what I want to wear. Other than that, my closet has no plastic things to fold my sweaters. And really Oprah, can you not take two minutes out of your “busy” day to fold your clothes yourself?? It’s not that hard and doesn’t require a degree in rocket science!!! I’m with ya Julia!
Andrea
P.S. I do have plastic bins as well (not in my closet, but under my bed) filled with books I have read already, memorbila and one has my poems in it.
foreverdelayed on 06 Mar 2007 at 3:55 pm #
Oh Suzanne! You have still in the box action figures, too?? I don’t have as many as I used to, but some I just can’t get rid of.
I don’t have a dresser at the moment, so all of my pj’s, underwear and bras are in suitcases that sit on the bottom of the closet. When I made “The Big Move” to SoCal last year. I moved in with my boyfriend and he has so much crap in all the closets that I am still scared to do anything with them.
I think Oprah is losing touch with us common people.
Claudia Dain on 06 Mar 2007 at 5:52 pm #
Julia, I do not live alone, though things would stay so much neater if I did.
I have 3 kids, a husband who has made Messy into an extreme sport, a dog who sheds even in January, and a cat who sheds twice as much as the dog.
I still like everything put away and organized and just so. I would come to your house and organize your closet just for fun because it IS fun for me.
No, no one has ever said I was normal.
There’s only one condition and it doesn’t involve wine or chocolate or even a new pair of sexy shoes: I’d get to throw out whatever I want.
That’s the secret of organized living—throwing stuff away.
Julia London on 06 Mar 2007 at 6:11 pm #
That is the kind of intervention I need, Claudia! And it really is only closets, lest you be afraid of what you might find. My house is relatively clean and neat (save the dog hair, the bane of my existence year round). Kitchen doesn’t get used that much so its in pretty good shape. But the closets….
Throw away whatever you want?
Wow. Hmm….thinking…..thinking….
Sherri Browning Erwin on 06 Mar 2007 at 6:21 pm #
I heard a rumor that Julia London actually color codes her shoe collection. Just saying.
julia london on 06 Mar 2007 at 6:59 pm #
She does NOT color code, as she has pointed out many times before when so accused, but she does write on the outside of the box what shoe is IN the box, because she has too many shoes to remember.
dbrown3400 on 06 Mar 2007 at 7:50 pm #
Of all that guy’s stuff I can afford the Lean Cuisine, maybe several ’cause they are on sale this week. I try to be organized but I’m not. Mentally I’m there but the plans haven’t left the drawing board. I do plan to sparkle up my computer and TV on Thursday, my day off. It’s a no-brainer since they are about six feet apart. I could probably do both at the same time with a good reach.
Julia, about those thick, winter coats you mentioned, it’s FREEZING up here. I’ll pay UPS. I walk about three blocks to work and look like the Michelin tire man I have so many layers on.
Donna
rumolay on 06 Mar 2007 at 8:17 pm #
OK, now I’m pissed off at Oprah too! Of course, I’ve never really forgiven her for foisting Dr. Phil onto the world, but this, THIS is going too far!
I’ll admit, my hostility is fueled a bit by closet envy. But still!
Brandy on 06 Mar 2007 at 9:28 pm #
You ever get the feeling that Oprah doesn’t live in the real world?
As for organizing. *sigh* I try, good golly do I try. Unfortunately I have a 4 year old son, an 11 year old Daughter and a husband that are all SLOBS! I have seen my husband walk by a piece of paper on the floor, several times! I don’t get it. My closet is as organized as I can keep it since I have to share with the hubs. I have my clothes seperated into tank tops, t-shirts, long-sleeve, sweaters. Then I add dress, skirts, pants, and outfits that go together. My shoes are lined up along the wall and I try to keep hubs side the same, but he’ll take stuff out and forget where it goes. Daugher prefers using her dresser top for all her clothes (drives me crazy). Only Sons closet is as organized as my side of mine. He can’t reach the the hanging things well, but his dresser sits in the bottom of his closet and he will actually put things away in there if asked. I just know it won’t last as he gets older.
I saw a labeler at wal-mart the other day. I drooled over it, but didn’t buy it.
Kelly Ann on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:02 pm #
I agree with Brandy! My family thinks I was put on this earth to serve them! I have a 7 year old girl that makes it her lifes work to wear as many clothes as possible and put them in the laundry even if she has only worn it for 5 min. I have a 9 year old boy, a hubby and a dog. I feel like all I do is work, cook and clean and my house still looks like a tornado hit. I can’t imagine ever having the time to organize, if it’s in neat piles all over my living room floor, recent mail, bills that need to be paid (there in a pile I can never find), kids paperwork, and recipes, then I have accomplished something. The only thing organized in this house? The pantry and my book shelves. To hell with Oprah and Colin, they need to get a real life. Anyone that obsessed doesn’t enjoy life. A house is to be lived in, loved in and have fun in. Though I love my house organized, I would have to take off work for 2 weeks and kick everyone out. I would probably end up reading the whole time anyway, because that’s more fun!!!!!!
Llarasandra on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:44 pm #
I love to organize things. However, the whole chaos theory is in effect after that as I am too lazy to maintain the organization.
I don’t think I could ever be that anal about folding shirts and sweaters though. I worked clothing retail and they use those plastic things and paper to get that crisp clean look. After folding the same shirts several times a day in that fashion, I won’t willing do it at home.
I am bad about making my bed too. Loved to dress beds up when I work in the linens department of a store that had display bed and they looked AWESOME. I just can’t bring myself to make a bed that wonderful to to mess it up at night.
Kudos to you that are able to keep things neat, clean, and organized!
TheNightPoet on 06 Mar 2007 at 11:49 pm #
You know I was just thinking that if I had the luxary of a big walk-in closet, I probably wouldn’t keep it clean like it shows in the pictures Julia posted in her blog. I’m one of those that’s kind of bad about having my room cleaned and then not cleaning it for a while. Since I cleaned my room this winter, I have done a better job of keeping my room clean. I’m quite proud of myself. lol I’ve even caught myself hating how “dirty” my room looks and feels, so then I have to stop what I’m doing and clean it up if it needs it. haha
Andrea
Julia London on 07 Mar 2007 at 9:38 am #
If I can get to my thick winter coats, I am happy to mail them anywhere they need to go. I can never remember why we thought we needed them. One of life’s mysteries.
I agree with everything said here–a house should be lived in, not feel like a museum (which my husband will complain I am making him feel when I insist he removed his workboots and socks from the living room, LOL). And Colin Cowie? All I can say is Wow. It must be hard to be him every single day.
Daisy W on 10 Mar 2007 at 4:38 pm #
I have a four year son who is ALL BOY, need I say more?
The only things in my house that are organized are my books and my crafts (which have their own rooms), neither of which are as organized as I would like, since I need more storage. All my crafts though are in see thur plastic boxes with clear labels on the front and tops. My books are all in alphabetial order by the author, (sorry I worked in a library as a teenager, old habits, plus I can’t stand not to be able to find a book when I want to read it.) Granted my paperbacks are in under the bed storage boxes since I don’t have enough shelf space for them. Because my son is very hyper and overly curious, who climbed to the top of his changing table before he was a year old. He is worse then the three cats. If at first he can’t reach it, he will climb something or bring it to him.
My aunt was the neatest and most organized person I ever knew. She amazed me. She ironed everything and folded it exactly the same every time, without one of those folding things. She even managed to fold fitted sheets perfectly. Every dish in her house had an exact spot it went it. I tried living with her while I was in college. We drove each other nuts.
JudyG on 10 Mar 2007 at 8:06 pm #
Organizing is not of top priority as a rule of thumb but when I watch a show like that I seem to get the erge to do something stupid like cleaning a closet or some cupboards which then have this gigantic domino effect. The last time I tried that there was so much stuff all over almost every room in my house I forgot why where I started in the first place. In fact I called my sister half in tears and half laughing myself silly to talk the whole thing over and get suggestions. She is, by the way, one of the most organized people I know. So…folding sweaters and stacking things by size/height/balance is just a mindbending occupation that it’s going to take a mini-miracle for me to accomplish.
jilleb on 16 May 2007 at 3:26 am #
Way to go, Oprah. Like the rest of us don’t already feel inferior. Introduce us to some anal-retentive sweater freak who probably doesn’t even pump his own gasoline.
I got my cleaning and organizing philosophy from my maternal grandmother. She had two little signs in her living room. One said “The house was clean last week. Sorry you missed it,” and the other, my favorite, said, “You may touch the dust, but please don’t write in it.”
A few years ago I got a Flip-Fold for Christmas. As Seen On TV, according to the package. You’re supposed to put a shirt or sweater facedown on the Flip-Fold, then fold in the left, right, and bottom flippy bits and just like that, your Wal-Mart t-shirt is folded like the ones at the Gap. The problem is that the shirt has to be exactly centered, and if you put the long sleeves down funny the sweater is all lumpy.
Every time I do laundry I get out my Flip Fold. And I glance at it while I pile my clean clothes on the Snoopy trunk at the foot of my bed.