Have Surface, Must Cover

Oh, and don't forget to vacuum the dog!

If I sound slightly incoherent it's because I'm a bit visually overstimulated after spending 7 days in a house where every flat surface is covered. Not with doilies, placemats, decorative items, or functional things, but with paper. Empty and full envelopes, bills, letters, clippings, receipts, lists, contact numbers, blank paper, pads of paper, newspaper, fliers, grocery sale papers, coupons, books, pamphlets, instruction manuals, scraps with numbers on them or random words or names, photos of family and friends and pets, printed email or other internet detris, vet and doctor paperwork, tickets, business cards, stubs from various and numerous I don't know what, maps, labels, boxes, stamps, junk mail, real mail, "this is not a bill", insurance, bank statements, bank stuff, package remains, price tags, folders, calendars from many years, magazines, catalogues, and much much more. Not only have the flat surfaces been taken over, but also the walls and lamps. Anything a pin or a clip can be attached to has paper hanging from it and on it.

And I'm afraid this "must cover every surface" (MCES) gene has been passed from Gpa to Mom to me. Now, Mom and I try very hard to fight this gene, but the clutter builds up on surfaces despite ourselves. We both periodically go thru the piles and make sure the piles, if they must exist, have categories so things can be found when needed. Mom creates scrapbooks of the things she saves paper-wise or kick-ass collages. I use the scrapbook idea as well. That way you don't have to save the entire catalogue or magazine or newspaper. I also try to put my monthly bills in a handy dandy file coz the strand in the "MCES" gene that encourages the piling up of bills is VERY strong! I've even bought a shredder to take care of things like pre-approvals, credit card checks, or anything else that has my name on it.

Past visits to Gpa I've tried to clear up the paper or create or organize some sort of contact list or medication list. Before this visit, Mom showed me a picture of Gpa. In this picture (which was taken when I was a kid) Gpa is sitting in his favorite chair surrounded by piles of stuff and Mom says it's proof that he was like this in the past and he's not going to change any time soon.

So this visit I have accepted the lack of surfaces. I just worry because he doesn't really have an "organized" clutter system and he's having trouble remembering where he's put things.

And today I watched Gpa brush his dogs, then vacuum the brush, then vacuum the dogs, then wash rinse repeat 3 times, and finally he gave up and used a lint roller on them.

I wonder if a lint roller would work on my cats?