03.01.21 Quarantinewhile* - The Office

We have a four bedroom house, and for 23 years, one of those rooms was the home for my education finance consulting business.  I closed the business at the end of 2019, and planned to devote my time to improving and expanding my jewelry endeavors.

Well, as my grandmother liked to say...

"Man plans, God laughs".  

So here we are in 2021, and I haven't been at the bench in almost a year...I've spent more time than ever in the room that I figured I wouldn't be using much...and I've cleared it out, a lot.

In the beginning, it was about making space to be able to take yoga (over Zoom, of course).  When I started the process, I had just enough space to roll out my mat, but I couldn't really even spread my arms without bumping in to something.

Amazingly, I didn't burn up the shredder

It was a multi-step process...to clear the floor, I had to get rid of or find space for the dozens of binders, bins of files and countless books that were consuming valuable space.

It's a wonder how much paper one person can accumulate in a career (especially if it spans more than 30 years)...in my case, it was enough to fill a 96 gallon recycling bin a half dozen times.

I got rid of a lot, and it took weeks - the greatest limitation being the recycling schedule, although our bin is huge, it only gets picked up every other week - but once I was down to just the things that were worth keeping, I actually had space in my filing drawers...

...so much space, in fact, that I was also able to clear off the top of my desk.

You might think, at that point, I would have stopped - satisfied with my clean and spacious desk top - but instead, I used all that new found space for the kind of fun, new accessories (my husband calls them "unnecessary plastic things") I never had room for when my desk was covered in work.

I started with some artificial greenery...because I can't keep real plants alive.  

I made a lovely little air plant garden at an Crafternoon event with my talented and crafty friend Emily, back in the before times...and managed to kill the plant. I also won a small succulent garden in a raffle from Amanda Deer...and did pretty well with that for a while, but eventually, one by one...they died off, too.

Enter Etsy...and faux succulents...voilà! Plants I can't kill.

I just kept going with the botanical theme...ordering a Rifle Paper pencil cup and trinket dish, and a darling floral desk calendar (all from Paper Source).

Yes, a desk calendar.  Not because it's particularly useful, but it was on sale and just too cute - and frankly too clever - to pass up!

There are six cardboard sections, printed on both sides with a different month and flower. At the end of each month, you turn the section around and place it at the back...so the little garden changes all year.

The last, but far from least, unneccesary plastic things were two SHERO action figures from FCTRY.   Now I have RBG and MVP (Madam Vice President) keeping me company every time I sit down to write a blog post, Postcards to Voters or attend a Zoom meeting (and yes, that IS an Official Inaugural Announcement, on my desk).

It wasn't all silly stuff, either...

I bought a  mug warmer, filled with coffee beans, that you heat up in the microwave to keep my cup o' Joe warm,

a great (and inexpensive) Bluetooth speaker for listening to music, 

and a nifty little technology brush to keep my keyboard dust and crumb free.

So, until I can get back to the jewerly studio, my desk has become a happy place, along with the kitchen (more on that soon).

Until next time.

*with apologies to Stephen Colbert, I totally ripped of  his term "Quarantinewhile".