Hello, my name is Russ and I'm a...

Alright, they say when you have to hide it, when it interferes with your daily life, you have a problem. I guess I have to admit it. I... am... a... packrat.

Yep, that's me. A packrat. A magnet for clutter. What? Throw something away? No way, I'll probably need it or find a use for it as soon as its gone. So I'll just save it for a while, thank you. Stacks of newspapers, books, magazines, junk mail and the like have now completely overwhelmed my desk, and yes, my clutter has been steadily creeping beyond the confines of my office space and into the kitchen, the family room, the bedroom.... You get the idea.

Well, my wife is having her quilting group over tomorrow. So I've spent most of my free time today (is it possible to have free time with a 3 and 4 year old following you around the house?) cleaning and straightening up the place. I've finished up for the most part... except for the desk. That's just too much to tackle in one evening. Luckily it's in a tucked away alcove of the kitchen and I discovered that if you tack a sheet up between the walls of the alcove it's pretty well hidden.

I am hiding my clutter. The desk is under a sheet. There are boxes in the spare room. I think I may have a problem.

I shouldn't really. My mom is an avid reader of Don Aslett, I have friends who are devotees of the Fly Lady, I bought a copy of Home Comforts after reading about it on Being Daddy last year a year and a half ago (wow, has it really been that long?). But somehow I'm still a mess.

{sigh}

Alright, time to take control. Is it too late to still make New Year's resolutions? I'm gonna get a handle on this clutter and learn to keep a neat and tidy house. There... I said it... publicly. That should help, shouldn't it?