Tuesday Midnight

After watching Oprah this afternoon, I decided that my own closets needed a serious look-see. It's nearly midnight and I've just finished. I started with my closet in the dressing room of our bedroom. Too many shoes on the floor, for one thing. I went through all of them and eliminated four pairs, which are now in a donation box in the garage. I put all the colors together-- way too many black shoes, so I won't be buying anymore of those for a while.

Then I went through my sweaters and I now have a shopping bag of nearly-new sweaters for the ladies in the Senior Center. Most of those belonged to my husband's mother. When she passed away back in February of this year, I thought that wearing some of her sweaters would make me feel better. It worked for a while, then I just left them in the closet and looked at them. Now I look at them and see sweaters that are too "old" for me. The ladies at the Senior Center will love them. They're already in the back seat of my car and I'll drop them off the next time I'm down that way.

I have to rearrange that closet of mine... lots of shelves in there for the shoes, but I'm just too tired to start that now. I also should go through the closet in the computer room where I keep my dress-up clothes. I know there are clothes in there that I moved down here from NY. We've been here since 1993, so I know that some, if not all, of those things can be donated. I've gone through that closet every year and little by little, I've donated NY clothes to local charities. And why am I still holding onto the rest? No other reason other than they were favorite dresses up in NY and I guess I just like to know they're still there. (Ridiculous reason.) I can still wear them, but I don't. They're "too NY" for Clear Lake, I guess. And of course, I have clothes that are "too Clear Lake" for New York.

Oprah will be auctioning her clothing on eBay, starting tomorrow. Her audience today had a mini-auction of some of Oprah's designer clothes. People went crazy with the bidding. Either they truly loved the clothes, or they just wanted something of Oprah's so they could tell their friends that they owned something once worn by Oprah. Now that's an expensive brag... the bids went into the thousands. There was one gentleman there who bid (and won) a red gown for his wife. His bid was $8000. When the auction was over, he hugged his wife, who sort of looked stunned. Pardon me for saying so, but that red satin dress with the crystal-beaded shoulder straps just looked too Hollywood for that woman.

I've promised myself to go through my other closet this week, plus all of my dresser drawers. I am sure there are clothes in there that don't meet the requirements for keeping them. Oprah's closet-organizers on today's show said that you should ask yourself three questions when deciding what to keep and what to give away. Do you love the clothes? Do they portray the image you want to project? Do they make you feel alive? (I'm pretty sure those were the questions, but right now I'm just too tired to bet the farm on that.)

And, the golden rule of neat and clean closets--- if you bring one thing in, then one thing has to go out. Obviously, I wasn't following that rule with black shoes. But I do my best to follow that rule when I buy clothes. There's always a box in my garage for donations. And just about every time that I get a call from Big Brothers & Sisters or Purple Heart or Houston Achievement Place, I can tell them that I've got a box ready for pick-up.

Maybe I will continue to go through my closets while the workers are here tomorrow installing the chandelier. I'd love to go through my husband's closet and dresser. Heaven knows there are enough things in there that he hasn't worn in years and most likely never will. I told him about Oprah's show tonight while we were eating dinner. He was not inspired to clean out his closet. And I will stop myself from doing it for him. (First thing I'd be tossing is the green shirt he wears when he walks Gracie. I wouldn't even donate it-- it's long since past that stage. I'm waiting for it to just fall apart in the washing machine one of these days.)

The most amazing thing about Oprah's show today, by the way-- the size of her closet, and the size of her friend Gayle's closet. Both are huge-- the size of a super-large living room. Shelves and racks and drawers wherever you look, floor to ceiling. I'm not complaining, since I have two walk-in closets of my own. But imagine... to have a walk-in room for a closet? I'd be shopping till the cows came home.