It’s tax season, and the chore awaits as we attempt to gather and organize our past year’s expenses, donations, and so on. 

A few evenings ago, I decided I had better get going. Fred had reminded me to gather whatever I had together. I began. 

One drawer in my office is filled with hanging file folders. You know, the type of hanging folders that fall off the metal supports and spill their contents everywhere? Of course, you do.  

Anyone with organizing skills ‘should’ be able to use this filing system, placing the right paper in the proper folder, right? Yeah. Right. Attacking the mess. I spread the contents of the different folders on the floor. The receipts were there; at least some of them. But as I dug, I discovered old paper clippings from years ago; then, manuals that come with various electronic devices. I began to read the clippings, and then examine the booklets. I decided to forget the tax pile for now. I shoved them over to a corner of the desk. 

There! Now, back to the other interesting details. One of the manuals supported the rechargeable flashlight we bought a few years ago. I remembered that it might be in the guest bedroom dresser. Off to the bedroom I headed.

When I opened the dresser drawer and saw the flashlight, I noticed that in the same drawer there were kids’ games. Monopoly, Uno, Sorry, and others. They belonged in the closet. I emptied the drawer. 

I opened the closet door in the guest bedroom; the closet that serves as a ‘catch all’. As I stacked the games on a shelf with other games, I felt pretty smug! But then I looked down. Various bedroom-related items were filling the closet floor, stacked haphazardly in piles. I pulled out all the blankets, pillows, and some boxes of photographs to the bedroom floor. 

It must be terribly boring to you, and you must think I am a pretty unproductive human being. Just wait... 

l lugged the pillows and blankets to the basement bedroom closet. Once there in the basement bedroom, I climbed onto a chair to reach the top closet cabinets, and tons of blankets fell out on me.  

You can’t believe the mess. Desperate times call for desperate measures!  

I made two piles. One for giveaways, and the other for keepers. I found a nice bedspread in the cabinet that had been missing, and yanked the old one off of the bed, replacing it with the newly discovered one. When I left the room, it was neat. The closet was decluttered. I filled my arms with blankets and the discarded bedspread for the second-hand stores. 

After huffing and puffing upstairs to the mess in the office, I assessed the tax pile there and decided to leave it alone. I peeked into the bedroom drawer and it now was organized and actually, almost empty. The closet floor was clean, and ready for more future “stuff” in it. But not now. 

And today? I delivered a car trunk full of blankets, pillows, a bedspread, a bag of puzzles and games, and a few toys to a second-hand store.  

But now for the taxes. I will stay focused! I will stay focused! May you all have a more organized attempt than I did. But if you find yourself on a bunny trail or two, relax. It will all work out. Just another day of getting organized. 

Judi Tabler lives in Pawnee County and is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at juditabler@gmail.com