Paper multiplies when allowed respite.

I'm a little sad that I can't post the full bag of papers that we de-cluttered today (they had already been taken to recycling): this is just what I found during the commercial break when I was watching Bones. (Our Valentine's Day was watching TV together— we will try for a movie out next weekend, when it will be easier to get a babysitter.)

It seems that no matter how often we go through the stacked paperwork (which grows on a weekly basis) that after we have dealt with what needs to be dealt with and filed what needs to be filed, we have lots of paperwork to be recycled, shredded and/or discarded.

Sometimes it feels like a Sisyphean task, but today I had a pleasant reminder that we are actually reaching deeper into the piles than we have before, even though they grow weekly: I found a check written to me by a friend in the US two years which she had sent to me here and which I had clearly not sent back to the US to be deposited. So after a quick e-mail conversation, we have plans to meet up again this year in NY, where she can hand me a replacement and save herself the cost of an airmail stamp!:-)

Starting the New Year

The last month has been a whirl of activity and running, like the Red Queen, just to stay in place. So what starts the New Year better than getting rid of clutter? What I want to know is how, after getting rid of so many documents, there seem to be more still in the filing cabinet that can go? We get a good workout with the cross-cut shredder that we brought with us from the States for paperwork that needs shredding and the rest goes into paper recycling. We did this gather and shred while sipping champagne and listening to the firecarchers and fireworks going off outside, but we did stop before midnight to watch the Hoff at the Berlin Wall :-) and to see some episodes of the new (to us) series Being Human.