Helping Paws...

My cats are overly curious and this can lead to them being very annoying. Like when I make the bed Stue will slip in under the sheets and create a giant lump in my bed. Better yet is when Grace takes the time to bite my ankles while I'm trying to get dressed, especially when I'm trying to get my pants on.

The time I love best of all if when I'm trying to put away my clean clothes. I had them sorted out on my bed and was in the proses of putting away my socks when Stue leaps onto the bed and does this....

Sleeps right on my clean clothes. He also happens to start cleaning himself... which is just awesome. The joy of having cats is some times lost.

However, there are times that having cats can seriously warm your heart....

Boxes are so much more than cardboard!

In the spirit of helping my mother get the house more organized and getting used to keeping it that way, I took an entire afternoon (and then some) and went through EVERY piece of clothing I own. I ordered a book from my book club/program called What is a disorganized person to do? by Stacey Platt and it suggested in the bedroom section that you take a look at your clothes and think 3 things:
1.) Have you worn this in a year?
2.) Are you keeping this for a specific purpose? (like say I would wear this if I ever went on a cruise to Alaska) and
3.) Are you keeping this because you feel guilty? (like your aunt knitted it and she is 80 years old with bad arthritis. Wear it once for her and get rid of it)

I applied these things to everything I owned. I ended up with two very large boxes full of clothes I did not wear, fit into, or really like.

 A few of the items ended up with my Mom, but thats fine because she will wear it/it fits her. The boxes have since been getting fuller and fuller. Once I went through everything I made a list of everything in there for when we give it away. At the same time my Mom, randomly mind you, went through her own closet and got rid of about 20 items she never wears or doesn't fit into. I had to really push her to get rid of some things, but it was for the best! =) Since then we have regularly been adding to the boxes. Really anything that we suddenly think we don't want or care for anymore.

The cats got a joy out of the boxes the first night. They just can't help themselves.

The part that always gets me is the differences in both cats. Stue (the black one) will explore, but only to find a place to sleep. Grace explores to explore and destroy. She loves to chew on boxes. During Christmas its hilarious to hand out gifts and notice the teeth marks. Ah got to love cats!