It's Good To Have A Project

I've spent three days this week at my daughter's house. In an effort to keep me busy and off the streets, she offered me a project. "Would you like to organize my books?" she asked. She probably wanted to reconsider when she saw the gleam in my eye, but the words were already out. "Yes!" was my response.

The first twenty years we lived in that house I had books everywhere ~ in small free-standing bookcases, on shelves, on tables, in closets, piled on the floor, in boxes, anywhere there was a free spot. Nine years ago my dream came true with a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookcase in the den. My husband built it with the help of a friend who is a carpenter. I helped draw up the plans and consulted on how it would be constructed. It was just what I wanted. Our family had a central place to keep all of our books, and for a "bibliophile" like me, it was heaven.

My daughter inherited my book-collecting gene but not my love-of-organizing gene. When she moved into the house, so did her books. She has books on the bookcase, but she also has them on every surface in every room of the house. In other words, the bookcase is not living up to its potential. That's where I come in.

I am an organizer at heart. I have an innate sense of how to bring order to chaos. I have been in my glory for three days while I retrieve books from the netherlands and find them a place to stand proud. When I'm finished, I will unveil the final display here. Stay tuned....