Christmas Eve is for Cleaning Closets

I was determined to get something done now that we were home, so as I unpacked my suitcase, I decided it was time to reorganize my closet for a couple reasons.

1. It was a mess. 
2. It was time to sort out and return all the maternity clothes I borrowed. (Hope you have room in your van, Megan!)
3. Since I am now back to work full time, I needed to reassess my work wardrobe to see what would still work with my post-pregnancy body. You may be seeing me in the same sweater about twice a week for the duration of the cold weather.
4. I was bummed about not being with my extended family for Christmas and needed to take my mind off it. Here are the results with some additional boring commentary:

I sorted my t-shirts into 4 piles, from left to right:

• shirts I will actually wear in public (most of them less than 3 years old)
• shirts I will only wear to bed or to work out (many of them at least 9 years old)
• shirts that are too small now and may never fit again, but I have too much hope to throw them out. It's the season of Hope, right? Plus, you will pry my green Detroit Thrashers Roller Derby shirt from my cold dead hands. It has been with me longer than Adam (in fact I'm pretty sure I bought it before I started dating, period).
• shirts that have received a long-overdue demotion to cleaning rags/garbage. 

Notice the sad supply of "public" shirts.

Adam also sorts all of his t-shirts into 2 shelves. One is for school t-shirts that actually have the name of the school or mascot on it (Numbering in the dozens). The other is for t-shirts that do not have the name of the school or mascot on it. Most of these are from football camps so they have the name of someone else's school or mascot on it.

I also noticed that all of my hooded sweatshirts are colleges, only 2 of which I actually attended:

I suppose I should also add some semi-helpful hints, so I think the key to good closet organization is to use space-saving devices that may or may not have been bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond. For example, I have a rod-to-floor shoe bag where I can fit all of my summer sandals so I can just keep regular shoes on the shelf. I also have a skirt hanger where I can hang up to 8 skirts with one hanger. Since I wear skirts about every 3 months, this means I can store approximately 2 years worth in one compact space:

There were 2 garbage bags worth of casualties from the hour of sorting. The first bag was either summer clothes or things that aren't fitting right now but since I'm feeling all charitable and think Christmas is a time of forgiveness, I will give them a second chance next summer. But if they don't fit by June, they are dead to me. The second bag went straight to the trash can. And before you tell me I should have consigned or given away those things, let me tell you that most of it was either underwear and/or in this type of condition:

And I do mean and/or.

And since it is almost 11:30 on Christmas Eve and I have nothing better to do with my time, here is a special poem I wrote, just for you. I think it will soon start outselling the original:

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and in Courtney's closet

It was a picture of disorganization, a messy composite

Nary a shirt was hung on its hanger with care

And she was sick of never finding anything wear

The baby was nestled all snug in his bed

And visions of "Clean Sweep" danced in mommy's head

With one look at the mess, she decided in a snap

She'd get started right away, before Ryan woke from his nap

She sorted and purged and folded and hung

And picked up from the floor all that had carelessly been flung

She made sure all the hanging clothes faced the same way

Knowing it wouldn't last longer than a day

Now wool pants! now, khakis! now, black pants and skirts!

On sweaters! On polos! On button-down shirts!

To the white wire shelves! To the long metal pole!

To stay organized is our ultimate goal!

Some clothes were demoted, to the basement were banished

Some clothes were lost causes, to the trashcan they vanished

But from every wrinkled collar to every long sleeve

I'll never forget this closet-cleaning Christmas Eve!