One thing: THAT drawer

It was Thursday morning and our coffee machine broke. This was not a good thing, not a good thing at all. When this pregnant woman only has caffeine as her poison of choice at the moment, not a good thing at all. Rob told me “well we’ve had it since we moved here, almost 5 years and it gets a good work out with us both working from home” that I tried to see the positives, but without any coffee in me, it was difficult. More so given the fact that I was SURE that we had, in fact, bought it after we moved here. I remember buying it at Harvey Norman, remembered it so clearly. And yet he persisted, telling me no, we had it when we moved here.

But we hadn’t! I SAW RED. See: lack of coffee AND pregnancy hormones AND the fact that I remember this shit because I actually DO these kind of things for the family. I buy the things. And yet? He continued. Tried to tell me to calm down and just deal with the fact that I couldn’t remember things well at the moment because I was preggers, then went about his morning.

Oh no he DITN’T.

I opened the drawer. That drawer. The one that looks like this:

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The one that holds the receipts and warranties in it, the one that would tell me THE TRUTH. It wasn’t pretty in there, especially given it had been a year since I’d last dealt with “the drawer”. More school reports, more chargers, more birthday cards, more things. And no fucking receipts in sight.

Rob then came back in to tell me, I was in fact RIGHT! He had been going through old photos online to see when the coffee machine was purchased and narrowed it down to 2011 sometime (there I was thinking he was getting ready when he was just trying to prove that HE was right!). We’re stubborn round these parts that’s for sure. A victory for me, but a hollow one at that given that it was further back than I thought AND that I had shit everywhere from ‘the drawer’ that I now had to deal with. But never fear! It would be my #onething for the week!

For those of you not playing along, #onething is where I do just ONE THING from my to-do list, but not your every day to-do list. Oh no, this is the list of non essential items that sort of kind of need to get done but it’s no biggie if they don’t get done until next week, or next month, or um, next year. Those things. Just one. Every week.

I culled that drawer, threw out so many things, made piles of things that I needed to keep and hightailed it to my spiritual home of organisation: The Reject Shop. Do you know they have things called drawer dividers? Did you know that these things even exist? Me either! But they do and they create little trays for big drawers like this to keep all the stuff organised in.

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Best $12 I’ve ever spent. I could feel the rush of pregnancy oxytocin surging through my veins. Rob might have been a little bit right, but I had my drawer! MY ORGANISED DRAWER WITH COMPARTMENTS! So there.

Sure I need to tackle the other 34 cupboards in the kitchen but I have my drawer. And now we have a new coffee machine too.

How many of you have these drawers in your kitchen too?
What was your one thing this week?
Go choose something, right now, just have a look around and there will be something waiting…

Comments

  1. I totally need to clean out my ‘that drawer’. It gives me guilt trips every time I open it.

    As an aside, how annoying is it when your husband thinks he is right and you know in your heart of hearts that they are WRONG and refuse to see the truth. So stubborn and frustrating. And worse at the moment because they give you this look that says ‘aww what would you know, you’re hormonal and pregnant so of course you don’t know what’s what silly lady’. Not that I’m bitter or anything…

    I am totally with you on the coffee thing. I would be a cranky force to be reckoned with if my coffee machine broke.

  2. I’m retired. I don’t do one thing a week. I’m lucky if I do one thing a month. The more time you have, the less you get done. But I’m having fun not doing it. ;>)

    (And we have four of those drawers… )

  3. Good work on sorting out your drawer! A must do for inner calm.

    ….are you going to share with us which coffee machine you decided on? That has been my biggest ‘one thing’ for about 3months. I can’t decide. The biggest dilemma is whether to buy one that grinds as well or do you insist on a separate coffee grinder? Any suggestions?

  4. it doesn’t matter who’s right beth! it matters what is right and that is to buy a new coffee machine! … pronto!;0
    I’m so inspired when I see drawers like this thankyou beth!
    I am a random access type of girl!
    but that said I’m getting some of those dividers!
    I have been inspired by nikki before too!
    I’m whittling those jobs done hun! … I feel great when I tidy a drawer now! … before and after! … winning for me! … love m:)X

  5. I bought a Breville when I moved here four years ago. I had used a big Italian thing with a double boiler for years at son’s I was then able to buy only the single boiler Breville but as I am usually making it for only one person, that’s fine. They now have a double boiler as well as single. It makes very good coffee once you have gone through a pack of beans to get grinder set just right. Time taken is worth the beans and the time to get the right result. Coffee in group after expressing should not have excess water sitting on top. Further works well. I would buy another if needed. Pods are not my thing at all.

  6. that drawer is a thing of beauty!

  7. Do you keep cards that people give you? How long do you keep them for?
    I find I save them for a while, stash them away then throw them out a year later, something like that?
    I’m not sure what to do? Any advice please agony draw aunt?

    • I always wonder what to do about this too…I keep them for a bit and then end up chucking them but I don’t know what the correct etiquette is.

  8. Go Beth….I am now shamed to visit the Reject shop and do a little draw tidying myself, thanks!

  9. I think my One Thing might finally be my tax. Dun dun duuuunnnn!

  10. Amanda G. says

    Why is it that the bottom drawer in my kitchen is a ‘throw everything in there’ draw? Why do those things not have a home of their own? Is it like the box of junky toys in the kids room that are so odd, they don’t have a proper place? I’m tackling my laundry cupboard atm, a cupboard that has to hold and store so much yet hasn’t had any love for 5 years. That’s my one thing this week. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get the energy to tackle that bottom drawer as well.

  11. Oh god! I’ve just done that with my pantry!!! All glass jars in there. How amazing does it look now? You have done well…

  12. Love the draw! I did a similar thing with my office drawers while pregnant.

  13. Lisa Aherne says

    Love your drawer! I have one desk drawer that looks like that, but that is probably all. My one thing, no huge task, but it is something that I look at and say, must clean that, yet it gets forgotten. What? The doggie door out to the courtyard! I SCRUBBED it, it is all pristine. Next thing? My overstocked and untidy linen cupboard. Hopefully soon!

  14. I love a tidy drawer!
    I am currently cleaning out my closet!
    My looming big one thing is to sort out Lyddie’s citizenship. Ugh. Might put that one off for another week or two.

  15. Lisa Mckenzie says

    We all have one or more of those drawers Beth ,glad you got yours done!

  16. Invitations now done for our Daughter’s 21st. Not without fuss and carry on though. “Why do we have to post invitations?”. Trying to explain (as politely and patiently as possible….not) to a nearly 21 year old that not everyone is on Facebook. Spare me…

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  1. […] to get some bits and pieces and managed to get some more drawer dividers like the ones I used in this post. I tackled an unruly drawer that has been bugging me since we moved in, oh, almost 5 years ago now. […]

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