Who knew I would have an epiphany in the first few minutes of Christmas Eve when…my husband got sick.

My husband never gets sick. He said he had not been that sick since the Christmas he was 8 and had such a bad case of pneumonia he ended up in the hospital.

My son had this flu two weeks ago; it featured projectile vomiting. My husband cleaned up the floors and walls after him, because I was in bed with a sinus infection.

I didn’t take any chances. I wore 2 pair of gloves when I cleaned! I was so disgusted that, after cleaning it up three times, I threw away the little closet organizer I used to store towels.

Then I had to figure out what to do with the towels! I took out all of the cleaning supplies and medications in the cupboard under the sink. Then the towels and toiletries fit nicely in there.

I went to move the supplies to the hall closet and found half of the medications were out dated. I put the cleaning supplies in two caddies and even emptied the top shelf of the closet that had the Nebulizer, Vaporizer and foot bath on it and…

…I found the missing controls to the electric blanket! That was a nice reward.

My epiphany came when I realized how much larger the room felt without the unit holding the towels. I had freed up floor space. It made my bathroom feel twice as big.

I did the same thing in the kitchen when I took out a side table and moved the appliances to the top of the china cabinet. I also took the leaf out of the table. You can actually walk around my table now!

When all three kids lived at home, I needed the table large enough to fit five; but that changed over three years ago. Now that it is easier to get in the chair around the table, we are using it a lot more. (Yes, we were one of those families that ate dinner in front of the TV.)

I never realized the problem was the table was too crowded. In order for someone sitting near the wall to get more food, the person sitting beside them had to get up.  Of course, when my son’s family comes to dinner we always eat at the big table in the basement. Especially now that we have a grandchild that needs a high chair.

As I am cleaning, tossing, giving away and organizing, I have ended up with empty shelves. I don’t say, “What shall I put there?” I leave it empty until I find something that needs to go there. I am trying to put as much in closets and cupboards as possible. It makes it easier to dust and that makes it healthier for me. (Dumb allergies.)

To quote my hero, FlyLady.net, “You can’t organize clutter; you have to get rid of it!”