The Burgundy Notebook

Victor called this morning from Virginia where he is working at contract job for awhile. We had our normal morning conversation and then he asked me to find The Burgundy Notebook.

He told me that it was in the office in one of the piles on the floor. To give you an idea of this picture. We have an office that was once a bedroom, but converted into an office from the previous owner. It has a "L" shape counter top on two of the walls. There is no bottom to the countertop. I have the short section of the countertop and Victor has the long side. Well, my sweet husband doesn't throw anything away. He must have business cards from everyone he ever met for the last 15 years. He keeps every single scrap of paper for the day he just might need it, even if the paper is 10 years old, no joking!

Well, his piles were out of control and so was his side of the office. Piles and piles of folders, notebooks, books and paper. A ton of paper. He also has his own two-drawer console filing cabinet filled with piles of "stuff" on it.

So, off he went to Virginia and the very next day, boxes in tow, I set out to clean this mess. I had myself a little "ditching" party and it felt so good. I was cautious of what I was throwing away and every pile and little scraps of paper went into two boxes. One box was for the piles on the countertop and the other box was for the piles on the floor. He likes to save empty boxes, like software boxes, his GPS box, his blackberry box, etc. I took what was left in those boxes and saved them and ditched the boxes. I threw away calenders from 2007 with nothing ever written on them. I threw awaya brochure that had to be 10-15 years old about a boat he once wanted to buy. I threw away similiar brochures about those dreamy BMW's he will never have.

So, I spent probably 4 hours cleaning the office and it was a lot of work, but it felt so good and it looks so nice now. The one box that was from the piles on the floor is the size of a medium moving box and must weigh literally 75 pounds. I filled it up and then pushed it into its position in the office. So, office all done and WOW it looks great.

Well, the other day he called because he wanted to go to the Washington D.C. temple and he wanted me to get the GPS box and get the manual out and tell him how to change something on his GPS. I, of course, had already threw away the box but kept the insides. I went to the filing cabinet and there was no manual. I don't believe there ever was one, but that's beside the point. So, I went online and found his manual and got him what he wanted. No harm done and he didn't know I had thrown away the box.

So, this morning he said he needed the Burgundy Notebook and that it was in one of the piles on the floor. I laughed like, you got to be kidding..is this really happening. I was afraid of this! He caught on really quickly and asked me what I did to the office and I said "Nothing sweetheart, tell me what you need." A little white lie, but if he knew what I had done it would of ruined his whole day. So, he told me he needed his Burgundy Notebook and preceeded to describe it to me. It, of course, was burgundy and was hard. I thought, hard what do you mean. He said it wasn't a notebook with coil spines on it like kids use in school and it had a hard cover like a notebook. Hmmm, ok, next. He then told me for 5 minutes that it was burgundy, on the floor and not like a notebook. He said that it was like those portfolio pads with a hard cover and DID not have a spiral binding. He said that the inside the front cover was red with a bunch of phone numbers on. He then told me what he needed out of this notebook and all the while I kept looking at the 75 pound box saying "Why me?"

I got off the phone with my task at hand and kept a positive attitude that indeed I can find this burgundy notebook. Really, I didn't throw away any notebooks, so it had to be in one of those boxes filled with enough scrap paper to fill a landfill. So, out can the little box that was ontop of the counter, it weighed less. Took everything out, no burgundy notebook. No red or burgundy at all.

With a heavy sigh, I started pulling the BIG box from it's hiding spot. Ripped the side of it, broke 3 fingernails, got two rug burns on both of my shins and scratched my wrist. I went through that entire box and still no burgundy notebook that was hard, but not like a notebook.

Feeling determined went back to the little box, this time looking for any color of any notebook, that was hard with no spiral spine. Like I suspected, I found the burgundy notebook, but it was black, had a red spiral coil spine and had red lettering on it. It was true, it was hard. It did have the red inside with a bunch of phone number on it, so I knew I found the right notebook. Never seen a notebook like it and must be ancient.

Feeling I conquered the pile monster, I put everything back and the once burgundy notebook with no coil spine is now BLACK with red coil spine safely on my side of the office. I will call him later to find what he was needing. You just wait, it won't be in this notebook.