Which category do you fit in?

We have had a water bed for the last 27 – 28 years and we have decided that it’s about time for a change. My husband has a bad back and for the last several years he has had a hard time turning over without pain. Soooo… last Saturday night we went to the Select Comfort store to look at beds. The store was a bit busy but we finally got our turn to check out the beds. We looked at the # 5000 model and the salesman started his sales pitch. He started with the top of the line and before long he had us eating out of his hands. He pushed a button and the head of the bed started moving up. Then he pushed another button and the bottom of the bed started moving up. As it did my husband’s pain started to ease off. He instantly fell in love with the bed. Well needless to say we bought the bed and they will be delivering it within 10 to 14 days. We have been in our house now for 13 years and we decided that we should go ahead and get new carpet for the bedroom too. We will probably splash some fresh paint up on the walls at the same time. We have wanted to do this now for a while but didn’t want to mess with moving the water bed. Poor excuse, I know.

Last night we started cleaning out the room. I can’t believe how much stuff we have accumulated in the last 13 years. My husband threw out old locksmith publications that he had been saving just in case he needed them. Tomorrow I get to clean out all my stuff. I grew up with depression era parents who saved everything. Some of that has rubbed off on me and now I have to make decisions as to what to part with. It doesn’t help that we own our own home based business and have food storage. We also have 3 grown children who still have some of their stuff in the upstairs closets.

My sister, on the other hand, is a neat freak! She even has a special vacuum cleaner for her fireplace. When you go over to her house you have to take your shoes off at the front door. Please don’t spill anything on the carpet or she will run over there with a paper towel and scrub it up. Her house looks like a show palace and sometimes I’m afraid to touch anything. I remember when my dad died, she was throwing away a perfectly good Coleman Lantern because she didn’t need one. Did she ask if anyone else needed a Coleman Lantern? We had to watch her and make sure she wasn’t getting to trash happy. While cleaning out the garage we found cans of paint that was 50 years old. It really made me think about what is important and what isn’t important to keep. I don’t want to put that kind of think on my kids any day.

So the question here is: Are you … 1) a slob, 2) clean but a saver, 3) somewhere in the middle or 4) a neat freak. Did I leave out a category? I don’t expect you to answer the question, but just think about it.