on nightstands...

I don't have one, but apparently everyone else does. I think it is somewhat helpful that I "only" have one surface to keep clean in our bedroom, and that is the top of our expansive double-wide dresser. What we have on it includes:



Our wedding picture and some decorative candle holders,
The crucifix that was on the altar at our wedding,
A prayerful ceramic girl and boy that have been on my dresser for as long as I can remember,
A pretty little box that has inside it several rosaries and chaplets, including one made by Adam's great-aunt Rose, who is a beautiful Carmelite Sister,
A box of Kleenex,
A piece of blue and white pottery that is our catch-all, and
A small lamp that I really don't like very much.

If you look closely, a cell phone charger can be seen sticking out from beneath the lamp. This is where Adam's cell phone/alarm clock gets plugged in at night. I don't keep books in our room because I don't read books in our room. By bedtime I'm ready to go to to sleep, and I try to get as much as I can. Often, that means that I don't get up when I should because I'm trying to squeeze in just a few more minutes of shut-eye. My days are always better when I'm up and dressed with morning prayers said before all of the kids are awake, but my brain doesn't ever seem to remember that - or care - when my alarm goes off and it's still dark outside. It's something I'm working on.

To be fair, when I went to look at my dresser last night, it was not quite so clean as pictured, but my camera batteries were being re-charged and Stephen was asleep. I put away a few things, dusted, and emptied the catch-all. Below, is the tray full of stuff that I'm dealing with this morning. As you can see, most of it is small stuff, picked up and pocketed to be put away, then emptied from pockets at the end of the day.