Dear House,

      Could you miraculously get bigger?  Without any effort or cost on my part?  Please?  I’ve cleared out as much junk as I can, put things into Space Bags and hidden them in ingenious places, stored things in old suitcases, rearranged shelves and office equipment until my eyes are as crossed as the mass of wires hiding behind my desk…and yet there isn’t enough room!

     Whah!!!!

     I am not a pack rat.  If something doesn’t have an immediate purpose, it goes into the garbage or to Good Will.  But even this ruthless system is failing.  And 90 percent of the problem is occurring in my office.  I have too many books–other people’s books and my own backlist–neither of which I am going to budge on.  I need books!  But I also need more room.  My original plan was to wait out the children and commandeer one of their rooms when they went to college, but I’m not sure my sanity will survive until that point. 

Hmmm. 

Do we really need a dining room?