Sometimes I'm considerate of others and I'll thank you not to act so surprised.

I don't know what finally made me pull the trigger and randomly start pulling fabric out from the closet, but The Project Which Has Languished in My Mind managed to become a mail organizing reality this weekend.

See, our office is not so big. Even with all the recent reorganizing, shopping, throwing away and sneaking out to the garage (what?) of all the not-nailed-down stuff. Even then there's not a LOT of room in there. Even less so on our desk. I sorta downsized our desk to a shallower version of our previous double-wide model in the remaking of the office and that left us with a limited amount of open space to, say, put down a pen without it being immediately swept onto the floor.

Yes, the desk does hold two computers (must have both PC and Mac) and the obligatory molding cup of coffee, but with the Evil Mail Sorting Thingee taking up most of the remainder of space, our desk sort of ceased being a Desk and started being The Big Pile of Crap Where You Can't Set Down a Pen or Even Maybe Another Cup of Coffee.

This was an obvious issue for Bubba, seeing as he must simultaneously compute and caffeinate without compromise lest the universe burst forth from its balanced state and go hurtling through the Great Unknown on a path toward certain hell, but for me, I am indifferent. Mostly because my home computing is limited to doing our finances and checking on the poisonous status of foraged nuts and also because I am not a coffee gal and am happy to drink my tea from the couch where I have a nice blurry view of CNN.com from over the shoulder of my beloved.

So, you can see why finding an alternative means for sorting mail, therefore freeing space on the desktop for more cups of old coffee, became something of a mild obsession for me. I mean, how can I sit and sip tea from my comfy spot on the couch while The Mister is left to surf the headlines without nary a spot to rest his morning brew?

See, sometimes I think about other people.

So with the cherished remains of my favorite fabric, the pile of sturdy and partially slain canvas and a pair of very groovy and huge wooden knitting needles, I set out to organize our mail in a vertical fashion so as to leave as much acreage on the desktop as possible. You know, for the coffees.

It was a random act of sewing, as I was actually on my way to refill my cup for another round of couch-sitting with tea, but happened to glance at Bubba and see him staring down the towering Evil Mail Sorting Thingee and decided it was time. I must fix this. Before the doom becomes imminent and I'm being forced out the front door with bus fare, Rocket and the Evil Mail Sorting Thingee wedged in my ass.

After a few short (long) minutes of disagreeing with my machine about which way the spool winds and how a broken needle wedged in the presser foot does not make for a smooth stitch, I made good time. I actually managed to rip this baby off before NFL Sunday Countdown was over and the playoffs began. Not that I was all hopped up to watch Eli disgrace the Manning name (I know, they won, but still - he's no you-know-who) or anything, but I do like my uninterrupted time to stare at the NFL in HD and having one project under my belt when I make my way to the couch for the hobby known as All Day Sitting is just a lovely bonus.

As I was making my way to the couch for the aforementioned Distance Sitting, I was blessed with some of the most beautiful words a Bubba can say.

Specifically, "You're done? Well, don't you want me to come appreciate your hard work? Let's go see!"

Followed by Bubba scampering (in a manly way) off to the office to see what had become of the Evil Mail Sorting Thingee and to behold the glory of a square foot of open space on the desk, onto which he immediately situated a big cup of soon to be old coffee.

Just kidding. He didn't. But I am sure he has plans for it.

Either way, he made the obligatory Ooh and Ahh noises and adequately explored the capacity of his allocated pocket on the new Hanging Mail Sorter, so I was satisfied.

Maybe now I'll sit at the desk with my tea from time to time. You know, since there's room and all.