It's evening on Dec. 31 as I start this, and while we haven't been going for quite a year, it feels like an anniversary. I think having a place to report progress, large or small, helps propel or sustain momentum in clearing out the stuff that you trip over or have to work around in your daily life. "Clutter" is a state in which something is in your way, and that something is there mostly because your space is occupied by more stuff than you can use or need.

Identify it, and work with what you recognize as a problem. If you need to, start small, perhaps de-clutter a shelf or a counter to make a clear spot, then work outward from there, if you don't know another way to begin. If you're tremendously ambitious, empty your entire house and replace only the items you really need and use, and sell or discard or give away the rest. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

I can't afford to just discard, I am working through the stuff and donating (keeping records) or selling (eBay) what I can, and the rest is being recycled as much as possible. It was a nice sign to have a spectacular eBay success this last week of the year; this isn't typical, but it will help me keep moving forward.

My kitchen and dining room are in very good shape right now, and cooking and serving food are a pleasure because I have room to work easily and more quickly than when I had to move stuff in order to cook. The rest of the house is still a work in progress.

The reports have been wonderful over the last year, and I look forward to reading more in the new year.

SRS