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BS: De-cluttering - part two
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 May 08 - 11:04 PM House elves to make stuff go away--what a splendid idea! I had some "Mom's Taxi" driving today, so I boxed up a few games and puzzles that could go to Goodwill then tried to drop them off on one of those trips. The attendant was gone, so I'll leave it tomorrow. There are more games and puzzles in the garage, so I spent time this evening thinning the contents of the garage Rubbermaid storage tubs. There is now a bag of soft toys to take to the thrift store (the one that recycles fiber, so if they don't want to sell the toys they can turn them into paper). I tossed a bunch of paper and cardboard in the recycle bin, and in the end emptied the largest of the tubs. I have close to a dozen paint cans in the back of the pickup, ready to take to the hazardous waste drop-off station on Thursday when they're next open for business. They also take garden chemicals, lightbulbs and batteries, among many other things. I'll have some of all of that for them. These cans in particular occupied a lot of space on the bottom shelf of a wire rack I use as a rolling pantry. Good riddance! I have a bunch of furniture to rearrange, and in some cases there is stuff on top of it. I think before I try moving the furniture I need better control of the evolving filing system, because that is a lot of what is on the top of things. Paper. It always seems to come back to paper! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Alice Date: 05 May 08 - 11:30 PM Went through books and found about 2 boxes full so far to send to the Colorado City library project. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 06 May 08 - 07:32 AM I excavated my bedside table today.... threw away all the rubbish, recycled all the papers.... still can't see the wretched thing. I'm beginning to think someone is trying to tell me something. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 06 May 08 - 03:54 PM I fully intend to stick prices on everything - not that there's anything of great value! I have a kitchen table and a dining room table that haven't had their tops seen for a while! Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 May 08 - 04:06 PM Still no one at Goodwill this morning after dropping my son at school. My back seat is filling up, I added a bag of toys. As mentioned above, I need to rearrange the files that I want to keep to accommodate the things that will be moved from the file cabinet I want to get rid of. I shredded about an inch of old bank statements (2003 and earlier--I try to keep at least 5 years, though at this point the banks have seven years worth online as PDF forms). This cabinet might possibly have a useful life in the garage--I have lots of things on open shelves out there that really ought to be a little better organized and protected. Before tossing big stuff I do try to re-purpose it. (I have a door propped against the wall out in the garage, it is the one replaced after the burglary 3 years ago. I occasionally set up saw horses and lay this door on them when I need a big work surface. Very handy and out of the way when not needed and the cosmetic dent doesn't affect how it works.) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 07 May 08 - 12:20 AM Oh boy, I have my work cut out for me. One day with my sis at her storage unit and my dining room floor and part of my living room are full of boxes. All of the heavy stuff she didn't want to take to Alaska, which means a lot of books, 78s and our mom's extensive collection of antique glass bottles. Alice, she has a lot of hardbacks of John Grisham and other best-selling authors. I think I'll pull some of those out and send them to that library. We loaded my car to the gills, twice. I ran to my daughter's house on her lunch hour so she could unload yard sale stuff. The second load her partner came over and unloaded for me at my house. He's a trooper! Tomorrow, we do more of the same and Rog and I have to bring in the stuff he unloaded onto the driveway from his truck. Big stuff, some to sell, some to keep. We are all knackered! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 May 08 - 12:58 AM Don Aslett would advise you to take a look at the stuff, maybe pick a few small pieces with special meaning, take nice photos of the rest for a scrap book or other photo display, then find a way to move them along to their next owners. He didn't say it is easy. You'll have to take a look, but keep in mind that these objects aren't substitutes for your sister or your Mom. (And remember that Martha Stewart exhibit with the tray and the bottles? Who knew you'd be coming into a whole bunch! Make up a bunch of displays and sell them somewhere!) Here at my house I'm looking at files that aren't stuffed as full now and bookshelves that aren't packed so tightly. I see a few places where I could set objects on display and they won't be surrounded by clutter. The effort is paying off, but it does take time. For some reason lots of mail has started arriving for "occupant" or names the family that moved out of this house when it was a rental eight years ago. Pottery Barn has some pretty settings, and some of their stuff that looks line my furniture is turning up on their pages. I've torn those pages out of the catalog and recycled the rest. Keeping in mind what Aslett says about using the stuff you keep, I have been pulling out some of the things that were somehow "too good to use." What's the point in having them if you're not using them? So I'm trying to use what I have here. I put a lovely quilt out on my bed that I had tucked away. It was made by an old friend and sent for my birthday a few years ago. I'm going to get some pillows (I probably have fabric, so I'll get just the Dacron inserts) to put on the bed that pick up the accents in the quilt. Yes! It's about time! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 May 08 - 07:21 PM Paper really is at the heart of my problems here, so I worked on getting into more of the files and paper baggage late this afternoon. I just shredded a bunch of really old job stuff I forgot was there. In the shorthand of my shredding system, I emptied the pickle bucket three times so far. NOW I need to label a few folders of files I'm keeping and recycle a lot of the old ratty folders. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 07 May 08 - 11:38 PM Thanks, Maggie. I will have to keep mom's bottles for some time, I think. I've missed them and really love them. The 78s will stay in the family and, I hope to get them transferred to my hard drive. Some of the bottles will probably get sent to my daughter back East, my nieces and nephew, maybe, and go to my son and daughter who live here. I agree with you about getting the nice things out and using them. What's the sense in just tucking them away for the next generation to tuck them away?! I have a set of kitchen towels my grandmother made for my dad's cousin. She gave them to me, nice and neat as the day she received them on her wedding day over 50 years ago. They'd never been used. They have the days of the week and whatever household chore was supposed to happen on that day, embroidered on them. I am thinking of having them framed in a row and put them on my kitchen wall. The books I can let go much easier and will definitely sell a bunch of them, as well as give some away. There are not that many that I will keep, mostly old ones which were my grandparents', both sides. Of course, I say this without having looked through them so my story may change.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 May 08 - 12:17 AM I have a lot of dish towels from my great aunt's home, older cotton and linen and even some flour sack towels. I use them all of the time, though a few have finally worn out and went in the rag bag. Every time I pick one up I remember the old fashioned kitchen in Connecticut where I found them. (She lived in the little town next to the town where Mudcatter Jerry Rasmussen lives.) I also have a favorite walnut (or some equally heavy dark wood) rolling pin and her big cast iron skillet with a fitted lid. "That's for frying chicken," my friend Emma told me when she saw it. "You need to keep that!" I did, and I use it regularly. I make fried rice in it and other stir fry more often than I fry chicken, though. :) Shredded and filed some more. Amazing what you find tucked away when it was dropped in a box and forgotten for a while. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: freda underhill Date: 08 May 08 - 03:17 AM aaaaggghh. as quickly as I remove things from my lounge room (re-emerging after renovations) strange things seem to accumulate and pile up. Is there some cosmic wave of clutter which is breathing in and out of my life? tonight..... I shall remove some more, and then sit and recover by sewing in front of the TV.. freda |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 May 08 - 08:28 PM freda, that is another goal of mine. To have enough clutter and stuff out of the way so I can roll my portable sewing table into the room with the television and sew again. I haven't done it in ages. Okay, okay, the last time I tried it I was having to pay a lot of attention to the garment and I was nominally "watching" Moulin Rouge, the new one with Nicole Kidman. It makes no sense if you aren't looking at it every moment of the film. After more shredding I fine-tuned some of the files this afternoon, pulling out some of the slim ones and finding stuff I don't need. I'm to a point of reordering the drawers and moving in files from the other rooms. The surface area of the dining room table is a little more visible this evening. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 09 May 08 - 04:36 AM Freda - I know the feeling. I've bags of stuff going out tomorrow, but it doesn't seem to have made a dent! Hopefully I can enlist Ruth's help after she's back, and after I get back from the other side of the world! It doesn't help when the contents of one bedroom have been dumped into a much smaller one, which was full of crap anyway. I just wish the electrician would get in touch so that I can get the wiring done, then I can get it decorated....etc SRS - my tables still aren't very visible yet, although I have enough room now to sit at the kitchen one! My sewing machine is at the back of the bedroom that's full of clutter. I have actually found that the stuff is piled up so that it is climbable if I need to get down there! Does mean doing something approaching the splits, but hey, I need the workout! Andrea - who is about to start and load the car for tomorrow. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 09 May 08 - 04:41 AM Ah, junk climbing... I remember it well. I thought that was over when we got a house with a cellar and a loft.... guess what I have to do if I want anything out of the loft... and the gymnastics the poor Gasman has to do to get to read the meter - well, he could book his place in the 2012 team right now! I'm working on the removal of several hundred bits of paper now... the choir song book is finally done (apart from printing a few covers) and I'm binding it now, so that's a job done and out of the house next week! Then there are those waistcoats... LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Diva Date: 09 May 08 - 05:35 AM Few more bags to charity shop and janes old knackered bed went to the dump yesterday.........loads of space in her room now..of course she'll need a bed when she gets back from Inverness tonight..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 08 - 01:02 PM That's scary--climbing over the top of it all--I'm afraid someone will post to Mudcat with one of your accounts to tell us the sad news that after you apparently went missing some unfortunate family member found you, impaled, on a four poster bed post in the spare bedroom junk pile. I don't have a lot in my attic because this house is built with trusses, not joists. It can't support a floor up there. I have a few plywood paths through the attic so I can move around from a central area to reach wires and vents for general maintenance. This summer I will put a few more boards around to make it easier to climb over duct work. My garage is built with joists, so there is some space but not much headroom. There were flattened boxes that Moonglow took to use for a college project, and I have no plans to refill it. I am still working my way through the old files, they don't look too full, but when opened, there are documents or bills from several years back. I've filled the pickle bucket twice more and have also found duplicate files to combine. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 08 - 01:57 PM I put a new roof on the house last fall. I had my mortgage lowered this year due to lower homeowner's insurance costs, but I didn't realize that they mailed me an excess escrow check that is the equivalent of a whole month's payment! I always just stuff the postal statement in a file because I pay it online. I'd opened it and glanced in at the amount due but didn't pull it out to find the check on the bottom--until today. I'm going through my files, and there it was! It was written five weeks ago and is good for 180 days. I'm headed out to the bank. May all of our declutterers have such a good find! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Lin in Kansas Date: 10 May 08 - 12:57 AM WOW, SRS! See how good intentions are often rewarded? Yay for your great find! LTS, Way to go on the choir book--just think of all those pieces of paper you won't have to deal with any more. That's one of my goals, to get my Family Scrapbook put together in some sort of order, so I don't have a zillion pieces of paper all over the place. Not only do I have MY research stuff, but I have a copy of most of my cousin's also, which I have yet to try to sort... JunK has been scanning and shredding stuff the last few days. I don't ask, I just appreciate. Any paper that goes away is fantastic, in my opinion. His son and daughter-in-law bought him a new shredder for his birthday, so he's been having fun cross-cutting old CDs and bills and things. I gave a big sack of old clothing to the DAV yesterday (they pick up from your front porch every month or so). Never seems to make much of a dent in my closet stash, but I keep trying. Still need to get rid of stacks of magazines; will have to truck them to the grocery store recycle bins. I've come to the conclusion that I could get rid of a LOT more "stuff" if I didn't feel guilty about not recycling it. Wichita doesn't have much of a recycling program, unfortunately, so everything has to be boxed up, carried to the truck, taken to the disposal sites, and unloaded there. Some days just the thought wears me out. And it's a half-day project to get anything to the post awful to mail it! Yes, I know, bitch, bitch, bitch...I'm trying to get more positive about all this. You guys help, big-time! Lin |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 10 May 08 - 04:45 AM I still haven't put up that shelf for Limpit though! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 10 May 08 - 11:34 AM Back from the boot fair and the dump. Have only come home with one or two bits that I had alternative offloads for. AND I DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE TODAY, EITHER! I now have a hall that works as a hall - at least until Tuesday, when Ruth gets back! As soon as I get the front bedroom sorted out for Ruth I will have places for a lot of stuff in her old furniture. However, still no word from the "Sparks". Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 10 May 08 - 11:56 AM Duh..... Izzit like this for you? Whole house making me crazy, despite pockets of well-organized items that are maintaining quite well...feeling overwhelmed but not sure why.... brain spinning with can't-gotta-can't-gotta DO something about it..... not even sure what "it" is..... Well, for me it's like tumblers in a combination lock. Not until they settle into the right combination of mini-solutions does that spinning quit. I just felt it QUIT. [big sigh] There is ONE key area I had not thought about AT ALL even though I know all the organizing theory I could need. Suddenly the thought popped into my head-- what about a better "landing pad" for the daily return from the POOL? Near the back door, the laundry machines, wall outlets to re-charge digital gear....... and I HAVE exactly that area. All I need to do is clear it the f**k OFF! I can DO that! Most of what is on it, now that I think of it, is actually stuff that by now has other places waiting to receive it. When I satrt, all the stuff to clear from there will cause all the other tumblers to move as Thing A goes to Place 2 where Thing B will be sitting that belongs in Place 3, etc. etc., and I will no longer be Queen of the State of Overwhelm. Duhh................ See the thing is, I LIKE my life-- I like its three or four very different, major-day-occupying areas of activity. Each area has had a central place in my house. But the aquatic one.... present, but not working as well, so spreading all over everything else. Roughly: mornings are for keeping promises the way Rick taught me to do it-- work that involves the computer and printer, correspondence..... punctuated by nutritious mini-meals that prep me for the afternoon "job." And that job is aquatic, taking all afternoon most weekdays. Evenings, hockey time with Hardi or parish activities. All this punctuated (notnotnot "interrupted") by Diocesan activities. (Where are friends, you may ask-- they're in all of those. I'm talking just the practical actions here.) So all I have to do is reclaim that large counter across from the laundry machines that tops a pair of wide kitchen cabinets, with more cabinets above. It's adjoined on one end by the home-classroom I converted to my treadmill studio and summer small-group meeting space. On the other end, the kitchen (with well-organized hutch holding electronic aquatic gear for "garage sale") and bath I can clean up for company and still keep the main house private for Just Us. If I whip that counter, I can have my aquatic seminars RIGHT HERE at my house, with sales available amid healthy workout snacks set out on the counter that used to hold Mudcat Gathering snacks. Duh................................. ~Susan PS, duh..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 08 - 12:41 PM If I whip that counter, I can have my aquatic seminars RIGHT HERE at my house, with sales available . . . So what's your trick? Do you fill your house up like a pool to use for aquatic seminars? That's a heckuva way to keep things clean! ;-D On Thursday I took a dozen partial cans of old paint to the environmental hazard dump station, clearing space on my pantry shelves. All week I've continued to compress file folders as I move them from the closet cabinet to the other cabinets around the house. Yesterday I picked up a couple of plastic magazine file boxes and milk crate file boxes at the recycle/dump site, out of the bin. It really is appalling the stuff that Americans throw away out if ignorance and laziness. Most of the stuff in the trash bins should have been given to a thrift store or at least put in the recycle bins. Yes, this is picking up clutter, but the point is, if I don't need these I can put these at my curb and someone who does need them will pick them up to use them. My windfall from the escrow account will allow me to pick up parts for a couple of things that need attention, and I make a point of always doing more than one errand on a trip, so I'll probably drop more paper off at the recycle center. But this time I'll put my shredded paper in a box. That way I can drop it in the recycle bin. Yesterday I dropped a bag of shreds in the trash because I couldn't see them making much sense of paper shreds on the sorting conveyor belt. Andrea, congratulations on not bringing any new stuff home. I was at the used book store to pick up one book last week but left with three. "My name is Maggie and I'm a bookaholic." Liz, I need to put up some shelves for my son. Maybe this list will serve as a reminder. I cleaned out his room big-time over the holiday season, and he hasn't added that much stuff, but he doesn't seem to have enough places to put things. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 10 May 08 - 02:00 PM Very funny. DVD's on dry land, because the portable DVD player is so hard to hear poolside when I put it into the Ziploc bag. :~) We review the video and then use the poolside player for reference, minus sound. Then too, people know what they're signing up for. But seriously, I did see a house shown once on TV that was totally hose-cleanable. Trouble is, the drain wasn't big enough for the crap I'd want to be able to flush! ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 10 May 08 - 05:57 PM I sorted through 4-5 boxes of books from my sister's Major Storage Clean Out and have started on the LPs. I only have one box of books for keeps, most of which belonged to one or the other of my grandfathers. Still more to go, but we ran errands this afternoon, just got home, so I'll save them for tomorrow, most likely, unless I get a second wind this evening. Finally bought a water filter so we can quit buying water in bottles and get the recycling clutter of that out of the kitchen. I hate to say it but we did a small bit of what Bush wanted us to...we spent a little bit of the Chinese loan money. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 08 - 08:33 PM Heck, I dropped most of that "incentive" at the dentist this week. I told him that's what I planned, I knew it would hit the bank on Friday, so they made the appointment for my crown on Thursday. I paid the (big!) co-pay with a credit card, then on Friday I turned around and paid the credit card. I also spent some on new garage door rollers since I had one fail this afternoon. I'll replace them all. It's amazing how things breaking can always happen to match the cash you have available. I dropped a big box of toys at Goodwill, and have a lot to sort still, but a more manageable amount. Last night I did some more shredding and today I picked up a couple of organizers to replace a lot of the loose file folders I don't need (that have had mulitple scribbles and lables attached--time for the recycle bin for those!) Kat, your kitchen will feel luxurious from getting a source of bulky clutter out. The few times I manage to empty my counter tops it feels like an entirely new room. I don't achieve it often, but it is a nice feeling. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 May 08 - 12:40 AM More files. Estate stuff. There are boxes of it. The sting hasn't gone out of all of it, but it is time to move on. Actually, there are forms from several estates. I'll keep probate lists so I can identify for my kids where things I own came from. De-cluttering these will clear out a couple of small sized U-Haul moving boxes and may take a while. Perhaps I should burn the boxes--faster than shredding the contents. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 11 May 08 - 09:18 AM Got started on the AquaZone countertop yesterday. First pass resulted in one small box to sort, a large sack of curtains headed up to the linen closet, a heavy terry bathrobe to return to the upstairs loo (its always FREEZING up there), the finding of two small packets of extra-huge musicians' paperclips (to hold songbook pages open in the wind), a peck of last year's catflea eggs, and a start on the landing pad which I covered with a piece of aqua-blue fabric so the swimsuits don't snag on the wodden countertop. Things from the main house that belong out there are already finding their way out to that counter top. Today I will dust out the upper shelves and begin storing the aquatic video's and books there. I have my eyes open for more fabric (already on hand) to aqua-up the area. There are two or three large items needing corraling and I already have a box of XXL ziplocs on hand (fake spacebags) in which I can package and hang them. Some will live in the car over the summer and some in the AquaZone cabinets. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 May 08 - 10:50 AM Nothing 'lives' in my vehicle in the summer here--you must have a milder climate! It's Mother's Day! So when the kids come for a visit, take them aside and ask if they'd mind spending a little time decluttering their old bedroom or closet. ;-D That's what I'm going to do with Moonglow, if I am not finished with the mowing by the time she arrives. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 May 08 - 11:37 PM I didn't get all of my mowing done today but by way of compensation the house has had more de-clutter work. I convinced Moonglow to clear off the desk in her room, not dump the contents on the floor or bed, but actually keep or toss or take to school or store neatly. This was a major undertaking but resulted in a lot of trash, a lot of recycling and donation, and a good-sized bag of costume stuff going back to school with her ("I get unlimited free dry cleaning. Might as well take them in!") Good girl! She'll hang them in her rather large (but probably cramped by now) walk-in closet in the house she shares with four other students. So... it was a nice Mother's Day. The ex stopped by a local Chinese take-out and brought Moonglow's brother over and we all had a late lunch on a completely cleared off dining room table. There was a little other progress: the file cabinet in the office closet now has two empty drawers, two to go. The truck has several bags of stuff to go to the thrift store next time I'm near one. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: freda underhill Date: 12 May 08 - 04:31 AM yes, SRS & andrea, ploughing through the debris.... on the weekend I sorted and gave away 6 Indian shawls, one eggshell blue silk one, and numerous scarves (of course I still have many left!!). put out the front of the house four wooden chairs in various states of disrepair - they all went walkabout and i replaced them with four new dark wooden chairs, strong and sturdy. I also sorted, packed and delivered to a friend books, articles and photos from a shared interest - magazines on yoga, feminism and vegetarianism, some clothes, coat hangars, a back pack, shoulderbag and ... more scarves. she helps women coming out of jail and can pass these things on. went through letters, bills and numerous items that have been gathering time on my kitchen shelf and chucked out many of them. 'phew! house feels emptier, my bookshelves are lighter (tho still overflowing) and i rewarded myself by reading Sidetracked by henning mankell. Now collecting henning mankell from every second-hand bookshop I can find... aaahh, no wonder i accumulate to voraciously. but this weekend's de-cluttering felt GOOD - the tsunami has abated a bit, and I hope it ebbs off somewhere else... freda |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 12 May 08 - 12:31 PM I'm sure there was a dining room table downstairs last month.... now it's a pile of hats and instruments again. Even Raven cat's live in lover has taken to sleeping in the cupboard because there's more room in there. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 May 08 - 05:40 PM freda, it keeps feeling better the emptier it gets (within reason, of course! It isn't like you're moving out). I dropped off shredded paper this morning--it finally dawned on me that if I take the shredded paper in my cardboard box to the bin that only takes paper and cardboard that it doesn't matter if it is in a bag or not. Chances are these contents won't go on a conveyor belt. At the dump it is a different story because that bin is commingled paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum and everything is dumped and sorted off of the belt. A LCD monitor (I use two) is failing to operate crisply enough to continue to use for photo work, so I had to go shop around for a new one today. I hadn't planned to use the rest of my tax incentive this way, but I can't risk more of the kinds of problems I discovered when I viewed a photo adjusted on the old monitor (left) on the newer one on the right. I know, I could just do work on the right, but then why have the left one? And I'd forget. And since I'm now so accustomed to working on the considerably expanded "desktop" monitor workspace, I can't easily drop down to just one. I'll probably donate the old monitor. It works fine for stuff like word processing and casual browsing. It just doesn't have the brightness for the fine photo work. It will go on my list of donatable stuff. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Lin in Kansas Date: 12 May 08 - 09:55 PM WYSIWYG, I can definitely relate to the "what do I do next? No, this, no that, no..." feeling. I got my proofing job shipped off today, and had planned to do some embroidery work while my sewing table was relatively clear. Instead, visited Wally-World and wound up with several sacks of plastic flowers to decorate with on Memorial Day. Some of them I need to wrap and tie ribbon bows on, and figure out what specifically goes to which grave (I have seven to put them on). So...do I do that first, and THEN clear the table again for the embroidery projects, or do I do the other projects first as I have time before Memorial Day? Or do I skip both of those and clear out my desk drawers like I've been intending to do for a couple of weeks now? Or do I go help my (soon to be ex-) daughter-in-law clear out the laundry room so we can move in there? Help! My brain is spinning! Lin in Panic |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 May 08 - 10:12 PM Lin, Which one of those tasks can you start and finish in one "unit" of time, meaning, if you have an hour, or two, or an afternoon, what can you complete? Cleaning a drawer? Clearing the laundry room? Do one of those things that you can physically SEE THE CHANGE every time you walk past, so you have a feeling of accomplishment. I vote you hold off on the flowers and work on the laundry room. Everything seems to center on the laundry and the kitchen, so take on the smallest room and make it shine, then move outward from there. Does that help? Go, Lin, Go! Rah rah rah! (BTW: Glad to see you're online and didn't blow away with the recent heavy weather.) I've made inroads into another file drawer, but I must say, it will be a tough one. Now that I've gotten rid of stuff of mine I stored in there, I need to go through the various envelopes of Kid Art. All keepers, of course. :) I have some in frames, and more that needs to go. As they grew, they each had a distinctive style from when they even first picked up a pencil or crayon, so I can tell the 2-year-old Caroline from the 2-year-old Dylan. Amazing, isn't it? Like knowing your child's smell or your child's cry, knowing your child's mark. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 12 May 08 - 10:25 PM Isis! Isis! Ra! Ra! Ra! Go, Lin, Go! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 May 08 - 12:37 AM I knocked out about four inches (at least) of school papers out of the files in a half hour this evening. This is just the sh*t they send home with the report cards, with the reports, with everything. Get rid of the school district nonsense and there is a lot less paper to deal with. Those little bitty kid drawings are so cute--I'll hold onto those. So, I have stuff I removed from that third drawer (that is now also empty) that will go in a different file (that isn't full, but hasn't been organized yet to receive the new stuff). That leaves one drawer left to empty, then I can move this large file out of my closet. Yes!!! Kat, I meant to tell you, I didn't forget to look at that Word file of yours again. But it did take me several hours to get my computer back up to speed after I tried to open it the first time. My system said that your file was more advanced and I had to download some stuff so I could open it. That led to tinkering with XP's new Service Pack 3 while I was at it. My computer is apparently also now in tidier shape than it was when I started (or closer to disaster, if this means it is more like VISTA than it was before). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 13 May 08 - 05:07 AM The 'Quandry' is the biggest step to get over... once you've made the decision to clear one spot, you need to get on and do that one spot... not faff around like a fart in a colander, not knowing which hole to get out of! Having said that... my own quandry is unsolved. Here we go again! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 May 08 - 09:49 AM Liz, I vote for your dining room table. Not only humans but also cat-like-creatures will benefit from this transformation. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 13 May 08 - 11:20 AM Oh! Thanks, Maggie...glad my file didn't cause any major problems...I hope?! No rush, anyway.:-) We moved some boxes around, closer to the door for yard sale. Also went through the books. Determined that my sewing machine will not fit my mom's cabinet without some creative drilling of holes and do I have the room for it, anyway, yes, I hope! And, I hope I cna get Rog to figure it out and drill. Off to exercise then make jewellery, I hope! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 13 May 08 - 11:27 AM I agree with SRS: Do the DO-able, first. From there do the pinball and soon it will ALL seem do-able. Moving contradicts the inner feeling of "can't." Just get up and move one thing, and THEN see what you are able to do next. Maybe nothing. That's OK-- ONE thing moved. Next time it will be better. Just keep moving. When it's overwhelming to the point of frozen, keep moving, but away from it-- I'm going to my workout, for example, and on the way back in I'll move one more thing to where it goes. But the AquaZone will greet me and my dripping bag of gear, this time, as I turn to toss the wet stuff into the dryer. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 13 May 08 - 11:52 AM We have landed back from emptying Ruth's uni room into the car. Ruth - 'It won't all go in. I'll have to pick the rest up next week when I bob back to uni to meet up with my boyfriend'. (They are then driving up here). Me - 'It's a bloody Volvo. Watch me get it in'. And I did, with room to spare. Even her 4 drawer plastic crap holder/chest of drawers. Once home she walked in, looked at the dining room and kitchen tables, and the folding single bed which is stacked in the kitchen doorway until I have a room to put it in, and announced that 'this needs tidying'. She then proceeded to dump all her stuff on and around the dining table! She says she doesn't want her boyfriend of 6 months (who we haven't even met yet) to be put off by my mess. I have suddenly got very protective of my mess, even though I don't like it! Trouble is, I still won't get to meet him as he's very conveniently arriving while I am out of the country. Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 May 08 - 02:33 PM I spent some of my lunch hour wading through the file drawer with graduate school notes and papers and a fair number of commingled subjects of InterLibrary Loan articles. Going down this memory lane at lunch I managed to evict quite a few inches of paper. Some will get filed, most recycled. Hmmm. There is a little toadstool of a pile of papers on the floor next to my desk. I wonder how that got there? I'd better do something about it before it becomes a full-blown paper bunker. You know how those things can experience explosive growth! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Lin in Kansas Date: 13 May 08 - 03:43 PM OK, panic is dying down a bit. I decided my desk drawers were the "practical" thing to work on, since the laundry room is (literally) all the daughter-in-law's stuff and I don't know what to move where. So I now have two desk drawers with a lot less paper junk in them! Yay, only four more to go. I'm not going to my home town until the 22nd, so can leave the flowers to be done later. Sacks are on the floor in the crafting room so I've got my embroidery unit attached to the sewing machine and can get those projects done fairly easily. Whew, onward and upward.... Kat, what kind of sewing machine cabinet are you trying to fit your machine into? Is it one of the old treadle cabinets? (Those are so cool, but yes, they would take some re-fitting.) SRS, definitely keep the kid's artwork. I wish I had some of the ones my son did when he was little. Liz, you really CAN get that shelf put up for Limpit. My vote is do that first, THEN clear the dining room table for the cats! Is everybody having fun yet? Lin |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 13 May 08 - 04:55 PM Good for you, Lin!! Not one of the old treadle ones, I wish! Mom bought her Elna in the 50's. I barely remember when she got it. I think they bought the cabinet at the same time. It's worn, wooden, but still sturdy and it would be so nice to have somewhere for my sewing machine. I don't use it nearly as much as I might if it were more handy. It's going to be a case of can I get Rog motivated enough to figure it out!:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 13 May 08 - 05:32 PM I would put her shelf up if she would clear her floor enough for me to walk round her bed without it going crunch, crack or squeak. Apple didn't fall far from this tree! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 13 May 08 - 05:50 PM Is everybody having fun yet? Oh my YES! I never can do it otherwise! Some days I just play the game of "How much trash can I create?" That's a real fun game. When I'm on my game I can fill sacksfull. (That's called "purging.") The first 4-5 items can feel kinda hard and then it gets easier and easier and more fun. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 May 08 - 08:14 PM I'm going in for that fourth drawer in the file cabinet tonight. I started thinning and moving the contents of the other cabinets so I can actually move stuff, not just stack it around the office. I'm going to take this out of my office closet. And maybe also take out the spare kitchen cabinet that is in the corner of my office (built for a small space a my Dad's old house, but not fastened down and the buyers didn't want it so I brought it along). I have to feed the kiddo first. Will report back. I everybody having fun yet? Not exactly fun, but there is a great deal of pleasure in getting ahead in this job! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 13 May 08 - 10:45 PM I went through all of the LPs from my sister this evening. I am only keeping a few. Can't decide if it's worth selling them at a yard sale, on ebay, or just give them away. Anyone have any idea? I still have the 78's to go through and the bottles. That will be fun! I also made some progress on a gratis editing job that's been bugging me. It's prestigious in a smallish circle, but I wanted to do it regardless. Was feeling badly about not getting it done by now. Maybe by the end of the week, I hope! I am decluttering my bod, next...getting most of my perm cut off tomorrow!:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 May 08 - 12:29 AM I have a friend who has used his old LP covers for various things. He nailed them up (like tiles) on the walls in the bathroom of a gay bar he frequents in Greenwich Village. And he is cutting them into notebook sizes and binding them with blank paper inside to use for gift books. Use the most interesting part of the cover art on the journal. Does that help? I made progress in the file drawers that will stay. Probably tossed about 4" of paper. I'm not ready to put more files in there yet, but I did want some closure on the closet file, so I emptied that last drawer into a milk crate box. The cabinet has been evicted and is now standing in the hall (it's dark out, there are thunderstorms, this isn't going to cross the dark driveway to the garage tonight). The stuff I dropped in the crate is old federal forms and maps. Shredder and eBay materials to be dispatched this week. Okay, so I cheated a little, moving from the drawer to the crate. But the footprint of the crate is smaller and it looks good to have the cabinet out. This evening I did some honest decluttering with the paper eviction, but the cabinet shell game is a little psychological boost. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 May 08 - 12:31 AM 100! |
