Dropping the Burden

On Thursday, a great power whirled into my garage and set free many burdens. Well, her name's Clutter Buddy and her positive energy and support allowed me to do what I've been preparing myself emotionally to do for a while now (how do we count 'a while'? all my life? since last July when I documenting started this journey? since last week when I dared my friend J to see who could let go of more treasures?).

We'd planned this attack on my garage. As I mentioned above, I'd been emailing my friend J, who also has an eBay dream and a plethora of possessions, about working together to let go. He's been actually listing items for sale, something I haven't done for almost two years. So, in that sense, he's ahead. For me, the victory is in realizing that I don't need to keep these things, that I don't need what they represent--a source of income--because I have more options than eBay. If I can let go, then I can free up space for other, more useful, more usable if you will, sources of money and power (that is, belief that I can achieve, that I have value in and of myself, without need for externals). As Karen Kingston describes so eloquently in her invaluable book, Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui, if your home is full, there is no room for anything else to come in. New thoughts, new money, new people, all are kept out because there is no room for them. Clearing out the old, the stuck, the stale, is the only way to let fresh energy into your life.


Well, you've seen the photos. The stacks actually grew after these pictures were taken. I emptied eleven (see above photo) 18 gallon Rubbermaid bins of their contents, all of it originally supposed to be sold on eBay, and donated the lot to Goodwill. Yes, I made my usual itemized list for tax purposes. CB had backed her van up to the garage and we filled the back of it with bags and boxes of items. I won't go into detail (oh, maybe I will, we'll see if I'm up to reliving it) about the items themselves. Suffice to say for now, that they would have been a challenge to list and package and that I hope they find good new homes via the local Goodwill store.

Mental Clutter

Sunday morning, we went to our usual once a month pagan spirituality service. One of the opening activities if you will is to ground ourselves in the present--"Be here now!" Gather up those parts of you that are in tomorrow or back in yesterday or a decade ago and focus on the moment. Thoughts will drift in "what should I make for dinner? how will I ever finish my book? why is the little one fidgeting?" but they just pass on by. It's a good reminder of how our minds are a buzz of activity, yet we can quiet those wayward thoughts, tame them simply by noticing them and then letting them float away.

Mental clutter can bring you to a stand-still. Regret, what if, why, those can run your little neurons ragged if you let them. Rather than circling and circling, let those thoughts that keep you stuck run away, like wild horses on the plains. You'll find that they just keep running, and before you know it, your mind is on other things.

Deep Freeze

Back in 1999, when we were expecting our first child, we decided to buy a stand-alone freezer. I can't quite remember why, but it probably was inspired by pregnancy-induced nesting. I know I did do a lot of pre-baby cooking for the freezer, soups, casseroles, etc, and we never have enough space in our refridgerator's freezer compartment. We got a good deal on an upright one, and it lives in our basement.

I've meant to clean it out. Really I have. But, it's hard. You all know how hard it is for me to toss anything. Well, how can I toss food that I myself prepared? Is it the food's fault that it got pushed to the rear and hasn't yet been eaten, even though it was made five years ago? How can I toss those plums that I pitted myself?

Well, I have to. I MUST. No one is going to eat them. I can let them stay there, getting more and more freezer burned, or I can do the right thing, and put them in our compost bin where they will at least have a chance to move on their way in the food chain. Isn't that the right thing to do? I know it is, and yet I hesitate.

Today, while searching for some fruit to make into a crisp, I looked, really looked at these plums. They were frozen in 2000 or possibly 2001. We had friends with a plum tree and they always had more than they, their friends and their neighbors could ever use. I froze several bags of halved plums, intending to make, oh, gosh, jam, or just fruit crisps (I used to make them about once a week, so not unreasonable). And some of them did really get used. But there were so many. I got a little plummed out and the rest of the family never liked them even as much as I did.


Just for fun, here are some of the other items that will be heading to the compost later today.

Garlic Bread...still good after five years?


Some sliced rhubard. All the moisture has come out of it--it's just fiber anymore


This was cooked pumpkin that I was saving for a pie or to fill pasta.


Bananas, unpeeled and frozen to use for banana bread. Now, ice crystals baby!

Notes from the Pantry

Yes, that's a regular size grocery bag. Yes, it is mostly full of flour. Yes, the flour was undoubtably rancid. Yes, I bought too much. Yes, it was terribly wasteful. Yes, I really feel awful about it.

After so recently extolling the virtues of Costco, I now find myself compelled to rail against bulk purchasing. Here's the thing: it only makes sense to buy in bulk if you will actually use the item(s) in question up before they go bad. Don't let your eyes (and your desire for a bargain) get bigger than your family's appetite. You see, for some reason, I am able to use Costco successfully. We very rarely have anything bulk-purchased there go bad on us. I mean, really truly. Would I lie to you? No, of course not! Where I do go wrong, however, is with certain pantry items. I'll tell you right now, if my Costco carried huge bags of brown rice, I would be mightily tempted. It's good they don't! See, rice, flour, other grains, I tend to buy a big bag or two or three if they're on sale. I wonder if it's a comfort thing, as baking certainly creates a hominess and especially flours and rolled grains I associate with baking. Whatever. Does it matter? Suffice to say I am changing this habit. No longer will I buy a ten pound bag of flour. No more than five, and even better, two.

This morning, I stopped at the farmer's market. After that, I planned a quick stop at the local grocery store; I had a few things on my list, including cake flour. Imagine my surprise to see a stall featuring locally grown and milled grains at the farmer's market! They even had cake flour, in a perfect size: two little pounds. Just right for the amount of baking I (actually) do.

So, today, after mostly recovering from a lactose attack (I've been wondering if I suffer from lactose intolerance....well, if having extreme discomfort and other, um, symptoms within an hour after having a tall latte is lactose intolerance, guess I do have it. No more lattes for me, not worth the pain. Oh, and someday, if y'all are really lucky, I'll tell you all about my food allergies!)....let's see, where was I before that parenthetical? Oh, yes, flour. I've been working on the pantry for a while, in preparation for the kitchen update and just general feng shui reasons. Stale food is really extra bad feng shui, don't you know? At first, I did some Googling to learn about rancidity and how long flour can be stored. Um, three months on average before whole wheat flour goes rancid. And, nope, I have no idea when I purchased the flours seen above. Years, not months. So, with that to start with, and using my nose and tastebuds, I proceed to test the flours. The first bin, oh, my. Icky smell. Truly icky. Bitter and stale, flat, not like wheat at all. One other was easy too, but the last flour bin, well, I couldn't quite tell. So, I decided to open up the bag from the farmer's market as a control. I opened it up and oh, it smelled so good! Fresh, clean, wheaty, light. I tasted a bit and again, wheaty and fresh, like the sun on a field of wheat. Lovely. That sure made the comparison easy! After that, I tossed a couple of smaller bins that I knew, just knew, were ancient.

Before starting on the flour adventure, I made up a quick fruit crisp as a post-tossing treat. It's out of the oven now, peach and blueberry with an oatmeal-cinnamon-whole wheat pastry flour (not rancid!)-butter topping. Smells so good! And, in honour of my current favourite blog, here's a photo for you to drool over.


I'll tell you about the freezer later...

Sometimes it does all come down to Time

I've been ready to take another look at my eBay bins that are stacked so high in the garage. Going into the garage is painful since I have to walk past some of my mother's things to get to the rear, where the bins are. However, I have felt that perhaps, now, maybe, I can let some of those things go. Simply let them go, away, to the Goodwill or the Thriftko or even the Salvation Army. Away from my house, from my life.

I fear that once I actually look at the items, that I will not be able to do it. Now, good ole CB would say "well, then, just give 'em the whole bin!". Right. Like that's ever going to happen. I'm sure she's rolling her eyes right now reading this, but I can't do it. She knows I can't, but, with my permission, she pushes. I ask her to, and she does. It's painful for us both at times, but for a hoarder who is ready to take steps, a bit of pushing, prodding, and nagging can actually help. We want to let go, but we need more support than a, forgive me, "normal" person.

I'll update you all on the status of my eBay bins.

But back to time. You see, I have been swamped. I am behind at work, I have a sleeping girl on my lap as I type, and dinner will most likely be frozen burritos from Costco with some refried beans on the side, salsa too if I can dig any up. So, tell me when I'm supposed to go out to the garage and do my dirty work? Yes, do tell.

More Pantry Clutter

I'll upload some photos later, but for now, just trust me that my kitchen has needed an update for oh, several decades now. Avocado green double oven range, avocado green cupboards, unfinished floor covered with glue reside from the time I pulled up the adhesive tiles but didn't do anything else. Yeah, you get the picture.

I have a friend who is a whiz at updates, especially kitchens. She came over, and gave me a no-holds-barred critique of my kitchen and helped me make some preliminary decisions. Colours, paint options, flooring choices, you name it, she's got opinions. Since I've seen her current kitchen, and photos of her previous one, I know that I can trust her judgment--she's created lovely spaces, workable and attractive as well as purely practical.

My goal is to have this update (I am not calling it a remodel because no walls or plumbing will move and frankly I want to keep the budget nice and low) done by the end of the summer. It's grilling season, so outdoor cooking can take up the slack for the range once it's moved out the door. I hate to let it go in a way. It's a workhorse with its two ovens, two drawers for pots and pans, and a nice space that one can use as extra counter. There's a timer, three-prong outlet (perfect for the KitchenAid or Crockpot), and the burner controls are on the rear of the range, so safe for little ones. Finding a gas range with rear controls may be difficult.

So, in preparation for this project, I need to clear out my entire pantry. We plan to make some structural changes in the pantry that'll require new drywall, and removing a window to replace it with a wall. Every bit of food needs a new home. This task intimidates me. I suppose I should just gather some boxes and move everything out. But...here's the real truth: most of my pantry should probably just be tossed in the compost. Flours, beans, grains, they don't stay good forever. And since I never got into the habit of dating my purchases, well, let's just say that the items in the pantry could be anywhere from a month to a decade old. Perhaps I need my friend Wabash Cannonball to drop by. I've heard she's pretty darn draconian when it comes to food freshness.

Has anyone been through a kitchen remodel or update and lived to cook again? Cooking is very much on my mind since I've been indulging my obsession with the Gluten Free Girl's lovely blog. Every entry makes me itch to run to the Farmer's Market and find something fresh to cook. So, the thought of being without a kitchen, well, let's just say a tiny weensy bit of panic might be setting in.

Monday Monday

Here we are and it's Monday, already! It's June, already! Life just moves along, and we can move along with the Earth or let ourselves get stuck, in pain and regret or fear.

So, what's my point? That I don't want to live for the rest of my life with a garage full of crapola. That I don't want to trip over toys day after day. I want peace, clarity, openness...and the mental restfulness that comes from a clutter-free space.

A Nation of Consumers

I've discussed this before, but it hit me again today. I made the Costco run today. I love Costco, for many reasons, none of which I'll get into now. It's my task, always, as DH can't stand going in there--too crowded, too big, too much chaos. It's just the opposite for me, so I get to do it.

Here's what struck me today. I spent $146.00 there. I roughly add up what I'm buying as I go through the store to avoid sticker shock at the end, and I knew that's what I was spending. Slight gulp, but just slight. Now, here's the thing: if I spent that much at the regular grocery store, I would faint. Would certainly put some things back. But at Costco, no problem. So that reminded me of something I read in a personal finance book about how people (that is, folks in general) will drive out of their way to save $50 on a $100 item, but wouldn't even bother to go across the street to save $50 on a $10,000 item (say, a car). It's all about the same amount of money, but because it's smaller as a percentage, it doesn't worry us as much. Does that make sense? Sure, maybe. Maybe. I suppose if you've already decided to spend $10,000, another $50 isn't going to break the bank.

I'm guilty of it myself--I'll go back into the store if they've overcharged me by a dollar on a $20 purchase, but on a $200 purchase? Not so much.

But back to the issue of us being a nation of consumers. Think about it--we hear about consumer opinion polls, consumer research, the business section talks about 'the consumer', is that all we are? Don't we produce anything? Add value to the world? Do we only take?

This is a particularly important issue for hoarders to be aware of. One reason hoarders hold onto things is to 'save them'. This involves those items we keep but don't actually use because they are 'too good to use'. Huh, too good to use? What does that mean? If they're too good to use, why were they made? Why do we own them? What purpose do they serve if they are 'too good to use'? Isn't the purpose of things to be used? Think about a gas grill, say. This comes to mind because I recently purchased one. It was so shiny right out of the box--the grill surface was clean and bright, the side table areas spic & span. Well, after the first use it was covered in gunk. I'd marinated the food we were cooking and it dripped all over. Now, you couldn't tell if this thing was bought last week or last year. And that's good. That's what is supposed to happen. Things get used.

Another aspect of the consumer issue involves the 'great deal' or the 'sale'. Oh, why did I buy half a dozen bottles of hand soap? Because it was on sale! It was a great deal, so cheap! Hmmmm....how many sinks are there in my house? Three. So, how many bottles of hand soap could I possibly use at one time? Three. So, why do I need to keep a whole bunch of them around? I don't. I just don't. And the same goes for a zillion different items--office supplies, cereal, crackers, meat, canned goods, clothing, you name it. You only need what you will actually use. Nothing more, nothing less. Repeat after me, buy only what you actually NEED and will USE within a reasonable amount of time.

Now, I'm sure some of you are saying 'hey, she just went to Costco! Why's she lecturing us about this when her trunk is probably full to the brim of food?'. Here's the thing: I buy at Costco only what we will actually use within about a month. A bag of chicken breasts lasts us about that long. I bought sausages for the grill today; those will go in about the same amount of time (some are in the fridge, most in the deep freeze). I buy only what we'll actually use. And here's the thing: since every item at Costco is huge and pricey, I can't impulse buy. I just can't--it's too expensive. I have to consider carefully each purchase. And, to be frank, they don't have sales, so that avoids one tempation. And, they have only about 400 items, compared to the 4000 in a typical supermarket. That's about one tenth of the items, a mere fraction. So, literally fewer temptations. Yes, those packages can be huge (a true temptation for some types of hoarders). But luckily, that stock piling huge amounts of goods bug never hit me like that. One huge bag of toilet tissue is all I need to have around. When it's down to three or four rolls, well, that's when to buy another. So, for those of us for whom CHOICE is a bigger problem than QUANTITY, well, Costco might not be a bad option.



What do you think?

Nothing OTD, only ITD

So, no big news to report. I haven't made any donation runs, or sorted out much to get rid of (well, one bag of toys from cleaning the living room the other night...seemed a HUGE task, but actually only took forty-five minutes, and we got all the toys back with their mates, and that aforementioned bag of items to go away). Let's see, where was I before that long parenthetical interrupted? Oh, right, nothing happening.

Well, things have come in the door (ITD). Necessary things, like groceries. We've been grilling a lot since we bought our gas grill. Love the gas grill! It's so quick and easy and I don't want to hear about charcoal tasting better! Because, I'd rather actually have grilled tasty burgers than the same old pasta and sauce. I usually keep a bag of Costco chicken breasts in the freezer, and some salmon burgers too, but we've used up everything. I've been buying new each day (a dangerous thing, because the grocery store is a field of temptation). It is lovely to choose what we'll grill, and since the grill is so quick, it's ok that I am not planning too far ahead.

So, groceries, ok, but what else? Well, I really wanted to find the perfect skort to wear when Rollerblading. Yes, I like to Rollerblade, I do it a couple of times a week for my main exercise. And, it's getting hot here in the Northwest, in case you haven't noticed or live someplace where it's still chilly. I have tried three so far with little luck. So, shopping for those turned into anti-shopping.

What else? Basic boring things--baby wipes, hand soap...cling wrap...granola bars for the kids' lunches, juice boxes (we've tried thermoses...they work until your kid forgets to empty their lunch bag when they get home. Then, you get nasty moldy icky old apple juice slime). Thank you notes and gifts for the Little one's preschool teachers. Invitations for an upcoming birthday party. The first stab at favours for same. Yes, of course, I could make invitations. I have before. But my printer is picky about paper, and tends to get stuck when the manual feed is used. So, I end up having to go to Kinko's or some such place. And let me tell you, that is just no fun with a three-year old in tow.

I really truly have been trying to keep the input down. Avoid the stores, buy only what I really need for the family, don't shop on impulse. Mostly, it works. But frankly, it's hard because I am the primary "consumer" for the household. I'm responsible for keeping us in Cheerios and laundry soap, socks and cat food. It's a challenge. And this week, it felt like I was just slip slip slipping down that slippery slope.

Trunk Full of Donations: OTD!

Well, I finally did it! I got those donations (pictured below) taken to the thrift shop today. And, I found a few more bags of items to add to the pile, filling my entire trunk! Feels good to have those burdens out the door!

Goals for Today

Today is Memorial Day, the day on which we remember and mourn those who died during wartime. The flag is flying outside the house.

I recently learned that my great-grandfather served in the Spanish American War.

* * *

I have a few mild goals today. The other day (that day some unknown number of days before today), I took two bins of kids clothing and consolidated them into one, sorting out the "too small for the younger" from the "too big for the younger" and setting aside a bag of items that might have some resale value for my friend who actually does indeed list things on ebay. Whatever she doesn't want will be donated. Today, I need to move the now-empty bin to the garage with the other empties. Also, I plan to purge the toys. The children have toys in too many parts of the house--living room, bedroom, basement. If there are so many toys that each of those three areas can be hazardous for walking, well, that means we have too many toys.

It is very hard for me to purge toys. Yes, it's hard for the kids also, but for me, well, I look at each item and think "this is a nice toy! The kids like it, it's interesting, I've seen them play with it many times". Yeah, and so on and so on and before you know it, your house is overrun with toys! Sometimes, I'll just bundle everything willy-nilly into a bin and let is sit, marinate if you will. Then, after a month or so, it seems to be easier to sort it all out.

It's worse now that my mom has died. There won't be any more packages from her, gifts at Christmas or birthdays or just because. What we have is all there is. Can I bear to let any of it go? I don't really know. I suppose it'll depend on the children--I want to let them lead, but also, I want to make sure they have physical memories from their Grandma. The Little One mentioned her this morning, her habit of writing a message on her hand. I'm so happy that the Little One has so many memories, strong memories of her Grandma.

Since the weather is nice, not too hot, but not raining, it may be time for some outdoor clutter control. The lawn is out of control, the parking strip needs to be mowed, and the flowers outside the fence desperately need water. I have soaker hoses to install in the front garden.

We'll see how much I am able to accomplish.

OT: Yes, Another Off Topic Post

I'm sure many of you have noticed the "blog to book" phenomenon--a perky new voice blogs away and lo and behold, New York notices and a book deal appears. It does happen-witness "Julie and Julia" a blog about a New York office worker who, in her spare time, decided to cook every recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One. I've read her resulting book: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen--it was mildly entertaining, with a good dose of navel gazing. It's in trade paperback now, and worth a read if you like food writing.

What brings me to write this today, however, is indeed yet another blog to book. Local author Shauna James Ahern's book Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too is due out this fall. A recent article in the Seattle Times discussed her book as well as another blog to book phenom Clotilde Dusoulier, whose book Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen is available now. Shauna Ahern's story resonates: after years of ill health with no diagnosis, she finally learned that she has celiac disease, in which the body cannot tolerate gluten. Gluten is the main protein in most grains, wheat, rye, triticale (not quadro), and perhaps oats. I went to her blog to take a look and got sucked in by her vivid writing, and the poignant emotion of her first few months' posts. I don't have celiac, but I will definately be reading her book when it appears this fall.

The Books are Gone, Gone, Gone, OTD!

Finally, I was able to take those three boxes of books to my local used book shop. They took them all, and I have a nice chunk of store credit to use at my leisure. Whew! I did miss the deadline set by Clutter Buddy, but she let me slide due to little Jack's illness (and the resulting lack of schedule flexibility).

I do still have that pile of donations pictured below. I've been adding to it, and will drop it off today or tomorrow at my local thrift store.

Little Jack is Doing Better

Jack is doing better! We are so happy...he purred yesterday, and sniffed at food. Today, he actually took a bite of real food and has been shaking his head, unhappy with the bandage from the tube feeder--that's a real change from even the day before, when he didn't even seem to notice it.

thanks for all the well wishes...we are guardedly hopeful.

OT: Our Little Cat Jack

Our sweet little cat Jack is very ill. He was diagnosed with pneumonia late last week. Early this week, he stopped eating and drinking. On our vet's recommendation, we agreed to put in a feeding tube. He's taking in his food and water that way, but he's not really perking up and the antibiotics don't seem to be helping, meaning he may have something worse than pneumonia wrong with him.

He's eight, and the sweetest little guy. So friendly and dear, he's a snuggler. He's tightly bonded to his best buddy, Tiki, who is also eight. They've been together since Jack was 8 months and Tiki was 4 months old.

Two Stacks of Stuff: OTD!

Today, I am taking the last three boxes of books to sell up to the lovely Third Place Books. What they don't take will go to my local used bookshop, Balderdash Books and Art, and what she can't use, goes to Friends of the Library for their annual book sale (which I did NOT attend this year).

CB gave me a month to get those boxes out the door. I am beating her deadline by three days. Note the date on the boxes!


Also headed out the door, but, of necessity due the lack of space in my car's trunk, on another trip, is this stack of donations. Clothes, magazines, kitchen items, knick knacks, etc. I did another purge of my spare closet (located in the guest room) and managed to let go of a sweater, a dress and a skirt.

Kitchen Clean Up

I was talking with a friend yesterday (you know who you are) about kitchen organization. She'd recently swapped out all her mixed-up containers and bags for matching glass jars from IKEA. More, we talked about how long pantry items last. I have a bad habit of overbuying ("it was on sale!") and having things go stale, rancid, you name it.

For some reason, this morning, I got a bug about the kitchen. It's on my mind because we are planning a face-lift for it this summer, and need to pare things down. I browsed my cupboards and tossed things that either smelled stale or that had been sitting around for longer than I could remember. Here are some fun photos.
This is the 'after' cupboard. You'll be able to tell how much I purged by taking a look below at the sink full of empties.


I dumped all the stale & mystery stuff into my compost bucket. It's for the worms now!



Sink full of empties!


I also purged my baking pan & food storage cupboard; here's the full bag of donations!

Guest Post: Decluttering an Estate

My dear MIL, a longtime member of the women's organization AAUW (American Association of University Women), recently spent a great deal of time decluttering the estates of two members of AAUW who had passed away and left the bulk of their estates to the organization. Both women had amassed vast collections, and as both had lived through the Great Depression, that influenced their homes as well.

Here are MIL's tips and thoughts on this crucial issue:
"Hoarders and savers come in all intelligence abilities, income levels and academic achievement. My ldil (loving daughter-in-law) has asked me, as a member of a group that has inherited 2 houses from members who had no other heirs, what we had learned from the experience of preparing the homes for sale. In each case, we walked into a home that had been lovingly and clutteringly occupied by an elderly single woman who in her younger days had traveled, been active in the community, her profession, and left copious legacies both subjectively and objectively. Both college educated, one was a local university professor and the other a life-long Rosy-the Riveter employee at Boeing.

This advice should be useful for all family members (meaning adult children) as they attempt to organize their parents’ life-long collections and clutter.

1. Collections of magazines, such as Life or Look, usually have no value as libraries have copies in their archives. National Geographic and The New Yorker, for instance, are available on CD-ROM. Professional journals are usually available on-line these days. Newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals collect moisture, become mildewy and/or moldy and attract other unhealthy pathogens. A better decision is to routinely recycle magazines and catalogues (after removing identification) to the local laundromat, VA hospital, medical clinic, or library if you don’t want to put them in the recycle container immediately (as I don’t).

2. Collectibles being saved for later inheritance can be given away sooner to the intended recipient, along with the story behind the item. A digital story (using old photos of the item and the donor, with music) could also be made to accompany the item.

3. Identification of keys: all keys need to be fully identified as to what locks they open. Try to dispose of unused or unknown keys as you encounter them. Safe deposit keys need bank, branch, and box number identification. Finding a box of unlabeled keys motivates me (somewhat obsessive) to try them all, in all the locks.

4. AARP offers classes and systems for recording financial information if one has not been created. A trusted family member should be provided a list of credit cards, insurance policies, car registrations, etc.

5. Unidentifiable photographs stored in shoe boxes (or anywhere else) usually get thrown out.

6. Identification of garden plants, especially exceptional trees, bushes, and perennials, would be nice if the home is going to be placed on the market.

7. When the tools don’t work, discard them to an appropriate agency such as Goodwill if they can be repaired. Otherwise, scrap metal has some value, and handles could be used for plant stakes, firewood, or new handles.

8. Now that LP records are making a comeback, I would suggest (as my mother did) having the inheritors go through the collections and pick what they want now.

9. Circuit breakers and fuse boxes: Clear identification of house circuitry is good to know, especially when house inspection reveals that heat doesn’t work, and outside lights don’t work.

10. Water-turn-off: If possible, mark the water-turn off site in big letters, or make a sign identifying where turn-off is. (I learned this the hard way when pipes froze.)"

Remember, what you don't deal with now your heirs will have to cope with after you move on to the next level of existence (you know, Heaven, Hell, Nirvana, just plain dust). Take the time now, so that their memories can be of you, not your stuff.

What You Can Accomplish in 15 Minutes

Anyone who is a fan of the Flylady knows all about 15 minutes. She believes one can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes. Well, you might not finish writing that novel, but you can certainly make a start. And those 15 minutes all add up.

This morning, I took 15 minutes and transformed my living room. Here's the before:

And here's the after:

The timer went off just as I was finishing vacuuming the rug. Here's what helped: I listened to St Germain's album Tourist to get the energy flowing! I didn't just toss things into baskets or boxes, I put them away. Game pieces back in their box, clothing either back in a dresser drawer or in the laundry basket, shoes to their spot, garbage into the trash can, dishes into the sink.

Just think, if you took a focused 15 minutes several times a day, what could you accomplish?

The Despair of Hoarding

A friend sent me this news story today, from Portland, Oregon

KOMO story on Hoarding

Off Topic: Guest Post over at Happy Jet Baby

I'm a guest over at my favourite travel with kids blog, Happy Jet Baby!

Back on topic, some thoughts about travel. Despite my clutter, and my tendency to hang onto things, I am a very light traveler. In fact, one of my favourite sites on travel is the Travelite FAQ. Lani, an Internet presence for decades now, has a passion for traveling light. She offers hundreds of tips.

Why am I able to travel light, despite my clutter bug status? Well, frankly, it's because I like to be able to carry my luggage easily. I like low-budget travel, public transit rather than taxis, trains rather than planes when in Europe, and to be able to pack up at a moment's notice. It's even more important with kids in the mix, since packing for four can take up a lot of space. If you Travelite it, you'll still be able to carry your bags without waking up stiff and sore.

But still, why can I do it on the road but not at home? This I still don't know. Perhaps because all my stuff is waiting for me at home. I do always worry that I've forgotten something, and my mantra, "as long as you have the kids and a credit card, anything else is gravy", is repeated numerous times on the drive to the airport or the final destination.

Outdoor Clutter

I've mostly discussed the damage and frustration caused by clutter inside the house. Well, there's also clutter outside the house. Everything from a neglected flower bed to a rusted out car can show up in your yard and create clutter. Outside clutter is often one of the later signs of the disorder, when the house has become so hopeless that the clutter spills outside. Outside clutter is usually what initiates a civic response, from social workers to firefighters to parking personnel.

Today's clutter is not so exciting.

We have a nice little fence that surrounds our front yard. When it was built, it was set back just about 8" from the sidewalk, leaving a small border in which to plant. Well, it stayed weedy grass for sometime, and then, in a fit of energy, I cleared the grass and weeds and planted some lovely flowers. Mulched them in well, and they thrived. Until the fall that is, when they died (they were annuals, it was their time), and, since I neglected to add more mulch, the weeds took over. Same thing the next year. And, frankly, same thing this year so far. Older daughter and I cleared out the weeds, grass and old plants (some turnips planted by Younger daughter had thrived!), and, after a delightful trip to the nursery, planted snapdragons, marigolds, pansies, and a few other things, the names of which are lost as we tossed all the little plant sticks. I used to keep all of them, but I never referred to them and would end up with little piles of plastic all over. Better to just say good bye and not worry that I don't remember the name of plant x.

Here's the before:

And the after:

Why We Keep Things: Part III: Pure Inertia

Here's a fun one. Guess another major reason we keep so much junk hanging around? Because we just can't seem to get off our duffs and deal with it! I have piles around the house that are things I have already made decisions about, but haven't implemented those decisions. Bags of items to be donated? Well, I tend to want to have more than one bag at a time ready to go before I take them to the thrift store. That results in bags, boxes, stacks of items that I know are going to go away but that are just sitting cluttering up my living space. Why don't I just pop that bag in the trunk when it's full? I drive right past two thrift stores on my way to most of my errands, how hard would it be to take an extra two minutes and drop those items off?

Also, think about how we deal with items that are borrowed or that we mean for others to have. My FIL likes to listen to books on tape in his car, and he only has a cassette deck. I have had a book on tape sitting around in various places in my house for a couple of YEARS meaning to send it to him. Now, it's in a small box and in my to-be-mailed pile. A couple of things like these aren't a big deal. When you have enough to fill a large laundry basket, well, you have a problem.

Today, Clutter Buddy and I worked over here at my house. She generously gave me her "time off" (that is, her time while her little ones are watched by a friend). We tackled a portion of the basement--the notorious bottom-of-the-stairs. If you'll recall, I discussed this part of the house before, with pictures. Well, that pile just seems to reappear! It's supposed to be where the donations to go OTD go, but it seems to grow. I had a metal rolling shelf unit that tucked between the wall and the support pillar. It was supposed to be where donations and things to be returned would go, but other stuff seemed to end up there, gosh, wonder why? All those lovely flat surfaces, of course! CB insisted that it had to go out to the garage, after, of course, we cleared it off.

What was on it? Well, mostly items that belong to or are meant for, other people. So, CB asked for bags and a Sharpie, and she labeled the bags and we went through the items, one by one, and put each person's stuff in their bags. Things that need to be mailed went to my mailing center on/near my desk.

The actual pile at the bottom of the stairs turned out to be mostly donations, with a "scary" bag mixed in for good measure. The scary bag was a stash & dash from the kitchen junk drawer (which, as you know, is no longer a junk drawer because I installed a sorted tray and keep it nice and tidy, yes I do!). In there were a postcard and letter from my mom (tears), lots of bits and pieces like rubber bands, pens without caps, those little plastic things that keep bags of bread closed, and crayons. One of the crayons was from Tony Roma's, where we'd dined with my mom on her last visit to me here, in November. Tears, many many tears. Man, I couldn't stop crying. Bless CB's heart, she let me cry and then suggested we take a break.

Here's how that space looks now. It's storage for the extra carseat.

Feeling Hopeless

Sometimes the clutter, the chaos, the lack of control overwhelms me. At times like this, it seems that nothing will improve, that there is no point to even trying. It's really a form of depression (studies show that people who live in cluttered spaces tend to experience depression more frequently than those who live in less chaotic surroundings).

At times like this, I realize that there are choices. I can be stuck or move forward. I so want to move forward.

Today, I am tempted to rent a storage unit and just dump everything there. Peter Walsh, of It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff and CleanSweep fame, would throw his hands up and shout "Nooooo!". But he's not the one living in this chaos. He doesn't have to face it every single day.

Most things that go to storage units just stay there. I mentioned some stories told by the gentleman who helped my sister and I to arrange a storage unit for our mom's things. Well, frankly, I fear that if I did book one, that's what would happen. I might visit every once in a while, become overwhelmed, and then leave, after paying another month's rent.

Why We Keep Things: Part II: Trust

It's been said before, and frankly, each time I read this thought, it resonates with me. We keep things because we don't trust ourselves. The Flylady has particularly astute observations on trust and clutter. However, because she declutters her homepage, I can't link to a particular article. Just trust me on this.

Think about the phrase "what if I need it someday?". What thoughts does that phrase inspire? There are two unknowns there, the 'if' and the 'someday'. We don't know that we'll need the item, we just wonder 'if' we'll need it. The need is unknown. The time we might need the item is also unknown, 'someday'. Someday could be tomorrow or next week. It could be next decade. It could be, and mostly likely is, never.

Yes, NEVER. How many times have you actually needed something that you had given away? I've given away truckloads of stuff and I can count on ONE hand the times I've wanted something, genuinely wanted something, that I had given away. And do you know what I felt? Momentary regret, and then I moved on. *I*, hoarder, keeper of all sorts of junk, just let it go.

I try hard to remember that feeling when I am struggling with decisions about what to keep and what to let go. That feeling doesn't stick, it is quite fleeting. The knowledge that, yes, it will be all right. That I will make it through life without that sweater, that book, that game. That pan with the clear glass lid that lets you see how the soup is doing (but that doesn't match my kitchen or wash up well).

Trust. Trust that I can handle what the world will give me, trust that I can take care of my family, of myself, mentally and physically. Trust that my husband will as well. I don't need to keep a life's worth of extras around, I can get what I need when I need it.

And so can you.

Why We Keep Things: Part I: Aspirations

As anyone who has read a book on organizing or decluttering, there are many reasons why we keep things. Of course, 'reasons' may not be the best term, because so many of them aren't actually 'reasonable' but rather imaginary or irrational. Still, let's proceed with that term for the moment.
Of all the reasons, there's one that has been rumbling around in my brain lately. It's the one that has us keeping those old magazines, that shirt that we bought but that doesn't quite fit, those tarot cards or yoga mats. They're the things that represent someone we WISH we were but aren't. Those things are the tangible expressions of our aspirations. Who we want to be. And what we actually do with them, allow them to sit in closets, exist stuffed on shelves or corners, hide in the garage. Think of those things not as items but as the physical manifestation of personal traits. We wish we were the type of person who would take their yoga mat to the park at six in the morning and do asanas. We wish we could always be stylishly dressed. We wish we could creatively express ourselves, through art (those dried out watercolours we bought in a fit of inspiration and hope), tarot or other divination tools, musical instruments.
In the meantime, while we continue along the same paths we've always taken, those wishful things sit and sit, waiting for us to be that dream person. The hard truth is that, if we actually do want to become that 'dream person', we need to let go of the present. The ruts we are stuck in include the clutter. The dream things are clutter until they're actually used. Until we become happy and content with the person we are, the fears that hold us to our old paths will rule. Letting go, not of our dreams themselves, but of the physical things we told ourselves represent those dreams, will actually allow us to truly pursue them.
Free of the clutter that keeps us stagnant, we may actually have the space in our lives for that morning downward facing dog, for an hour spent reading that tarot book or sketching the local wildlife.
So, don't let fear dominate. Don't let those dreams and wishes keep you stuck. Reach into your closet and let it all go. Let it go. And suddenly, there is room for joy to come in the door.

We Interrupt this Decluttering Blog for an Important Announcement...

Wowza! Take a look at this!
Honda Civic Type R SEDAN (yes! Four doors!) hits Japan...dare I hope the U.S. will be too far behind? We did finally get the Civic SI sedan (new for the 2007 model year and on my wish list). A six-speed tranny, man!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 99. Happy Birthday Dad! (Coincidentally, I had just recently received a copy of his birth certificate in the mail...I'm trying to do some family history work).

See, one result of the clutter is that there is just so much stuff that it all can't be kept track of. When there's too much to manage, history, meaning, is lost. I'm sure there were many memories, family history, special mementoes in that garage of my dad's, but we'll never really know their story.

Love you dad!

Desk Attack

While at IKEA the other day, with my Clutter Buddy, she found a desk stuff holder (heck, what do you call these?) and told me I needed it. Well, all right. We'd worked some on the desk the other week, but my actual desk surface still needed attention. I first took my supplies out of the various cardboard boxes they'd been housed in and put them into the nice, new holder. Then, I took off many of the things that had simply started living on the desk area and moved them someplace else (a cardboard box, ok? I'm working on it!).
Here's the before and the after:

Spend Wisely

Dilly, over at What Every Woman Needs in Her Wardrobe, has an insightful article on value. Her blog's focus is fashion, not just high fashion, but rather how YOU can look good every day. This particular post focuses on value, perceived, and actual. She advises spending wisely, but not cheaply. Wouldn't you rather have a few nice things that suit your style than an overstuffed closet of crap that makes you look like a hag?

Yeah, me too!

A Session with Clutter Buddy

We've been needing to buy new computers for quite a while. Our laptop and main desktop are old, slow and frustrating to use. Since I do my work on the computer, I need one that functions properly.

To prepare, I had to clean out the area around my computer. It's cluttered. It's messy. There are boxes of miscellaneous items, boxes of identifiable items that don't really have a home, boxes of oh, who knows what! Clutter Buddy volunteered to come over and help me move things out the door and around to clear some space.

Well, it was tough. Actually, it was friggin' hard. I didn't want to say 'thank you' when CB left because, frankly, I didn't feel thankfull. I felt bereft. She took my pile of donations away, to donate. She made strongly worded suggestions about what to keep and what to give away. She was actually stern.

I did not have fun.

Perhaps tomorrow I will feel more at rest. Today, I suffered.

Clutter sucks man. It really really sucks.

Shout out to Bauhaus_sea over at Financial Fitness

One of my favourite personal finance blogs, Financial Fitness, discusses those personal finance issues we all wonder about: is my house worth the hassles, how do I know what type of IRA I need?, can I get tickets to the Police?

Read this delightful post for a laugh!

Paper Overflow

Well, avalanche might be a better word for the amount of paper I need to deal with. Here's a shot of my 'to do, bills to pay, mail to tend to' pile:




And here are my bins of 'to be filed' paperwork. They're items as new as 2006 and as old as 1999 in there...

Closet Clearing Methodology

Everyone knows the rules. If you haven't worn it in a year, out it goes. Same for anything damaged, holey, stained, just plain worn out. Easy, right? Well, if it is, why do so many of us have closets filled to bursting with clothing, most of which fits in one of the afore-mentioned categories?

Making decisions is exhausting. It takes a lot of mental energy to decide whether an item is worth keeping or should be donated or thrown away. The larger the closet, the bigger the pile of items to go through, the more energy it will take. This is why it is crucial to go through your closet and dreser at least once a year. If you make that a yearly habit (even better, four times a year with the change of seasons), you will find it easier each time. You'll actually remember that you had decided to keep that red t-shirt another few months, and that you never actually wore it. Easy decision now, out the door it goes.

Using drawer dividers can even further simplify this task. You can take care of one division of shirts, underwear, socks, etc. in about fifteen minutes (the magic time amount, according to the FlyLady). You'll enjoy a feeling of serenity as you let go of items that don't fit your lifestyle or size or changing sense of fashion.

I had hung onto several t-shirts that I remembered really liking, but hadn't worn for a while. Why didn't I wear them? Rises changed, becoming lower. Thus, a t-shirt that formerly fit nicely and allowed adequete coverage no longerlooks right with today's lower waisted jeans. So, easy decision once I realized it: out the door!

Closet Clear Out

Moving onto the rest of my closet (again, as inspired by "It's All Too Much"), I tackled my other drawers and my hanging clothes. I didn't choose many things to cull, about eight pairs of pants & jeans, a pair of jammies I never wear, a skirt that may be from the 1980's, but I reorganized every drawer so that there is now empty space and it is easier to find what I need.

For example, the other day I had planned a walk around a small local lake that features a walking path. Problem: rainy, windy, friggin' cold weather and I couldn't find my Polartec pants. Without them, shiver city. Turned out I didn't go for the walk, and guess what I found in the bottom of one of my over-stuffed drawers? Not one, not even two, but three pairs of Polartec pants. Obviously, a dresser clear-out had been overdue.

In other news, I listed an item on our local Freecycle. I'd tried to sell it on Craig's List, but no-one followed through. Also listed two double strollers I no longer need on Craig's List. Let's hope they sell and fast; proceeds go into the beer fund.

Inspired by "It's All Too Much"

Peter Walsh, of "Clean Sweep" fame, has a new book out now called "It's All Too Much". It's different from many organizing books in that his main message is "Get rid of your stuff!!". He doesn't pull any punches, rather like Karen Kingston in fact. They both emphasize the emotional toll that clutter can take on your family, your health, your life in general.

His book is engaging, with just enough anecdotes to keep you from feeling that your house is the "worst house ever", and no annoying mostly blank pages that consist of questions for you to answer--I really hate books that do that!

Inspired by his chapter on closets and clothing, I took a brief tour of one of my dresser drawers. I did pick the easiest one, my t-shirt drawer. I had culled it fairly recently, but I still found five shirts (including two I have NEVER worn), a pair of shorts and a pair of socks to donate. I did my sock area too, pairing them up and setting aside the lonely socks. I know I have mates for them, they're just in the laundry. Really!
Here's a shot of what I'm letting go:

My Money Blog Comes Through Again

A Shout Out to My Money Blog. Thanks to his tips, I am the proud owner of two iPods, a Shuffle and a Nano, as well as numerous small bonuses for opening various accounts. Of course, these do add to my clutter in that now I have more accounts to keep track of, but heck, I think I can cope.

I tried out the Shuffle last week, took a nice long walk and listened to an audio book, Memory in Death. Nothing like a good mystery to keep you moving.

So Much Stuff

My mother was a compulsive shopper. She preferred clothes, but also enjoyed buying linens-towels, sheets, etc. I was not able to go into her apartment after she died, I just couldn't. I knew that for me, it would be purely painful and that I would collapse on the floor crying. Just writing about it is bringing tears to my eyes. My sister, however, wanted to go in and in fact, found it comforting and healing. For that, I am grateful. So, we divided up the tasks--I get to do the paperwork, she cleared out the apartment.

Everything is in storage.

I was able to visit the storage unit and look at things, but still began to cry. So much stuff, so many clothes, many with tags still on. I guess she was trying to fill some need--for nice things, to look good (self esteem?), to nurture herself. I don't know. We'll have to make decisions sometime, I don't want to continue to store everything indefinately. I'm sure some things can go to a consignment shop or eBay, others to the Goodwill or to Dress for Success. She liked silk and cashmere, soft things.

How I deal with this will be a journey. Will I be able to let things go?

On Topic Again, The Carport

I remember hearing that Frank Lloyd Wright is considered the inventor of the carport. In any case, we have one, and due to the way our house sits compared the slope of the driveway and our neighbor's house, well, our carport gets full of leaves, bits of garbage and other debris. I don't have a before; DH started work on it so quickly I didn't have a chance to get a decent, grubby before. Here it is after about two hours of hard, dirty work:

Creating Positivity

A friend told me last night that we can remake those negative pathways by thinking about the positive, the good, the heartwarming. I am actively trying to do that. It's hard, but I think it'll be worth it.

I want to write about the happy memories...I don't think I can right now.

Regrets

Those who know me in person know that I am prone to self-torture: what I did, what I didn't do, what I did do that was really mean or thoughtless, or just plain stupid. Those things, they're torturing me all the time. All the time. I work to escape them, and believe me, it's hard slow slogging through the back closets of the mind. Full of clutter, full of pain.

And when someone isn't here on this Earth anymore, all of a sudden, your chances for forgiveness, for making restitution or just apologizing, all fades away and you are left alone to suffer. Why didn't I do X? I don't even know, but it'll be with me forever unless I can manage to forgive myself.

I am trying not to lose myself in the pain and regret.

Grief

Last week, mostly unexpectedly, but by her choice, my mother died. She was 71, going on 72 in June. She loved her grandchildren, and her children. I miss her so much. The grief is so raw, it's an effort not to cry all the time.

The hardest part? Everything said and unsaid, done and undone. Mistakes we both made. Someone told me 'you don't get to live a perfect life. You will make mistakes, and that has to be OK". I guess it's that human thing--we're human, we make mistakes, we suffer, but we also have the chance to experience great joy.

I wish I had let her in more. I wish she had let me in more. We had a complicated relationship, and I'm feeling the irony of realizing only now, that she's gone, how similar we were. Perhaps that would have helped me to get closer to her, perhaps not.

I am trying very hard not to torture myself with regrets. Times when I didn't pay attention to her, times when I brushed her aside. She was a challenging person to be with and I had so many mixed emotions, mostly left over from childhood, to contend with. I could never make it easy, it always had to be so comlicated. We both had high expectations for what a mother and daughter should be, and we never met each other's expectations. Once in a while, she was just there for me. Once in a while, I would let her in without leaving hoops to jump through in the way.

I feel anchorless and lost.

Body Clutter

This is a fabulous book.

The Junk Drawer

Every kitchen has one, doesn't it? The junk drawer. You know what I mean. It's where all those odds and ends end up, where you toss the twist ties and tabs from bread bags, the pizza delivery menu, the rubber bands from the newspaper. Perhaps there are actual useful items there, like a pair of scissors, a bottle opener, pens and pencils. More likely, mere junk has accumulated there--the detritus of modern living.

I had a junk drawer. Now, it's an organized oasis. I need to ask, though, why it took me ten years to figure out that I could put a simple plastic organizer in that drawer and reclaim it? Here it is, in all its glory, complete with $3.00 IKEA tray.

I wish I had a before picture. I can tell you what I used to do though. When it would get so full that one had to shuffle the drawer in and out to close it, I would "clean it out". That consisted of essentially dumping all the contents into a paper sack, fishing out the few things I knew I needed (scissors, pens & pencils, baking scale, pizza delivery menus) and tossing the bag onto what we call our side porch, but what acts as a walk-in pantry. And then the bag would sit and sit, growing stale. Once it became stale enough, usually after a few months, I could more easily dump most of it into the garbage. I still would save a few things...why, I don't really know. Habit mostly.

In any case, with the new system, that won't be necessary. There are enough places in the drawer for the things that are needed, and no space for random junk.

Hallway Photos!

The hallway is (almost) done! Yay!! The light fixture was installed yesterday, and the closet is now re-stocked. All that is left is the switch plate (need to buy a new one, the old was too gross) and put in the bullnose molding at the baseboards. Two weeks and counting my friends, that's home improvement for you.


And here are the things that are going out the door. There wasn't as much excess as I had thought. We like flannel sheets in the winter, so I want to keep two sets of those for each bed. And, two sets of plain percale cotton for the warmer seasons.

Guilt=Hoarded Emotions

This thought came to me the other night as I was falling asleep. Guilt is hoarded emotions--emotions we're not willing (or able) to let go of. As someone once said, if you keep doing something, you must be getting something out of it. Positive or negative, there is some reason you can't let it go.

Lesson of the day: Let it go.

Task List

Time for more fun tasks!
This morning I:

• Ran a load of laundry
  
• Took out all the recycling, glass, paper etc.
  
• Sorted through two car cleaning stash-n-dash bins
  
• Picked up random garbage from the driveway and back yard
  

Oh, and I dropped a few bags of donations off at the thrift store. Yay me!

Task List

Time for a little task list, to keep me from feeling like I'm not accomplishing anything. Today I:

• Took the boxes and bins of Christmas decorations out to the garage. They actually go in the garage attic, but getting them there is a two-person job.
  
• Swapped out large plates for smaller ones
  
• Ran two loads of laundry and one of dishes
  
• Updated my blog :-)
  
• Found the books I've listed on Paperbackswap, and mailed one that had been requested
  
• Dumped the kitchen compost into the Yard Waste bin and cleaned the compost bucket
  
• Did a stash & dash to clean out my car. There was an entire large laundry basket of odds and ends (mostly toys, coats and lunch bags) in there!
  
• Sorted through the boxes of leftover books from recent bookselling. I've consolidated the books the store didn't take, and re-sorted them into 'sell at another bookstore' and 'donate'.
  
• Paid some bills online
  
  

Dishes In, Dishes Out

I read this book recently, Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink Ph.D. It's a great read, very engaging, and thought-provoking. I had been considering moving to smaller plates for some time, and thanks to a timely sale at IKEA, and the spur of this book, I did so today.



For now (dangerous words), I am storing the old plates in a cupboard in the basement laundry room. I cleared out a few other dishes, cups, mugs, etc and they're stored too. I need some space before I can make a final decision about them.

Pantry Games

While making a pasta sauce for dinner tonight, I thought it would be nice to have some olives in it and I remembered that I had a jar of Kalamata olives in the pantry. Um, yeah, you're seeing that right. Expiration date of 05/2003.

And wouldn't some roasted red peppers be nice? Take a close look. XII/2001. A good year, wasn't it?

Home Improvement Part V (aka DONE!)

Well, all right, not completely done. The painting itself is done. I still need to pick up the drop cloth and remove the masking. Then, there will be the inevitable touching up--especially since there was so much trim already painted that I had to mask off.

It feels like a huge improvement. Just covering those old icky colours raises my spirits. And, I'll have the fun task of purging the closet as I put things away.

Snow!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled dehoarding angst for some cheerful...snow!! Yay!! School and preschool are cancelled, Sponge Bob is on Nickolodeon, and there's a hot pot of coffee with my name on it. Sweet!

The 50% Goal

When I am ready to move back into the linen closet, I plan to put back no more than 50% of what was in there. I wish I had a picture to show you, but let me just say that every shelf was stuffed (the top shelf up almost to the ceiling), and on the floor were bins full of toiletries and such. We have a small bathroom with almost NO storage. That was done on purpose and it's the least cluttered room in the house. But it means that backups of such things as toilet paper, shampoo, towels, etc, are stored in the linen closet. But I am sure there are things in there that we don't use or need.

Growing up, our linen closet was an endless adventure. You had to watch your head when you opened it, as sheets, towels etc were simply stuffed in there. Boxes held various medicines, Ace bandages, strange electronic devices, etc. You never knew what you might find in there.

I don't want my kids to feel the same way about our linen closet. It's a place to store sheets and towels, tablecloths and napkins, basics like toilet paper and shampoo. Little else belongs there.

The decisions will be hard. How many sets of sheets do we need for each bed? Blankets? Where to store those extras? Should I have bought the Space Bag set advertised on TV?

Home Improvement Part IV

So here we are, Day Five of the painting project. For such a small space, it's taking an awfully long time. Today, I painted a second coat of red on the installed hallway closet shelves and a first coat on the shelves that were removeable. Last night, I was up late painting the walls. The wall surfaces are so small and oddly shaped that only a brush really works on them. I tried a bit of rolling, but it just wasted paint and didn't cover the surfaces to my satisfaction. But...I ran out of paint with one wall (the one big wall) left to go. I am tempted to paint that wall white, because a) I have white paint of the appropriate type and b) why the heck not?

Home Improvement Part III

Today, I was able to get more primer, paint for the walls of the closet (white, of course) and a lovely red for the closet shelves. I still haven't decided on a colour for the hall walls themselves. My goal for today is to fully paint the closet interior, walls, trim and shelves.
Here's the new wall colour. White trim (matches the rest of the house now), and a spring green on the walls. What do you think?


Public schools here were snow delayed two hours and husband had to go out to do some work for his client, so it's just me and younger DD. We'll see how things go, won't we?

Home Improvement Part II

I am almost finished priming the hall and hall closet. The closet has shelves, all of which needed to be painted. Lots of little surfaces, so a lot of brushwork. I ran out of primer with only one side of the closet door left to go. And, since we are having a cold snap with dustings of snow here, the paint store decided to close early.

My dear husband hates to paint. He loves the end results, but the process is no fun for him. I like to paint. The instant transformation is so satisfying. What is tedious is the preparation--all that taping, and so on. It's at least a three day project to paint a house surface for us. I have no idea how they do it so fast on those home shows. Maybe they're working with newish houses that have a decent surface to start out with. All I know is that even TSP didn't get off all the scuffs and stains in my closet.

I'll snap a picture for you later today.

Home Improvement Part I

Late last night, while trying to fall asleep, I decided that I would paint our hallway today. This hallway has been meant to be painted since we moved into our house, ten years ago. Four years ago, when we had our bathroom remodeled, the contractors removed an old doorway to nowhere and wallboarded over it. They didn't paint it because, well, we were going to. It's in said hallway. It's still covered in the primer from the wallboard, but now it's scuffed and dirty.

I had forgotten how much is involved in a painting project. Decision. Prep--drop cloths, blue masking tape (because you know it will take longer than you think, so don't even consider being cheap and using the rgular tan stuff). Then, washing the walls and ceiling and trim. I had to wash, to get rid of spider webs, dirt, and because the old paint is of unknown vintage, so I needed as clean a surface as possible, to ensure that the new coats stick. I had to spackle some dings in plaster, and holes in wood trim. Next is sanding, then, finally, I can prime the surface. Walls first, then trim? Or vice versa? Ceiling first? I think so...it's been a while.

Here's a shot of the old hallway, with drop cloth and painting light. Note the hideous tan-pinky-beige colour. Yes, we've lived with that for ten years. The new trim will be white, to match what we've repainted in older DD's room and the bathroom. I haven't decided on a colour for the walls though. Cream, pale blue, something like that. Not too dark, as it's a small space, but something fresh. Anyone have a Feng Shui book handy, to tell me what a good colour for a hallway would be? I should check the BaGua too.

Another Box of Books Sold

I've been selling them one by one to a local used bookstore. They have two branches, and I'll often take a box to the larger branch, and then take what's left to the smaller. I'm amassing store credit slips! The first time, I took the cash. But then I realized that since I will buy books (or magazines) ANYWAY, I should take the credit and just be sure to make my print media purchases at those stores.

I still don't like to watch them, so I always drop off the box and come back a long time later, when I'm sure they'll be completely finished. I don't look at the pile of books they've chosen to purchase, I just take the credit slip.

We all cope in our own ways, don't we?

Two More Bags Out the Door

Yesterday, I dropped off two bags of donations at the Goodwill store in our neighborhood. I like the way Goodwill helps recent immigrants and others who need assistance with job training, so I donate to them when I have a choice.

Here's the problem: when I'm at a thrift store I tend to want to step inside and shop. Yesterday was no exception. I saw a coat I liked, some games, some books. But, before I headed to the checkout, I stopped and thought about what I was doing. I put the coat back, and the games (while they might have been fun, we have plenty of games that we KNOW are fun that we don't have the time to play). I left with only a few things, including a kid's thermos that has been on the list for a while. I did get some of the books, six for older DD, one for me and one for my husband (on playing the bass guitar).

I did not want to put that coat back. It was expensive for a thrift store, at $24.99, and it did fit just fine. But...the style was one that tends to make me look frumpy. It's a safety look, a covered up look, and definately not my best look. So, reluctantly, I put it back. I kept wishing I had never seen it, for then I would not have yearned for it. That's the real secret to success in the quest to avoid clutter: avoid temptation, avoid shopping, avoid browsing, don't look!

The Compact

As it's been a year since The Compact started, they've been getting some press. I remember when I first heard about it...my immediate thought was "No way could I do that!". Of course, that's the disease speaking. Of course I could do it. My personal problem with The Compact is that it allows the purchase of used items. The purpose of The Compact is not so much to reduce personal clutter, but to avoid using up precious resources. So, if you need a TV, look for a used one rather than running out to Best Buy. But for someone like me, who loves thrift store shopping, it's an invitation to bring more clutter into my life, simply because buying used items is encouraged.

I Dare You

Today I was visiting with a friend. We chatted about Christmas, and the burden of undesired gifts. She had a couple of gifts in particular which she simply could not use. Things that weren't her style or size or of utility to her family. Both items came from stores within 10 minutes of her house, so I suggested that she simply return them. She was hesitant, as she doesn't like returning things, especially gifts (as there's no receipt). Both stores happen to have fairly accomodating policies, so I suggested it again. She was still reluctant. So, I dared her. I made her a bet that she could do it.

This year, I dare you. You know who you are. You have some clutter, maybe a little, maybe a lot. Maybe a whole houseful. This year, I dare you to take one little step. Fill one bag or box. Take it to a charity shop, a consignment store, or the dump. But get it out of your house. Take a risk, and allow yourself the space you need to let in love, light and peace.