Being a Cat

Do you have a cat? I have two. One is eight, the other nine. Both are Siamese. Of course, they're the smartest, furriest, most precious little cats in the whole wide world.

Ahem, where was I? Ah, cats. Some have said that cats are the true Zen masters, proficient in letting go, resting on demand, keeping their ties to the world loose. What I envy is their lack of attachment to things. Sure, one of my cats has a few toys he enjoys to play with, but he could take 'em or leave 'em. He likes his dinner, they both do, but that's a bodily necessity rather than a mental attachment. They do love us, their people, but they're more attached to each other, their own kind.

Sometimes, I wish I could be like a cat. No books, no furniture, no collections. Just be. Just enjoy emotional attachment to other people, but not to things. Things ... are just things. They can't give back, the relationship isn't reciprocal. It's all one-sided love given to something that doesn't and can't care.

So, What Have I Been Doing?

You may ask that question. I guess I have, since I haven't updated for over a week now. Frankly, I just haven't had much to say about decluttering. I haven't made any huge strides, although today I did drop off a couple of bags of donations (only one bag was mine, the other was CB's). I had to organize a birthday party for my younger daughter (think lots of 3 and 4 year olds running around with a few older ones for big sister to play with...yup, that equals chaos. Luckily, not at my house!); drive to Portland and back; other surely important things. You know how it goes!

But I've had decluttering on the brain. I just haven't felt ready to write about what I've been mulling over. And I'm not quite, yet. Soon.

I do have plans for the kitchen, to continue the decluttering and actually do some renovation. I did a bit with the pantry, moving things to more appropriate containers, consolidating where possible, putting like with like. Basics, but easy to forget or just not get to when pressed for time unloading those sacks of groceries.

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.