August 2020 to Jan 2021 Declutterfest
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Something I forgot to mention is my bedroom dresser drawers. They look AMAZING!!! Some of them, anyway, and they have looked that way for ... maybe two years now. It happened when we did our Marie Kondo thing here. I wasn't much of a believer even after reading her books but I am now. I didn't think you could get shirts and jeans and socks to stand up, but they do. My t-shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, and pj drawers are so pretty that I actually showed them to people (well, just family) when they visited PPT (PrePandemic Times). It is super easy to find exactly what I'm looking for so they never get messed up. It's been life-changing!3
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@SummerSkier the fence looks amazing!! Great job indeed!!
Oh, my! The entire base of your sink breaking through would certainly be a major emergency declutter/ repair project.
The reason or cause of why we work on an area doesn't matter, it is still decluttering. We had a huge plumbing problem many years ago that resulted in a forced decluttering project when we were finally able to return things back to where they belonged. Some because of the water damage, and the rest was because when I saw everything in one area (Think a forced Marie Kondo style decluttring project way before we knew about her) it was quite an eyeopener.
@MadisonMolly2017 Thank you for the encouragement 🌺. I find that when I really get an often used cabinet or drawer down to what I actually like using and use now, or a good possibility of it in the future, it is much easier to keep tidy. I have discovered over the years that the less things in a drawer, for example, means that I can actually put something back without shoving everything around to make room for it. So it stays looking nicer which helps me to want to keep it that way. It's taken me years to get to that point in some areas.
Awesome reorganizing of your art studio storage drawers! I really enjoyed how descriptive you were of the thought process and ideas of where and and why things go here... or there instead. Yay about your new iron being amazing!
@nebslp, LoL what a great word picture .... flinging silverware 😜! I think that your theory is on the right track of why our creative spaces/ rooms get untidy so quickly (speaking for myself of course 🤦♀️ ).
Yay for you having only 78 emails the other day! Seeing that low number after all your work will certainly encourage you to be faster to hit delete or deal with email more quickly now, at least more often than before whenever possible.
I'm still aiming to get below 100 and I know even small steps are making me be much more discerning on whether each new email is worth my time or or important enough to hangout overnight or longer 😲 in the in box.
One thing I need to do is have another unsubscribe party. It has been a while. Newsletters and such cause such a backlog of new email in my inbox. And I'm still plodding through the old email that I had flagged and saved for a myriad of reasons in the inbox. And then the many folders I have....
Email is only one of the several digital categories that I call my invisible clutter. It is so easy to be overwhelmed with them because I don't see them except when I'm actually using a particular digital format. And it is so easy to click one more picture or whatever.
WOW and double WOW about your Marie Kondo'd dresser drawers. That is such an awesome testimony for the method. And for you for keeping things organized and attractive all this time since!
I have only used her principles on stuff/ things that could be categorized like kitchen utensils or shampoo or cleaning supplies etc, but I was never brave enough to do my clothes and dresser drawers. I am so proud of you!!!
I had used her method with the little kid's books to sort and then to arrange them by size. I remember that the shelf looked really nice and appealing when the grandchildren were looking for books to read after doing that. It was like they were re-discovering their favorite books again.
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My Declutterfest Update:
August 14th Before taking the donate box to Good Will with what had accumulated since they had been closed because of the pandemic, I decided to do a quick scan of every room to see if there might be any visible clutter that I could easily donate while I did a quick tidy up of each room. I added 8 items to the box.
August 15th Today I was busy mostly with indoor chores, especially washing and then hanging loads of laundry outside, so that evening I worked about 15-20 minutes on decluttering more email.
August 17th Over the weekend my husband had pulled the refrigerator out and cleaned the coils and also the floor for me 💖. So today I climbed up and wiped down the top (I had learned several years ago that vinegar and paper towels make quick work of this job.) and I also watered the Pothos Ivy I had re-potted recently. It is looking really happy now.
Then unexpectedly I decided to look into the small cabinet above the refrigerator, even though I knew exactly what was in there. I knew that seldom used kitchen items were stored there.
Well... 'seldom used' has become a code word for 'clutter' now. So... 3 very nice glass serving/ baking pieces were given to my neighbor. I kept the glass pie pan and two loaf pans that I use mostly just during the holidays if I'm in a baking mood. So those are keepers. They are old and I like them.
Then I went back to the storage area between the kitchen and the sliding back door that I had started on last week. I gave several things to DH to put into the garage where he could use them when he needed, they were essentially forgotten about while being stored inside. I wasn't in the mood to do any more in that area so I quit decluttering for that day.
August 18th I sorted, tossed, and put away what still needed to be put back into the storage area. Put a few garden tools back into the garage where they belong. I cleaned up the surrounding area and also the top of the storage unit. The microwave sits on top of it and the various potatoes that we are currently using. I turned on the scented wax warmer and called it a day.
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Im still stuck on the flinging silverware image!!! LOL.
Great updates gals. I had to look up Marie Kondo. Believe it or not when I went into maintenance one of the first things I did was sort out my closets. I took a TON of clothes to goodwill. As a yo yo er this was the first time I ever did this (fall 2017) and I have ZERO regrets. Some of that stuff actually fit from college but the style was no longer something I would ever have worn so BOOM. out if went. And I bought a bunch of pants hangers and I hang my cords and jeans up on them so easy! I do not really use drawers that much except for underwear anymore. I look awful in tshirts so I got rid of a lot of the ones collected all my life and kept only a few which were more souvinears (sp) than clothes for the memories. Those will eventually go also I suspect.
checkin in!!!1 -
@SummerSkier I sent you a message yesterday... not sure if you saw 👀 the notification for it.
Wow! What a perfectly wonderful declutter you did back when you went into maintenance! Great job!
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My Declutterfest Update:
August 19th
Today I concentrated on decluttering in my 'paper' category: While doing paper work I would shred/ toss into the recycle bag as much paper I could as I took care of whatever needed to be done like pay bills etc.
I also did some decluttering of emails. Over the last several short email sessions I accumulated 114 in the trash folder. Some were old and others were the new daily stuff that I'm being more aware of deleting immediately if nothing more than reading it is needed. My in box is a wee bit under 150. So it's still going in the right direction 😲 .
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@texasgardnr unfortunately I have learned the hard way that emails do not go thru if you are not already friends. So I sent you a request with an email. lol.
I am really enjoying all the innovative ideas and progress everyone is making on decluttering with a TWIST... ow - that hurts my knee to say that word.
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Here’s a before/after of my fabric cupboard. I’m happy 😊! I kept trying to make them smaller but I don’t think I was successful.
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@SummerSkier to see a message notice and friend requests one must be on their home page and look to the top of the page sort of above the news feed. At least that is how it is on a desk top. Not sure how you can view those on a tablet or phone. Maybe someone who uses other devises can let us know?
@nebslp such an amazing transformation of your fabric cupboard! Not sure about what you were trying to make 'smaller', but it is definitely beautiful and so organized! Well done indeed! You did a lot of work organizing your cupboard! Thank you for sharing 👍 .
My Declutterfest Update:
August 20th
Today I got around to the plastic storage bin of miscellaneous odd things used to fix things around the house such as the tool to fix or put a window screen in, caulk used in the kitchen or bathroom, zip ties, and so on. I sorted and tossed or put in DH's area if more useful there than in this bin. It's finally back on the shelf over the dryer again.
So with that done my little area of the garage, as well as the laundry/pantry room, and the back door storage area are all done for now!! That bin has traveled around from laundry room to garage, to by the back door storage area, and almost back to the garage again, but it is finally back to it's home in the laundry room 😁👍!
The kitchen and on towards the back door are also finished for now. So this means that the section of the house from my area in the garage clear to the back door is finished for now! YAY!!
This afternoon I began to work on the stacks of paper on the table. Several months ago when I was beginning to declutter some files in the filing cabinet I would put on the table papers or files that I wasn't sure how much to declutter, or what would be a better way to re-organize them.
So... they have stayed there, and of course the piles have grown larger and more disorganized the longer that I have ignored them. Well I still don't have the answers, but I never will if I don't just start and see what happens. So.... it sounds like I just committed to it 😊.
My next physical area will be the "Little Room" which is where I do fun things like color or work on the photo albums.
I redid that room during DeclutterFest last year by decluttering every surface only, since I had already gone through the drawers and closet two years before that. So any major decluttering can certainly wait for another time since my primary goal is to enjoy using the room again.
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Hi @texasgardnr I saw your request this morning. I guess you did not see mine? LOL. It's all good. The phone gives you a little notice same as desktop. I am totally impressed with your decluttering progress. You have done so much that you are now recycling around?!!!!!! sweet.
@nebslp WOW... that is a difficult place to declutter and I agree it is really well done!!! Altho in my house the before picture would be a huge improvement. For some reason I just want to grab the blue fabric and pull and see what happens!!!
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Wow!!
@nebslp Love the fabric organization!! You have high standards! Looks GREAT!
@texasgardnr Terrific progress on all those spots that at least for me are “not on my radar”! Now I think of them as “possibilities for more usable space!! Haha
You have both inspired me!
I’ve deleted 1000’s of old emails. Filed others on the computer. Because of you guys!
I’ve worked daily on deep reorg of my art studios’s supplies. Basically a 2nd thorough Marie Kondo. Giving away more now that I know what I don’t use. Better categorization of drawer towers & the contents of each drawer. I’ve been spending time recently sorting piles of collage papers I’ve town from magazines/junk mail etc. Each day, I think “I’ll finish this today...” But I continue with 15 min each day & usually longer. Moved papers that had outgrown a binder by double to an empty larger binder I hunted down in husband’s old office! I figure all of this will take me until end of August, but already the changes have been terrific & relaxing to do. I love organizing my art supplies. I learned I’m not the only one lol A good friend of mine who’s a weaver told me yesterday - as he showed me videos of his studio & storage - laughing “Yes I think I like designing an organizing my studio even more than weaving!”
Permission to be ourselves - whatever that might be❣️
PS I took a collage class yesterday & the instructor uses a different organizing method...I’ve been using color. As my former collage teacher was more of an abstract, fine artist.
The new teacher is more of a “message” collage artist whose work is used online a lot. It’s what we were discuss recently. Her’s is by function: main subjects, elements, backgrounds...(SEB - as I now call them LOL
So I may play with this today. I’m such a colorist, that possibly organizing more by compositional elements will improve my work more.
Likely, I’ll do a hybrid...leave most papers in their color drawer, but go through & make 3 folders for SEB.
I just realized I’ve already kind of done this. But I called them reference photos. Hmmm..
...this may go faster than I thought!!
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Organized 6 of my reference folders into backgrounds, elements, main subjects/center of interest.
Husband put together new shelf in garage & has loaded it up with extra supplies that had overflowed out into one of our rooms. Yay!2 -
@MadisonMolly2017 I liked what you wrote about methods of organizing. So I went into my Little Room to see what I have been doing in there because I haven't thought about it in a long while.
I know that I organize by color like my paper drawers and function such as pencils/markers, punches, scissors, fasteners etc. For other items it is mostly determined by where I have the room.
Perhaps there might be things that I can declutter this time around ... and make more work or organizational space 🧐 while keeping what is useful for current projects instead of the maybe/ someday things.
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texasgardnr wrote: »@MadisonMolly2017 I liked what you wrote about methods of organizing. So I went into my Little Room to see what I have been doing in there because I haven't thought about it in a long while.
I know that I organize by color like my paper drawers and function such as pencils/markers, punches, scissors, fasteners etc. For other items it is mostly determined by where I have the room.
Perhaps there might be things that I can declutter this time around ... and make more work or organizational space 🧐 while keeping what is useful for current projects instead of the maybe/ someday things.
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Oh @texasgardnr ! That sounds like a great plan! Please share what you come up with so I can use it too❣️1 -
Aug 22 declutter - exercise equipment ✅
Aug 23 more (subjects-elements-backgrounds) sorting of my reference photo files.
I worked on a couple of collage ideas - as I for so inspired- And I think having a focus on these three categories in all of my art will make it more appealing!1 -
Thank you for the kind words about my cupboard. I found so many pieces I had forgotten about and got a few (too many) ideas of things to make. I didn’t mention that this is less than half of my stash. The fabric that’s over 2 yards long is stashed in two dresser drawers and a clothes hamper. 🙄 💜
@MadisonMolly2017 Deleting 1000s of emails is huge! That’s great that you took a class and got new ideas. It sounds like you learned some new things you can incorporate with your previous storage method. You will know exactly where to find your next inspiration now and grab the folder you want! It’s good your new shelves are being put to good use for storage. My husband knew I wanted shelves in my room and brought one home. However he claimed it for all of his tomatoes while they ripening fully. It’s plastic so I’ll have to figure out how to paint it once he’s done with it.
I keep forgetting to check if the Fall class schedule is out at one of our community colleges. There’s an hour and a half commute one way, but now most classes are being offered online using zoom so I’m excited about that. Saves me time, gas money, and I can be barefoot! 🦶 ❤️
@texasgardnr You are getting so much done In every corner of your house! It inspires me to clean up my counter clutter. It never goes away for very long. I spend most of my time in my sewing room upstairs so the downstairs clutter has a tendency to be ignored. Tomorrow I will do counters for sure.
It was funny this summer when I helped my youngest daughter declutter her closets and she wouldn’t want to give something away but she didn’t use it anymore. She would say “thank you” and hand it to me for the good will bag. I taught my granddaughter to do that, too. It helps to remember how happy the item made you, but realize that now it’s time to let it make someone else happy. When I first read that concept, I thought it was a little woo-woo, but it really makes the process easier.
@SummerSkier I hope your knee continues to improve. Maybe it’s time to find a good book and just chill (Ice)! for awhile. Good for you for getting rid of the things you no longer could wear when you went into maintenance! It’s funny how I’m just the opposite about hanging clothes. I don’t have much closet space so I fold most things, so I was really happy to find Marie’s folding method. And I didn’t own a t-shirt, other than the ones I was given with my school logo, until I retired 7 years ago. Now that’s all I wear in the summer. I buy one whenever we travel to different states or countries as a remembrance.
Time to check out the other threads but I’ll probably not comment until tomorrow.
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My Declutterfest Update:
August 21st and 22nd
I decluttered more paper on the table. Paper is such a struggle for me as I like paper 😍. But I no longer want it around anymore, so it is time to break up with paper 😥 .
August 24th
First day of decluttering and reorganizing in my Little Room: First I took out a few obvious temporary items that I stashed in there over the months. Then I started toward the left side of the room from the doorway.
I pulled some plastic storage boxes forward and swiffered the floor behind them. Then I looked inside to refresh my memory what was inside them. One has some photo album things, just as expected.
The other one had memorabilia and papers that I had removed from my closet and stashed in here to sort thorough 'someday'. I had completely forgotten about this temporary stashing of this stuff, that is, until today 😲.
Since the boxes were the same kind I thought there was more album making things in it. Now I really do have a sort this box soon, and not just re-stash it somewhere else... like back into my closet 😁.
Ok, where is that second blue box with photo album stuff...... I went to locate it, I found it in another corner of my Little Room.
Then I started decluttering any obvious, unneeded papers in the two binders that were on the work table. I put both binders back where they belong in other rooms. Then I started to sort through other papers on the table to begin the task of clearing off the work table.
When I begin to not use the Little Room it automatically becomes like a magnet for anything that I am temporary clearing out of another room for any reason.
That is it for today. Tomorrow will be split between sorting through the paper on the table first, then back to decluttering the Little Room.
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@texasgardnr I, too, have a long-standing love affair with paper
Your note about finding boxes of photo albums and memorabilia reminded me about my spare bedroom. That's where I keep all of my stuff like that. Those things have a tendency to haunt me because I know they are so important (or not?) but I put off dealing with them. And the "someday" boxes. Yeesh!!! I have a couple of them. I bet you're feeling a great weight lifting from knowing where things are. 1 -
I think that having to go thru your parent's house after they pass is a truly enlightening (and sad of course) experience. So many memories but so little value to anyone but them in many cases. It has helped me in my declutter journey significantly altho I do have quite a few things from them I inherited which most likely will not pass to another generation when I am gone.1
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@texasgardnr, @nebslp, and @SummerSkier
You’re all getting so much done & there is so much wisdom in this group!
1. I am moving all Sentimental into one room once the weather cools ... October?
ALL of it.
2. I’m going to finish sorting it by person.
3. Likely will sort son’s into:
0-Kindergarten
School Years
College
Adult
4. Sort trips by year
5. THEN...I will go through & pull out “The Best of” For each person, trip, etc. ie what I would take with me if we needed to be evacuated. Those will go into special color-coded boxes.
6. The rest I’ll send to the family member &/or send to offspring. Time to crank through this.
7. Scan all items in #5
8 For #5: Frame some of originals, make a couple of albums, put precious items in nice boxes. Create a handmade book of my favorite Photos of my favorite trips.
Tired just writing the plan, but I think I’m close to being done.
My Ah-ha after typing all this...the fires made me realize my Mementos are too many boxes & I wouldn’t be able to take them
All AND I don’t know where most of the photos letters gifts that really mean the most to me are.
So, my real plan is to cull through & pull out The Very Best. They make me grateful & lift my spirits by reminding me of very happy times.0 -
It is hard to go through your parents' things and then deal with guilt you feel as you get rid of what obviously meant so much to them. But you can't keep everything or nothing would be special. I need to go through the things I kept from my parents and label everything, and then my kids will have to decide what's important someday.
@MadisonMolly2017 You have devised a great plan for organizing those important sentimental items. The foundation has been laid for a successful result, or at least the plans have been drawn up!0 -
Aug 26 - collage papers marathon. Will hopefully finish tomorrow! (The job that almost feels done each day lol ie the ever-expanding task!)
Lots of other random Decluttering as the day is the first cool one in a long time! Heat definitely effects my activity level lol0 -
@SummerSkier I also learned a lot after my siblings and I went through my parent's house/ our childhood home after their death. That was a sad time because they kept literally everything. I learned to hold things more loosely, and also to give special things to my children that they always liked, both mementos or useful things, while I am still alive. And give them mementos of their grand parents also for the same reasons. That way I can enjoy the fact that they are enjoying them.
@MadisonMolly2017 wow! that looks like a good plan. Did you get to being able to pull
out 'The Very Best' of the Mementos that make you most happiest? I liked how you explained that in your post.
@nebslp oh, yes. I remember us having to get rid of stuff that were obviously important to my parents like mementos from their courting days. But it meant nothing to us because most of these things had been tucked away for so long that we never even saw them before. It felt weird and was also sad tossing those sort of things.
I'm planning eventually to go through everything because I had forgotten where I had last stored things as I have moved stuff around over the years. I dread the thought that my kids would have to go through what my siblings and I went through. This is fresh for me because I found more on Wednesday. The things I found were mementos I saved from when my children were young. Not tons of things but special things from a certain time period. So I know that there has to be other things elsewhere, oh my. I am most certainly glad that we are all decluttering together and sharing our experiences. It is making me determined to really get this done now.
@MadisonMolly2017 speaking of college papers, my brother had all of our father's college papers that dad had saved! It seems that these may have been special to Dad at one time, because they weren't from every class he took. I knew that they existed because he would talk about them occasionally, but they were stashed up in the attic with everything else so they never got pulled out. Another lesson for me to grasp... it's stuff that gets stored away and stays that way if not taken care of someday. Then the stories never get really told.
He and I went through them and saved a few that we both liked and kept a few to send to our siblings, and also a few that my children might like because of their own studies, and to see what it was like to do calculations etc without computers or calculators 😮.
You are doing great with your own college papers!
My nursing school papers and professional magazines have been gone for many years after I finally realized how outdated these things became very quickly as advancements were being rapidly made. We still used glass thermometers and did not have disposable needles back then, for instance, when I was a young nurse! Oh, my. That was a long time ago.
Thanks you everyone for sharing your experiences and thoughts 💖!
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This group is humming!!!
Please don’t worry about which discussion strand you post to! We all read all of them! 😁
Just keep those comments a-coming!! 💪🏻😃🎉
4 more days in August! We can do anything for 4 days, right?0 -
My Declutterfest Update:
August 25 I spent my time continuing to clear my work table. It is cleared off now!
August 26 I started back on stored boxes that were on the other side of my paper and other photo album making supplies drawers. Currently I am focusing only on things that really don't belong in this room at this time. And clearing the flat surfaces of accumulated stuff that has landed in the room.
I don't want to just dump these boxes back into my closet or into the spare room. That room has issues enough right now 🥴. My goal is to have only what I really want or use in my little room, and eventually the same in the spare/guest room when this is project is done.
I found some cool things I saved from the kids earlier school years. Not a lot because its all in one box. Probably my favorite of the favorites... I saw some of their really funny stories and other things they wrote, for starters. I stopped myself from going down memory land and quickly closed the box up. I'm planning to go through it with my DH and then I will make packets for each of the kids to give most of it to them and we will keep a few favorites or make a few copies it that works better. It will be fun to go through it with my DH because some are stories about camping trips with their daddy. He will like that! That is what gave me the idea to stop and look through it together.
Years ago I had made each child a big binder of all kinds of their childhood memorabilia and some school papers, church events and sports ribbons etc. I put these into those page protectors and gave it to them when they each were moving out of the home. It was a scrapbook of sorts but they could move things around or take it out to look at or to someday show their children when that time came. Keep what they feel is important to them as time goes on, or keep all of it. It is their choice now. Not fancy at all but it got done and they were happy.
August 27 took a break from decluttering/ organizing!
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My Declutterfest Update:
August 28 This morning I've been working on the papers that have been languishing on the table. First I finished up all of the loose paper/ new mail/ and miscellaneous papers. Some paper to-do items need to be attended to and then filed or mailed perhaps. I began to work on those. A few will take some extra time so I will probably do them tomorrow or Monday depending what needs to be finished to complete them.
When it was time to start on the actual folder/file pile a thought came to me.... place the intact files and folders into a bag or box, and take one out at a time to work on. As I was placing the folders into the bag I discovered in between the bottom two was another pile of loose papers/ envelopes. Oh my 😱 how did all that get in there 😲 . No wonder the pile has tried to slide about.
Since I'm about finished for today, my next thing will be to start on the paper to-do items first when I restart the Paper Tiger tomorrow. Then I will begin to see to the found loose paper pile.
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Wow @texasgardnr !!!
Way to go! You mayst feel so pleased to have the Paper Tiger by the tail!!
I LOVE that you took a much deserved & needed day of rest! Self care first!!!
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Aug 27 update
Significant progress.
1. Completely cleaned bedroom, dusted all those hidden spots.
THEN Created a yoga spot & tabletop display of things that calm & encourage me. Lay down, breathed, did stretches etc.
2. Mopping marathon (1/2 house, including 1/4 of Garage lololol) + laundry
3. Continued with recycling & organizing magazine images. See light at end of tunnel!! Plan to be done by midnight, Aug 31 pretty fun!
Aug 28
Lay down this morning in my mat after brushing my teeth to watch a yoga video chickened out. Instead, I did arm & back PT Exercised & some stretches. Tried to listen to am guided meditation but AirPods dont work. I can see why I take it slowly. Takes a while to work out all the kinks...dust, AirPods, where to set up mat, what time of day is best, do I need props?
I will likely move my collection of mindful books up to the (just named) Gratefulness Garden
I am Super Excited to be creating this special place & practice. I’m glad I moved all the other things out of our bedroom.
Also as I deep cleaned (emptied bookcase) I found a list of all my favorite objects from 2017-2018. I had walked to each room & wrote down what I’d want to keep.
I swear I’m in Groundhog Years As I had just mentioned this plan in here.
The interesting part? Many of the items on the list are not my favorites now😳😳😳
Fascinating!
Also I made a drawing last night & 3/4 of the way through realized a made a Very Similar drawing in 2017. Weird. Oh well - maybe that’s my art style. Who knew? haha haha I’m always the last to know Hahaha!1 -
Well decluttering continues!
@MadisonMolly2017 (Maddie) that is pretty funny that you are in ground hog day but your tastes have changed. I want to say that it is because you are now in year 3 of new kidney and your donor DNA is kicking in. LOL. I am making a joke but seriously everyone who I have known personally who has had a bone marrow transplant mentions strange changes. One of my friends started liking strawberries. Of course his blood type changed completely also. The most important "things" to me to grab if we should have a fire or some event that required evacuation would be my kitties. I make sure to have enough carriers on hand to gather all of them up. After that just legal documents like birth certs, passports etc which would be hard to replace. Other things of sentimental value are just that and mean nothing to anyone but me and are not important really in the biggest scheme of things as life is.
@texasgardnr (Mary) that paper tiger has 9 lives!!!! Funny how more loose papers were hiding out than you thought! I did a huge declutter of paper in 2005 when I was between jobs and my ex had just up and left for a hippychick. It was amazing how many pay stubs and bills etc I kept from the 70's and 80's. lol. Anyway at one point I decided to try instead of filing by type to file by month and then each year I could cleanse. Well, then in 2010 my Dad passed and all of a sudden I was doing EVERYTHING for 2 households in regards to bills. So now I have a 10 year old pile of paper which will eventually get sorted but I think I can wait until I retire or move. LOL. It just grows but a bit less as more things are online each year.
@nebslp yes I agree that you have to go thru and figure out what is important. But I think you cant really let them decide. When going thru my parents house we had NO idea of what things were valuable and what were sentimental. I have some expensive rings which I will eventually give to my niece I think because she will probably end up being the one who helps clean up after I am gone even tho she lives in Dallas. I assume my older sister and brother will most likely pre decease me. How morbid are my thoughts this morning yikes!!!
My decluttering efforts the past 2 days have been in the yard. Now that the fence is all spiffied up I noticed that the leaves I neglected to rake last winter were keeping the grass under the tree from growing. So yesterday I raked the leaves out of the bare spots and today I picked up the piles. You can see the runners which are already happier to have their freedom in the grass. And me - a nice blister on the thumb from raking which I did not even realize until I pulled the scab off last night by accident. ow. A lot of leaves altho it doesn't look like much. I did the whole side edge and filled my large green collection tub with debris.
before photo and after
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@MadisonMolly2017 thank you for your encouraging words 💐 . I needed a planned day off 🤠 .
Your "Mopping marathon " reminds me of what I have been avoiding :noway: . What a fantastic idea to make a peaceful yoga spot that will be waiting for you when you're planning to practice again.
Oh, my goodness.... "Groundhog Years !" 🤣🤸♀️😂. Your finding many of the items on your previous list that are no longer your favorites anymore explains perfectly why I started a declutter notebook during Decluterfest spring of 2019. And what I find when I do my purposeful second pass through areas that I have already done!
@SummerSkier wrote: " (Mary) that paper tiger has 9 lives!!!! Funny how more loose papers were hiding out than you thought!" . Yes it was funny when I took a breath and realized that is why everything had been slipping and a sliding. this whole time. Maybe it will take 9 pass throughs to finally conquer my paper tiger buddy 🐯 , with its nine lives :laugh: .
On the floor next to the file cabinet I have a box of files that have already been through the first pass through a while back. After I get through the files/ folders that were on the table I will do those because they will be easier the second time around and, that will give me a boost.
Look at all the work that you did under the tree! Yes the spot is indeed happy! And, I definitely know how much work raking that pile of leaves actually turns out to be! Good for you and your happy grass!
My Declutterfest Update:
August 29
Today I focused entirely on the "loose pile of assorted paper" that I discovered yesterday. Piece by piece I tossed/ shredded / put into the folder or file where I would've found it if put away properly in the first place. Anything that requires myself and/or DH's attention I put at the end of the table for us to take care of tomorrow. DH agrees to take care of those things with me tomorrow!
Tomorrow I will go through the two folders which will be fairly easy now, and I'll need some information from one of them for an appointment this week. If the file is really easy then I will do that, otherwise I will put it back in the file cabinet and it will be back in line waiting it's turn again, after I do the second pass through box on the floor this week. That is my plan for the upcoming week!
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