De-Thinging Thursday 12 March 2009

Last week’s YTD Total # De-Thinged:  768

5 March 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter decorations before storing them.”

What decorations?  Winter ones?  Perhaps.  I’ll see if we’ve got anything…

Nada. How about…

1 turtleneck – Thrift store donation

Daily count: 1

6 March 2009
Calendar says, “Clean out your vehicle trunk.”

Couldn’t drag my sorry self to the car today…

1 book – post for sale

And, it’s Frig Friday so…

5 foodie bits and bobs – rubbish
Daily count: 6

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS WHERE IT STOPS

I think I need to focus what little energy I have on other things right now. The house is ready to pack up save the Dread Closet of Doom, so I’m calling it quits for a bit while I work on some internal de-cluttering.

But, for all the faithful who have been waiting for a glimpse of the Dread Closet. I leave you with this…

So, this is what I have to look forward to when I resume my de-thinging process. Jealous, aren’t you?

De-Thinging Thursday 5 March 2009

Thanks so much for all your kind words and wishes about my recent buzz kill.  I’m with you Shellyfish, torn between working full time, part time or not at all.  I think with things as dire as they are these days, both JumbleMan and I need to be open to whatever we can get (provided, of course, it’s in Seattle ).  So, we’ll keep looking and pass the time de-thinging…

Last week’s Total YTD # De-Thinged: 748

26 February 2009

Calendar says, “Clear off the top of your dresser.”

Don’t really have a dresser.  And I’m feeling pretty uninspired to tackle any other spaces in my house today, so I think I’ll take the day off unless something just leaps out at me.

Wait a minute!  I can’t have a big fat ZERO on my daily count!  Must find something…

Ahh, save by Angeliki!

1 small pile of craft paper – returned to Angeliki

Daily count:  1

27 February 2009

Calendar says, “Vacuum under the living room furniture.”

Wow, does it need it!  I’m not sure DH will be interested in spending his Friday evening helping me move furniture.  So if I can do it myself, I might.  If not, the grime will continue to accumulate.

In the meantime, I’ve found a few more things to pass along:

1 pair toddler socks – Thrift shop donation
1 toddler shirt – Thrift shop donation
1 adult turtleneck – Thrift shop donation
1 rice sock that DS just poked a hole in (rice everywhere) – rubbish

Oh, and it’s frig clean out day…

6 leftover bits – rubbish

Daily count: 10

28 February 2009
Calendar says, “Deliver donations to Goodwill, Hospice, Human Society, etc. thrift stores.”

Done.

1 March 2009
Calendar says, “Listen to soothing music.”

Healer of each wounded warrior,
Comforter of each fine woman,
Guiding refrain over the blue water,
Image-laden, sweet sounding music!
- The Book of the O’Connor Don

2 March 2009

Calendar says, “Let go of dead houseplants.”

This is a tough one as the only one I have is currently serving as a home to flower faeries in the gnome village.  But, I do have a gorgeous philodendron start from my main plant that I could pass on…

1 living plant – freecycle

Other random things…

1 t-shirt – to Shanti for diaper making

1 container of leftovers – given to Molly

1 jar of frozen pasta sauce and 1/2 package of pasta – given to Molly

Daily count:  4

3 March 2009

Calendar says, “Clear off the dining room table.”

Not going to happen…it’s JumbleSpouses desk.  And just when I thought I’d have nothing to show for today, Angeliki coaxed me outside (well, it is 70F/21C here today) to use her vacuum on my disgusting car interior.  As you have probably gathered by now, I have no self-discipline/motivation.  If it weren’t for others I’d be living in total squalor!

1 bag of car crud – rubbish

1 cap – Thrift store donation

I also took another installment of freezer food (originally saved for JumbleSpouse in case I went off to Seattle) to Molly who’s going through a tough time right now.

1 bag of veggie burgers – neighborly love

Daily count:  3

4 March 2009

Calendar says, “Take care of one pile in the dining room.”

Will do, once Mr. Jumble returns from school and can supervise the process (as most of it is his).

I have also acquired a HUGE (by my estimation, but my neighbor called it “small”) television set and VCR from a neighbor who was moving and planning just to dump it.  I offered to take it and post it on Freecycle.

2 electronics – freecycled

***

JumbleSpouse could not part with any of his piles.  And, JumbleSon created some new ones…

Here’s my pristine closet after some unsupervised toddler play time this afternoon.  Sigh.

Daily count: 2

Weekly count: 20 (Slow week! I’m sure next week will be better…)

YTD Total # De-Thinged:  768

De-Thinging Thursday 26 February 2009

First, the King Cake – to help you through this post

I can’t believe it’s Thursday again.  And still no word on the work/move dealio (and there won’t be until next week).  My patience is wearing thin and I’m going a bit stir-crazy.  Thankfully, I have much de-thinging to do to keep me busy…

Last week YTD Total #De-Thinged: 579

19 February 2009

Calendar says, “Sort one pile of paper.”

1 pile – recycling

1 pile – into the Dread Closet of Doom for dealing with later (always later)

Daily count: 1

20 February 2009

Calendar says, “Clean off left side of the desk.”

Done.  Nothing leaving the house.  Thankfully, it’s Friday, so I’m back in the frig & pantry:

2 containers leftovers – rubbish

2 bags stinky dried mushrooms – rubbish

1 bag chow mein noodles & 1 bundle udon noodles – freecycled

Daily count:  5

21 February 2009

Calendar says, “Clean off right side of desk.”

That’s JumbleSpouses domain and I don’t dare touch it.  I’ll just forage around the house and see what I can find today…

1 broken humidifier – rubbish

22 February 2009

Calendar says, “Nurture a relationship.”

Whether I go to Seattle now or in 3-4 months, I really don’t want to leave this place with a bad taste in my mouth.  So, I need to make peace.  I’ve come close a time or two, but nothing sticks.

Decided to spend the morning at Red Rocks attending a drumming session.  When we arrived, these crazy people had taken over the stage and were blaring loud (but surprisingly good) music and spewing sweat everywhere while the mild-mannered drummers tried to set up in the middle of it all.  We learned that the fitness freaks folks would be there until naptime (the drumming will be rescheduled in the future).

Still it was a gorgeous day and JumbleBoy had fun climbing the rocks to the beat of his own drumming (we had our djembe on hand).  And I got some good pictures.  While I definitely felt like I was nurturing my relationship with this environment, peace is still out of reach.  Maybe next week.

23 February 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter Valentines decorations before storing them.”

We don’t really do much in the way of decorating for ♥ Day…just whatever crafts/cards come our way and those all go into our life archives (I know, I still haven’t written about those yet…I will, I promise!).  So, I’m going to dive into our bedroom closet once again.

Even though I de-thinged 113 items from it back in January, it still looks like this:

Closet before

Believe it or not, this is not the Dread Closet of Doom. Oh, no!  That one’s worse.  Much worse…

Anyway, here’s what I’ve got…

1 decorative, brand-new  pillow – offered to Shanti’s daughter

12 pieces of JumbleSon’s too-small clothing (too cute to pass on just yet) – storage

16 pieces of JumbleSon’s too-small clothing – Parenting Place/Hospice Thrift Store donation

2 pairs pants – Hospice Thrift Store donation

1 backpack – Hospice Thrift Store donation

2 tiny disposable diapers – offered to Shanti

Daily count:  22 items leaving my home

24 February 2009

Calendar says, “Spend 15 minutes in closet in kid’s room.”

So, back to the bedroom closet it is!

1 sweater – Thrift store

2 button-up  shirts – Thrift store

1 sweatshirt – Thrift store

7 child’s clothes hangers – Thrift store

4 t-shirts – stored away for future quilt-making

Daily count:  11 things leaving the house

25 February 2009

Calendar says, “Go through kid’s dresser – any clothes outgrown?”

One more day in the closet should do it…

8 shirts/sweaters – Thrift store

1 box full of ~100 (conservative estimate) pieces of pre-18 month clothing – The Parenting Place donation…Moonbeam does not approve.

12 pairs of black dress socks – Thrift store

6 pairs of underwear – rubbish

3 orphan socks – rubbish

Daily count:  129

And now my closet looks like this:

Closet after

I still have to get JumbleSpouse to go through his HUGE pile o’sweaters at some stage.  But, we’ve made excellent progress this week.

Weekly count: 169

Total YTD # De-Thinged:  748

Anyone else still doing a New Year’s purge?  If so, how’s it going?  Any trouble spots?  Successes to celebrate?

De-thinging Thursday 19 February 2009

Last week’s YTD Total # De-thinged:  526

12 February 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one kitchen drawer.”

2 wax-covered towels – rubbish

3 plastic forks – rubbish

2 sets of corn cob holding prong thingies – thrift store

1 vegetable peeler – thrift store

3 beginning baby feeding thingies – storage

Daily count:  8 things leaving my house

13 February 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one kitchen drawer.”

The Drawer of the Day didn’t really have much, just 4 wrinkled paper napkins (relegated to the craft shelf) and a tiny hot-pad holder I bought from adorable little girls selling them at the market (added to JumbleSon’s play kitchen).  Thankfully, Friday was saved by

Bonus: Weekly frig maintenance.

2 food-stuffs – rubbish

1 bowl of leftovers – eaten

1 bowl of leftovers – given to Angeliki

Daily count:  4

14 February 2009

Calendar says, “Clean out the freezer.”

7 freezer burn victims – rubbish

10 bags/containers of veggie snips & snails – converted into yummy vegetable broth and returned to freezer (note: no snails were harmed in the making of this broth)

Daily count: 7 items leaving my home

15 February 2009

Calendar says, “What are you feeling?”

Ummm, well?  Lots of things, but I suppose I should keep it on-topic.  So about this de-thinging process?  Really good (so long as I don’t think of the dread Closet of Doom).

16 February 2009

Calendar says, “Go through towels and turn ratty ones into rags.”

We did this last move and, surprisingly, we have only 1 that is rag-worthy.  However, our rag back overfloweth already, so this one’s for the rubbish bin.  I also wondered around and grabbed a few more things…

1 rag – rubbish

1 dry-erase board (permanently stained with orange marker) – rubbish

1 granny-esque crystal bowl with tiny chip – thrift store

Daily count:  3

17 February 2009

Calendar says, “Discard old medication in medicine cabinet.”

The date-checking revealed nothing – nada. Must have taken care of that during my bathroom purge.   So, I scanned the house looking for a spot in need of de-cluttering and chose the corner full of shrink-wrap (used to bundle our firewood – please no flames…I know it’s hideous that we buy firewood wrapped in plastic and then leave it wadded up in a corner right next to the fireplace – please don’t call the fire marshal, this is just where we are right now).

2 bags of plastic wrap – rubbish

Daily count: 2

18 February 2009

Calendar says, “Put office supplies not needed at the moment on a shelf out of the way.”

Now, how is this helpful in my de-cluttering process??  Just shuffling stuff.  That’s my special skill that got me into this mess to begin with!

So, what shall it be today?  I’m scanning ahead in the calendar (even though I fear getting off track)…I don’t think there’s going to be much progress made if I stick with it over the next few weeks.  So, I either move to the Dread Closet of Doom, or finish off the kitchen as it’s very close to being move-ready!  You know which one I’m going to choose…the kitchen!

1 crystal candlestick w/out a match – thrift store

1 shot glass – thrift store

1 vase w/crack – rubbish

4 wine glasses – given to Molly

1 grocery bag full of ~20 recycled baking/food containers (for play kitchen) – recycled/rubbish

2 olive oil tins – rubbish

Daily count: 29

Weekly count: 53

YTD Total #De-Thinged: 579

I hereby proclaim the kitchen De-Thinged and Ready to Pack!

This calls for a celebratory package or two!  Look what came in the post for me today:

Buttons generously gifted from Krispycheks at Nom!Nom!Nom!  Are these little ones adorable, or what??  I think I’ll always wear them together because Noms should always come in triplicate

And the rest of my Valentine from JumbleLove arrived – Ocean Rain soap and perfume from Copper Cauldron, and the most beautiful, romantic poem. {sigh}

I said that I wouldn’t bring any non-essentials into the house until the decluttering was over, but I never said that others couldn’t fill my heart and home with all they want! 

Oh, and I confess that I did break my Thing Fast today by getting a webcam/microphone off of freecycle so that we can see each other when we call JumbleSpouse from Seattle (if the deal goes through…today it’s on shakey ground.  Should know more tomorrow.  Thanks again for all your good wishes!)

De-Thinging Thursday and a Winner! 5 February 2009

Picking a Winner

Thanks to everyone for entering the Vegemite giveaway!  It brought be great happiness to see all of your names on the little slips of paper in the basket.  JumbleSon chose

SHELLYFISH

Congratulations!!  And as a special thank you to all of you for playing along (and enduring my decluttering drama) , I give you this charming vegemite commercial.  May your cheeks be rosier for your vegemite experience, Shellyfish!

Now, if you’re still with me, let’s get to business…I promise to make it worth your while today {insert wicked grin smilie}.

Last week’s YTD de-thinged total:  430

29 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one entertainment center cubby.”

Pressing on with the pantry today.  3 more shelves to go…

5 old food stuffs – rubbish

3 unopened packages of non-perishables – freecycled

Daily count:  8

30 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one entertainment center cubby.”

Eeee-Gads!  This entertainment center thing is going on forever.  Thankfully, I have a crazy pantry to match.

5 pantry shelf #4 things – rubbish

I think I’m going to clean out the frig weekly.  I have issues with leftovers.  Mainly, if they’re in the frig for more than 2 days, they aren’t eaten.  I really hat tossing food, but I always hope I’ll get over my leftover phobia, so keep them just in case.  But, let’s face it.  My neurosis isn’t going away.  And, if JumbleSpouse (who, thankfully does not have an issue with leftovers) hasn’t eaten them by Friday, it’s game over.  So, to the frig…

1 bunch spring onions – given to Angeliki

5 old yuckies – rubbish

I’ve also managed to break/severely chip several kitchen items this week (yeah!  less to move)

3 bowls – rubbish

1 cup – rubbish

Daily count:  15

31 January 2009

Pantry finale

Calendar says, “Declutter one entertainment center cubby.”

Just out of curiosity, how many cubbyholes are in your entertainment center??  Last day in the pantry for me…

5 old food stuffs – rubbish

Daily Count:  5

1 February 2009

Calendar says, “Stop for 5 minutes.”

Done!  Aaaah, a day off

2 February 2009

Calendar says, “Give away unused sport equipment.”

We’re not really “sports equipment” users.  We do have camping gear, but will not part with it.  So, I guess the only thing left is to dig into my closet again and see what kind of running gear I can part with…

2 pairs of pants – Hospice Thrift Store

Daily count:  2

3 February 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter a shelf in the hall closet.”

20 CD’s – posted for sale on Amazon/donating to charity thrift shop

1 CD – given to Molly

2 broken CDs – rubbish

1 broken CD case – rubbish

1 DVD & 1 CD – returned/given to Angeliki

Other random finds:

1 pair of holey socks – rubbish

another rotting mini pumpkin – rubbish

1 glass vase w/minor chips – Hospice Thrift Store

Daily count:  29

4 February 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter a shelf in the hall closet.”

I don’t think I was ruthless enough on the CD shelf yesterday.  After all, BonJovi’s Slippery When Wet is still there.  So I’m back at it again today.

8 CD’s – for selling/donating (I had 15 out, but JumbleSpouse wasn’t agreeable to all my picks…I’m not telling if Bon Jovi stayed or left, but I will say that I still feel very betrayed over their country conversion.)

Daily count:  8

Weekly count:  67

Total YTD # De-thinged:  497

De-Thinging Thursday and Giveaway! 29 January 2009

Last week’s YTD total # de-thinged: 343

22 January 2009

Calendar says,“Bring most of your books, papers and magazines into another room.”

Hmmm…well, presumably we’re still in the bedroom.  As I mentioned last week, the bedroom is also part- library, so most of those books will be staying put.  However, I’ll take this opportunity to go through more shelves and see if we can’t find more to sell/donate…

2 books – Hospice Thrift Store

1 DVD – returned to Shanti

Daily count:  3 (what can I say, it’s really hard to part with books!)

23 January 2009

Calendar says, “Get rid of unmatched socks.”

11 orphans – rubbish

1 rotting mini pumpkin (not in sock drawer, Shanti ) – rubbish

Daily count:  12

24 January 2009

Calendar says, “Take all kids toys out of master bedroom.”

The “master bedroom” is JumbleSon’s room too.  So, while there are a few toys/books in there, they can stay as they’re pre-sleep helpers.

Nightmare frig before

So, with beer in hand, Joe Jackson singing that famous question in the background, spicy chick-wheat savory muffins in the oven and the male Jumbles at the park, I dive into the frig.  It’s about time, wouldn’t you say??  This deserves its own trash bag!

Organization is a huge issue in my frig.  I do a lot of gluten-free baking for Angeliki.  The best way to store the flours and such is in the frig.  I don’t have enough air-tight glass containers for everything, so most are still in their plastic package.  Since I’ve also been lazy (big

Gluten-free drawer

surprise) about keeping everything tightly closed, there’s a powdery mess over everything.  I’ll do better from now on, I promise.  For starters, I’ll convert the vegetable crisper into a gluten-free drawer.  All the bags will be carefully closed with rubber bands.  And, to top it off…I’ll alphabetize the lot.  Aaaaah!  My inner librarian is feeling sooo much better.

38!! old, gross, out of date food-stuffs – rubbish

3 frig things – to Angeliki

Daily count:  41

The frig is looking fab-o!

Spacious frig after

25 January 2009

Calendar says, “Go on a hike and reflect about your life.”

The high today is supposed to be 32F/0C and it’s snowing.  I’ll stay in and do my reflecting, thanks .  I break will be nice after yesterday’s madness.  I’m still freaked out every time I open the frig.  What??  Nothing falling out when I open the door?  Freaky!

26 January 2009

Calendar says, “What is the purpose of your living/family room?”

Another lazy day of musing about my space…ahhh, a sloth’s dream.  Well, it’s our everything room right now…office, dining, music, media, school, library, craft, cuddle and play room.  Such is the life in a small condo.  But, we do our best to keep it as open and clutter-minimalized as possible (yes that’s a printer on the dining room table/desk).

Open living room

27 January 2009

Calendar says, “Clear off the top of the entertainment center.”

Scary pantry before

Since we don’t have one, I’m back in the kitchen.  This time working on the pantry.  Today I tackled the top shelf.  Lots of consolidating of half opened/nearly used up things.  Plus…

14 items – rubbish/recycling

28 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one entertainment center cubby.”

Today is shelf #2 of the pantry…

Partial pantry after

13 things – rubbish/recycled

4 things – given to Angeliki and Shanti

Daily count:  17

Weekly count:  87

YTD Total # De-Thinged:  430

Now, you may have noticed in my “after” pantry picture that there were a fair number of bright yellow tubes on the top shelf.  My sweet MIL has kept us well stocked with vegemite.  Perhaps, a little too well stocked.  We currently have enough to last us until 2012.  So, I’d love to offer you, my faithful readers, the chance to win a taste of Australia!

Just comment below and let me know if you’d like to enter by 9pm next Wednesday (4 February) and I’ll announce the randomly picked winner on De-Thinging Thursday February 5th.  I’ll mail one of these cheery tubes of B-vitamin-packed goodness to the lucky winner anywhere in the Universe.  So, don’t be shy.  Admit you’ve wanted a vegemite sandwich since Men at Work first sang it into your consciousness…

De-Thinging Thursday 22 January 2009

Last week’s total (ytd):  205

For the most part I’m really happy with the daily decluttering calendar.

I know it’s slow going some days, but it is really helping me stay focused without getting so overwhelmed that I give up.  One tiny task at a time.  That’s the only way I’ll get through this house!

The only thing I wish was different, is I’d love to stay in one room and get it cleared before moving on to another.  I know I could forge my own path here, but the risk that I’d permanently lose my way is too great.  So, for now, I’ll continue jumping from room to room and hope that eventually everything will get covered.

15 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one bathroom drawer or shelf.”

I really only have one more shelf to tackle in the bathroom, so I’m saving that for tomorrow.  In the meantime, I continue my efforts to remove all items from our home that do not belong to us…

3 books/DVDs – mailed to owners

1 huge pile of holiday cards – mailed to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Daily count:  4

16 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one bathroom drawer or shelf.”

Last bathroom day – hurray!  I’m happy to report that at this moment, I could ask movers to come in and simply box up everything in the bathroom and take it to the moving van (not that I will be so lucky as to have movers, but it’s fun to day-dream about – which reminds me, must go get quotes on our moving options!!  yippee!!).

1 small bin of ~7 things – rubbish

1 electric razor – Hospice Thrift Store

Daily count:  8

17 January 2009

Calendar says, “Keep a desknote book on your desk so no more sticky notes.”

Wah?  Ok, I’ll go with it.  I have a small calendar that I write stuff in, but I haven’t seen our pile of blank sticky notes in eons (wait, it’s coming…the dread “spare closet de-cluttering”) so it’s not really a temptation.

But, my desk area could use some help, so I’ll work on that today…

1 API Journal – given to Lark

2 Mothering magazines – given to Lark

1 small pile of stuff – rubbish

1 small pile of stuff – recycling

1 baby pouch – Parenting Place

Daily count:  6

18 January 2009

Calendar says, “Practice slowing down today.”

This one made me laugh out loud!  My life is about the slowest it’s ever been.  I’m a total slug.  To celebrate my achievement, I will take a hot bath with a Lush bath bomb that I found during my bathroom clearing.  And, I’ll declutter my corner of JumbleSpouse’s desk…

1 small pile of papers – recycling

1 small pile of stuff – trash

Daily count:  2

19 January 2009

Calendar says, “Picture a serene bedroom.”

I like Feng Shui.  Although I don’t necessarily go for all the styles here, there are some good tips.  Our bedroom always doubles as our library.  One day, I hope to move all those books into an office because all those minds buzzing within the pages do inhibit what little sleep I get!

I wish the calendar author would have stayed in the kitchen a bit longer…I’d like to get the kitchen move-ready (as the bathroom now is).  So, now that I’m done visualizing, I think I’ll work on a few more kitchen shelves…

1 small pile of papers – recycling

2 books – posted to Paperback Book Swap

Daily count:  3

20 January 2009

Calendar says, “15 minute pick up of bedroom.”

1 small pile of dust and stuff – trash/recycling

1 brand new sports cap – eBay

1 baby shirt – returned to owner

10 books – posted for sale

Daily count: 13

21 January 2009

Calendar says, “Take care of a pile of clothes.”

Well, my closet is full of piles of clothes from an earlier de-cluttering binge.  I got as far as making piles to go to Thrift Stores and Consignment Shops, but never managed to get them out of my house.  I’ll see if I can pull it off today…

2 magazines – recycled

Moonbeam inspects the donations

1 box of ~6 pieces of flannel & 2 wool sweaters – given to Shanti for diaper making

7 sweaters – Hospice Thrift Store

1 bunch of ~25 hangers – Hospice Thrift Store

3 pairs of shoes – Hospice Thrift Store

7 skirts – Hospice Thrift Store

6 pairs of pants – Hospice Thrift Store

40 shirts – Hospice Thrift Store

15 accessories – Hospice Thrift Store

Daily count:  113!!  (and I’m not done with that closet yet…so gross that we have this much excess clothing)

Weekly count:  138

YTD Total # De-thinged: 343

P.S.  The swan bowl will be going up for auction on eBay soon!  Thanks for all of your words of wisdom 

De-Thinging Thursday 15 January 2009

Last week’s total:  97

Here we go…

8 January 2009

Calendar says, “Discard Tupperware that is old, cracked or missing parts.”

I don’t have much in this department, but since I was in the “plastic” cabinet anyway, found a few additional items…

3 plastic lids w/out matches – trash

2 Nalgene bottles – Humane Society Thrift Store

4 sippy cups – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 purple (?!?) pumpkin votive – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 bag of ~25 cloth diapers – returned to Shanti for her new baby …hmm, to count as 1 or 25??

Daily Count:  11

9 January 2009

Calendar says, “Go through dish cabinet – anything chipped, ugly or not needed.”

Swan bowl

I knew this day would force me to face my problem.  It’s of the family “heirloom” persuasion.  My grandmother gave me this gem.

What would you do with it?  My neighbor, Molly, sells antiques.  I feel compelled to give it to her and see if we can make some cash off of it.

But, then I feel terrible.  It’s unlikely Grandma will ever visit my home, so she won’t miss it if it’s not displayed on the coffee table we don’t have.

And, I’m sure none of my family members know (or would even care) that I have it.

So, why am I loathe to part with it?  Perhaps because it’s from her – a woman with whom, even as a kid, I was never close; but with whom I feel some tiny shred of affinity (details too tedious to get in to).

She’s not a warm person, so I suppose the fact that she gave me something of her own was the best she could do.  I have other things from her that don’t make me frown when I open the cabinet, so help me out folks…help me step away from the swan!

8 gigantic plates – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 plastic serving platter – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 glass bottle – recycled

1 bag of flour – freecycled

1 hand-blown glass wine bottle – Humane Society Thrift Store

Daily Total:  12

10 January 2009

Calendar says, “How many pots and pans do you need in your home?”

1 small silver-plated platter – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 ratty wooden cutting board – trash

1 pile of dirty, used plastic bags – trash

2 cedar planks – mailed to Lotus

3 skillets – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 olive tray – Humane Society Thrift Store

4 seasonal hot pad holders – Humane Society Thrift Store

Daily Count:  13

11 January 2009

Calendar says, “Make a dream collage out of magazine clippings of what you want.”

Happily, I don’t really have any magazines to use for this project.  So, I thought I’d make a photo collage from flickr (Creative Commons pix).  It has the added bonus of being digital, so no paper to de-clutter later .  Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it a real collage because I couldn’t work out the tricky software, but it makes a fun slideshow anyway.

I couldn’t find a picture of my real dream…a personal home organizer/cleaner to come in daily to keep my home spotless, tidy and oh-so-orderly.

4 book & 1 DVD – returned to library

Daily count:  5

12 January 2009

Calendar says, “Clear off the bathroom counter.”

Sigh.  Well, I guess it’s time to get to removing stains on the pile of kiddo stuffies and clothes that have accumulated on the bathroom counter.   Some items (once clean) will be staying with us, but thankfully some will be moving on…

2 musical stuffed toys – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 handfull of misc items – trash/recycling

2 more cloth diapers – returned to Shanti

Daily count:  5

13 January 2009

Calendar says, “Declutter one bathroom drawer or shelf.”

Bathroom before

Yay!  One of the few areas that I don’t dread working on (even though our bathroom is a mess).

I had to clear three shelves to do one.  Not so bad as most of it went in the rubbish bin.

Treasure Box

The best part about decluttering is rediscovering treasures.  Here’s my box of treasures – jewelry from my Great Grandma, Grandma, Mom, and things that were originally mine like my baby ring, antique gazelle given to me by JumbleSpouse as my marathon talisman, and wedding jewelry .

1 small bin of at least 20 things – rubbish

1 bag of ~ 20 costume hair thingies, bracelets and such – Hospice Thrift Store

1 bag of ~10 pair of earrings – Hospice Thrift Store

1 necklace & 1 bracelet – given to Molly

1 box of ~5 necklaces – Hospice Thrift Shop

Bathroom after

1 baby bear towel – Parenting Place

1 movie – returned to Molly

Daily count:  60!!

14 January 2009

Calendar says, “”Declutter one bathroom drawer or shelf.”

I outdid myself yesterday, so I’m taking it easy today…

2 baby carriers – returned to Babywearing International

Daily count:  2

Weekly Total:  108

YTD: 205

De-Thinging Thursday 8 January 2009

Welcome to De-Thinging Thursday!  Last week was our official kick off and on New Years Day I had de-thinged my home of 34 items.  Here’s what’s been happening this week…

1 January 2009

Calendar says “Declutter decorations before storage”

Easy!  The only Christmas-specific decorations we have are 4 new glass and 1 new wooden ornament on our tree  (all keepers).  There is also a strand of purple beads (formerly a necklace, broken by JumbleSon).  This is to be recycled for crafting. The cardboard star we made a few weeks ago can to into the rubbish bin.  Also, JumbleSon had made a reindeer out of an oatmeal box with his hand prints for antlers.  Mr. Jumble thought it looked scary, so I took off the hand prints, saved one in  his “life archives” (Note to self:  blog about this sometime) and used the other one as a thank you note.  The rest of the “reindeer” was recycled.

Daily Count:  1 1/2 trash + 1 1/2 recycled = 3

Coat closet BEFORE

2 January 2009

Calendar says, “Give away jackets and winter gear”

Our coat closet drives me mad.   Happy to dig in to this today and seriously purge.  There’s more than jackets in our “coat closet”, so I’m going through the lot:

7 jackets – Hospice Thrift Store

Coat Closet AFTER

3 hats – Hospice Thrift Store

2 pairs of gloves – Hospice Thrift Store

2 scarves – Hospice Thrift Store

3 bags/backpacks – Hospice Thrift Store

1 piece of fabric – given to Shanti for diaper making project

1 dust jacket from previously bookswapped book – mailed to recipient

1 gogo Kidz Travelmate – Consignment Shop

Daily Count:  20

3 January 2009

Calendar says, “Go through shoes in entryway.”

1 pair grown up shoes – Hospice Thrift Store

2 pair toddler shoes – Parenting Place

Daily Count:  3

4 January 2009

Calendar says, “What are your goals for your home?”

Hmmm…nothing to declutter today?  Just to think?  How positively luxurious!

Well, I want to live as simply as possible without it feeling burdensome.  By this, I mean that I want us to fully experience abundance, but without all of the clutter and chaos that currently hinders it.

If I know there’s something we need, and I know it is in the house, I want to be able to find it with minimal frustration. If there is something we need, and it is not in the house, I want us to assess whether it’s truly a need, whether we might borrow it or obtain it through 2nd-hand means, or whether it’s something we can forego without undo hardship.

I want only to be surrounded by things we truly love.  Things that bring us joy and connect us with one another, loved ones,  and the natural world.

Cold, austere, and museum-esque, no.  Cozy, warm, functional and clutter-free, yes!

So, onward!  To more de-thinging…

1 hand saw – returned to Angeliki

9 books – returned to library

3 dead balloons – trash

Daily Count:  13

5 January 2009

Calendar says, “Visualize a stream-lined, working kitchen.”

The kitchen is the least of my household worries (ok, well…there is the frig and pantry, but otherwise I’m in lovely shape).  I’d like to get rid of most of the plastic our food and drinks touch, but that doesn’t really have much to do with “stream-lining”.  I really need to cut our grocery budget by 25%, but then I fear snobby serious taste problems.  If I could reduce my time in the kitchen, that wouldn’t hurt either, as I’m trying to find paid work that will take up my precious cooking time.   All of this is to say, that I have bigger issues than my kitchen right now.

I’ll also get a few packages shipped (In addition to clutter, we also amass a shocking number of things that belong to other people.  Sometimes these things move cross-country with us :-p~)

1 backpack – mailed to owner

1 backpacking sleep pad – mailed to owner

3 stuff sacks – mailed to owner

1 mosquito netting/hat – mailed to owner

1 book – mailed to owner

Daily Count:  7

6 January 2009

Calendar says, “Clean and declutter counters on left side (of kitchen).”

There’s not much here (well, except the enormous pile of dirty dishes which I’ll tend to momentarily).  In fact, there’s nothing to declutter.  But, I will clean and clear away the dried grain jars so I can clean under them.  I’ll clean out/off/under the toaster too.  Even stow the vegemite back in the pantry.  Done!

1 book – mailed to owner

1 hand-stamped picture by JumbleSon – given to Molly, our neighbor for whom he created it

3 Smithsonian magazines from 2004 – donated to library

Daily Count:  5

7 January 2009

Calendar says, “Clean and declutter counters on right side (of kitchen).”

Jars of Love

I love my glass jars for storing bulk foods!  That is about the only thing on the left side of my counter (that and our knife block, a lamp because our lighting stinks in there, and our coffee making station).  So, I cleaned and re-arranged the jars, and decluttered just a few things…

contents of 1 jar of almost-empty seaweed seasoning that I don’t like – trash (jar kept for reusing)

1 empty coffee tin – recommissioned for storing craft supplies (does this count as de-cluttering? )

1 jar full of plastic animal-shaped eating utensils – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 rogue Christmas ornament – Humane Society Thrift Store

1 mini-candy cane – consumed

2 DH’s textbooks – returned to University

4 Thomas trains – returned to Angeliki’s DS

Daily Count:  11

Weekly Total:  63

YTD: 97

If decluttering’s your thing in 2009, let me know how you’re doing, k?

Every Day is Boxing Day in 2009! 1 January 2009

When I say “Boxing Day”, I’m not talking about the modern consumerist version, but the ancient spirit of Boxing Day as I understand it – the sharing of treasures.  This just happens to coincide with my need to Zen My Living Space.

Zen My Hearth

So, admittedly, it is a bit self-serving.  But, Simple Living is not the most evil of selfish motives out there.

We’ll be moving in about 6 months and while we came here relatively clutter-free, I haven’t done a lick of maintenance since November 2006.  And we are Dysons of clutter – sucking in mountains of paper, duplicates of things we couldn’t find “at the time” and a shocking number of ignored Things.  These Things will not be moving cross-country.

Of course, I can’t blame the neglect of Things totally on our laziness.  Once JumbleSon arrived, the needs of the ParentalJumbles became very, very few. Take clothing for example…I live in one pair of pants, and about 6 different tops (3 summer, 3 winter).  Why an army of clothes standing at attention, gathering dust in my closet?

Shaker My Closet

So, it is time to reassess – what do we really need, what do we really love, what are we holding on to that can be released each and every day of 2009?

While I would love to purge our home of at least 1000 things between now and the time we leave, my goal has to be manageable.  So, to get a minimum of 1 to 3 things out of my house each day is the plan.  This is easier said than done.

The hardest part is not deciding what to get rid of, but actually getting it off my property. Freecycle, Craigslist, Paperback Book Swap, Charity Thrift Shops, Consignment Stores, Giving to Friends, Dumping it, etc. So many avenues. I wish I could just bring myself to choose one place and truck it all there. But instead I thoughtfully and painstakingly create piles for the various recipients, then get overwhelmed when all the Things that had previously been hidden are now in plain sight as they await removal. It quickly spirals, I lose momentum and my decluttering efforts come to a hault about one week in.

But not this year!  I’ve downloaded the 2009 Decluttering Calendar from My Simpler Life in hopes rigorous following of it will help.

I’ve enlisted support from my dear HalfPintPixie and other MDC Mamas, and I’m sharing my plans with you.  I would love it if you could help keep me accountable each De-Thinging Thursday when I report in.  I won’t give as detailed report each week as I do here, but wanted to give you a snapshot of my strategy (which will hopefully become a bit more refined with the help of my handy dandy decluttering calendar). I still may not be Shaker material by the end, but you can’t blame a girl for trying .

26 December 2008:

Toddler Bed (sold for pennies on Craigslist)

Middlesex (mailed to Paperback Book Swapper)

27 December 2008:

First Years Toddler Chair with Tray (returned to Angeliki so she can pass it on to another Mama in need)

2009 Hawaiian Flowers Calendar (Freecycled)

28 December 2008:

Bedtime for Frances (mailed to Paperback Book Swapper)

29 December 2008:

2 Sunset magazines (given to friend)

2 used cardboard Advent calendars (recycled)

30 December 2008:

3 hand-fulls of misc junk from toy bins (trash)

1 pillow case (Humane Society Thrift Store)

1 children’s Christmas CD (Humane Society Thrift Store)

6 children’s books (Humane Society Thrift Store)

1 set color/shape flash cards (Humane Society Thrift Store)

1 plastic holiday cup (Humane Society Thrift Store)

1 stuffed “reindeer” Snoopy (Humane Society Thrift Store)

4 baby toys (Humane Society Thrift Store)

3 purses (Humane Society Thrift Store)

4 puzzles (Humane Society Thrift Store)

1 rotting pomander (trash)

31 December:

2 puzzles (returned to Shanti)

DE-THINGED to DATE TOTAL:  34

May my trash be transformed into treasures for others.

Happy New Year!!