November Clutter Control

[Harriet]

Nancy, I wonder if you and dh have been a good example for neighbors.

Another tall-kitchen-garbage-bag off to the trash cans from my parents' spare room today. So I know about 4 square feet has been freed up today whether it looks like it in there or not. I have lately found it easier to work there. In the dining area progress has ground to a halt. Perhaps space freed in spare room can translate into storage for dining area impossibilities.

Getting into old Christmas items now - a good time for it. A very few are "making the cut" to be dovetailed into my own Christmas things. Wonderfully quaint tags and stickers, a bird ornament. I found my grandmother's favorite pin cushion worse for wear BUT see clearly how I can renew it and enjoy using it again. Found wooden spools I will keep.

[Nancy]

I'll just have lights on the smaller pre-lit trees this year
so I de-cluttered the other lights and decorations
this past summer. Put the sentimental stuff in a bin
on a high shelf for kids and grandkids.
I can't believe how good it feels to make progress like this.

[Harriet]

Another tall kitchen garbage bag out today as well, plus several more things into donation bags, so have been keeping up with momentum. But the tossables and donate-ables in the spare room are even growing thin now and progress is slowing down there, too. I've noticed I'm finding more single items that I'm having to pluck with considerable thought from all around the room now, rather than a lot of easy decisions on one shelf, etc. Needing extra baggies as I find tiny things to gather together to save, like buttons. But one entire corner of the room has not been reached. Looks like awkward heavy things.

I think I do this intense decluttering partially as a shield against some of the difficulty I have caring for my parents. It is really like a reward when I get them settled for a meal and both are pretty content with whatever I've prepared and just enjoying each other's company. For a while I can go and do something opposite, make change happen.

[Harriet]

Need to "get it in print" that I took one more tall-kitchen-garbage-sized bags out of my parents' spare room on Friday. Then I quit decluttering for the month to take care of houseguests and because I got kinda sneezy from some of the dust I got into, I think. Also, there is NO more room in our 2 garbage cans! (I have been industrious!)

[Nancy]

Way to go Harriet!
Two garbage cans is excellent progress!

I have to think about the 'tea plates and cups" may use them with the grand daughters.
China could really go if I had my way b/c they are not microwavable but they were my sisters;
I have other sets of dishes that are able to be nuked.
So for now I'm going to just pack them away. ~sigh~ At least I have room.

It's looking better here now. I had a spot for the trays upstairs and the pantry is such a joy now to use after decluttering it last week it really needed it! I'm SO grateful I have the energy to do this now! Yea!

Recycling gets me in trouble I think we'll take it in but never do and it's just trash so I've been
more faithful about tossing stuff and not using paper plates and plastic forks is my new way of
going green. Until we get curbside recycling I'm going to pause with that. Except for a few
containers for my sharps.

[Harriet]

Nice to hear about your JOYOUS pantry, Nancy!! That's great.

Just saw the commercial (for the first time, somehow) for the premier of Hoarders on A & E tonight. I may be disappointed in their season focus, because this was filmed like a nightmare or horror ad, with a man trapped in a dark maze. So I guess so far it looks like they are heading in the wrong direction for me. I think it could really be a great program and a worthwhile hour if they would focus on the hope of cleaning clutter away, rather than just offering voyeurism (sp?) of looking at sick people's sadness.

Anyway, will give it a chance. HRH, dd and I will watch together - we've been planning it, actually, which sounds silly. But HRH has a long day and then a conference call tonight at 7:30 and then will need to wind down with us and put feet up a while.

Today going through the guest bedroom's closet at my parents' I stumbled upon enough wrapping paper to almost manage Christmas this year. Wish dd29 and I had found that before she bought a huge roll at Walmart to wrap her 5 gifts for the children's exchange at her late dad's family's gathering (which she has to leave with me to take). I had assumed it was for her household but after they had gone I realized they left it behind so now I have to store it myself. Sigh. No more wrapping paper, people! (My tips, however, for rolls are to use either a golf club box or floral (dozen roses type) box, and then the rolls can be placed under a bed without damage, contained.)