November Appointments for Declutter and Organization

[Ivy]

I decluttered my pharmacy medications lists, drug information, and old stuff from medications no longer used by me on account of gastritis and allergy symptoms. I rubber-banded the pharmacy envelopes, the order forms, and receipts. It's much more organized and looks a lot better without such an out-of-hand "wild" stack of haphazard papers on my cabinet shelf up higher on the 2nd shelf.

[Ivy]

Threw out 13 pads, don't "need" them now, threw out leftovers, threw out junk mail, with our address going to the burn bag.

Tidied up the master bathroom drawers. (I've made more room for some hair scrunchies I'm going to crochet.)

[Harriet]

I wrote out a "Clothing Organization and Clean-up" checklist for dd15, with 11 chores. She is rapidly going from bewilderment status to fully-messed-up status in her room again, and it's all because of clothes. She needs exact directions to break out of this paralyzing situation, really.

One thing that happens is that she thinks she has an outfit set out for the next morning, puts it on and realizes there's some reason she can't wear it. Sometimes she has forgotten something about her sports class requiring difficult changing, or particular clothes. Sometimes she finds something's not fitting well or she didn't realize how cold/rainy it was. Sometimes she is just filled with teenaged angst and frantic that she doesn't look good in her clothes, so she changes 3 times!

Anyway, it only takes a week like that, with the school bell threatening, and her room looks like a hurricane went through it, with clothes tossed. Every evening she thinks there is no time, worried that if she gives time to her room she won't get homework done, or hair washed, etc. She seldom gets shoes back on shelves. She has a set of small drawers that are easy to pull out and look through, which is fine, except they will be lying around, socks or underwear draped over the sides.

Sigh.



So she is getting this checklist today, with items like, "Clear closet floor so you can move in there." ( LOL! ) As long as she has it done by the end of the weekend, I'm happy, so maybe she won't find it too depressing! I only want her to start off each week with the best shot she can at an organized life. I don't want her getting used to a disappointing or anxiety-producing room. It needs to stay cheerful.

Btw, went by the Goodwill and did not purchase anything.

[Ivy]

I read 2 women's magazines, tore out 1-page articles of interest to DD, and purged the magazines of their clutter to go out in recycle.

I read a 2" thick file, put it back into the filing cabinet, threw away a few items from the file, and now have less clutter on my end table in the great room.

[Ivy]

I took a large mug out of the basket with DH's stuffed things in, which is his idea of filing! I took out the digital camera, too. Now there's room for the remaining envelopes, papers, booklets, and stamps. It looks so tidy, so much better, and I guess it takes a woman's touch to a DH's JUNK, to make things look decent again. Am trying to gain orderliness to the kitchen, dining room, and great room area, earlier than later, in preparation for DD coming for Thanksgiving.

I also cleaned off the dining room table, re-arranged Thanksgiving decor on the eating bar, so put my list pads and index cards, for routines and "to do" lists, over by my corner of where I record carbs, meds, fluids, and exercise, which are on 2 steno pads. So the list pads, the routine cards, are all off the eating bar, in a quick-to-find and see place for me, which are out of the way of foods on Thanksgiving Day, too.

I washed towels today, too: light ones first and dark ones second. It's nice to be caught up on the laundry. Might do dark clothes tomorrow if I get enough for a load. If not, I'll take the day off from laundry again.

Our power keeps going off, so I'm typing as fast as I can before it goes out again. 3 times so far since later afternoon.

[Nancy]

Harriet lol that reminds me of the "Blaze a trail Card" for dson in jr. Hi. & hs. Yrs. We sort of did a game with it during tv commercials I would say for example round up laundry, or pick up shoes. In the span of an evening it was tolerable again.

I took out a feed sack with trash glad to get that out of here.

[ellyphant]

A set of placemats and 5 assorted trinkets out of here! Will donate them today and also drop off recycling.

[Ivy]

Decluttered junk mail, magazines, and catalogs on Saturday. Today, I've decluttered "stinkin' thinkin'".

[Nancy]

I am using boxes cut apart for a win break in the chicken run. It is good to repurpose these and get them out of the house.

[Ivy]

I decluttered 3 books, by sending them home with DD and sent her with turkey dinner leftovers and dessert, too.