2015 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[debthaven]

Ombud I hope you feel better soon.

I cleaned out my 2 kitchen junk drawers 2 years ago. I bought cutlery dividers and I've managed to keep them neat since.  

Heisenberg, why the name change?! 

I'm all caught up except for 7 late papers. (Some students joined the class late, others are just late. ) I should get those plus another 16 on Thursday, so I shouldn't have to mark next weekend. 

[Ombud]

I tried but I damaged the hand with stitches trying to get the drawer out. So frustrated

So I made bread pudding out of leftover heels in the freezer

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Well, it sounds like we're all not quite doing what we'd planned to do this weekend! Some is better than others. So sorry, Ombud. I'm excited for you Rukh. 
I' have done nothing. Well, I read a book. That was nice. I've graded the papers. I don't even know what else I was going to do. 
Ugh. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sept 26, 2015 1:02:22 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

For this weekend, we have three events scheduled: DD#2 has dance company pictures on Saturday and Nutcracker auditions on Sunday. DD#1 has a cross country meet on Saturday. Other than that, the household goals are 

• seven loads of laundry  DH did this
• fold laundry  DH did this
• put away laundry
• clean toilets
• mop floors
• clean master bedroom
• paint toenails
• clean purse
• clean work bag
• change out sunflowers
• balance Amex account
• pay bills
• look for Project Graduation documents
• cardio 45 min x 2  went on Sunday but not Saturday
• grocery list 
• grocery shopping (DH has decided he is going to do this today.)
• check on life insurance policy (because I'm suddenly not sure it exists!)
• change the flag
• menus for next week
• change sheets...DH did this
• give Bill the Dog his hearworm/flea/tick meds. 
• pay the girls
• have them pay me
• finish grading papers
• create essay project check-off sheet
• go into my classroom and clean up my desk a bit more and set up a few things for Monday
• hhhmmm...

weeellll, it's a good thing my husband is awesome. 

[jenpen]

Sept 26, 2015 14:57:49 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Sept 26, 2015 14:07:28 GMT -5 plugginaway22 said:

JenPen I have also found it difficult to get back to 'normal' after our fantastic vacation.  We have been back 2 weeks and I still am working on our pictures from the trip.  Also need to do a large 'stock-up' trip at the grocery store, running out of everything. 

I am half-way through the book some of you have mentioned, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (also referred to as Konmari method).
It is very motivating and should get me going!  I can already recommend it.

The change in weather has been great here, beautiful since we returned.

ugh! I couldn't get through the first third of it, I thought it was terrible! It is in the give away pile.

Maybe of use to teenagers, not to people running a household. 

LOL, I found the book pretty painful to read for the most part, and couldn't finish the last 15-20% of it.  (Sorry, no, I am not going to start having conversations with my belongings.)  But the whole organizing by category idea was a valuable takeaway, at least for me.

[jenpen]

Sept 26, 2015 8:24:52 GMT -5 jenpen said:

Still, I've barely been keeping up with the house, and really need to get some serious cleaning done this weekend.  To start with:
 - clean master bath (toilet, sink, mirror, floor)
 - clean half bath
 - launder bedding
 - dust and vacuum bedroom
 - dust and vacuum 1st floor
 - mop kitchen/halfbath/dining room
 - put away stuff 1st floor (dining table, coffee table, kitchen counters) - did half the dining table, one kitchen counter
 
More to come (I hope!) once that all gets done. But first things first...

Sept 27, 2015 21:53:58 GMT -4 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:
Well, it sounds like we're all not quite doing what we'd planned to do this weekend!

Sigh. Sidetrack #1: So I started cleaning up a stack of mail on the dining table. Realized the Staples gift cards I'd ordered using my rewards points from American Express had come.  So I got online to do some shopping for a new computer monitor. I really did NOT want to bring another screen into my home, but I replaced my stolen laptop with a desk top PC, thinking I could use my TV as a monitor, but found that doesn't work well for text.  Found one I wanted, plus a 64GB flash drive and ordered them to pick up at the store the same day. 

Sidetrack #2: I love rainy days.  When I was a kid, if it started raining, you could not keep me inside.  I still love walking in the rain, and get an  overwhelming drive to "nest" on such days. Ever since the flood (now >2 years ago!) I get a little panicked anytime it rains because it's almost always a fast-moving, sometimes violent storm running through and dropping a deluge in a matter of hours.  But this weekend we had 3 days of gentle rain with temps in the 60s and 70s.  Perfect.  I was able to keep all my doors open so I could listen to it, and in my urge to nest, I got obsessed with the idea that I really want a fireplace.  I've actually been wanting to get an electric fireplace for a few years now, and had been looking online again the past few weeks. I still had another $150 in rewards points, and found the fireplace I wanted at Home Depot, but wanted to see it in person so I ended up running up there. LOL, it was too early in the season, and they didn't have them out yet so I didn't get to see it but I did order it later.  And while I was out, I ran a couple other errands, picked up my monitor, then did my grocery shopping (which should have been on my to-do list).  Oh, and while ordering the fireplace later, I decided I needed to get a WoodWick candle to go with it -- one that crackles and smells like a "bonfire".  More "shopping" online. Yeah.  I never got back to any house cleaning. 

Sidetrack #3: Sunday. Still raining, still cool.  Finished a book I've been reading for weeks, borrowed some new ebooks from the library on my kindle, watched a couple movies. Re-arranged furniture in my living room, which led me to take one lamp upstairs to the "guest room".  While up there, pulled out a bunch of artwork that I'd been planning to get framed right before my house got flooded and it all got packed away in that room.  Brought it all downstairs, since I had a stack of things already that need to be re-hung down here.  Wow. I have things I got as much as 8 years ago that i'd completely forgotten about -- a painting I got in Belize, a print by an Inuit artist that I got from a gallery in Alaska, a couple prints I bought at a gallery in Charleston.  What a shame that it's all been packed away and not being enjoyed for years!

In the end, it was a wonderful, restful weekend, and I don't regret one moment of it, even if my floors are still filthy!  

ETA: That said, chloe, if you ever want to loan your wonderful husband out, please give me first dibs on him!!!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sept 25, 2015 8:15:53 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

The stuff I got done last night didn't do much for decluttering but did get me and the kids fed, homework done and both kids bathed.  Emptied dishwasher (ran a couple of days ago) this morning and got towels into the dryer, finally.

This weekend's tasks:
1. 'normal' stuff - laundry, grocery shopping and quick cleaning of the bathrooms and kitchen.
2. banking
3. hope for clear skies to watch the lunar eclipse Sat. night.
4. have kids make cards for MIL's b-day
5. talk to DH about MIL's gift and either go buy it or have him do it.
6. get card for DN#6's Confirmation on Sunday.  Gift is check so nothing to do there.
7. mow lawn?
8. try to get DD to gym for open swim/pool play.  DS got his turn last week but she didn't want to stop playing with her friends to go
9. watch Packers play football on Sunday. 
10. Still want to buy and plant bulbs for next year. 

I was wrong on the night of the eclipse and the Packer game    Game is tonight so I can fold laundry during it. 

Last night, in between going outside to check on the moon, I started clearing stuff in the living room.  Made a slight amount of progress. Also got the crock pot done for tonight's dinner.  DH just called for additional instructions on how to set it up.  We also got DD's book report done and DH and I are in agreement on how to handle the assigned reading/future book reports.  We feel that she needs to read 5 times a week, for 15 minutes each time.  And starting in Oct. her level is assigned 3 book reports per month (they're 1 page things, not horrible overall) and we're going to have her do 1 book report per weekend.  Neither of us want to be pounding though three of these the weekend/night before they're due. 

Tonight to mostly dealing with kid stuff:
1. soccer from 430-530.
2. need to find permission slip for DS for apple picking and fill out. 
3. call to book waterpark.
4. do paperwork for Oct. 9th.
5. need to talk to Mom about babysitting 1 day Thanksgiving week.  School decided to give kids the entire week of Thanksgiving off.    And I need to line up child care for at least 1 day.  I'm thinking about taking 2 days off and doing the Shedd Aquarium then. 
6. evaluate vacation time usage for rest of year and determine if I'm dipping into banked time.  Would prefer not to do that but I think it's either that or borrow from next year and I'd rather not do that either.  So I need to take a good hard look. 
7. get my dental appts. in my work calendar. 
8. find paperwork for parent-teacher conferences and get that in calendar too. 

[busymom]

My relative is back in the hospital, so since Mom is gone, now I'm the one-and-only contact. Sooo, since DS is still sick, & I didn't want him to share his cold/virus, I spent time on the telephone talking with doctors & nurses trying to find out how he's doing. At least he's stable for now.

I woke up before I needed to this morning, so I've already been doing some cleaning. Tomorrow I meet the electrician at Mom's house to replace some outside lighting. I'm also going to have him check out some of the indoor lighting as long as he's there.

Besides cleaning, I need to get errands done today. Amazing how if ignored, that errand list gets longer!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sept 28, 2015 7:34:15 GMT -5 @tbird said:

You've got so much on your plate busy! Keep breathing!

But you keep breathing too Rukh - your plate's full too! 

[whoisjohngalt]

So.........................I've decided to stop waiting for the whole weight loss thing and started de-cluttering my closet.  Over 100 items of clothing and about 10 purses were taken out and my closet doesn't look ANY different at all.  Oh and this is not even the closet where I keep my shoes.

I would probably have a stroke if I added up the $$$ I spent on all that stuff.   And don't even remind me what would have happen if I used Phil's calculator.

[debthaven]

Yes Ombud, be careful!

Jenpen, you DID get stuff done! Last year DH and I finally framed some artwork that had been hanging around for years. We had spent years looking for ready-made frames in the right sizes, but couldn't find any. In the end we got a few frames "custom cut": they store cut the wood and the glass to order. Then DH built the frames, and framed the artwork. It was very reasonable doing it that way ... much cheaper than we had imagined (except for one piece that was too big for a wooden frame ... the metal frame was more expensive.)   

I taught from 8 to 4, then rushed to DS3's school for another parent-teacher meeting. I got home at 8.15 and stopped at the take-out pizza place around the corner (2 for the price of 1 if you pick it up yourself). Emptied the dishwasher and did a load of laundry.

[jenpen]

Well, yes, I did get some stuff done.  Not what I planned or hoped, but I'm totally okay with that.  I think I was was mostly burnt out from the 900 mile drive the previous weekend.  Only bad thing this weekend was it felt so spendy.  But with my Amex rewards, I got a $200 monitor, $200 fireplace/heater, and $30 flash drive all for ~$80.   The flash drive I've been needing to back-up my new computer, on which I've spent so many hours rebuilding my 10 years of Quicken history. (And updating Quicken has taken so long because of not having a monitor that I can actually read text on .)  The Fireplace is about the cheapest one made -- I'm sure it's going to look pretty fake/cheesy, but electric is my only option here and the one I got is small enough that I can move it around downstairs as needed, and if it's too ugly, I can move it upstairs to my bedroom. It has a remote control, so I could start it up on those winter mornings when it's too flippin' cold to get out of bed and turn the furnace on. That would be lovely.

debthaven, THANK YOU for reminding me! There are a few online shops that will prep all the framing materials for you, then let you do it yourself.  I'm not sure if it's much less expensive, but definitely worth checking out if I can find the links/references to them again.

Okay, I know this isn't YM, but I did want to clarify: I use my AmEx for everything that I can.  I budget a certain amount in my cashflow spreadsheet for what I expect to put on it every 2 weeks, and I pay off the balance every 2 weeks on payday.  Just sayin'.

So, a little bit more progress this evening:
- clean master bath (toilet, sink, mirror, floor)
- clean half bath
- launder bedding
- dust and vacuum bedroom
- dust and vacuum 1st floor
- mop kitchen/halfbath/dining room
- put away stuff 1st floor (dining table, coffee table, kitchen counters) - did half the dining table, one kitchen counter

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sept 28, 2015 7:19:03 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Sept 25, 2015 8:15:53 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

The stuff I got done last night didn't do much for decluttering but did get me and the kids fed, homework done and both kids bathed.  Emptied dishwasher (ran a couple of days ago) this morning and got towels into the dryer, finally.

This weekend's tasks:
1. 'normal' stuff - laundry, grocery shopping and quick cleaning of the bathrooms and kitchen.
2. banking
3. hope for clear skies to watch the lunar eclipse Sat. night.
4. have kids make cards for MIL's b-day
5. talk to DH about MIL's gift and either go buy it or have him do it.
6. get card for DN#6's Confirmation on Sunday.  Gift is check so nothing to do there.
7. mow lawn?
8. try to get DD to gym for open swim/pool play.  DS got his turn last week but she didn't want to stop playing with her friends to go
9. watch Packers play football on Sunday. 
10. Still want to buy and plant bulbs for next year. 

I was wrong on the night of the eclipse and the Packer game    Game is tonight so I can fold laundry during it. 

Last night, in between going outside to check on the moon, I started clearing stuff in the living room.  Made a slight amount of progress. Also got the crock pot done for tonight's dinner.  DH just called for additional instructions on how to set it up.  We also got DD's book report done and DH and I are in agreement on how to handle the assigned reading/future book reports.  We feel that she needs to read 5 times a week, for 15 minutes each time.  And starting in Oct. her level is assigned 3 book reports per month (they're 1 page things, not horrible overall) and we're going to have her do 1 book report per weekend.  Neither of us want to be pounding though three of these the weekend/night before they're due. 

Tonight to mostly dealing with kid stuff:
1. soccer from 430-530.
2. need to find permission slip for DS for apple picking and fill out. 
3. call to book waterpark.
4. do paperwork for Oct. 9th.
5. need to talk to Mom about babysitting 1 day Thanksgiving week.  School decided to give kids the entire week of Thanksgiving off.    And I need to line up child care for at least 1 day.  I'm thinking about taking 2 days off and doing the Shedd Aquarium then. 
6. evaluate vacation time usage for rest of year and determine if I'm dipping into banked time.  Would prefer not to do that but I think it's either that or borrow from next year and I'd rather not do that either.  So I need to take a good hard look. 
7. get my dental appts. in my work calendar. 
8. find paperwork for parent-teacher conferences and get that in calendar too. 

Nothing got done last night.  I've got that congestion bug that's going around.  I just want to sleep for a week or so.  I'm at work now but I'm not sure I'm going to stay here. 

DH did load and run the dishwasher last night and the kids wanted hot lunch today.  I think I'll be making lunches for DD the rest of the week but DS seems interested in the hot lunches. 

Got a couple of them done here at work. 

[jenpen]

Hope you feel better soon, Wisconsin Beth !

[Wisconsin Beth]

Thanks Jenpen. 

[Deleted]

I haven't done a THING in my house for weeks.  We are really struggling to get into the swing of all the back to school stuff and activities.  Usually we're not home until late...as in younger son needs to go to bed immediately.  I'll shower and collapse and not even make it through one TV show before zonking out on the couch.  Then I'll wake up at 3am with Netflix asking me if I'm really still watching. 

[debthaven]

Beth I hope you feel better soon!

Wednesday
- Shitepile!!!  Tues
- write down MSc paper marks (X3)
- work out oral marks (X4)
- send bill for translation
- supermarket
- bottle bank
- go to pharmacy
- call about DS3's Fr day

I'm looking forward to a quiet day to "catch up" on school and errands tomorrow.

ETA: I finished Shitepile, yay! One less thing to do tomorrow!

[busymom]

You Kids are ALL working hard again. And yes, that includes all parents dealing with "back to school" stuff!

I'm so impressed that the electrician got EVERYTHING done today, & I still made it home in time to pick up DS from school.  The only annoying thing is I had some stuff to drop off at the local "hazardous waste site"  (you know, they accept old paint & stuff), & they were CLOSED today.  I mean, who closes up shop on a weekday?  Oh well, I'll just have to sit on the stuff for a couple of days until I can coordinate with their schedule. 

Tomorrow night the nursing home that Mom used to live at has a quarterly "remembrance service", so since Mom passed since the last one, I'll be expected to attend.  It doesn't seem possible that she's been gone over 2 months now...

[debthaven]

Aww Busy I hope it's not to hard to go back to her nursing home. 

[busymom]

Thanks debthaven! 

Actually, I've been back a couple of times since losing Mom to drop off clothing & hangers, which the residents there can use.  But, I haven't seen the Chaplain who works there since Mom passed, & he was always so sweet to her.  That'll be what's hard for me.

[debthaven]

Remember how I said I wasn't going to do the play this year, because DS3 is doing his Baccalaureat? Well for once they are doing an American play instead of the usual British play. The director asked me to audition for a major role, so I did.

I got the part. 

ETA: DH got the part he auditioned for too (he doesn't have the right accent but there are fewer men and DH is VERY VERY good.) It's a MUCH smaller cast this year, and we're both in it. 

Unfortunately our dress rehearsal is DS3's 18th birthday. We both asked him about it before we accepted the roles, he was totally fine with it. But we need to find a way to celebrate (on the day) anyway, and I will to ask his best friends' parents if they can have him over for dinner and maybe to sleep over that night. I feel very very badly about the timing, but at the same time, it's an irresistible opportunity. 

[Sharon]

I have painted my main bathroom and done some changing of the decor.  It still needs some new things for the wall but it will happen with time.  I would also like to switch out the light fixture but again, with time. 

Tonight I went through the shite pile and got things sorted, filed, shredded as necessary.  I also activated a couple of credit cards, the new chip ones are arriving, and removed DD as an authorized user off of one.  I had forgotten that I had added her to that account several years ago.  It was a gas credit card in case she needed gas in the car while away at college (so maybe she could come home and visit ).

I am still also slowly working on getting ready for fall.  This sprinkler system has been turned off and drained.  All the lawn chairs have been put away but one.  Some of the planters have been dumped and put away until next year.  There are still several things left to do but the weather is still a little too nice yet.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Congrats, debt!

Hugs, busy! I hope they tell you wonderful stories about your mom. 


We're being minimally productive. We are barely maintaining our house and not doing anything else. Each girl child has been sick with a nasty head cold. But, of course offsetting days. Now, I've a sore throat. I have 15 days of volleyball left, and then my life will be significantly easier. Volleyball is taking up about 10 - 15 hours per week. It was enjoyable, but then we had a cranky practice day and goodness the parents went berserk. It'll all be over soon... 

[snapdragon]

I went up into the attic last night. Man it was warm up there. I got a few things down and have tossed some stuff. Not lots but just enough to make me feel kinda useless in that I need someone else to assist me on getting things down. I almost knocked over the ladder a few times and blocked some of the rungs when tossing stuff and removing things. I am no longer as nimble or flexible as I used to be so that would have been really bad and sad.

Three of the things I brought down was my paints and watercolors. I want & feel the need to get creative again so all I need to do is buy some paper and play.  Things might not work out but I have great photos that I have taken and some good / interesting artwork from highschool.  

Everyone gets a hug.

Keep the forward motion going.

[debthaven]

Be careful Snapdragon!

I finished my Wed list, did a load of laundry, ran the dishwasher. As soon as I finished everything another translation came in.   Thankfully this one is much shorter than the last one (800 words instead of 2400). 

[busymom]

Hiya Kids! Well, I survived the service of remembrance, & as I mentioned on another thread, was surprised by how many residents had passed over the last 3 months. I was tempted to stop by Mom's old room to say "Hi!" to her old roommate, but decided it would be too hard seeing someone else in Mom's old bed. But, the Chaplain did a very nice job!

Tomorrow I've got a second appointment with the attorney. There's paperwork to sign to get things started, & I've got a couple more questions for him.

After that, I've got to contact the floor refinishing place, to see how far ahead they're scheduling work. I'm thinking I'll have to get a moving company I know to get the last of the stuff out of the house before the floor work begins. My poor garage!

[Wisconsin Beth]

I left work on Tuesday with this bug that's going round - stayed home on Wed. too.  I did get a couple more things done but not much.  And of course I slept like crap last night so I'm dragging this morning. 

[busymom]

Hiya Kids! Just breezing in. It's been a very full day, but I feel like I'm getting things accomplished.

First, the attorney meeting went well. We've got 2 possible timelines on how things may go with the estate. I like it, because it gives me a "best" scenario, & a "worst" one, & that helps me to plan things. Like selling Mom's house.

I've got an appointment with the floor refinisher for next Tuesday so he can see what he's getting himself into, then we'll try to schedule the actual work for the week after next, when there is no school, so if they run late, I don't have to worry about DS.  I'm waiting for a callback from the painter, as there's a few more small projects to be done.  Figuring on a worst case scenario, the house will probably go up for sale in February, as the legal paperwork transferring title should be completed by then.

[plugginaway22]

Rukh that photo makes me crazy! Wonder what it looked like before?

[debthaven]

My life has become "marking central". I got 20 more papers yesterday. If I do them today I won't have to do them this weekend.

Mon/Tues I will get 60 Grammar Tests. The following Monday I will get 60 (long) midterms.

So I'm just trying to keep up with the house / kitchen / laundry and the marking.

Rukh that's what our counters would look like if DH had his way! But I'm here, so they don't.