2016 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[busymom]

Not much progress to report.  But, I will declare victory on getting the Social Security office to answer their telephone after sitting on hold for a LONG time.  (I help my relative with all of his legal paperwork.)

I'm holding steady with the laundry, but please don't ask what my house looks like right now.  It's not pretty.  And, DH hasn't been able to help as he's been getting a crazy amount of overtime. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

My paperwork type stuff is piling up. I'm not even sure how I've volunteered for all of this. 

Project Graduation
New spreadsheet for tracking poster fundraiser
New spreadsheet for yard decoration fundraiser
Two donation request letters
make deposit at bank
update account information
find out about the credit card machine


Dance Gala Post-Party
go to restaurant to find out about using their party room
design invitation 
write letter to company parents regarding their monetary contribution


Personal Paperwork
Send graduation announcements to those who are not invited to the dinner
Help DD#2 with some legal paperwork
Start compiling tax return information
call car dealership about refund that still hasn't shown up (sent email; no response)


I think there's more, but I'm swimming a bit in all of the short essay tests I need to grade right now. 

[debthaven]

Ouch Chloe ... I can only guess you all figured you'd be involved anyway, since your DD is graduating. (I think you're at the same school, but I'm not sure.)

In the end I didn't go to my friend's house with dinner tonight because she told me a colleague from her school was going. I have to admit I was a bit relieved.

My other friend who lost her long-term BF (also from suicide) in Nov is having a terribly hard time. I feel like I am starting to lose it. DS1 asked for a ride back at 7.57 pm, which is late for me. I say yes anyway. I get to the station, he's not on the train. I check his text, and realise he wrote 8.57 pm. I cried on the way home. Thankfully DH went back for him (DS1 was carrying several bags, and it's exceptionally cold here, otherwise we would have just told him to walk. It's a 15-20 min walk from the station). 

In my next life I'm going to buy a house closer to the train station. 

DS3's best friend was here for dinner tonight. DS1 drove her home after dinner so we didn't have to. He leaves for the UK on Sat, comes back Tues, leaves Wed for a month, then signs for his apt the day he gets back. He and his GF are getting a sublet for part of the time their apt is getting redone. I will miss having him at home, but not the additional pick-ups / drop-offs to the station. He does minimise it, but everything seems a burden these days. 

In good news, one of my planners changed 3 classes so I only have a 2.5h break those days instead of a 4h break. I generally don't mind longer breaks because I also teach Personnel, but 4h is crazy, even though it does include lunch.

The other planner changed two of the three 8 am classes that follow evening rehearsals, so that's a relief. 

[Ombud]

Jan 20, 2016 22:05:49 GMT -5 taz157 said:

We CPAs have CPE (Contining Professional Education) requirements.  Most states require 80 hours every 2 years, which includes 4 hours of Ethics CPE.  Some states require state-specific CPE for ethics while other states don't (FL does while MD doesn't).  I do have a license in both FL and MD, and I can use the same CPE for both states.  

CRTP'S have 20 CE's per year and it's quite specific:
10 Federal Tax updates
3 Other Federal updates (usually law)
2 Ethics
5 CA State Tax updates

[Deleted]

I haven't checked in for a while. I've been keeping up with the regular stuff but not a lot else. Tomorrow I am going to go get that handrail I talked about.

[debthaven]

Later can you install it on your own? If so I'm impressed!

[moneysquirrel]

Updated Goals for this week:


Lesson plans

Begin thinking about presentation -- general terms now --started the ideas rolling -- need to come up with a few more ideas and gather the materials to put together the final product.
Maintain cleared areas
-- ongoing (I find that listing this here makes me more focused to keep the areas clear)

Focus on LR this week

One new stringing project
 
One new beading project
-- started
Send application for craft show 


Four rows on scrap afghan
-- Done this week's goal plus a little more.

Knocking out a little at a time. Did manage to get a few additional things done as well.

[Jaguar]

Here is an article on clutter and happiness from Edge Canada,

Click - Clutter and Happiness

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2016 0:47:58 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

Here is an article on clutter and happiness from Edge Canada,

Click - Clutter and Happiness

The green and/or yellow walls will never happen because we both loathe those colors. Bleah. The rest of it is spot on. I actually picked up 2 bunches of tulips yesterday at the grocery store because I miss flowers. DH can't get out to buy them so I have to do it.
We have the furry pests covered as well. One of them is parked on my chair so I can't sit in it and the other 2 are upstairs in my office shedding on my rocking chair.

And we have to be clutter-free because DH's walker takes up so much friggin' room. Jeez.

[plugginaway22]

Well I have no excuses for this coming weekend since we are in the 'bulls-eye' of the storm expected to get up to 2 feet of snow and blizzard conditions.
Could be lots of time for closet organizing.
I went grocery shopping along with everyone else on the east coast!
Planning to start a book I received for Christmas, making a big pot of chile, and hoping for no power outages.
Stay safe everyone.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Ok I have a plan for the weekend.
Tonight: buy stuff at home depot (scraper thing, drywall patch kits and new sanding block. Also beer but that's a different store.) Give kids baths. Showers for dh and me maybe.
Saturday:Take stuff out of bathroom and scrub and scape walls again. Fix places where old towel bars were. The anchors are still in the walls. Let it dry. Go buy primer. Slap first coat of primer on walls.
Sunday: slap 2nd coat of primer on walls. Let it dry. Rehang mirror.

Next weekish: figure out final paint color, talk with dh about towel bars, mirror and lighting.

Eta dh is gonna take kids somewhere on Saturday OR keep them out of my hair. They've both asked to help paint, God help me, I'm gonna let them do a bit.

[Ombud]

GD3 turns 2 today ... she loved the child's rocker so much it became her BD present. Win win. Less furniture for me, decluttered, turned what was junk into something someone wanted, saved on present

[Ombud]

Jan 22, 2016 8:37:32 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Ok I have a plan for the weekend.
Tonight: buy stuff at home depot (scraper thing, drywall patch kits and new sanding block. Also beer but that's a different store.). Give kids baths. Showers for dh and me maybe.
Saturday:Take stuff out of bathroom and scrub and scape walls again. Fix places where old towel bars were. The anchors are still in the walls. Let it dry. Go buy primer. Slap first coat of primer on walls.
Sunday: slap 2nd coat of primer on walls. Let it dry. Rehang mirror.

Next weekish: figure out final paint color, talk with dh about towel bars, mirror and lighting.

Eta dh is gonna take kids somewhere on Saturday OR keep them out of my hair. They've both asked to help paint, God help me, I'm gonna let them do a bit.

always said beer makes it easier to paint! LOL

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh's #31Days2GetOrganized Challenge:

1. Set up a donation center (bin, basket, garbage bag, etc.) in your home and add 5 things to it
2. Look in your closet for the pair(s) of shoes that is most covered in dust, and add it to your donation pile. (He also mentioned the 80/20 rule where you wear 20% of your shoes 80% of the time.)
3. Pick any single room in your house and tackle the floor. Get every single thing that doesn't belong on the floor of that room off the floor, whether it is toys, books, clutter, etc.
4. Unmentionables - go through your unmentionables drawer, and get rid of at least 5 items that you don't need/love/wear because they're stretched out, don't like them, etc.
5. Bathroom - choose 1 drawer, cupboard, or shelf, and go through all of the lotions, makeup, medicines, etc. Throw away anything that is out-of-date, and items you do not use.
6. Kitchen plates and bowls - go through the drawers, cupboards, etc. that have plates and bowls in your kitchen, and get rid of any orphan plates and bowls that don't match, no one knows where they came from, you don't use, etc.
7. Emotional clutter - think of someone you have fallen out of touch with that you would like to reconnect with; initiate contact with them, whether that is by phone, email, or in-person.
8. Books - spend 5 minutes and gather books from wherever you have them all over your house and put them into one please. Apply the rule of 5 - if you're not going to read those books, or you're past loving them, pull 5 out that you can let go of, then another 5, then another 5, and so on, until you're happy with what you have left, and they can fit on a bookshelf somewhere.
9. Take down and put away all of your holiday decorations, but before you put them back in storage, go through them all and get rid of anything you don't use, need, or want.
10. Kitchen small appliances - if you have duplicates of appliances in your kitchen, get rid of one and add to your donation. Also, if you have any appliances that you don't need, don't use, or don't have space for, get rid of that and add to your donation pile.
11. Outdated Media - choose of 3 areas (VHS tapes, record albums, cassette tapes); VHS tapes - get rid of ones you can let go of, and ones to be digitized, put in the car and take them someplace today; record albums - if you're not listening to them, get rid of them, or download the digital album first if that helps; cassette tapes - again, let them go, and download digital files if you need or want to
12. Office - pick any 2 shelves in your office and go through them; get rid of anything you don't need or want
13. Secret Cupboard - choose one cupboard that you don't want anyone to see into, jump in and clear it out; get rid of stuff that doesn't belong
14. Phone books - go through your home and find any phone book (and catalogs, while you're at it), and get rid of them; it's the digital age, so phone books and catalogs need to go
15. It's the halfway point - look around and see if there is anything you need to catch up on. If you've fallen off the wagon, today is the day to catch back up and get re-enthused about it, and finally, invite 2 friends to join the last 2 week of the 31 days to get organized challenge.
16. Car - chances are you lead a busy life, and because of that, stuff accumulates in your car. Grab a trash bag, and throw away anything in your car that is garbage. Take anything that is in your car and doesn't belong there, and put in its proper place.
17. Freezer - go to freezer, and pull out any items that have been in there so long you have no idea what they are (aka Unidentified Frozen Objects - UFOs) and thrown them out. Also, make a list of what is in there so you can go through and use up those things over the next few weeks/months.
18. Laundry - go through a laundry cupboard, and get rid of anything in there you longer need or use, and recycle/dispose of in a proper way.
19. Other People's Stuff (OPS) - spend 5-10 minutes gathering things that belong to someone else that you have borrowed and haven't returned yet, put them in your car, and return them to their rightful owner.
20. Check under things in your house - couches, beds, etc. for 10 minutes.
21. Piles of paperwork - spend 10 minutes and tackle just one pile of paper. Go through it and get rid of anything that is trash, so you end up with one pile of trash and one pile of things that need attention.
22. Digital Clutter - grab mobile devices, and check out all of the apps you are no longer using. Those apps slow down the functioning and suck the power, so delete those old, unused apps from your mobile devices.

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2016 18:03:15 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Later can you install it on your own? If so I'm impressed!

Yes, but it's not that impressive. You have the metal things (I'm having a brain fart on what they're called) that you screw to the wall and the other side screws to the hand rail. I'm not talking about the kind of hand rail with spindles to the floor. I will reuse most of the metal things from the current hand rail and just add a couple.

[busymom]

Hiya Kids! This week ended up busier than I expected.

(I hope I won't be repeating myself here.) I did find a faucet that'll fit into the new sink that'll be installed at Mom's house. Also, my relative needed a reading lamp. But, the tricky part was, he has balance issues. So, if he accidentally pushed the lamp over, it had to be tough enough to survive a fall, plus, no sharp edges in case he landed on top of it. I finally found the perfect floor lamp at one of those HUGE furniture stores!   It is sturdy, attractive, & it was actually on sale, so I picked it up for him.

My house still looks pretty bad, & DH is still getting plenty of overtime.  But, at least we're making progress in some areas.  AND, with having to walk all over that big furniture warehouse, I finally went over 6,400 steps on my Fitbit for the first time this week, & the day isn't over yet. 

[Sharon]

My house has turned into a disaster area.  I am puppy sitting my DD's 7 month old australian shepherd.  Everything is a toy.  Anything that can fit in her mouth is carried off somewhere, except paper which is to be shredded on the spot.

One bathroom has been stripped down and turned into puppy prison.  That is where she stays when I am gone.  I have puppy nose prints on the mirror now,  not that she would stand on the toilet and get up on the counter.

I am getting in more exercise since I am trying to take her for a walk twice a day.

[wvugurl26]

I had a beagle Australian Shepherd mix. He had to be walked all the time or you couldn't stand him. We walked him so many miles on black top and side walks that he never needed his nails trimmed. We had to spell out walk or he would spazz out. He had such a personality, I miss him.

[startsmart]

So totally exhausted after a long week and an afternoon wedding. My brother got married and the whole event gave me a huge headache and loads of stress (long story but we don't get along, I'd never met his bride and then he ignored me the whole evening). Grateful it's over, lovely ceremony and dinner but boy do I not need that stress in my life of wondering when and how he's going to be a terrible person to me. 

Weekend goals include sleeping in and finally taking clothes to Goodwill and magazines to the old folk's home. 

[debthaven]

Yesterday we got somebody to give an estimate on a new (Ikea) kitchen. The kitchen is from 1985 and is literally falling apart. DH really wants a new one. We have ZERO idea of how much it would cost. He wants to add a window, I want to redo the floor first. I have a feeling we will have to zap both those ideas because of cost.

The painter who is going to do the LR ceiling is coming back from vacation next week. He has a friend who also does Ikea kitchens, so his friend is going to give us an estimate too. 

DH has promised to get rid of a lot of kitchen stuff if we redo the kitchen. 
 
ETA: This morning I set up all my spreadsheets for this semester.

[WholeLottaNothin]

Broke 200. Woohoo!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Well Friday's part of the plan went without a hitch. Lol.

Sat. We got a really late start. And I have problems. Dh and I are going to have to have a hard discussion and learn stuff because a corner above to shower area is really soft, like poke a finger in it soft. And the paint in that atea, which wasn't wallpapered, is cracking to the drywall layer. I'm gonna sand like crazy and then i think get a thin layer of compound over it and prime tomorrow. Dh has to be able to shower Monday morning.

Wish me luck.

[Wisconsin Beth]

And electric palm sized sanders are awesome!!!!!!!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Ok, first coat of compound is up and drying. Sanding is done for now. About to start cleanup with shop vac.

I'm hoping tonight to scrub walls, sand compound sports that need second coat and get that on tonight.

The good news is that none of the areas that need a second coat are in the shower. So I can prime the ceiling and the area by the shower for sure. Thinking about setting a fan in the doorway, once cleanup is done, to help with drying but that might backfire on me....

[spartan7886]

Jan 23, 2016 13:41:14 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Well Friday's part of the plan went without a hitch. Lol.

Sat. We got a really late start. And I have problems. Dh and I are going to have to have a hard discussion and learn stuff because a corner above to shower area is really soft, like poke a finger in it soft. And the paint in that atea, which wasn't wallpapered, is cracking to the drywall layer. I'm gonna sand like crazy and then i think get a thin layer of compound over it and prime tomorrow. Dh has to be able to shower Monday morning.

Wish me luck.

I would suggest removing that drywall and patching. Once it gets that soft, it's not going to recover. And I don't think it would get that soft just from bathroom humidity. Have you checked for/repaired a leak in that area already?

[Wisconsin Beth]

I don't know how to patch a corner, just the mesh patch kits.

We're leaving it for now. We're afraid we've got mold in the walls and are burying our heads in the sand until summer.

[spartan7886]

It's not too difficult. Just cut out the bad part with a drywall saw, cut a new piece to fit, and screw it in to an existing stud. Then it sounds like you already have experience laying mesh tape and mudding over it. I think that's the harder part if you have texture you need to match.

That said, with kids in the house and concerned about mold, I can see leaving it until you can tackle the whole problem. A note on this type of work, if there's a lot of potential damage - while homeowner's insurance won't pay to fix your leaking pipes, they will pay to repair water damage caused by leaky pipes in our experience. Minor fixes I don't bother with, but when we realized a slow leak had damaged the wood on our bathroom vanity, they paid to fix the vanity, repaint the bathroom, repair the drywall in the bedroom the plumbers had to cut, and repaint the bedroom. You might already know that, but it was a learning experience for me, since I had assumed none of it would be covered if it was caused by leaky pipes.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Interesting. Thanks!

[Deleted]

I made a midi length black pencil skirt today. I'm listing it because other than a little bit of housekeeping I didn't get much else done today.

[startsmart]

Had a pretty productive day and now just waiting on laundry to finish up. I bought a new vacuum today and got it assembled then really cleaned my car. 

I think I made $1.50 in coins cleaning up the car  

Also got the house vacuumed and the office rug steam cleaned. Cleaned up the couch and changed the sheets on my bed. 

Finally put away some clothes and have another load to fold. 

I also bought a sewing machine this week so I've been working on the projects that were piling up. My goal is to make a bunch of corn bags so I can buy more feed corn (I then heat them up which helps after a workout) and sell them. Lots of other personal projects to finish up so I can make space in the guest room.