2016 Slackers Club

[flamingo]

I'm on my way back to work after 2 weeks off for the holidays. I had all sorts of plans for "cleaning" the house over break. By cleaning, I mean picking up clutter. All I managed to do was move the clutter from the counter to the drawer! And DH keeps talking about how when I get home tonight we need to do XYZ. Um, I'm pretty sure the only thing I'll have energy for tonight is eating leftovers and having a glass of wine.

Did I fail to mention that my middle name is Slacker? 

[anciana]

SouthernSusana, thank you very much for starting this thread! Every once in a while I longingly look at the decluttering and organizing thread, but get easily overwhelmed by the posters lists and accomplishments. I so wish to declutter my home and organize our lives. Mostly, I try to stay on top of things, sometimes it's just maintaining with baby steps toward actual organization. I hope to continue in that direction with added inspiration to move on from baby steps to maybe toddler ones

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2016 8:32:34 GMT -5 Malarky said:

Damn you people!  You inspired me!  I've done nothing but clean and declutter since last I was here.  

Off to the other thread, I don't belong here today.  

You know where to find us!

[NancysSummerSip]

In order to declutter, I scheduled a charity organization to do a pickup of stuff this week. That gave me a deadline, which got me off my butt and filling bags this past weekend. Nothing like a deadline to get a person off a couch!

[Chocolate Lover]

I was planning to work on my decluttering weight project yesterday. Instead about about 1,000 calories in junk and didn't exercise. And I haven't actually decluttered anything of signifigance in months. 

[Jaguar]

Jan 4, 2016 14:06:27 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I was planning to work on my decluttering weight project yesterday. Instead about about 1,000 calories in junk and didn't exercise. And I haven't actually decluttered anything of signifigance in months. 

I've been living here 15+ years and I'm only getting to that hall closet now. Slack On!

[Lizard Queen]

I'm about to hide a stack of empty boxes in the basement so that DH is less likely to throw them out tomorrow.

Shhh...
;-)

[PauletteG]

Belonging in this space is productive for me. I have dissembled the Christmas tree, packed away the ornaments and lights, swept the living room floor, mopped the living room floor, washed the cutting boards. I moved the furniture around too, will probably move them about again once people come home and complain. I can't help but declutter now that so many moved items are piled on the tables...

Or maybe it's more that I've curtailed attention to some of my energy drains today...

[debthaven]

I don't belong here today either, I feel like I have finally gotten my butt into gear in the past couple of days! 

SS you should have started this thread two weeks ago. 

[anciana]

Oh, I definitely belong here so, please, don't close the thread! I hope to, some day, graduate to full on declutter and organize thread but not there yet.

Our city will pick up trees left on the curb this week and next week. My goal is to take all the ornaments down and get the tree to the curb in one week or less. I like to keep the house decorated till just after the 6th too : )

[Ombud]

Yeah. I should be a slacker. Threw my back out clearing rooms for painters. Obviously some of our bodies are more designed for slacking than manual labor

I slack really well on that goal of becoming a 10K'er again .... notice I dn say marathoner .... like that's possible 

[NoNamePerson]

I only declutter when I move but I move a lot - you know running from the law and all that jazz keeps down the clutter.....  

[bean29]

I suppose I should declutter my christmas storage closet and toss things I have not used in years, before I take down the tree & pack away what we did use this year. I did give my Mom my 1 year old 7.5 foot artificial tree (DH bought me a 9' tree for $15 after X-mass last year at Home Depot).

[cael]

I need to declutter my room of all my clothes strewn around everywhere - need to pack a bunch away because they don't fit me right now. we also don't have enough closet or dresser space right now which creates a problem, but I'm over it and am just packing totes of them into the basement and donating what I know I won't wear anymore. Clothes have always been one of my biggest clutter struggles...

We'll see if I actually get on the clothes this evening like I want to.

[bean29]

Cael,

when you are packing the stuff away, take a close look at each article and see if it shows signs of wear. Frayed colars/cuffs and stains are things that really help me toss/donate stuff. Also ask yourself if it is so far out of style or too youthful for you to wear anymore.

I have also seen suggestions to turn the hangers backwards once a year in your closet and then as you wear/return to the closet replace right side out. This helps you cull your closet the following year. I don't like doing that b/c the hangers don't move freely in the closet though. I have closet maid fixed shelves with support brackets in my closet, and hangers hung backwards get stuck - PIA.

We built a walk in closet in the spare bedroom in the basement. I move some seasonal stuff downstairs, but my DD is using about 3/4 of the closet for her stuff.

[muttleynfelix]

On Christmas Eve, DHand I went through all the kids toys and set aside about1/3 of them that the kids are really too big for any more. Now I'm wondering if I can get DH to take them to the consignment store on Saturday or if I'm going to have to. We have a ton, so we may need to make an appointment. I have a list of about 10 things to do between now and the 23rd. I got through 2 of them over my4 day weekend.

[Ombud]

I sat, very little exercise, tried to shop for a bed by phone while contractor worked. Will do the same tomorrow but I have to go to work the 3rd day. I am writing a check ... does that count as work?

[NastyWoman]

Jan 5, 2016 15:47:43 GMT -5 cael said:

I need to declutter my room of all my clothes strewn around everywhere - need to pack a bunch away because they don't fit me right now. we also don't have enough closet or dresser space right now which creates a problem, but I'm over it and am just packing totes of them into the basement and donating what I know I won't wear anymore. Clothes have always been one of my biggest clutter struggles...

We'll see if I actually get on the clothes this evening like I want to.

As a born slacker (according to my mom I was weeks late) I have to say something that goes against the grain: since you plan to move before your little bean is born, it would be useful to go through your clothes carefully before putting them away. Less to pack/unpack!

[cael]

Jan 5, 2016 23:45:57 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Jan 5, 2016 15:47:43 GMT -5 cael said:

I need to declutter my room of all my clothes strewn around everywhere - need to pack a bunch away because they don't fit me right now. we also don't have enough closet or dresser space right now which creates a problem, but I'm over it and am just packing totes of them into the basement and donating what I know I won't wear anymore. Clothes have always been one of my biggest clutter struggles...

We'll see if I actually get on the clothes this evening like I want to.

As a born slacker (according to my mom I was weeks late) I have to say something that goes against the grain: since you plan to move before your little bean is born, it would be useful to go through your clothes carefully before putting them away. Less to pack/unpack!

Oh yeah, I will absolutely be going through it all as I put it away! I really don't want to have to bring stuff we'll just get rid of anyway so I expect to be making a trip(s) to the consignment store and/or the donation bin at the school up the street. Even though sometimes I get upset getting rid of clothes once I do, it feels so good!

And edit to add.... got nothing done last night. lol did a load of laundry then sat on my ass all night and went to bed at 9:30.

[Waffle]

How's this for slacking? I spent part of yesterday evening watching youtube videos about decluttering, but I didn't actually declutter anything.

I went into my 17 day December vacation thinking I was going to tackle a bunch of stuff and about the third day in I decided I wasn't going to spend my off-time decluttering/cleaning. If anything the place is messier now than it was at the beginning of my vacation.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 6, 2016 9:59:00 GMT -5 Waffle said:

How's this for slacking? I spent part of yesterday evening watching youtube videos about decluttering, but I didn't actually declutter anything.

I went into my 17 day December vacation thinking I was going to tackle a bunch of stuff and about the third day in I decided I wasn't going to spend my off-time decluttering/cleaning. If anything the place is messier now than it was at the beginning of my vacation.

That is gold star slacking! Good job!  

[NastyWoman]

Jan 6, 2016 9:59:00 GMT -5 Waffle said:

How's this for slacking? I spent part of yesterday evening watching youtube videos about decluttering, but I didn't actually declutter anything.

I went into my 17 day December vacation thinking I was going to tackle a bunch of stuff and about the third day in I decided I wasn't going to spend my off-time decluttering/cleaning. If anything the place is messier now than it was at the beginning of my vacation.

[bean29]

Jan 6, 2016 9:52:57 GMT -5 @patstab said:

To the lady shortening pants, Lands End will shorten pants I believe. Check on their

site. It is cheaper to do it at home though.

My son on the other hand has trouble finding them long enough.

So will Buckle.  Very expensive store though. 

So my Son cleaned his closet (he is on a mission to bulk up/Bodybuilding). He went from a 29 waist to a 32 in less than a year. I have one bag of pretty nice clothes and it has at least 3 pr. of American Eagle Jeans that I think are less than a year old and several nice dress shirts 15 or 15 1/2 neck, and a second bag more worn that I was going to send to goodwill. I am sending to my MIL to see if one of my Nephews can make use of them...most of the nephews are taller or thicker than DS though. There was a pair of jeans with tags on from Kohls, and the other ones I thought I could get in a shorter length...I looked on Kohls website and they can look up receipts for up to a year.  Maybe I can get DD to cull her closet too. She did empty her dressers before Christmas and dumped a ton of crap.

[snapdragon]

I found my peeps! I'm resting here for a bit. I need to work on my living room and basically the whole house but I just have not been inclined to do much of anything.   The slacker gene came down from somewhere in the family. 

[bean29]

So, I have been going to call Time Warner and threaten to cancel my service for a long time.

On Saturday my Brother Called Time Warner Cable and told them my Mom's service was too expensive and kept asking them if they could do any better. Mom told me he got her bill lowered $30/month.

So, I got out my cable bill and called today (The number on my bill was not working so I googled cancel Time Warner service and called the number that came up). I have been told to ask for the Retention dept, but I did not go that step.  I told the lady that answered that I wanted to cancel my cable b/c we have Amazon Prime and Netflix, my kids are away at college anyways, we have unlimited internet access on our phones and I never watch TV.

She tried a number of different tacks, like your phone provider will slow/limit your service (Um, No, I have Unlimited, but we are not even close to going over). What do you watch on TV-my response I never watch TV (TRUTH)- (I don't even know how to make the TV and Cable box work right half the time) but if DH couldn't watch NFL football the world would end! 

So, my bill was lowered about $31/month and they are going to send me a $300 Gift card.  SCORE!

[kittensaver]

Ooooooooh, can I join this thread and play? I've been away from the Boards for a few months (long story, couldn't be helped), but I DID manage to finish a kitchen remodel in 3 1/2 weeks .

I think I might win the prize for Christmas slacking. I have nothing to put away because I put nothing up!  We were gone visiting family for Christmas and New Years, so I figured the cats and the cat sitter (who only stopped in once a day) really wouldn't care if there were any decorations or not.

Now I need to get off my backside and figure out how to fix a nob that came off (the threads stripped) one of the drawers of the linen closet. I'll probably just replace it, but I've not been happy with any of them, so I keep thinking I will look at a different hardware design for the doors and drawers. But I usually come home from work pretty tired and don't feel like tackling house tasks in the evenings. I seem to have more energy in the mornings, but a lot of that is taken up with animal care, the gym/exercise and getting me and DH pulled together, packed up and out of the house. Sigh. 

[bean29]

Kittensaver - Good luck with replacing the knob in your linen closet. I guess you just reminded me of one of the things we have been slacking on. I bought knobs and pulls for my basement bath and kitchen and they have yet to be installed. I was hoping our handyman/carpenter would do it for me, but his disability or SS apparently kicked in.  I will have to get DH to do it himself.  Maybe once football season is over. 

Inquiring minds want to know - what kind of Kitchen remodel did you get done in 3 1/2 weeks?  That is a real accomplishment.

[Ombud]

Can't dust, vacuum, straighten up .... guess there's a benefit to living under a contractor working over the house. And won't vacuum next week either. DD is supposed to pickup the old couch set but I forgot to order the replace. I'm the queen of slackers


My new version of Decluttering: Hey kids, Salvation Army is coming to take stuff (garage, misc, yard) 1/15 .... come get whatever b4 then!

[Chocolate Lover]

Still slacking on that whole exercise thing. I really suck at this. I can't keep slacking though, I like my chocolate too much!

[kittensaver]

Jan 8, 2016 10:17:38 GMT -5 bean29 said:

Kittensaver - Good luck with replacing the knob in your linen closet. I guess you just reminded me of one of the things we have been slacking on. I bought knobs and pulls for my basement bath and kitchen and they have yet to be installed. I was hoping our handyman/carpenter would do it for me, but his disability or SS apparently kicked in.  I will have to get DH to do it himself.  Maybe once football season is over. 

Inquiring minds want to know - what kind of Kitchen remodel did you get done in 3 1/2 weeks?  That is a real accomplishment.

Planning, planning, planning. 3 1/2 weeks was the actual time the contractor was on site, but we spent more than two months before that working on the design, negotiating the budget and gathering all the materials. It also took me a full week pre-construction to sort through 15 years worth of stuff, pack away what I was keeping and have a yard sale for the rest (what didn't sell went to Goodwill).

EVERYTHING was sitting in my garage (well, not the granite, it was in the stone fabricator's shop) and we agreed that there would be no change orders before anyone picked up the first hammer. So once it got started, it just went. There were no breaks - someone from some trade or other was there every day working (even Saturdays). There were no delays because everything was onsite and there was no waiting for something to come in. It helped that I've worked with this contractor before, and we understand each other and get along well. I know I will use him again. It also helped that once the demolition portion was done, there were no major problems or issues that got uncovered.

It also took me another almost two weeks to re-mount the shelving in the pantry closets and other cabinets, decide where everything was going, put it all away, change my mind and move stuff around, and add my finishing touches. 2 months out (we finished right before Thanksgiving), I'm still tweaking picky minor things. So in reality (and to be fair), it took more than 3 1/2 weeks - that amount of time was just the actual construction time.

I would LOVE to post some pictures, but I'm a luddite who doesn't want to have a photo service in the cloud.  If someone is willing to PM me an email address or smart phone #, I'd be happy to pass along my Before, During and After photos for someone else to post. [[ calling Bonny, if she's willing]]