2017 Declutter and Organization Thread

[startsmart]

Yesterday I did pick up about 7 yards of fabric so now almost all of my current fabric is matched up for sewing. BUT they're having a big sale so the normally $8/yard fabric is under $3 so I went back this morning and get another 18 yards which should be ALL I need for 260 burp rags. The sale + extra $5 off meant I spent $45 which makes the fabric for each burp rag $0.62! I'll have enough now for sewing as my rainy day project.

Unfortunately, I can't start sewing this week because it's time to do the outdoor projects (the rain has stopped until Tuesday). 

Adding to my lists: 
buy and attach new gutter downspout in the backyard
mow the front lawn
pick up back yard
disassemble wood shelf in back yard and trash
take in old gutters to recycling 

[plugginaway22]

What is it with all the Jan. deaths? One co-worker is sitting with her mother in hospice waiting for the end, another co-worker's MIL had a surgery, came out of it and had a massive stroke, now on life support.

An old classmate who I have lost touch with just experienced the death of her husband, by suicide!  Very sad to hear all of this.

[startsmart]

Jan 1-7th:
go through papers in the office - halfway done
scan 2016 files from office and add to shredding box

Jan 8-14th:
finish finance PP for upcoming class
Add quarter round to 1 bedroom - master bedroom done! 
catch up on laundry
talk to charity about burp cloth donation
Finish reading 2 books
Workout 4 times
Sort through sweaters to donate
buy and attach new gutter downspout in the backyard
mow the front lawn
pick up back yard
disassemble wood shelf in back yard and trash
take in old gutters to recycling 

Well, making progress at least After my workout at the gym I managed to mow the lawn and pull out the old gutters to the front lawn so I can take them to recycling tomorrow. I also demoed the wood shelf and that's going out in the trash. 

Master bedroom trim is done, even if I had to remove and re-install the baseboards in the closet. I'll add the caulk to the closet trim tonight and paint so I can reload all the boxes over the weekend. 

[Lizard Queen]

Finished listening to the first Kondo book on audible yesterday. It's really motivating me to get rid of stuff, but I really don't want to have to go out and buy anything with our current income situation, so I don't think I'll be able to get rid of nearly as much as I should. Going to start with socks, as I have 4 sizes of tops and bottoms to deal with, plus maternity stuff. (And, I'm working on losing weight, so will need some of that--not the maternity, though!) I so wish we had decent money coming in so I would feel free to just it all at Goodwill. Instead, I'll be keeping much of it around until spring for a garage sale. Also not having a visual reference from the first book has led me to order the second book. Well played, Amazon, well played! 😉

[chiver78]

Day 13 – CONQUER THAT MAIL

This is a tough one for many but go for it! Today’s challenge is a two-parter. Gather up all the mail in your home AND establish a central home – like a mail tray – for all mail moving forward.

love it. this really IS a two-parter. I did this a couple weeks back, to clear off the counter where my mail lives in advance of having people over on NYE. the bin is still on my nightstand, out of sight, but there's some mail now resting in the dumping spot anyway. I need to bring the bin back out. 

oh - for those of you looking for a bin/crate/whatever to hold everything in your new central home, my bin is a crate I saved from a 5lb package of clementines. it's the perfect size to stand/lean large letter envelopes and magazines up against a wall. 

[debthaven]

Dee I do have a donut but I don't feel comfortable driving that distance on it. I'll pump up the tire again today or tomorrow. (I go to that school on Mondays). DH says it's not losing much air and I don't need to worry so I'll trust him.

DH and I each have an Ikea basket on the desk for our mail. I open his mail, because he doesn't, ever. I put the junk mail in recycling before it enters the house. I put the envelopes straight into the fireplace.

This weekend
- put away stuff on basement landing
- put away stuff on stairs
- go through linen closet
- write letter
- prep for Mon

I've been lazy recently and there's a bunch of Stuff sitting on the basement landing and our stairs that needs to be put away.

I shouldn't have, but I bought new towels yesterday on super sale ($13 each for great quality, giant bath towels). So I'll probably go through the linen closet again. DD asked me to save the nicer old towels for her since she may be moving out soon.

ETA: I packed up one bag of towels for DD and one for the donation bin.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES
Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES
Day 10 – SUITCASES AND LUGGAGE
Day 11 – GET BACK IN TOUCH
Day 12 – KITCHEN UTENSIL DRAWER
Day 13 – CONQUER THAT MAIL

Day 14 – CLEANING PRODUCTS IN YOUR LAUNDRY
If cleaning products are you thing, today’s challenge is the one for you!! This challenge is all about taming those cleaning products that are hiding deep in the recesses of your laundry cupboards.

[startsmart]

I love the fact that I said last weekend I would go through my sweaters and decide what to donate and instead I've gone through all my hanging shirts, dresses and jackets   It does make more sense because I'm working in the closet and taming those clothes is a priority and my sweaters are tucked away in bins but that's also how my procrastinating brain works! 

Turns out I can't get the downspout attached today because - fun! - the gutters I had installed last year are literally falling off the house. So now I need to find the paperwork, call the company that did the work and schedule them to come out and fix the damn thing, hopefully with no extra charge. 

I'm going to focus on the class powerpoint for now, at least until the fog lifts and I can take the old gutters in for recycling. 

ETA: 
Powerpoint is done! 
Gutters are recycled!
Backyard is marginally better!  

Moving back to the master bedroom to start painting the closet trim because I'm really ready for my house not to be a total mess again  

[Iggy aka IG]

A tip regarding snail mail:  There is an 800# or address you can contact to remove yourself from marketing lists.  I did this so long ago I cannot remember what it is.  It reduced the amount of snail mail I receive to almost nil.  Also, as I receive (infrequent) catalogs, I immediately call to remove myself from their mailing list.  I tell them if I want to order anything, I'll check out their website. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
debthaven, I am so sorry (referencing the prior page).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had another house showing this morning.  Haven't heard any feedback yet.  As DH said this morning, it is getting easier to prep the house for potential buyers.  I completely agree.

[debthaven]

This weekend
- put away stuff on basement landing
- put away stuff on stairs
- go through linen closet
- prep for Mon
- clean out handbag
- donation bin
- write letter

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES
Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES
Day 10 – SUITCASES AND LUGGAGE
Day 11 – GET BACK IN TOUCH
Day 12 – KITCHEN UTENSIL DRAWER
Day 13 – CONQUER THAT MAIL
Day 14 – CLEANING PRODUCTS IN YOUR LAUNDRY

Day 15 – UNDER THE BED(S) CLUTTER
Monsters (of the clutter kind) hiding under your bed? Today’s the day to show them who’s boss!

[TheHaitian]

Bye bye bedroom set! Sold it to a nice Hispanic family!

Now that the baby is here we can open a lot of her things and get ride of a lot of the boxes in the basement.

Mission Declutter basement is ON!

[moneysquirrel]

This week's list:

Home/Personal

Continue with progress
Dentist -- Monday
Exercise – Monday
Home Insurance – Tuesday

School

Grade Projects – 5th -- @60
Grade Projects – 7th -- @85
New 6th Grade Project
New 5th Grade Project
New 7th Grade Project
Duty
Professional Development

Crafts – Some will take longer than one week

Continue crocheting baby gift (pattern has 74 rows and 2 ruffles) – hope to get to row 55 this week. I did get a few rows past 30 the past week so aiming high this week.
Bead Woven Bracelets (2) – BLk/G and Purple/G
Continue work on pin

I got a lot done yesterday -- 6 loads of laundry, corrected 4 sets of projects, started the pin, crocheted a few rows, and several other things.  Today was not as productive but did get to church, the grocery and got meds to fight allergy/sinus.  Still have to run the dishwasher. Tomorrow I have off so I hope to get a few things done other then the dentist and exercise.  Need to start correcting  5th grade projects and look for any of the late 6th grade ones (I emailed missing ones yesterday). 
Have to sign off as I need to get something in me before I start the next items.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Peter Walsh's book Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight is on sale for $1.99 for Kindle through tonight. I splurged on it! whoisjohngalt , you might like it!

TheHaitian , the baby is here here? Like Mrs. Carl gave birth?

debthaven , I'm sorry last week was tough. I hope this week is better. I'm glad someone with training is coming in tomorrow.

startsmart , great deal on the fabric! You're so awesome for this putting all of this together for this donation. 

jeep108 , how are you doing?

Iggy aka IG , I'm glad you've had lots of showings! Good luck!

Sharon , now you just have to pretend you're at work when you're at home!

moneysquirrel , I"m sorry it's duty week for you; at least it's only four days. 

tcu2003 , thanks for keeping the list updated. There's a few from I'm going to add to to my list.  

chiver78 , if you can open the envelopes and keep only what's necessary before you toss the mail into the bin, there will be significantly less to deal with when it's actually time to deal with it. 

bean29, the bathroom stuff drives me nuts!!! Two daughters, and there's tons of it! Definitely a good idea for me to go through it! 

megaptera, it sounds like the new house is coming along well. What do you want to set as your goal for this week that you have to report back to us about?  

Chocolate Lover, I"m generally barefoot in our house. I'm always picking up stuff with my feet!

[whoisjohngalt]

Thank you Knee Deep in Water Chloe - I'll take a look.

[taz157]

Knee Deep in Water Chloe - Mrs. C delivered her and TheHaitian's DD at 12:15 am today! Look on page 2041 or 2042 on the Kid thread for pictures!

[Sharon]

I got the minimal house work done this weekend.  DD and I had a fun day yesterday just messing around and doing a little bit of baby shopping.  My sewing/knitting list for the baby is growing.  Hopefully I can use some of the fabric from my stash.  With the quilt I am working on now I have used quite a bit of fabric I had on hand but I also added way to much because it might work better than what I had.  I will need to get some more tubs going and labeled to accommodate some of my new fabric.  DD was amazed when she found out I had a small tub labeled "John Deere".  Yep I had enough John Deere fabric that it got it's own little plastic box.

[tcu2003]

We have DD's baptism scheduled for next weekend, and we're having the family over for a meal/celebration after (plus the godparents are spending the night at our house), so DH and I spent significant time working on the house this weekend. We got the playroom cleaned up/toys in places (DH bought and put together some IKEA storage things, so everything mostly has a home now in there).

We tackled the kitchen and are nearly done there (I have some stuff to put away still, but out of time for tonight).

I also worked on going through a ton of baby clothes. My sis and cousin keep giving my girl clothes their daughters have outgrown, and M is moving up to the next size, so I got all of those washed and folded. I also pulled out some of DS's baby clothes and have them in boxes to give to a friend having a boy who said she could use them.

But still, it seems like we didn't get enough done. I know it'll feel better once we actually get stuff out of the house, so I need to keep chugging away.

Oh, I also have a fairly large pile to donate, so I will do that this week. And I have a box of baby girl clothes that no longer fit M to give to DH's niece who is having a baby next month.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh 31 Days to Get Organized challenges.

Day 1 - TABLE TOPS
Day 2 - SET UP A DONATION BIN
Day 3 - GIFT BAGS
Day 4 – TACKLE THE FREEZER
Day 5 – UNDER THE SINK
Day 6 – TWO DRAWERS IN YOUR OFFICE (OR ELSEWHERE)
Day 7 – SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Day 8 – THE CRAZY TANGLE OF CORDS AND CABLES
Day 9 – SOCKS AND UNDIES
Day 10 – SUITCASES AND LUGGAGE
Day 11 – GET BACK IN TOUCH
Day 12 – KITCHEN UTENSIL DRAWER
Day 13 – CONQUER THAT MAIL
Day 14 – CLEANING PRODUCTS IN YOUR LAUNDRY
Day 15 – UNDER THE BED(S) CLUTTER


Day 16 - MAGAZINES
Today’s the day to find out how many magazines are hiding in your home ….. and to deal with them! Buckle up for a fun challenge!!

[tcu2003]

Score - I randomly went through all of our magazines last night and purged some, and organized the rest to finish reading and toss.

[startsmart]

New week, new list! 

Jan 1-7th:
go through papers in the office - halfway done
scan 2016 files from office and add to shredding box

Jan 8-14th:
Sort through sweaters to donate
buy and attach new gutter downspout in the backyard

Jan 15-21st:
Caulk and paint quarter round in the master bedroom
Paint quarter round in the hall closet
Teach finance class
Pack all the boxes back in the closet
Finish reading 3 books (2/3 done)
Workout 3 more times this week (1/3 done)
Bag up stuff for donation
Clean out fridge 

I am determined to get the week 1 stuff done asap but keep leaving it on the list in an attempt of self-shaming 

[megaptera]

Thanks for keeping me accountable, Chloe!

I'm fairly certain that both DH and I will be a lot more productive after NFL season ends. But a few things got accomplished this weekend. The counter got cleared off (I'm trying really hard to go through mail and stuff every day to keep it clear), I bought an inexpensive filing crate and organized all the paperwork related to the new house, and did a couple of loads of laundry.

By the end of the week:

-sheets and towels laundry
-drop off box of stuff at Good will
-clean DH and my bedroom (DH is replacing the floor in the master bath. The toilet and all his tools/etc. are sitting in the bedroom so I'll have to work around it ).

New house is supposed to be painted (interior) this week. Septic folks are supposed to start, and some more electric work should be done. I never believe anything our contractor says though until I actually see it.

[jeep108]

Knee Deep in Water Chloe,  I'm very sore, they took my drain tube out they don't like them in more than a month.  Now all that fluid is backing up into my shoulder again. My nerves are starting to come back in the radiated skin. So I have lots of nerve pain along with my skin stretching and pressure from the fluid.. I do start my testing in Houston Wed day. Hopefully we will be able to get a date on my surgery soon.

[Iggy aka IG]

Haven't heard any feedback from Saturday's showing, and the RE office is apparently closed today. 

This weekend I swept, vacuumed and prepped the house for the showing, planned an upcoming trip out of town, did 5 loads of laundry, used the treadmill and hand weights, processed produce and ingredients for two slow cooker meals, and did the usual boatload of dishes.

This week:
Focus on office to do's
Mail out the rest of the 2017 calendars
Walk the treadmill every day
Coordinate meet-ups at my trip destination
Start reading a new book



Added:  jeep108

[debthaven]

Hugs Jeep I hope they are giving you meds for the nerve pain. 

[TheHaitian]

Slept at home last night and started with the basement !

Recycling bin is full plus boxes on top!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Ugh. The deaths continue. A husband, wife, and their toddler were visiting for the weekend with a teacher I work with. The teacher is new to the school and the area and is in the classroom next to mine. Yesterday, all four were out walking along the coastline/beach. The PNW coastline is unforgiving; you cannot get too close to the open ocean, and if you do, you cannot turn your back on it. The husband and toddler were swept out to sea. The wife and my colleague saw it happen. We have a coast guard station here, and they reacted quickly. However, the bodies have not been found, but the ocean temperature is about 45- 50 degrees F; it is highly unlikely they survived. I didn't know them, but I'm hurting for my colleague. 


On a lighter note: 
I did take on the Peter Walsh challenge of purging my underwear and kitchen utensil drawers, which are not the same drawers  . I got rid of six kitchen utensils, two pairs of underwear, and six defunct bras. I also found some pretend chemise panels I forgot I had which I can and should totally use! One of my zone chores for last week was the hallway. I finally got to that today, and have purged four sets of twin bed sheets. We don't have a twin bed anymore, although the largest couch in the napping room is the same size as a twin bed. I kept two sets, one flannel & one regular, for guests who use that couch. 


I didn't keep up with my chores as well as I should have last week. I'm trying to catch up with those today. The main one is cleaning the shower. 

[TheHaitian]

Jan 15, 2017 21:04:43 GMT -5 taz157 said:

Knee Deep in Water Chloe - Mrs. C delivered her and TheHaitian's DD at 12:15 am today! Look on page 2041 or 2042 on the Kid thread for pictures!

yeah what she said Knee Deep in Water Chloe

[taz157]

Chole - I'm so sorry for teacher's friend's husband on the loss of his wife and toddler.

[debthaven]

Chloe I'm so sorry, what a terrible tragedy.

This week
- rewrite letter (Wed)
- go back to store for another towel (Wed)