2017 Declutter and Organization Thread

[CCL]

Dec 4, 2017 12:38:40 GMT -5 debthaven said:

As of today Teaching Job 2 is over for one month. Three more days at Teaching Job 1. I'll still have two all-day meetings (one out of town) and 153 finals to mark, but I'll have a break from most of the classes (I'll still have my two faculty members 2.5h/week).

DH finally listed the studio on the FSBO site. And, we listed the problematic studio at a lower price with a new agency which agrees it will be difficult to sell. Fingers crossed that ONE of them sells. In retrospect it was DUMB to list on FSBO before we go to London, but neither of us thought about that.

I've been in a pretty dreadful state since that couple's deadline came and went.

ETA: By the way, I looked them up ... he's a private banker in a big bank, PLUS he either owns or manages 2 private hedge funds. So DH was absolutely right when he said they could definitely afford to go up 1.5K if they wanted to. Looks like DH was right, they weren't really interested after all.

Sorry. Hopefully an offer will come though soon.

[TheOtherMe]

I do hope an offer comes on one of your rentals soon debthaven.

Speaking of Elton John, his mother passed away yesterday.  

[busymom]

Ugh!  My contractor cancelled for tomorrow.  He's running behind, but promises he'll let me know later in the week how his schedule is shaping up.  This is exactly why I hate it when the house needs work.  Nothing runs on schedule.


DH took 4 small bags of books out of the house (small Target-sized bags).  Every little bit helps.  And, the big shipping boxes that the rest of my Target order came in today are now at my neighbor's house.  I didn't want a bunch of empties, and these boxes were really too big to keep for storing, or even as garage sale or moving boxes.

[startsmart]

glad to hear your friend apologized debthaven - sometimes it's helpful to get reflection on a situation like this. Yes, I'll be in London starting Wednesday! I'm getting excited  

Tonight is a work night before my flight tomorrow.

[bean29]

Well, we are done decorating outside - we have 2 Blue Spruce and 2 Norway Spruces that we put lights on. We did one last weeked and I did the shrubs in front of the house with net lights. I have lighted ornaments on my Shepherd's hooks, I have 2 spinners for the yard (It is a Santa and a Reindeer on a bicycle, I have an elf too but he needs fixing).  We did the tallest tree last weekend, then I did the two smaller trees on Saturday, and I asked DH to do the last tree yesterday because it was 60 degrees.  Now we will the in the mid 30's for the rest of this week. 

DH had DS help him move the sofa last night so we can start putting up the tree in the living room.  I still have to put away a few Thanksgiving decorations. 

I decided I went a little too crazy ordering stuff for Christmas, so I have to return a few things.  I also have a few things to exchange. 

Found out at lunch that I need to renew my plates on my car, they expire in December, and it needs an inspection...so I am going to sneak over there in an hour or so.  Someone pointed it out to me in the parking lot at the mall - he said he got a ticket once and the fines were around $300 - hopefully he was exaggerating.

I have a Dr. Appt tomorrow - follow up scan from Varicose vein treatment. 

I am also working on renewing the in-laws Medicare Supplements for 2018, but I think we will be fine with that. 

I need to do my CE credits for my insurance license.  I think I am supposed to have them done by the end of December, but I don't actually work in insurance, so I can do them in January yet. 

I still have to get DH to make an appointment with a CPA or his attorney to discuss changing the business entity - for tax purposes.  I will see our work CPA's at our Christmas Party next weekend, so I can ask them in general, but I don't want them working on my personal stuff, so I have no intention of giving them the whole thing.

I have filing to do in my office-I haven't gotten back in there since Mid October - I was in there looking for two things - info on the in-law's Medicare - I swore I had copies of last year's info - but could not find it, and the receipt from the screen protector on my phone-I know I kept it, it is stapled to the front of a file...but could not find it for the life of me last night.  I have Two drawers that are Alphabetical - then a drawer with the 3 most current tax year files and renal property leases, and applications,  then the bottom drawer is miscellaneous stuff...then I have another file cabinet that has stuff on the house, EFTPS (IRS electronic deposits) files for personal and business, birth certificates, car registrations, insurance paperwork, and stuff related to College and Mortgages.  I know DD can find the birth certificates, and if someone calls me and says where is ? I can pretty much tell them, but GRR.  sometimes I just can't find it.  It is a lot better since I put almost everything in Alphabetical order.  Now if I just get everything filed, maybe I will have an easier time finding stuff.

[debthaven]

Today the Studies Department asked for all the Bachelors marks (except for the final exam) by Fri. I told them we are away this weekend so I'll do them early next week. Most of my marks are already in, but the students are still doing their final presentations, so we can't send in those marks until after the last class!

Then I thought, I'll have a ton of finals to mark when we get back, so I might as well bite the bullet. So I just sent in the marks for the 4 classes that finished today. I'll do the same with the 2 classes that finish tomorrow, and the same again with 2 of the 4 classes that finish on Thursday. (There's no rush for my 2 MSc classes, it's a different department).

Semester countdown: 13.5/14 weeks done. Two days left.


 

[debthaven]

I sent in most of the marks for the two classes that finished today, but I couldn't finish the second class. There were 3 absences today and I need to find out if they're legit or not. I may have the same problem tomorrow.

Catching up on laundry.

Semester countdown: 13.75/14 weeks done. One day left.

[Iggy aka IG]

Dec 6, 2017 13:59:32 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I sent in most of the marks for the two classes that finished today, but I couldn't finish the second class. There were 3 absences today and I need to find out if they're legit or not. I may have the same problem tomorrow.

Catching up on laundry.

Semester countdown: 13.75/14 weeks done. One day left.

[debthaven]

Thank you Iggy aka IG ! I still can't believe I've made it this far.

Even though I couldn't input some of those marks tonight I worked them all out and wrote them down, so all I need to do now is to plug them in (after taking today's and tomorrow's absences into account once I find out whether they're legit).

I was told today that the person who sent that email about having all the marks in by Fri screwed up, as I had guessed. (Well either she screwed up or she was trying to scare the professors who put ALL their marks in at the last minute.) But as they say in French, "what's done is no longer to do," so I'm trying to finish as many classes as I can by Fri anyway.

The last load of laundry is in the dryer. I'll need to pack tomorrow night. I also straightened up the kitchen which is frankly a bit of a mess these days with DH working from home. He's been making efforts but we just don't have the same standards. We don't have an office. I work in the DR, DH prefers to work in the kitchen.

[Iggy aka IG]

You're welcome, debthaven.  Here's to a relaxing Hanukkah season! 

[Waffle]

Dec 1, 2017 11:39:24 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Yesterday as one of mom's home health care workers (occupational therapist) was leaving the house, she looked around and said "How do you keep this big house so clean?"

I said "it's not easy".  I could have said - you haven't seen upstairs, or the garage or the basement. HA!

I have tons of things I'd like to do this weekend - I know I won't get to all of them, but here's a list of possibilities.

Straighten master closet

Declutter master bedroom

Declutter/organize laundry room shelves

Declutter/organize pantry

Relax hair.

Clean (dried) paint from 3 season room floor.

Rearrange antique mall booths - cut prices on several big pieces.   (I'm going from two booths to 1 at the end of this year and I don't want to have to bring any of the furniture home.)

Price some things to take to the local antique mall. (Yes, I have items in two malls).

Catch up on laundry.

Clean mom's bathroom.  (I hate cleaning bathrooms).

Clean out freezer (kitchen)

Clean out freezer (laundry room)

Find the extra cordless phone - so I can put it in the family room.

Go to grocery store.

List some things on Ebay.

Work on business bookkeeping. 

Cancel paper delivery.

Reorganize/clean ebay room.

This started as a weekend list and just ended up being more like a things that need to be done whenever possible list. The "big 2" garage and basement - I'm not even going to worry about anytime soon.

Absolutely none of that stuff got done. Mom had to go to the hospital via ambulance Saturday. Released from icu yesterday and is now at home under hospice care.

[dee27]

Dec 6, 2017 17:13:47 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Dec 1, 2017 11:39:24 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Absolutely none of that stuff got done. Mom had to go to the hospital via ambulance Saturday. Released from icu yesterday and is now at home under hospice care.

I am so sorry, Waffle.

[Jaguar]

So sorry Waffle, I hope your mum gets better.

[debthaven]

Oh Waffle I am so, so sorry to hear this.

[chapeau]

So sorry to hear this Waffle. You're both in my thoughts.

[busymom]

So sorry, Waffle.      Don't worry about tasks right now.  


Well, I'm up to 20 Christmas cards to the post office, but there's still plenty to do.  And, as you all know, I'm still working on the everyday stuff, and the roads are icy right now, so you can't drive anywhere quickly.  We couldn't avoid the sNOw forever.  And now, it's mixed with ice & cold, bitter winds.

[dee27]

Dec 6, 2017 17:37:49 GMT -5 busymom said:

So sorry, Waffle .      Don't worry about tasks right now.  


Well, I'm up to 20 Christmas cards to the post office, but there's still plenty to do.  And, as you all know, I'm still working on the everyday stuff, and the roads are icy right now, so you can't drive anywhere quickly.  We couldn't avoid the sNOw forever.  And now, it's mixed with ice & cold, bitter winds.

Yuck!!! Busy, you are farther along than I am. I have not started to write out my cards, but the house and tree are decorated. Oh, it would be nice to find the motivation to start baking holiday cookies. YDS may get his supply in January at this rate.

[TheOtherMe]

Waffle I am so sorry.  Take care of yourself.  The other stuff can wait.

My Christmas cards went out in yesterday's mail. 

I just found mouse droppings.  Now I have to figure out how to set the traps I have.

[wvugurl26]

The rack I ordered to hang inside the bathroom cabinet door arrived and it fits. The flat iron and hair dryer are put away. I made a little head way tonight. Thursday and Friday we are going to try and get the last of my stuff. We got all the big stuff last Saturday.

[busymom]

Dec 6, 2017 17:42:59 GMT -5 dee27 said:

Dec 6, 2017 17:37:49 GMT -5 busymom said:

So sorry, Waffle .      Don't worry about tasks right now.  


Well, I'm up to 20 Christmas cards to the post office, but there's still plenty to do.  And, as you all know, I'm still working on the everyday stuff, and the roads are icy right now, so you can't drive anywhere quickly.  We couldn't avoid the sNOw forever.  And now, it's mixed with ice & cold, bitter winds.

Yuck!!! Busy, you are farther along than I am. I have not started to write out my cards, but the house and tree are decorated. Oh, it would be nice to find the motivation to start baking holiday cookies. YDS may get his supply in January at this rate.

    Your ahead of me on decorating.  I haven't been getting called back from the company that's supposed to replace our siding, so I'll try again tomorrow.  There's no use on putting pictures, etc. back on the walls if I'm just going to have to take it down again.  (Vibrations from hammering can literally knock stuff off of the walls, so our wall have been empty since our new roof went up.)

[Sharon]

Waffle thinking of you and your Mom. 

[Sharon]

I haven't decorated, haven't started the cards, haven't finished shopping, haven't wrapped anything and the house is descending back into chaos.   Work is still sucking donkey balls and will be for the foreseeable future.

Last night I went with DD and her family to a Christmas event in her town, she even invited me to dinner before hand.   It was enjoyable and even though it was cold it was nice to get out and do something different.  Tonight I did get the lawn mowed before it got dark.  It was getting a little long and it has been dry for the last few days.  This also got the leaves up off the lawn that had blown over the fence from the neighbors tree.

This weekend is going to be busy so we shall see just how much stuff gets done.  I would like to get Mom out to some type of Christmas event Friday night.  We shall see what she feels up to doing and see how cold it is.  Saturday DD, DGD and pup are coming up in the morning with DSIL.  He will drop them off at the house and work for a while.  In the afternoon then we are going to get Christmas trees.  DSIL's family used to raise Christmas trees commercially and still have a few here and there so we can cut those.  Saturday night is the town Christmas parade and I was talking with Mom about going since it will be dry.  She wasn't sure since it is supposed to be below freezing that night.  Sunday morning will be pancake breakfast with the fireman.  We try not to miss that.  I will be lucky if I get anything done this weekend.

[debthaven]

Semester countdown: 14/14 weeks done.

I'm taking the 24 finals I got today with me, I should be able to do them on the Eurostar.

Now that the semester is over, I have 154 finals to mark, 2 all-day meetings, but only 2.5h of teaching a week until 8 Jan.

Thanks for your encouragement friends.

[Iggy aka IG]

Thinking of you, Waffle.

[moneysquirrel]

Waffle -- Thinking of you at this time.  Hospice is wonderful.  I don't know if I could have done it all without them when DH  was diagnosed with terminal cancer years ago.

debthaven -- Have a great trip.  Glad that the semester is basically over for you. Enjoy the visit with your loved ones.avoid 

startsmart -- Enjoy your trip as well.
Knee Deep in Water Chloe -- Only a few weeks left for you until the Christmas break.  Hang in there.
busymom -- Sorry to hear about the contractor.  Unfortunately I think all of us can relate to the delays in getting work done around the house.  I need a few things done but will wait until after the holidays before even thinking about looking for help.
Sharon -- Time spend enjoying the celebrations with family is more important than the routine chores.
chapeau -- Welcome -- Not sure if I did earlier or not.

It has been a while since I last updated.  I have been keeping busy getting some things done in the house as well as getting some of the holiday shopping done.  Have been able to avoid the gift card routine for most of the family this year.  I only have a few more gifts to get and I will be finished.  None of them have been wrapped but I don;t have a lot so it can be done without a few hours.  The house looks like Christmas and is better shape than in the past at this time.  

Going to post this before I lose it.  New list coming soon.

[moneysquirrel]

Done:
*Finished several craft projects
*Christmas Tree and Nativity Display 
*Organized the Bead Room (again)
*Doctor visit 
*Exercise
*Activity with friend
*Had garage door repaired
*Craft Show -- December 2nd




December To-Do List: 

*Finish shopping -- K and CL
*Christmas Wreath on door
*Christmas Flag
*Christmas Cards 
*Craft Show -- December 9th (last one of the season)
*Maintain progress in house -- Currently all is in order
*Work on 2018 Spreadsheets
*Exercise -- maintain or improve on attendance 
*Drop off materials for former colleagues 
*Family and Friends Get Togethers
*Update Etsy shop -- I have not done much to this and need to spend more time on making this better.  Photos and write-ups to do. 
*Property Taxes
*Health Insurance Supplement payment
*Car Insurance 
*Other Insurance

This is the beginning of the most expensive months of the year for me with all of the taxes and insurance premiums coming due.   Even though I do not participate in the Savers thread I have been doing something similar to many of them long before I even heard about WIR.  I love my Excel spreadsheets.  

Time for lunch.  Will check in soon. I promise.

[debthaven]

Forgot to mention ... 2 more letters from my friends arrived today for the lawyer. DH scanned them and sent them to her.

We have done NOTHING for Christmas yet. (Well I ordered ONE gift online). It's the one thing in my life I do at the last minute because I always want to finish my marking before Christmas, and I prefer getting lists from the kids since they're all older. We'll get the tree before DS3 comes home the following weekend but we won't decorate it until he's here. 

This weekend
- mark 24 MSc finals (hopefully I'll finish on the train)
- have fun!!!

The rest of the marking, Shitepile and Christmas will still be here on Monday lol.

[TheOtherMe]

debthaven  Congrats on making it through the semester!  Enjoy London!

It's nice to have friends like that.

[countrygirl2]

I bought some of those big storage bags and put blankets, sheets and bedspreads in them
that had been stacked in the bedroom. I need to wash the rest in top of my closet and
pack, they are dusty or more likely have talcum on them.

[busymom]

Congratulations on getting through the semester, debthaven!  


Spent a good chunk of today on the telephone, making changes on the family prescriptions.  Next year we have to switch to a different pharmacy, no thanks to the changes in DH's health care plan.  So, I was talking to different doctor offices, & the new pharmacy.  It only took about 6-7 calls, back & forth, & I'll have to make a couple more in the future, the next 2 times I need to pick up prescriptions.  

I did get a message from my contractor.  He'll be here early next week.  However, he's just finishing up some old projects that day.  We've got new ones that we need to get through.