2017 Declutter and Organization Thread

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 23, 2017 22:56:48 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Dec 23, 2017 21:01:11 GMT -5 CCL said:

Oh no! That sounds painful.

Yes, it is painful,  but that's his secondary concern. When he realized he'd done something to his Achilles, he didn't think he'd fully torn it. He was correct and fortunately the ER doctor didn't think it was going to need surgery. We'll find a specialist to see next week or after the new year. He really doesn't want to have surgery. The pain is darned annoying to him. 

Hope your DH doesn't need surgery.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

For the rest of today: 
~Clean up DD#1's room of the present-wrapping materials. She'll be home late tonight. 
~Walk Bill the Dog
~Make dinner
~Deep clean laundry room
~two more loads of laundry rotated and put away (two are already done)

[Sharon]

Please feel free to ignore my list but I need somewhere to keep track, I am so far behind getting ready for Christmas this year.

General Stuff
    Get out Christmas dishes
    Get out good silver
    Wipe down the pack n play
    Iron the table clothes

Clean
    Vacuum
    Dust
    Clean Oven- Probably not happening
    Clean Stovetop

Dad showed up with the tables he remembered.  We had a nice visit over sugar cookies.  That delayed me getting things done but that is okay.  It isn't often that I get to visit with my Dad just one on one.  I also got out the high chair for my 1 year old great nephew.  It has been packed away in the attic in its original box.  I was astounded how dirty it was.  A sinkfull of warm soapy water and it is looking much better.  They tray has really yellowed after all these years but it will do for a now and again high chair.  I also got a big batch of asparagus cleaned.  It was on a really good Friday only special so it was a last minute entry to the menu.

[sealy]

Cleaning showers and cleaning glass and sanitizing stuff.

[sealy]

Dec 23, 2017 22:51:59 GMT -5 Sharon said:

Dec 23, 2017 22:09:12 GMT -5 sealy said:

Does anyone use a steam cleaner? Can anyone recommend one for me? I’ve checked online but don’t know which one is the best one.

I have a shark steam cleaner that I use in the kitchen and bathrooms.  It does a pretty good job considering the fact that my floors are old crappy linoleum.

Where did you get your Shark?

[sealy]

Dec 24, 2017 7:35:30 GMT -5 CCL said:

Dec 23, 2017 22:09:12 GMT -5 sealy said:

Does anyone use a steam cleaner? Can anyone recommend one for me? I’ve checked online but don’t know which one is the best one.

For carpets or flooring? I've have them for my carpets/upholstery for years. I've had the best luck with Hoover. Bissells don't seem to last long for me. With the Hoovers I can easily order replacement parts like brushes and hoses whenever I have needed them.

I saw a show where people used steam cleaners to clean their bathroom and sanitized their stuff with it too.

[Sharon]

Dec 24, 2017 20:28:50 GMT -5 sealy said:

Dec 23, 2017 22:51:59 GMT -5 Sharon said:

I have a shark steam cleaner that I use in the kitchen and bathrooms.  It does a pretty good job considering the fact that my floors are old crappy linoleum.

Where did you get your Shark?

Sears actually on an after Christmas sale.  That year the company I work for gave everyone gift cards to Sears/Lands End.  That isn't a store I usually shop but was wanting a Shark so I hit up the after Christmas clearance sale.  Can't remember exactly what I paid for it as I have had it for over 5 years now.

I use it on the floors in the bathroom, tried it on the shower stall walls once.  I have fake marble that was all the rage in the 70's and I could see it would taking the finish off so stopped that.

[sealy]

Thanks Sharon.

[Sharon]

A few more things off my list.

General Stuff
    Wipe down the pack n play- Gave this one up. DGD can still fit in the bassinet if nap time is a must. DD will probably just hold her if she falls asleep.  If my great nephew absolutely needs a nap they will probably leave and go to there other grammy's house which is a block and a half up the street.  This grammy watches him a lot.
    Iron the table cloths- This can be done tomorrow.

Clean
    Dust- not happening, don't care
    Clean Oven- Not happening
    Clean Stovetop- Not happening

To do Tomorrow after getting the turkey in the oven
    Set the tables
    Prep the various stations in the kitchen.  Carving board out along with meat platters etc where we carve.  That type of stuff.
These are the things I always do in the morning while the turkey is cooking so nothing new.

[moneysquirrel]

Just stopping in to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  Take time to appreciate your loved ones and to celebrate the reason for the season.  

Take a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy the holiday.

Things will be back to the normal too soon as it is.

[Sharon]

[startsmart]

December Final List:

Donate magazines to local assisted living home
Take a donation to Goodwill
Pickup items not sold at holiday boutique


Food to prep:
Breakfast casserole
Cinnamon rolls
bacon
Crab cioppino
rice
crispy green beans

[Sharon]

I should probably dig out my getting ready for Christmas list and then reverse it this week.   So glad that I have this week off and can rest and get the house back in order.

[debthaven]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Welcome sealy! Looking forward to your posts!

Oh no Knee Deep in Water Chloe! I hope your DH is doing better.

[busymom]

Hope you all had a nice Christmas.      Yesterday was busy, and involved a lot of driving on a very cold day, but it went well.


Today we had to take DS into the city to the dentist.  He survived, but we have to look into extracting his wisdom teeth this next year.


Don't ask what the house looks like.  But, due to the holiday, garbage pick-up isn't until tomorrow, so we should be able to get another bag or two out there by tomorrow morning.

Anyone here ever done givebackbox.com?  Apparently, if you fill one of the many empty boxes you had shipped to you with clothing, etc. for charity, you can print up a label on their website, & they'll pick your unwanted items up, & leave you a receipt.

[Sharon]

Today was a busy busy day but the house is looking pretty good.

1.  Consolidated things in the fridge (don't need 2 things of gravy) and put anything that was still in Christmas dishes into another container
2.  Ran the dishwasher 2 more times (2 yesterday and 2 today) plus hand washed some dishes
3.  All Christmas dishes are put away
4.  Scoured and scrubbed the counter better.  The turkey juice etc ran off the cutting board and under my canisters etc.  Part of the reason why I was running the dishwasher so much, I ran the canisters through
        I had cleaned the counter good yesterday and then went back and cleaned it really good today and disinfected it etc. (just too tired last night)
5.  Tables cloths have been washed, they are sitting in the dryer and will probably sit there until tomorrow
6.  Finished cleaning the meat off the carcass then cooked the carcass up and made turkey stock
7.  Got the turkey carcass into the garbage for pickup tomorrow
8.  Made a big pot of turkey noodle soup
9.  Returned Mom's chairs that I had borrowed and carried them downstairs for her and put them away
10.  Returned the pie plate and tupperware container from the extra pie Mom had left for me
11.  Visited with Mom too long
12.  Got my folding chairs put away
13.  Went through the sack of wrapping paper in the living room and made sure there weren't any wayward gift cards etc then took the paper outside to the recycle bin
14.  Wiped down the high chair


Tomorrow Dad is coming over and having hot turkey sandwiches with me for lunch and he will then pick up the extra tables. 

[chapeau]

Tomorrow I’m going to clean out and inventory the pantry. Definitely the one in the kitchen, but if I could do the basement area where we store canned goods, too, that would be fabulous. It will depend on DD, though. I promised her that we’d play together tomorrow, after I get the upstairs area cleaned up, and that’s the most important thing to do.
Does anyone want some Aldi brand Frosted Flakes? They were $0.99 in August or September when DH was there, so he bought 10 boxes. We’ve used 1. At this rate, we have a 5-year supply! He does not know how to shop from a list. May have to find a chore other than grocery shopping for him in 2018. Or find some kind of shock collar that zaps him if he goes off list...

[debthaven]

chapeau we have an Aldi-type place near us. I just came home from there in fact lol. Their own-brand cereals are frankly gross, here at least. WAAAYYYY too much sugar. We tried a couple, but we don't buy their own-brand cereal anymore. Their prices are great (in general I mean) but there are some items I won't buy there, so I always have to go to a "regular" supermarket too.

This week
- grocery shopping X 2/Wed
- post office for stamps/Wed
- wash DS2's bedding (because DS1 arrives soon)/Wed
- pick up deliveries as they arrive: baby mattress, DS2's gift
- Shitepile

We're also making turkey soup.

[startsmart]

If I could sleep normal hours again I'd be SO ready for 2018. This morning I was up at 5am and unable to sleep, then took a 2 hour nap in the middle of the morning. Cleaned up a bit since my cleaner comes tomorrow and I like to have the place decluttered so she can work. I'm making the list now and hoping to do a big end of year clean in order to get back on track. 

I'll start a new thread for 2018 on Friday so we have the weekend to set goals and intentions


December Final List:

Donate magazines to local assisted living home
Take a donation to Goodwill
Pickup items not sold at holiday boutique
Switch bank info for Merchant Provider
Donate blankets to animal shelter

[Sharon]

Today ended up being take down the Christmas tree day, not by choice.  When I got up the Christmas tree was laying in the middle of the living room floor.   Fortunately no ornaments were broken.  The tree has been chopped up and I actually even got most of it done and in the yard debris bins before the garbage man came around today.  Before Christmas I got rid of several ornaments etc, stuff that was stored in the tree decorating tubs, that with some rearranging I was able to use one less tub for storage, win for me.  The ornament tubs have all been hiked back up into the attic

Dad picked up the tables today so those are out of the house.  We also had a nice visit.  It isn't often that I get one on one time to just visit with Dad.

Tomorrow I will need to finish vacuuming the living room and get the furniture back where it belongs.  I am letting the carpet dry out some more where all the water from the tree stand soaked it.

[Iggy aka IG]

startsmart, thank you for starting the new thread.

Question for y'all:  You know those Christmas photo cards some people send you?  What do you do with them?  Do you keep them forever?  For awhile?  From just certain people?  If you keep them, how do you have them organized?  I appreciate your input.  I have about 15 years worth of these and regular photos cluttering my home office.

[wvugurl26]

If they are ones I wanted to save I would put them in a photo album probably.

My goal for this week is to get all the Christmas gifts out of the smaller spare bedroom and the bed set up. That will be the easier bedroom to prepare for our house guest arriving Sunday. DH's 18 year old nephew is coming back from vacation earlier than his family due to work/school/ something. He's staying with us to prevent any bad decisions on his part.

[Chocolate Lover]

I put all those picture cards in a photo box with other pictures and cards I've gotten. I'm way too lazy for photo albums anymore. And also out of shelf space.

[startsmart]

Iggy - I keep them for a few years and then recycle. I did see a nice tip to take a picture of them up close with your phone and make that picture the contact photo on your phone so when someone calls their face pops up. 

UGH I am so off on my sleep that I overslept the alarm and only woke up when my cleaner arrived today. I was wondering who kept knocking...

[TheOtherMe]

I keep them.  They are going to be scanned as part of my scanning process.

[Iggy aka IG]

Thank you, everyone. 

[startsmart]

Well I unexpectedly took down the Christmas tree today while my cleaner was here. Ornaments are boxed up (I only did the special ones this year) and most of the decor from the mantle is done. I still need to put away the fake greenery garland and wreath and a few random things. 

Even though I didn't use them on the fake tree, I'm going through my lights and cleaning them up. They're being tested and then, instead of stored in plastic grocery bags, I'm wrapping the strands around cardboard because I have a TON of cardboard boxes in the garage. 

Anyway, getting everything as cleaned up as possible before the weekend and then I'm going to go offline for a couple days. 

[TheOtherMe]

My plan for the evening is to sort and organize my dad's paperwork.  When I got it out, I realized I didn't do this last year.  I'm sure it was because I was sick and totally forgot about it after my gallbladder surgery.

I had wondered how the pile got so high.  Two years worth of stuff explains it.

[debthaven]

I have pretty much done NOTHING for days except chilling and reading (and keeping up with the kitchen and laundry). I've been sleeping 8 hours a night AND taking naps. I took a 4-hour nap today. I wasn't kidding when I kept saying last semester REALLY kicked my butt.

I printed out and color-coded my schedule for next semester (I use different colors for different classes). I'll be teaching 21-22h/week next semester. That's a HUGE improvement over last semester's 24-25h of teaching a week. They've already changed 3 of the 4 Tuesdays I had too many classes, and they'll eventually change the last one too. So that's a relief.

I have a long Mon (Job 2), a long Tues, a short Wed, and a normal Thurs. Best of all, I only have to get up at 6 one or two days a week!

DS1 arrives on Sat, DDIL and Baby! arrive on Mon. They'll be coming and going for about 10 days. I'm trying out the system where either DS1's or DS2's sheets are on the bed, and the other one's sheets are in the closet. For now DS2's (clean) sheets are in the closet, and DS1's (clean) sheets are on DS2's bed. (For newcomers to this thread, DS1 got the basement bedroom when he went off to college, at his request, but it's not fitting for a baby, so now they use DS2's bedroom when they come.)
 
This week
- Shitepile
- set up baby bed (we may wait for DS1 for this)
- pick up deliveries as they arrive: baby mattress, DS2's gift

[debthaven]

Also, it's that time of year again ... yes, it's tea decluttering time!

Thankfully, there's very little unwanted tea to declutter this year, just 6 bags of jasmine tea. Everyone here claims to LOVE jasmine tea, but I've been keeping track, and no one has touched it in over a year. So I'm drinking it till it's gone. Let's see if anyone notices.

ETA: They are coming to do a ground survey on 4 Jan. So that's when the house business will start. I hope it all goes quickly but I'm not holding my breath.

The other RE agency listed that studio today. Fingers crossed that someone buys it.