2018 Get Organized & Declutter Your Stuff

[nikiz628]

Jan 10, 2018 20:30:31 GMT -5 busymom said:

Sorry to hear you're sick nikiz628 .  If it's the same stuff I had, it could stick with you awhile.  Get plenty of rest!


The last of the siding guys left around 7 pm.  The house is not completed yet, but the outside is "covered".  We're getting what we call a "Lake Superior mist" right now, when it's raining so lightly that you can barely see it, or feel it touch your skin.  No working shower yet either, but hopefully tomorrow both the siding and the shower should be done.  The blessing is, the big sNOw has moved, so the heavier stuff is supposed to hit South & East of here.


I'm so tired.  What is it about listening to hammering, & other loud sounds all day that wears you out?  One more day.  I can do this.

Whatever it is, it seems to have settled into my chest. Cue all sorts of coughing that is really starting to hurt. My voice is in and out too- which is great fun for this mama. 

[debthaven]

So much for not doing any more tonight ... I've put back the contents of 3/8 shelves so far: luggage, household pantry/party glasses, and food pantry.

The rest will take longer because I want us to go through the bags/boxes. 

[busymom]

It's snowing hard outside.  It would be pretty to look at if not for the poor guys pounding hammers outside, trying to get the rest of my siding up.  The contractor & his assistant are still working on my shower, and hopefully I will be able to take a nice, hot shower tonight.  When this house was built, I've got the rough in down in the basement, but the problem is, the upstairs laundry chute is set up so that the laundry lands right where the toilet would be, if we ever finished the basement.     So much for great planning, whoever designed this house...

I've managed to find some more things to get rid of, but I can't focus my full attention to sorting.  The pounding hammers are too distracting for me.  I do my best work when the house is quiet, and the kids are out of the house.  

Nice work on the shelves, debthaven!  

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 11, 2018 9:24:58 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I discovered that my crazy headaches that won't go away with any sort of pain pills go away quickly once I take a Claritin. Worked a couple days ago, so I tried it this morning, and it worked like a charm. Must've been my sinuses.

Isn't it weird that sinus headaches can only be cured by sinus medications? It's always just driven me nuts that I can't take some ibuprofen or something and be done with it since most of the time that's my only symptom. 

[startsmart]

Jury duty saga is STILL not over. Called to report Monday, then delayed to Thursday. Showed up today, checked in, wait around and then told to come back on Tuesday. How about no? 

I put in my hardship paperwork saying I have clients I'm seeing in LA next week and there's no way I can not run my business for 7 weeks for this trial. Supposedly the judge will call me but whatever, I can't show up on Tuesday. 

Today's goals are to finish packing, paint some trim in the garage, and get my car cleaned out. 

[debthaven]

startsmart it's crazy that they can keep you on hold like that.

I counted 22 boxes of the kids' school stuff, even though I've already consolidated it twice over the years. I want to get it down to 3 boxes/kid, so 12 boxes total. Clearly I'm not good at getting rid of that.

But first I need to put everything else back on the shelves. After that's done (hopefully by tomorrow night), I plan to go through 3-4 boxes of the school stuff per week, so it will take a while. 

I'll probably go to the Salvation Army type place Sat morning. I've already got a bag full but I'm sure I'll have more by tomorrow evening.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Busy week. Plus I’m hormonal.

[busymom]

Well, my shower is officially "usable".  On Monday, they'll be putting in tile around it, and putting down the flooring.  We're still having some trouble trying to figure out the best counter top for the bathroom sink (we're dealing with golden blonde woodwork, and the stores have mostly colors that coordinate with white or gray).  We do have our "settle for" selection, but DD & I are going to meet when she gets off of work tomorrow, and try one more time to see if anything better pops up.

It snowed most of the day, and the poor siding guys finally gave up working around lunchtime.  The thermometer is dropping, so I honestly don't know if they'll be back tomorrow morning, or if they'll wait for the temps to warm up again.  Unfortunately, it'll be a number of days before the temps improve again.

[chapeau]

Jan 11, 2018 19:54:26 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Busy week. Plus I’m hormonal.

Holy cow! It looks lovely, but I’m tired just looking at all of that. I’m impressed you manage to do all of that. And keep your list so neat and color coordinated. Some days I change ink colors mid word, if I get distracted in the middle of writing and then mislay the pen I started with.

[Waffle]

Worked a little on guest room closets today. Total is now 74/2018. Could have been much higher if I had counted each individual hanger that I threw out.

[busymom]

I just got to try out my new shower, & it felt SO GOOD!     It got me thinking about those poor people in Puerto Rico.  Here I am, feeling icky after going 36 hours without a "real" shower, and they've had to do without for months.  


Knee Deep in Water Chloe, I'm very impressed with your meal planning skills.  For me, meal planning has more to do with the time factor.  Like, do I have plenty of time to put a meal together, or do I have a half hour to throw something together.  

[tcu2003]

Today's Peter Walsh challenge:


Day 11 of #31Days2GetOrganized – Mail – Is Junk Mail threatening to take over your home? Get a jump on mail inflow with these 3 simple steps! #31Days2GetOrganized2018 #ItsAllTooMuch #NewYearsResolution #DeclutterAndOrganize #GetToIt #MailClutter #JunkMail #MailNeedsAHome

[Sam_2.0]

Jan 11, 2018 22:36:50 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Today's Peter Walsh challenge:


Day 11 of #31Days2GetOrganized – Mail – Is Junk Mail threatening to take over your home? Get a jump on mail inflow with these 3 simple steps! #31Days2GetOrganized2018 #ItsAllTooMuch #NewYearsResolution #DeclutterAndOrganize #GetToIt #MailClutter #JunkMail #MailNeedsAHome

I have to drive down the street to get the mail. So I started the habit of sorting it and dropping the junk straight into the recycle bin on my way inside the house.

[chiver78]

I need to get way better about the mail. there is a crate from 5lbs of clementines that I bought not long after moving in, that we try to use to contain the mail. sometimes though, it does back up bc I don't want to deal with it. and the with screwing up and forgetting to change my CC payment last week, and being super cash poor, I have even less motivation to work my way through the pile.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 11, 2018 20:12:16 GMT -5 chapeau said:

Jan 11, 2018 19:54:26 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Busy week. Plus I’m hormonal.

Holy cow! It looks lovely, but I’m tired just looking at all of that. I’m impressed you manage to do all of that. And keep your list so neat and color coordinated. Some days I change ink colors mid word, if I get distracted in the middle of writing and then mislay the pen I started with.

Thank you! Keep in mind a few things: my youngest child is 15, so I’m not on constant-kid watch and/or interaction. Also, my husband is completely taking his portion of the household tasks. I’m completely aware of how blessed I am with that. Third, this is my home and work combined. I don’t keep it separated, so it might look like more than it actually is compared to someone who has separate lists and we only see their home tasks.

Also, you’ll notice there are often tasks that take me a few days to actually get done. Wednesday, though I was constantly going, doesn’t seem like I accomplished much. 🙄

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

[quote author="busymom" source="/post/2793610/thread" timestamp="1515725673

Knee Deep in Water Chloe, I'm very impressed with your meal planning skills.  For me, meal planning has more to do with the time factor.  Like, do I have plenty of time to put a meal together, or do I have a half hour to throw something together.   [/quote]

Thanks! I actually need to plan it out because of the time factor. Otherwise, we end up at home going “WTH is for dinner and we want to eat in 30 minutes!” And then we will end up eating out, which annoys me.
I do plan easier-prepping meals on days I have a shorter window of prep time.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We have dinner guests tomorrow, so not much is planned for household tasks. My deep cleaning goal for this week is the kitchen. I only have 4/23 tasks completed. The remainder of that list will take a few hours on Saturday.

[debthaven]

I agree, your agenda is like a work of art Knee Deep in Water Chloe lol.

Sam_2.0 I do the same, I put the junk mail directly into recycling on my way in.

DH and I overdid it yesterday. My back and hip are acting up again.

This weekend
- bottle bank/Fri
- meet D for lunch/Fri
- Ikea/Fri
- donations/Sat
- Basement:
Thurs: build 4 sets of shelves + luggage, household pantry, food pantry, party goods
Fri: work papers, toys, beach toys, x-rays, baby clothes, art stuff

[Deleted]

What are skill Day bags? I want one  

Boxes of kids, school stuff.... is this papers, etc? One thing I love about Homeschooling is the portfolios. My kids portfolios are binders with sheet protectors and their selected works and pictures from each year. They sit on my shelves now and the kids periodically thumb through them, but each kids set could fit in one, albeit heavy, box if I wanted to pack them away. 

[midjd]

I think I jinxed myself by posting about the wrens in our door wreath... this morning I woke up to DH yelling and thought he slipped on the ice when he went to start his Jeep. No, just a bird.

After about 20 minutes, I told DH to go on to work and take DD to school and I'd take care of it. I managed to get the bird into an upstairs closet, but he had figured out by that point that if he just flew from point to point above my head I'm too short to grab him. The poor thing was exhausted, and thought he'd surely die if I put him back outside in the freezing temperatures, so I put some birdseed and water on a shelf and closed the door so the cat wouldn't get him. (Now for the part that's relevant to the thread: because that's the one closet in the house that's mostly empty, at least I don't have to worry about him ruining everything with his poop!) 

It was fortuitous, I guess -- because of the road conditions, my work closed until noon today, but had I not spent the first hour of the day fruitlessly chasing a bird through my house, I'd already have been well on my way in by the time I got notice.

[debthaven]

Yes oped it's school stuff. Papers, essays, report cards, notebooks, binders, etc. Your system sounds good but many years too late for me.

[Deleted]

Make them go through and reduce it to one binder  

[debthaven]

LOL ... the kids don't give a crap about that school stuff. I do.

As I said, I'll work on those boxes once I've done the rest.

[dee27]

The new tables for the great room arrived today and they are a work of beautiful craftsmanship. I moved the old end table to the den and the old sofa table to DH's computer room in the hopes that he organizes his junk piles more neatly, but at least his mess is confined to one room.

[nikiz628]

debthaven , It may be too late for something like this but, I keep DS's stuff in a storage bin like this: (disclaimer: this is a pinterest photo and not my actual child)



I have 2 hanging folders for each school year. The front of the first one has the grade, his school picture, and a few "about me" questions for that age. 

[debthaven]

That looks a great system nikiz628 ! But since mine are now 19-31, again, too late lol.

Everything is already in those boxes. I'm not looking to create a new system. I just want to reduce the number of boxes.

I also have a vertical file per child for important documents like report cards, acceptance letters, awards, etc.

[busymom]

I went through my linen closet this morning, & purged some sheets & pillow cases that either had stains, seams or elastic that were going bad, or had just seen better days.     I didn't get rid of THAT much, but it did make more room in my linen closet.  My count is 49/2018.  If it's still cold tomorrow, I hope to add to my count.

[Iggy aka IG]

Jan 12, 2018 13:49:54 GMT -5 busymom said:

I went through my linen closet this morning, & purged some sheets & pillow cases that either had stains, seams or elastic that were going bad, or had just seen better days.     I didn't get rid of THAT much, but it did make more room in my linen closet.  My count is 49/2018.  If it's still cold tomorrow, I hope to add to my count.

Not sure about elsewhere, but our animal shelter here is always looking for used sheets, etc. for their furry residents. 

[dee27]

Jan 12, 2018 13:55:06 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

Jan 12, 2018 13:49:54 GMT -5 busymom said:

I went through my linen closet this morning, & purged some sheets & pillow cases that either had stains, seams or elastic that were going bad, or had just seen better days.     I didn't get rid of THAT much, but it did make more room in my linen closet.  My count is 49/2018.  If it's still cold tomorrow, I hope to add to my count.

Not sure about elsewhere, but our animal shelter here is always looking for used sheets, etc. for their furry residents. 

After we moved, we upgraded to a queen mattress and headboard for the spare room, and I donated all of the double sized sheets and blankets to the animal shelter.

[moneysquirrel]

Updating the list from a few days ago:

January Goals and Other Things: (in no particular order)



*Bedroom closet

*Maintain progress
Ongoing
*Continue to declutter items
-- Ongoing
*Take items to school
-- Packing up totes -- hope to deliver these 1/19
*Home Insurance

*Meeting (1/16)

*Doctor (1/15)

*Dentist (1/23)

*Meeting and lunch with friends (1/8)

*Volunteer work (once this month)
1/25
*Exercise (aiming for at least twice a week -- hoping for more) major fail here.  once so far this week

I have been slowing re-organizing different areas in the house.  As I go through the areas I have been trying to add to the donation box as I find items I no longer can use.  I have two boxes packed to donate and am currently beginning to add to a third box.  Once that one is filled I will call for a pickup.  I like that the organization will pick up at the door so I usually wait until I have at least three boxes for them.  

I also have been staying home a lot so that helps with the organizing as well.  I have been doing some beading but my list of things to make is a lot longer and growing faster than the beading.  At least this way I always have something to work on.  I do deviate from the list if something catches my eye.

I do find I can only do so much at one time of any one thing before I have to move on to something else.  Also as the weather is gloomy I tend to nap more often and I don't get everything I want done.  Also trying to stay home in an effort to remain healthy.