2021 Declutter Stuff & Organize Your Life

[countrygirl2]

I need to go downstairs and work in the basement.  I still have things in the spare room to sort but doing the other first.  

Guess I will clean little boxes, have done nothing this morning. I'm getting really good at that.

Got some really nice clothes cleaned, going to see if I can consign them at Plato's Closet.

[countrygirl2]

I have started, one big box of Monster High Dolls, one of Build A Bears and the Chipmunks.  A bunch of the Biden, Obama, Trump, and all those dolls. A partial box of the Twilight cast, all of these are in original boxes, I'm keeping them.

For DIL a whole set of clown pictures from the Shrine, they are pencil drawings and all autographed and dated 1986.  There are other pictures she wants. She can have them, I will put up a few that I have room for. Some of mine are original paintings by a local artist from 30 years ago. I do need a couple of new frames for somme.

A whole box of give aways, one small of trash so far, one to hubs to be determined. I'm vaccing as I go, sure I'm keeping things that could go, but this is a good beginning.  

i'm washing some display items for DD and I. A small display house, a china man speaking that son got me for my birthday when little. A pearl in a display hubs bought me from Indonesia, and somme glass fish that match others in my cabinet. Just little things.  A few things of DD's her angel, Mickey, a rocking horse, and some other small items she has room for. There is a lot more but not bringing them. I do have a couple of glass dishes from my paternal grandmother, that is all I have of hers.

We have 4 chairs and a table from the motorhome we took out. I told hubs lets wrap them and seal them and put them over the garage in the attic. We can include them with the motorhome when we sell it, someone might want to put them back in. I recovered them all. They take up a lot of room.

Ok back to work.

[startsmart]

Lol bean, now I have the mental image of you typing out the food and passing out on they keyboard. You made a truly impressive amount of food!

I’ve been able to keep my kitchen clean this week - a big accomplishment lol - and made wontons, chicken curry, turkey lettuce wraps and brownies.

All but one strand of lights is up on the fence and it looks so nice at night. I also collect blue glass insulators which sit atop my fence posts and those look awesome with the lights!

Since the weather was better I put in another 4’ of edging and weed blocker and 50 more bricks. Once I get to the end of the weed blocker I’ll cut the edging and use it on the other side of the path.

Made a few trips upstairs and good progress on my quilt so it’s been a fairly productive holiday. I didn’t travel anywhere or talk to family so I’m treating the next 2 days as a bonus holiday.

Didn’t do any Black Friday shopping in person but used a birthday gift card to get some fabric on sale from a quilt company. They’re a small business so I count that as a good purchase!

[debthaven]

This weekend
- pharmacy
- mark 28 reports

I wanted to get the reports done this weekend but I did NOTHING today! (OK, one load of laundry). I woke up at 11 and then napped this afternoon. I've never been this low energy, but it HAS been a very tough semester, between the crazy hours/my surgery/the play. 

DH gave me a SAD light two Christmases ago. I didn't use it last winter because we were on lockdown and I was WFH from late Oct to mid-March, with no commute. I brought it out tonight so I can start using it again. Hopefully that'll help with my energy levels. 

 

[TheOtherMe]

I hope the lamp helps.  These two cats have knocked mine on the floor several times but I'm going to get it out and try again.  I know I need it and I know it helps.  

[bean29]

Startsmart-I post from my cell phone, so I did fall asleep in my bed. DH cooks most of the food, but it is an extended family effort. I have decided this is a family that likes sweets. I save one table just for sweets.

I am impressed with your landscaping efforts. I mostly buy supplies and plants and help my DH, but he is the muscle that does the work.

I ate too much rich foods, ended up stuck in the bathroom for much of the night. I ordered a bidet toilet seat this am. I wanted one for a long time, just decided to purchase it.

I slept from about 6 am to 11:30. Had DH walk the dogs this am. I did some dishes today but it was like I had a hangover, head was real foggy.

DH and I went to Lowes after supper. We bought a cellular shade for DS’s office window, looked at the fridge I bought. I will prob cancel. DH says we kind of need new stove. I also am not sure DW will keep working, but if I buy all new it will be $$. He said he wanted to wait on new appliances until he painted. My BIL said he bought a new Dishwasher last year Black Friday and paid $480. He said it is now like $780. He said even The next week it was quite a bit more. I guess it is combo of pandemic shortages/inflation. I am kind of afraid that putting off the purchase will mean more $$. Deciding on one appliance is bad enough. Having to decide on 3, is too much for me.

Tomorrow/Sunday we need to finish cleaning garage and outdoor Christmas Decorations.

Sharon, your “Weird Random Shit!” Label made me smile. I had a label like that on a box I packed when moving from last house to this one. The box and most of it’s contents stayed in a closet in my basement here for years.

Nidena-glad you finally have a “home” for your DVD’s, your color scheme sounds attractive too.

Country Girl-you have so much energy! I hope you can start relaxing soon. Hope your husband’s toe is nothing too serious.

[debthaven]

This weekend
- mark 10 28 reports/Sat+Sun
- see A/Sat

A productive morning. 

[Malarky]

Nov 26, 2021 17:10:16 GMT -5 startsmart said:

All but one strand of lights is up on the fence and it looks so nice at night. I also collect blue glass insulators which sit atop my fence posts and those look awesome with the lights!

 There is an original green glass insulator on the side of my house (built in 1890) along with the original wiring from Bell Telephone. I've long since made sure it isn't connected to anything, although we found more knob and tube wiring we missed when we renovated upstairs. I'm surprised that the insulator hasn't been stolen.  It's incredibly rare to find them still on houses. The painters wanted to remove the wires and the insulator but I made them leave it.  I've tried to keep what I can original to this house while still making it livable in this century.

It has taken me about three weeks of randomly popping in to catch up.  I'm right in the middle of the busy season at the bakery.  I don't even know how many hours I've worked in the past month and it's just a prelude to Christmas.

Renovations upstairs are finally complete!!!  DH has his office, "our" bedroom is just a bed and a bureau with an incredibly well organized closet (small room) adjacent. The guest room has a bed, a bureau, a TV and my elliptical.  We got a new mattress last year that I loathe and DH loves. I'm usually sleeping in the guest room on our old mattress which DH hates and I find extremely comfortable.  After 30 years of sleeping in the same bed, we're both getting some well deserved rest.  

DH is finishing up the painting in the hallway this weekend.  The next project is the new stairs.  I ordered on step from a company that makes them to make sure it was what I wanted.  Each step is just shy of $100  .  But it is perfect. Just 14 more to go. DH just kind of rolls his eyes at me. I'm the person who had a custom garage door built to the exact specifications as the original when I could have had a new on for less than half the price. I know what I want and I'm not willing to settle.  I also have a contractor friend who is going to make the four spindles that are broken or missing.  They are fairly elaborate and I can't find anything I like to replace them.  So more custom work.

All renovations are now on hold until the spring.  I can't face the winter with sawdust coating every surface.  I've resigned myself to having 30 boxes of hardwood for the downstairs distributed between the dining room and the mudroom.  

I got the dining room rearranged so the hardwood boxes for the downstairs are out of the way and we were able to have Thanksgiving dinner at the table.  If you don't look at the back wall, the room looks pretty good.  Except for the five boxes of files piled on top.  I emptied the cherry file cabinet that lived in there for years and moved it to DH's office.  To say that I need to cull those files in such an understatement. I honestly don't understand how it all fit in there.

The trunk of my car is full of random donations.  Three boxes of assorted stuff and a large trash bag of clothes. I've been driving the around for a few weeks but just haven't wanted to face the traffic to get them to Savers. At this point I'm thinking I'll just call Big Brother, Big Sister and have them picked up.  Unfortunately the company that used to come by every recyling day and pick up donations no longer offers that service.  They were a godsend when I did the majority of my decluttering.

Life hasn't been all about renovations and work. I've been able to see my girls at least every couple of weeks, DS on rare occasions, and some friends.  I popped down to see Chiver and all the improvements she's made on her house a month or so ago and we'll be seeing each other later today. It's funny how we met through these boards and how when we get together we just talk nonstop as though we've known each other all our lives.  This truly is a special place.

If I don't get a chance to pop in again before Christmas I wish you all the best in the holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.  Happy Hanukkah to those who's festivities begin tomorrow night.  



 

[nikiz628]

I did manage to go through my dresser drawers and give everything a nice refold. And my side of the closet is neat and organized again. It makes me happy. 

I shut my business down for the month of December, so I am going to spend today listing all my in stock items to try and unload them before I close out the month. 

[TheOtherMe]

Nov 27, 2021 9:05:24 GMT -5 Malarky said:

Nov 26, 2021 17:10:16 GMT -5 startsmart said:

All but one strand of lights is up on the fence and it looks so nice at night. I also collect blue glass insulators which sit atop my fence posts and those look awesome with the lights!

 


Life hasn't been all about renovations and work. I've been able to see my girls at least every couple of weeks, DS on rare occasions, and some friends.  I popped down to see Chiver and all the improvements she's made on her house a month or so ago and we'll be seeing each other later today. It's funny how we met through these boards and how when we get together we just talk nonstop as though we've known each other all our lives.  This truly is a special place.

I found this to be true when I met up with Giramomma.  We went to Starbucks and were there for 2 or 3 hours.

[chiver78]

I've had a productive morning so far! a few days ago, I renewed a FB marketplace listing listing the small round table I'd bought online before I decided to just keep my huge dining room set upstairs. this morning, a young woman drove about an hour to come pick it up for the price I'd originally paid for it. she said she has been looking for something like this for months with no luck. yay, win-win!

I assembled a 2x3 cube unit for the guest room and have started filling it. and, I've laundered the various stuffed dog toys that I surgically repaired last night. so those are all set for when the dogs come home tomorrow.

I may not have gotten everything done that I wanted to this weekend, but it has certainly been restful. I've got a couple more things to do before I head out to meet Malarky for dinner. it's still TBD whether I'm going to my HS reunion tonight or not. lol...

[empress of self-improvement]

Nov 27, 2021 12:31:44 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

I've had a productive morning so far! a few days ago, I renewed a FB marketplace listing listing the small round table I'd bought online before I decided to just keep my huge dining room set upstairs. this morning, a young woman drove about an hour to come pick it up for the price I'd originally paid for it. she said she has been looking for something like this for months with no luck. yay, win-win!

I assembled a 2x3 cube unit for the guest room and have started filling it. and, I've laundered the various stuffed dog toys that I surgically repaired last night. so those are all set for when the dogs come home tomorrow.

I may not have gotten everything done that I wanted to this weekend, but it has certainly been restful. I've got a couple more things to do before I head out to meet Malarky for dinner. it's still TBD whether I'm going to my HS reunion tonight or not. lol...

Hmph. Where did my invite go? For dinner, not the reunion. I don't care about mine. Wenches.

[chiver78]

Nov 27, 2021 13:41:27 GMT -5 empress of self-improvement said:

Nov 27, 2021 12:31:44 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

I've had a productive morning so far! a few days ago, I renewed a FB marketplace listing listing the small round table I'd bought online before I decided to just keep my huge dining room set upstairs. this morning, a young woman drove about an hour to come pick it up for the price I'd originally paid for it. she said she has been looking for something like this for months with no luck. yay, win-win!

I assembled a 2x3 cube unit for the guest room and have started filling it. and, I've laundered the various stuffed dog toys that I surgically repaired last night. so those are all set for when the dogs come home tomorrow.

I may not have gotten everything done that I wanted to this weekend, but it has certainly been restful. I've got a couple more things to do before I head out to meet Malarky for dinner. it's still TBD whether I'm going to my HS reunion tonight or not. lol...

Hmph. Where did my invite go? For dinner, not the reunion. I don't care about mine. Wenches.

this was a last-minute thing, since she lives a few streets over from where my reunion is going on. I think we've mentioned on the boards that we are both from the same town.

we need another meet up of the MA crew. last time was fun!

ETA - I should probably clarify that by dinner, I mean a few drinks to convince me to go to the reunion after all. I'm still wavering.

[TheOtherMe]

I don't drink and it would take many, many drinks to get me to go to another high school reunion.  I'm FB friends with the ones I care about.

The reunions are still a gathering of the same clique from high school.  My friends and I decided we don't need to feel excluded again.

[chiver78]

Nov 27, 2021 14:41:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I don't drink and it would take many, many drinks to get me to go to another high school reunion.  I'm FB friends with the ones I care about.

The reunions are still a gathering of the same clique from high school.  My friends and I decided we don't need to feel excluded again.

see, this is why I'm kind of curious. I've connected with a fair amount of my class on FB over the years, and they seem like decent people. they all love on my dog posts, and seem like normal people. 🤷‍♀️. I’ve gotten together with a few back when I was still in my condo, as a lot of us settled in that town as adults. it isn't really that any of them were major assholes to me back then, I was a very awkward kid who didn't do well (I still don't...) with social situations and reading cues. I'd moved to town in the middle of grade school when the cliques had already started forming. I was really more of an outsider than anything else. I mean there were assholes, but that's not who I let back in to my digital world anyway. I think I'd like to go raise a glass with some of them. 🥂 I am bummed that one I’ve known since we were 3 and in the same learn-to-skate program isn't going to be able to make it. it's been a few years since I've seen her.

[startsmart]

Malarkey - I probably wasn’t super clear but the glass insulators were all bought secondhand and not attached to the house at all! I have them set up like this:
imgur.com/gallery/VkWuqlS


The good news discovered today is that the redwood boards I bought do not need to be pre drilled so I’ve been assembling more raised garden beds. Just moved the large saw so I can cut boards and supports.

[debthaven]

That's huge progress Malarky !

nikiz628 well done! I plan to do the same with DH's half of the closet over Christmas break. ;-)

[moneysquirrel]

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.  Getting together wirh family was a much needed ativity for many of us, especially after fhe last year.  I have not ventured out or online to do any shopping this entire week.  I have been spending some time working on reorganizing sections of my craft room.  I still have two bookcases to go through but am putting those on hold for a while.  A lot of my craft show materials will be placed back into those areas and I won't be finsihed with the shows until the middle of December.  Still have two shows left. .Im not making anything neew for those shows but am woeking on a project for me.  I should be finished with it in a few days.  It is the last project fórm the zoom craft retreat I attended in June.  I am switching up the design a bit which is one reason it has taken for me to finish it.  

Most of the Thanksgiving items are put away but a few are still out.  Beginning to switch to Chtistmas decor.  I will be doing it in pieces over the span of several days.

My classes will restart this week.  Only three more weeks of classes for the semester.  

Hope all of you are doing well.  Take care all!

[TheOtherMe]

Nov 27, 2021 15:05:25 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Nov 27, 2021 14:41:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I don't drink and it would take many, many drinks to get me to go to another high school reunion.  I'm FB friends with the ones I care about.

The reunions are still a gathering of the same clique from high school.  My friends and I decided we don't need to feel excluded again.

see, this is why I'm kind of curious. I've connected with a fair amount of my class on FB over the years, and they seem like decent people. they all love on my dog posts, and seem like normal people. 🤷‍♀️. I’ve gotten together with a few back when I was still in my condo, as a lot of us settled in that town as adults. it isn't really that any of them were major assholes to me back then, I was a very awkward kid who didn't do well (I still don't...) with social situations and reading cues. I'd moved to town in the middle of grade school when the cliques had already started forming. I was really more of an outsider than anything else. I mean there were assholes, but that's not who I let back in to my digital world anyway. I think I'd like to go raise a glass with some of them. 🥂 I am bummed that one I’ve known since we were 3 and in the same learn-to-skate program isn't going to be able to make it. it's been a few years since I've seen her.

I have connected with some of the clique on FB, but we went to school from grade school on.  If I want to go to lunch, they will say yes and we have an enjoyable time.  In the large group situation, it goes back to the high school cliques and my friends and I don't fit in.

You know I'm an introvert.  I didn't know that word then or what it meant.  It describes the way I was in school from the beginning but I was also and still am a geek.  Some of the clique guys used the geekness to their advantage.  I was insecure enough to think if I helped them in class, they would like me.  They still acted like they never new me the rest of the day.  One did and he has always talked to me at reunions.

He is an attorney and politician.  Wonder if that was already in him back then.  He is in the State Legislature and we sometimes chat about what is going on there.  He never treated me poorly in high school and got all of his writing paper from me, which we both laugh about.

[TheOtherMe]

I realized today that the organizer is coming on Monday.  I've got work to do before she comes, too.  

[tcu2003]

Popping back in to try to motivate myself some more between now and the end of the year. I partially cleaned out my closet a couple of weeks ago and pulled out tons of jeans and shirts that were too small. I posted everything in lots on local Buy Nothing FB group and the last set of shirts got picked up yesterday , so yay for clearing out some space. I’ve also managed to give away some kid stuff there recently, and sell a few things on FB marketplace. Still tons more to go, but I’ll take any progress.

DH is in the middle of finishing our basement, and is at the stage now where it’s finishing time. As I type, he’s spraying the ceilings to add the texture to them. The flooring is on order and should be here in the next week or two. So maybe it will be done in the next couple of months (he started this in January of this year) and we can move stuff back into our storage room downstairs….maybe.

We went to my sister and her significant other’s house for Thanksgiving. Pretty sure there were about 30 people there. But all we had to do was show up, so I’ll take it. Besides the 4 of us and my mom, and then sis, her 2 kids, boyfriend and his son, everyone else was his extended family. In my family, everyone pitches in to clean up. But as soon as they mentioned clean up, his entire extended family left - like fled. Not a big deal - sis, mom and I got it all taken care of, but even sis was a little shocked by it.

My mom turned 70 today, so we hosted a small get together for her at our house. Sis and her family, plus my aunt and uncle, and another couple from my hometown that are longtime friends. My other uncle and aunt were supposed to come (that uncle is mom’s brother and only living sibling), but they nailed a couple of days ago. She had a good time, and is currently napping on my couch.

Hope you all are doing well!! I’ll try to check in more often.

[debthaven]

But as soon as they mentioned clean up, his entire extended family left - like fled.

Yikes tcu2003 ! I'm sure your sister was very happy you were there to help! People be strange. 

[Opti]

Exhausted. Apparently the shared basement storage took on water or something again. Mgmt or someone put several garbage bags of what feels like rocks/broken concrete pieces in the area I store my stuff. Not happy. So I decided I would get rid of one dead heavy thing and fling it in the dumpster. 

So weird about those bags. Can't tell where the stuff came from and its strange its not close to the basement door instead. At least one other big thing I'd like to get rid of. Maybe drag the box out and do pieces at a time b4 we have real winter weather. 

Stuff was moved around and my cooler top has black crap on it I don't remember being there.

[debthaven]

my cooler top has black crap on it I don't remember being there.

Could it be mold? Very sorry about this Opti

If you have a basement storage space, I would strongly suggest that you keep the things you care about off the floor. There are cheap metal or wooden shelving units available on FB marketplace. 

In my experience basements often flood at some point, so it's better not to have your things on the floor. 

Best of luck to you. 

[Opti]

Nov 27, 2021 18:50:14 GMT -5 debthaven said:

my cooler top has black crap on it I don't remember being there.

Could it be mold? Very sorry about this Opti

If you have a basement storage space, I would strongly suggest that you keep the things you care about off the floor. There are cheap metal or wooden shelving units available on FB marketplace. 

In my experience basements often flood at some point, so it's better not to have your things on the floor. 

Best of luck to you. 

I don't think so, but I'm unsure. The garbage bags I had over some tires had black dust on them too. We have skids, and I don't think the cooler was on the floor(except it did get moved there). There's a spot on the floor that's black. It wasn't there when I moved in but happened sometime in the last couple years. 

[debthaven]

This weekend
- mark 28 final reports/Sat+Sun 
- see A/Sat
- rake leaves/Sun

Unfortunately I won't get my second/last set of finals until 21 Dec ... we are literally the last exam of the semester.   

[TheOtherMe]

I know I said I wasn't going to use the extra bedroom as a storage room.  I just took the 3 plastic totes in there to stay until I take the Christmas decorations down.

So far, I am pleased with the lack of interest the cats are showing in the decorations.  I have a very nice Mr and Mrs Santa Claus on the floor.  They both sniffed in Santa's beard but haven't bothered it after that.  Showed no interest in Mrs. Claus

[TheOtherMe]

Silly me.  The organizer isn't coming until Dec. 6.  My therapist has the same first name as the organizer.  Good thing I checked what was really happening tomorrow.  

I did break down several boxes and I'm going to get a box to be recycled out of the closet in the office.  I also need to update my 2022 calendar.  

[startsmart]

Monthly Declutter Goals? I wanted to test something out in December and curious if anyone wants to play along. I was thinking we could post by the 1st or 2nd of the month our declutter/organization goals and then check in at the end of the month to see progress.

My thinking is that time seems to fly by and I never look back at my annual goals. For me, I would like to keep focused on the projects I need to complete and not get distracted by the "normal" house stuff like laundry and dishes. 

Anyone want to play along in December with me? 

[Malarky]

Nov 28, 2021 11:37:43 GMT -5 startsmart said:

Monthly Declutter Goals? I wanted to test something out in December and curious if anyone wants to play along. I was thinking we could post by the 1st or 2nd of the month our declutter/organization goals and then check in at the end of the month to see progress.

My thinking is that time seems to fly by and I never look back at my annual goals. For me, I would like to keep focused on the projects I need to complete and not get distracted by the "normal" house stuff like laundry and dishes. 

Anyone want to play along in December with me? 

It's time to dig out the Christmas decor.  I'd like to launch at least 25% of what I have. I should part with at least half.  Some hasn't been featured in years. No one except Clark Griswold needs the volume of Christmas lights and decorations I currently have stored in my basement.