2021 Declutter Stuff & Organize Your Life

[Iggy aka IG]

Tossed my favorite pair of work slacks today.  They were threadbare in a few areas.  Donating is one thing, but I despise throwing away clothes.  Oh, well.  One more thing out of the house, though I did buy two new pairs of jeans, and a pair of black work slacks last month.  

[debthaven]

Iggy aka IG here if you put items in the clothing donation bin, they sort them, and recycle the ones that are too worn to donate or (I think but I'm not sure) sell. Is there anything comparable there?

[Iggy aka IG]

Dec 2, 2021 13:46:03 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Iggy aka IG here if you put items in the clothing donation bin, they sort them, and recycle the ones that are worn. Is there anything comparable?

Unfortunately, no.  

[debthaven]

Then Iggy aka IG you need to let this one go ... we know how hard you try to donate and reuse items. 

Sharon you must be in the final stretch now!!!

I am WFH tomorrow. I am still giddy at having (basically) finished the semester! Gd willing, I won't have to work as many hours/days at school ever again. (There will be exceptions.)

I still don't know about the extra class for Sem 2, but I DO know that I'm going from:
- 17h (+ professor/staff classes) over 4 days at school
to:
- 12 or 14h (+ professor/staff classes) over 3 days at school. (I'm hoping it's 14!)

That's a significant difference!!!    So this is me coasting into retirement in a year.  

[startsmart]

Got my booster shot today and then picked up the paint to finish my closet. I have quite a few meetings tomorrow and a live teaching call to moderate so I’m hoping to get everything done before the weekend.

I did organize my fabric pieces by setting up the pieces for my science quilt, organizing the Halloween and Christmas pieces and then putting away all the leftovers. I probably have 5-6,000 in my leftovers which is significantly better than the 13,000 I had at this time last year. The 6 quilts I’ve finished tally up to 5,800 pieces and my random quilt is 1200 pieces so far.

Oh yeah, I finished the black, white and gray quilt and photographed it. I’ve cleared off the dining table so I can start making binding and work on the backing piece. It would be a stretch to get these 6 quilted by year end but I’m going to get started!

[debthaven]

What will the science quilt look like startsmart ? I'm intrigued!

[bean29]

I am looking for a return receipt.  When I was getting ready for Thanksgiving company some stuff was move to my office downstairs and some was moved into DS's old bedroom.  I have no idea where it might be.  It is for shoes I shipped back to Zappos and I have not gotten credit for them yet.

I started my filing/going through the paperwork last night.  I have to decide if I am going to scan or stick with paper docs.  I think I need to bite the bullet and start scanning stuff so I do not have so much physical space devoted to records.

[startsmart]

Posted my black and white and gray quilt here: imgur.com/gallery/pGd9l3w

I really love how it turned out and that I added a pair of ruby slippers on the very bottom row  

Most of my work today is done but now I'm catching up on all the little things that still need to get completed before the weekend. I need to go back to the bin o paper and start scanning this weekend so that project stays on track. 

My very ambitious December plan is now: 
-deal with every bit of paper in the bin
-finish painting my master closet + ceiling 
-finish assembling the 5 flower raised beds and 1 more vegetable bed
-quilt all 6 lap quilts 
-bind the flower quilt to get it finished

Then I laugh and how unlikely it is to get all that done. 

[debthaven]

That's gorgeous startsmart ! Love the ruby slippers lol.

[startsmart]

Dec 3, 2021 2:54:19 GMT -5 debthaven said:

What will the science quilt look like startsmart ? I'm intrigued!

The science quilt is inspired by a podcast called “ologies” and I had a big fabric treasure hunt for fabrics representing the episodes. There’s spiders, cats, frogs, dogs, sharks, ants, primates, the moon, trees, oceans, snow, marriage, robotics, trains, handwriting, pumpkins… little bit of everything and the back is a single piece of girls doing science.

I finally have enough pieces to make this one so I may start it in January. I think I’ll have to force myself to quilt the other 6 before I start a new top.

[Iggy aka IG]

Dec 3, 2021 14:52:48 GMT -5 debthaven said:

That's gorgeous startsmart ! Love the ruby slippers lol.

And I especially love the name.  

[TheOtherMe]

What a beautiful quilt startsmart  I see the ruby slippers.  

[debthaven]

That sounds wonderful startsmart !!! I LOVE your quilts, and often wish that they were for sale.

I worked on Zoom this morning (in pj bottoms!) then took it easy ... folded laundry, watched Netflix, and took yet another nap.  

We're invited out to dinner tomorrow night with close friends (just a block away, yay!) We have a theater tickets to a matinee with DS2 on Sunday.

I'm caught up on house/kitchen/laundry/school, but WAY behind on DH's Quickbooks. I keep begging him to hire someone who actually knows what they're doing but he refuses. 

I REALLY need to snap out of this and be more productive. I'm just SO DAMN TIRED!!! And I've barely started Christmas shopping, ugh. 

I've spoken to/texted with A a LOT since her burglary. I should go see her this weekend, but it's nearly six years to the day since her DH decided to kill himself, and I just can't anymore. 

[laterbloomer]

I almost have my Christmas shopping done. I just want to pick up a Gift Certificate for ISO to his favourite restaurant and a few books from an author he likes. I'll do that Sunday. I have NEVER been done so early. We are having friends for dinner tomorrow so I will do the wrapping next weekend.

[Sharon]

Spent the first night in the new house.  Hiring the movers was the best decision ever.  They even finished the packing for me when I was too tired and got down to the weird stuff of how on earth do I pack this thing. My moving bill even came in lower than the estimate.

DD helped me and we got most of the boxes that the mover brought over emptied.  Today she and DSIL are going to help me empty the storage units.  I also discovered that I have the dirtiest floors known to mankind.  The grandkids were running around the house barefoot and their feet were absolutely black.  I can tell that Grandma needs to get down on her hands and knees and do some scrubbing.

This house needs a lot of work.  The biggest thing I want is a full on kitchen remodel.  I am turning the formal dining room into my office and so far that is the best decision ever.  When sitting at my personal computer I can see out across the backyard.  When on my work computer with a turn of my head I can see out the front or the back.  I can tell it will be so much better for my mental health to not be confined to a small bedroom for hours at a time.

[finnime]

I'm glad you got the movers, Sharon, and that you have made so much progress unpacking you were able to sleep in your new home. Maybe hire a one-time deep clean out? It would leave one less thing for you to cope with. I admire how adroitly you pulled this off, selling and buying and moving.

[startsmart]

I wanted to get to Home Depot today but had a client call mid morning so I'll go tomorrow instead. I ran out of screws for the raised garden beds so those are on the list as well as wood for some kitchen shelves. I'm trying to remember anything else I need while I'm there since it's a bit of a drive. 

Today I got a lot cleaned up in the yard, I kept out the boards for the last 3 raised beds and the rest went around the bushes as a pretend border. Next Spring I'll make a compost bin and those boards will be used up then. The raised beds that are in are getting cardboard laid down and I have so many broken down boxes upstairs that should be easy to finish up soon. Then I can start filling them with dirt. 

I also string trimmed the patio and walkways and then used the leaf blower to tidy up. Which means I now have dirt and leaves in my hair. 

Inside I organized 3 of my lower kitchen cabinets so they function a lot better. When I took out the upper cabinet recently I saved the shelf and it fits perfectly in the lower cabinet that I use to store my glass pans. I put together the border for my flower garden quilt, now I need to set up the ironing board and press it out before pinning it in place. I'd love to finish that quilt this weekend so I can move on to the next one. 

[debthaven]

Hurray Sharon ! You made it! 

I second finnime 's suggestion about hiring out the deep clean, especially since the moving bill was lower than you expected. You've done SO MUCH these past few weeks/months, give yourself a well-deserved break! 

[laterbloomer]

Company for dinner so the house got a good cleaning today. I love how the house feels when we do that. ☺

startsmart you make me feel downright lazy.

[startsmart]

laterbloomer - don't worry I spent a significant amount of time today sitting and sewing, reading and talking with friends online. I had 30 min to kill while I waited for my lunch to cook so that's when I did the kitchen cabinets. 

Tonight I put on a few episodes of YouTube channels I like and got the scanning done from the box o' papers. Well, what I've pulled out so far. Feels good to have that bit done so I can work on the next bit this week.

And I tried to iron the binding of my quilt but blew the circuit so booo for my electrical issues being a PITA. 

Sharon - you are so smart to hire movers. I did not and my back hated me for months. Hope you're feeling settled in soon  

[moneysquirrel]

Good evening all. 

It has been several days since I checked in but they have been busy ones.  I got a call early in the week that the materials for replacing my patio finally came in.  So there was a  demolition day of the old patio and two days later the new one was installed.  This was the last on my repairs from Hurricane Ida.  I still have to submitted the receipts and pictures of the completed work to the insurance company and hope that I will be getting a little bit back since the work was done. (That is what I was told could happen.) I hope to get those submitted this coming week.  The bad news is that the account took a hit.  I did park the money in the account that paid the best interest that I had available which is not saying much but I hate to pull it out even though that is why I got it in the first place.  It will be done and soon as I don't plan to pay any interest on the charges.  The company allowed me to charge the final payment so I did -- at least I will get a little cash back on the card.

Only two more weeks of classes until mid January.  Definitely will not be finished with one of my projects so will be signing up to take that class again.  Plan to continue taking the exercising classes over zoom but the craft classes and the computer one that I teach will be in person again.   Everyone has to be vaccinated and we all wore masks this semester but not sure about that requirement for next semester.

I started going through some old files this week and managed to get quite a bit weeded out and shredded.  Hope to get a bit more done this coming week.  Once I get that drawer finished then I will move on to the next one in that file cabinet.  I also added a few items to the donation box in the garage.  It will be nice to get that one filled and to start a second one.

I had a craft show today and have one more next week to end the season. I have to remake one of the popular holiday earrings this week as I sold out of them again today.  As long as I have a few on hand I will be ok.  I have all of the material on hand so I just have to get all of the beads out again and do it. 

 I have finished that last project from by craft retreat but decided that the chain I made for it was a little long.  Perfect for some tops but not for others so I will be making another chain exactly like it but shorter.  That way I can switch the pendant from one to the other and if I wish could wear both chains at the same time. 

I also starting decorating for Christmas.  I hope to get the tree up this week.  Once that is done the rest will go fast.  I have put some of the smaller items out as well as the small tabletop trees.  One was the one I used in my classroom and as I live alone it sits on the kitchen table by the window as I don't need the entire table for my dining experience.  The other small tree is in the bedroom and it is relaxing to just read near the glow of Christmas as I prepare for turning in.  Of course, all lights are turned off at bedtime.  I still have the main tree to put up as well as my Nativity collection.  

OK, I am beginning to fade and making typing errors one after another.  So i will sign off now and will try to catch up later. Have seceral shoutouts to do but they will have to wait until tomorrow.

[toomuchreality]

Dec 4, 2021 19:45:23 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Hurray Sharon ! You made it! 

I second finnime 's suggestion about hiring out the deep clean, especially since the moving bill was lower than you expected. You've done SO MUCH these past few weeks/months, give yourself a well-deserved break! 

When DD2s family moved this last spring, they hired a deep cleaning done and movers. Although the movers broke a lot (crib couldn't be put back together! WTF?) The cleaning people were fabulous. They still use them. Well worth it, especially when you're so exhausted, from moving.
Do it! 🙂

[CCL]

Just thought I'd check in.

Keep up the good work everyone! You all are making me feel lazy lol.

After all the work I did cleaning up and organizing my office, I turned it into a playroom for the grandbabies.

I just finished painting the trim in my bathroom. It took me 2 weeks! It really wasn't a big project, so that was a ridiculous amount of time to spend on it.

My neighbors are selling their house and offered it to us before putting it on the market. It's a nice, solid house, but would need a lot of updating to suit us. We decided against it. Too much work! I'm not gonna be doing all that. I hope we get good neighbors, at least.

[Sharon]

Yesterday we emptied the three storage units.  I hurt so much and was so tired that I had a hard time sleeping.  The garage is packed now full of stuff to go through.  It was also cold all day yesterday and really cold in the morning which didn't help.

Today's projects are going to be more around the house type projects.  We do need to return the U-Haul.  DSIL is going to get the TV set up and mounted on the wall for me.  DD said he may also light off a burn pile.  The previous owners left a big pile of yard debris in one of the pastures so he may light that off.  It did rain last night so not sure what the plan is for that.  We still need to get the right plug for the dryer so hoping that happens today.

DD was really big into Barbie stuff when she was little and I had a whole tote of Barbies and Barbie furniture in the attic.  DGD found it yesterday so my living room has had a barbie explosion.  That's okay.  She is happy and playing out of the way plus it reminds me of when DD was little and would have Barbie explosions in the living room playing.

[chiver78]

that quilt is beautiful, startsmart! 

I'll echo the cleaners suggestion, Sharon. that's the worst part of moving, IMHO, cleaning other people's funk they left behind. 

I'm making steady progress here, even if I did take a funny step backwards this weekend.    I bought a white Scotchguard duvet cover to use in my guest bedroom (now painted a cool green  since I have a queen size comforter from way back - before I realized that a queen size bed does better with a king size comforter. I had even labelled the box with "queen size comforter and misc. guest room stuff" when I packed up the last house. it had been dry cleaned and wrapped in plastic since I stopped using it. well, I opened it up yesterday and discovered that it was much smaller than I remembered. it was actually the twin comforter I had from when I had a pair of twin beds in my guest room years ago. I have no idea where the queen size comforter is, and will be looking for one on the cheap this week. Overstock or somewhere similar.

but for real.....I bought the duvet cover to use a comforter I already had, and now I need to buy a comforter to use the duvet cover. because of course, I threw out the packaging when I opened it to run the duvet cover through the washer.    oh well. it will look great once it's all set up. 

[nidena]

You guys may remember how I pulled the whole drop-ceiling down in my basement back in June...

That resulted in me discovering hundreds of feet of coaxial cable that just got tucked within the panels along with hundreds of feet of regular 1960s television wiring which I removed a month or so later.

I also noticed that whomever installed the fluorescent lighting installed the fixtures in such a way that the old telephone lines run BETWEEN the fixture and the bulbs.  I hate fluorescent lights so that will be a fairly easy fix for the electrician when I have it done.

A week or so ago I noticed something else: whomever installed the drop-ceiling, screwed the framework the runs the perimeter into the HVAC ducting but didn't tape over it to prevent leaks.  I'll be adding "metal-tape the holes" to my to-do list when I get around to removing that framework.

I really hate shitty/lazy work.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

This is the non-routine list for today. 

[startsmart]

I have just one more raised bed to build before winter and all the pieces are cut and I have all the screws I need. Stopped tonight because I was losing the light and that’s when I injure myself.

The 6th and final raised vegetable bed is in and ready for sticks and dirt. I’ll also layer in some straw.

5 out of 6 raised flower beds are also done and in place. I started filling those with dirt tonight.

The flower quilt binding is on - finally! - and I am back stitching it now and should be done tonight. Slowly getting these tasks checked off my list!

[debthaven]

This week
- Shitepile
- bottle bank
- donation bin
- start DH's Quickbooks
- dentist/Wed

I'm WFH on Mon and Wed (1 class/day), at school all day Tues and Thurs. E's PhD defense is Fri so we have a lot of hours planned this week. And of course I'll be at her defense! 

It was a busy weekend for this aspiring recluse. We went to close friends for dinner last night (around the corner). I didn't want to go, but it was so great to see our friends!!! 

We had matinee theater tix and dinner with DS2 today. It's always such a joy to see him.  DS2 LOVES the theater, so I think we'll plan another outing for January.

I HATE going out in winter, but now that I'll be working a bit less, I'm trying to make an effort for DH who only works from home. 

[TheOtherMe]

I'm so excited the organizer is coming in the morning.  I'm also excited that she is going to have a new employee.  If that person works afternoons, I will give her a try.   My organizer only works mornings because of her little ones.  She is also now booking in late January.  The new person has little ones, too, so it may be the same issue.

I can't wait to see how much Stuff leaves this house tomorrow.  I know there is going to be homework.  I really want to get to a point tomorrow where I can set up the fancy scanner I bought and the color printer so I can copy photos I don't think commercial places will because of copyrights.  

I didn't get to talk to the Toddler this weekend.  He decided to change his schedule this weekend.  He got up at 5 AM both Saturday and Sunday.  I thought we had a call this evening.  When I hadn't heard from them by the regular time, I called them.  They were already in bed because the Toddler was already in bed.