2021 Declutter Stuff & Organize Your Life

[nidena]

I ended up going into work six days this week so my energy level has been nil.

I got two loads of clothes washed, dried, and put away, along with a load of sheets.  Got the dishes cleaned, too.

I had intended on cleaning the cat domain but couldn't bring forth all the energy so I settled for emptying out the litter boxes and putting in fresh litter.

[debthaven]

Wow six days is a lot nidena !

You're making such great progress Sharon !

I got the extra class I requested! It's easy, with little marking. I still need 1 or 2 more staff/prof class(es) to replace the 2 that end in Dec. I should get them but I won't know till late Jan. (I'm now reducing by 22.5%, but that's still too much.) 

I'm worried about how DS2 will get home tomorrow. The hospital hasn't mentioned transport. I'm not sure he'll fit in our car, since he can't bend his leg.   I'm hoping the hospital will arrange medical transport or that my ex can transport him. But like I told DS2, we'll manage.  

I was scheduled to be at school on Wednesday for staff/professor classes. One of my professor students likes conversation classes over lunch. He lives in the next suburb. I told him what happened, he said if you don't want to cancel, let's have lunch locally. Yay! 

I can hear DS2 in my head going from "You're not going to leave me alone at home all day are you?!" to "You're not going to refuse to leave the house all week are you?!" LOL

[toomuchreality]

Dec 11, 2021 19:00:39 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I'm sorry I haven't read here for days. My DS2 was in a hit-and-run road rage incident on Wednesday night. DS2 was on his scooter. The driver that wasn't happy with DS2 purposely smashed into him with his car and fled!!! DS2's lower leg and foot are badly broken. 

DS2 was taken to a fabulous hospital for orthopedics, thank Gd. He should make a full recovery but as you can imagine it's been hell. They caught the guy (witnesses took down his plates), he's in jail. The judge refused bail. 

DS2 lives in a 4th floor walk-up, so he'll come here when he leaves the hospital on Monday. He's bedridden, in great pain, and quite traumatized.

I'm supposed to work 5 days next week but I won't leave him alone all day. I was supposed to WFH 2 days and be at school 3 days. As of now I'm WFH 3 days and at school 2 shorter days, but next week's schedule still a work in progress. 

Our boiler is broken, so we've had no heat or hot water since Friday. They couldn't come Friday, and I HAD to go to E's PhD defense and to the hospital. They're coming Monday morning. We need the heat back on before DS2 gets home! 

The ONLY good news this week is that as of Friday, E is now Dr E.   She cried, I cried, her mom cried, even her thesis advisor cried.  

Off to catch up.

OMG! That is very traumatizing! I hope you/he get justice and he heals quickly!
It was hard for me to start driving again after my accident, last December. I hope he's able to get back on and go again, without too much effort. That seems like it might be hard.

Congrats to your new doctor!

I hope your boiler gets fixed quickly and isn't too expensive.

You've had quite a week!
Hugs ♡

[moneysquirrel]

debthaven -- I am so sorry to read about your son's incident.  Can't really call it an accident as the person seems to have intended for it to happen.  Prayers and wishes that his recovery and healing will be swift and that both he and you can heal from this trauma.  There is too much evil in this world and this person is grasped in its hold.  Also hope that your boiler is fixed pronto and that there is an easy way to transport your DS to you.  Also congrats to Dr. E and you.  Both of you have worked hard for this.

Sharon and TheOtherMe -- both of you are making progress.  One in creating a new home and one in prefecting one.  

startsmart -- Even on your slow days you seem to get so much done.

countrygirl2 -- You are another one making a lot of progress.  Every item out of the house makes everything seems lighter.

nidena -- I like that half sofa/guest bed setup.

finnime -- Your plans for listing the house seems to be on track.  How much longer are you dealing with projects before the listing.

Will post this before I lose it.

[moneysquirrel]

Yesterday was the last craft show we had scheduled for 2021.  It was the best one for us in a while.  We don't make a lot but everything we do make helps with replacing our supplies as needed.  I still have to finish unpacking my items, take inventory, make any repairs if needed and storing the products until needed.  I also need to see what popular items types I need to remake.  Most of my items are one of a kind and I can't duplicate.  A few I can but I prefer not to make too many of the same thing.  It gets too boring and I like the challange of trying different ideas.

This is the last week of classes as well.  I am glad that it is coming to break time.  Will have about a month before it starts up again.  Definitely signed up for the exercise classes over zoom again as it allows me to get things done at home like laundry and saves about an hour of driving time.  Other classes will be in person.

I hope to finish the rest of the tree this week and will start the cards this week also.  Have an outdoor decoration to finish.  Hope to get it finished and up by mid-week.  It is the third of three items.  Also have to figure out a way to display it so that it stays in place.  Have an idea as to how to acomplish that and need to get the "stands" cut and prepped as well.  Everyday a little more is done.  But I want to get a bigger push on to finish the items.  Will also see what items will not be used and get those in the donation box.  

Other than the usual house chores and errands.

This week:
Monday:  *Appointment morning   *Errands
Tuesday: *Zoom Exercise morning
Wednesday: *Zoom exercise (may have to cancel this as double booked) *Hair appointment *SG                        Class
Thursday: *Zoom exercise * Teach class * Craft class
Friday :  *Zoom with friend

Whenever this week:
* Finish Tree
* Christmas cards
* Outdoor wreath and "project"
* Finish with craft show unpacking, inventory and storing.
* List or renew 3 items on Etsy
* Mail sales taxes for craft shows
* Mail property tax 
* Insurance premium -- May be one of the errands on Monday
* Pick up gift card for gifts and one other item


I am sure that I forgot several items off this list.  







 


    

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 2, 2021 1:06:44 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Here’s my December goal:

—Deep Clean Kitchen
—purge five items from the kitchen
(not counting paperwork)
—purge ten clothing items
—purge 1/3 of my books
(DD’s books don’t count 😆)

It's December 12 already, so I thought I'd check in on my monthly goal. 

I'm almost half-way through the kitchen deep cleaning list. It has ~30 tasks. 


I'm at six groups of items purged in the kitchen: 
--excess from the right pantry (2 total items)
--excess from the left pantry (1 total item)
--excess from under the sink (2 items)
--six plastic container lids
--one plastic container
--excess from the peninsula drawers (a handful of ketchup packets that I have no idea where they came from and a plastic fork that I am pretty sure I could use for something)

For clothing, I'm at two articles
--a sweatshirt that was from coaching a few years ago that I'll never wear again
--pajama pants that were worn through 

I've not started the books yet. 
I'll probably wait to start those after I've finished Christmas cards. 

[anciana]

debthaven, what a horrific accident, your poor DS, I cannot imagine just how traumatic it all must have been. I am sure you are all relieved that he will make full recovery even if it will be a long one. Sending all the hugs to your family 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Christmas To-Dos
Wrap presents
Get another present for Miss Grandbaby
Get another present for my niece
Get a present for my mother
Get stocking stuff for DH
Finish making Christmas Cards
Purchase remainder of gift cards for staff
Put together staff Christmas cards
Mail Christmas Cards
Bring in remainder of indoor Christmas decorations
Set up remainder of indoor Christmas decorations
Reserve hotel for play night

[CCL]

debthaven  I'm so sorry to read about your son's injuries. Hoping for a swift recovery for him. Fingers crossed they can get your boiler fixed right away, too.

Keep up the great work everyone!

[finnime]

Dec 12, 2021 21:01:07 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

debthaven -- I am so sorry to read about your son's incident.  Can't really call it an accident as the person seems to have intended for it to happen.  Prayers and wishes that his recovery and healing will be swift and that both he and you can heal from this trauma.  There is too much evil in this world and this person is grasped in its hold.  Also hope that your boiler is fixed pronto and that there is an easy way to transport your DS to you.  Also congrats to Dr. E and you.  Both of you have worked hard for this.

Sharon and TheOtherMe -- both of you are making progress.  One in creating a new home and one in prefecting one.  

startsmart -- Even on your slow days you seem to get so much done.

countrygirl2 -- You are another one making a lot of progress.  Every item out of the house makes everything seems lighter.

nidena -- I like that half sofa/guest bed setup.

finnime -- Your plans for listing the house seems to be on track.  How much longer are you dealing with projects before the listing.

Will post this before I lose it.

I expect now to be done with everything in the current plan by Christmas. Having the carpeting installed on 12/21. Today, the bathtub will be resurfaced and tomorrow and probably the next day, the rest of the bathroom will be done, plus everything on the punchlist I created.

Right now, not in the plan is to refinish the hardwood floors. We're going to wait until/if the real estate agent tells us it is important. I'm inclined to think we can go without the floors; DH believes we will need to get them done. The contractor also believes we need to do them. Also, replacement of the outlet and switch covers, and replace the blinds in the side room, need to be finished. I've got to plan on them, too. Which reminds me, I need to measure those windows in the side room and order new blinds from JCPenney's, to install. But this week, the big thing is the upstairs bathroom.

[plugginaway22]

Finnime I have really enjoyed reading your journey to prep your house for the sale process. I envision us doing something similar in the next couple of years. Even though I feel like we keep up with it, there are a lot of things that we would want to do before listing after living here over 25 years.

[TheOtherMe]

The last of the Christmas cards were dropped off at the post office a bit ago.  So that is officially done.  

[debthaven]

DS2 is home! He's actually more mobile on his crutches than I expected. The hospital was supposed to send him home in an ambulance, but they called a taxi instead.

And the guy got the boiler working! (It still needs a part but it's working!) 

I'm off tomorrow so I'll be hanging out at home with DS2 (who is working remotely). 

[finnime]

That's wonderful, debthaven!

[chiver78]

holy hell, debthaven! I'm glad your son seems to be healing well physically so far, and that they caught the guy that did it. big hugs to you, him, and the rest of your family as you process and heal mentally. just reading that gave me flashbacks to answering that call from my mom back in Sept. I won't lie, it's going to take some time to get through, and it's not a linear process. PM me if you need to vent or anything, please. 

[debthaven]

Thank you again my friends. 

Now that DS2 is safe at home and asleep (drugged to the hilt) the aftermath is getting to me. THANK GD I bowed out of Job 2's all-day meeting tomorrow.  

DS2 has finally figured out that no, he won't be going home to his 4th floor walkup (ie no elevator) this week ... he'll be here for a while. I'm VERY happy he figured that out on his own. 

The second in-person class I had scheduled on Wednesday is now on Zoom. So EVERYTHING this week is on Zoom except for a lunch 10 min away. I can leave DS2 for 2 hours (especially if I come back with takeout lol). 

DS3 arrives tomorrow night! DS2 will be thrilled to have someone else under 62 at home. 

[startsmart]

I finished the last raised bed that I wanted to build this year! If you remember last week I bought an outdoor table at auction for $18 and it made assembling this last raised bed so easy. So much of the delay was hating how much I had to crawl around on the ground so when I could put everything up on a table to stabilize it changed everything! 

I'll continue moving bricks and dirt little by little until the weather gets too bad. 

My tub o' paper is emptied and I should be done this week getting all the papers filed, scanned or trashed. I am working all day tomorrow on my business papers. 

[debthaven]

Yay you startsmart for the last raised bed and the tub o'paper! You finished your homework, so no "punishment" for you LOL. 

[TheOtherMe]

Here are the photos from my organizing sessions.  I figured out the pictures

First we did the bedroom:

Before





After

[TheOtherMe]

The office has two before photos because it took two sessions

Before  1st session





Before 2nd session  My parents' stuff had been added





After





I have to go through the 4 drawer file cabinet and boxes in the closet before our next session in February.  \

The genealogy books on the floor in the before photo for the 2nd session are now on a shelf in the closet

[laterbloomer]

Dec 13, 2021 18:29:30 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

The office has two before photos because it took two sessions

Before  1st session


imgur.com/JGDgfSN


Before 2nd session  My parents' stuff had been added


imgur.com/thujKvP


After


imgur.com/7IQjln3


I have to go through the 4 drawer file cabinet and boxes in the closet before our next session in February.  \

The genealogy books on the floor in the before photo for the 2nd session are now on a shelf in the closet

What a difference! Way to go!

[nidena]

TheOtherMe Tremendous difference!

[Sharon]

TheOtherMe all your hard work looks fantastic.

Today it wasn't too bad outside after work so I bundled up and walked about half of my back pasture with a bucket just picking up garbage.  Previous people had left water bottles, dog toys, etc back there.  It took me not quite half an hour and I did double duty, got some walking in and cleaned stuff up.

I also got a few more boxes out of the garage today.  This evening I'm going to work on DGS2's Christmas sock, that needs to get done.

[toomuchreality]

Wow. You all are amazing!

Well done, everyone!

Now, if we have a get together at my place and everyone comes, we should be done with it in about a hour and a half, max. I'll even supply a cocktail, or two, to help us get through it! Sounds like a fabulous idea, to me! 😊 😉

[finnime]

The bathtub's been resurfaced and all the fixtures, including drain and overflow plate, replaced with brushed nickel versions. It looks better than brand new. Now, why didn't I do this years ago?

[azucena]

Theo - we all knew you were working hard, but the photos show just how hard.  Walking into those rooms must feel great now!

Fin - I think a lot of us feel that way about home improvements esp just before a move.  Will make a world of difference when you sell.  And carry this lesson on to your new place please

I've been doing much better about getting both routine things and nagging things done.  Here's hoping that momentum continues thru the winter.  I like to look around and see what I've accomplished.  I just often feel alone in attempting to keep up.  I recently started a bin for DH, DD13, and DD9.  As I move about the house and find their stuff, in the bin it goes.  I only ask them to go thru the bin when they are looking for something or it gets full.  Seems to be helping my mood, and I'm not sure they've really noticed to be honest.

Trying to work my way thru the freezer food this month.  We are wasting too many expired/freezer burnt things, and it makes sense to do this in Dec while we spend a bunch on Christmas and taxes.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 14, 2021 7:41:58 GMT -5 azucena said:

Theo - we all knew you were working hard, but the photos show just how hard.  Walking into those rooms must feel great now!

I only went in those rooms to add more Stuff.  Now I go in happily.  I really want mom's sewing machine gone.  It's too heavy for me to get out of there, but it has to go.

Of course, now the cats sit outside both rooms and ask to be let in.  

[anciana]

Knee Deep in Water Chloe, no worries, it is a fact that I knew, and once again realized, when I lost the steam to continue with my projects. I just wish I knew what to do about it, and had what it takes to change it. It was a good reminder for me that there are underlying things that are preventing me from living my full life. Thank you!

debthaven, so glad to hear that your DS2 is home with you and is doing better than expected. I hope his recovery goes as smoothly as possible. Hang in there!

TheOtherMe, wow, what a difference! You did an amazing job and I bet it feels like a big weight has been taken off of you. It must feel so nice to walk into those rooms now and work in your office! Fantastic job all around!

finnime, I also enjoy reading about all the renovations happening in your home, it sounds like you are making a ton of progress! We went through something similar when we moved few years ago, fixing up our house before putting it up for sale and wondering why we didn't do it all sooner as it looked so nice. Once we moved, I feel like we are doing it largely all again and not making the changes because, again, we are limited by time (weird work schedules and kids' activities) and money, and there is no big incentive like the sale. 

startsmart, all the work you're doing is painting such a delightful picture of your home, it all sounds so lovely and inviting, thank you very much for sharing!

Sharon, it sounds like you are settling in little by little. It must be really nice to be living so close to your daughter and being able to see you grandkids often! So happy for you and that after so much struggling, it is all working out, even if slowly, and is coming all together!

moneysquirrel, it sounds like a long busy season is finally winding down for you but your list for the break seems just as full! Here's hoping that you enjoy your break and get everything you need and want done!

[snapdragon]

Sending hugs and best wishes to everyone. 

[TheOtherMe]

anciana   It wasn't me alone who did this.  It would never have happened without the organizer.  I need that push to plow through this stuff.

I wish I could get my nephew's stuff out of the basement.  There is a room there that has boxes of stuff I never unpacked.  I am doubtful that I need that stuff but there isn't a clear path to get things up the stairs.