2023 Declutter & Organize Your Life

[seriousthistime]

Is the UPS store open on Sundays, TheOtherMe?  I have never seen one that was, but things may be different near you. 

Question for you:  when you said your aunt and uncle took you to very nice restaurants for dinners, the places that came to mind were the Flagstaff House, the Red Lion, and the Gold Hill Inn.  

[seriousthistime]

azucena, last fall you mentioned you had Airstone on the back of your bar.  Did you install it yourselves?  I'm now the proud owner of 22 boxes of Airstone in my dining room.  Just wondering how difficult it was for you to decide on the placement of the stones.  There are four colors of stone in each box.  I've opened one box and I see that none of the colors is exactly the color of the sample stone that I trotted around to various granite places to see what to use for the hearth stone. I brought three granite samples home, two were less favored that the third, and now I need to rethink that granite and find something with a slight bit of gray-brown in it. 

I'm glad I didn't order the granite.  Something in the back of my mind was telling me to wait until I could see the product I ordered rather than base it all on the sample. 

[TheOtherMe]

Apr 15, 2023 17:36:01 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Is the UPS store open on Sundays, TheOtherMe ?  I have never seen one that was, but things may be different near you. 

Question for you:  when you said your aunt and uncle took you to very nice restaurants for dinners, the places that came to mind were the Flagstaff House, the Red Lion, and the Gold Hill Inn.  

UPS store is open from 10-2 on Sunday's so I'm giving it a try.

Yes, we went to the Flagstaff House, the Red Lion Inn, the Gold Hill Inn, the Greenbriar (north of Boulder on 36) and one other  that I don't recall.  

I was totally appalled when my uncle ordered frog legs at the Flagstaff House.   We had such a beautiful view, I could have sat there for hours.  

[azucena]

Apr 15, 2023 17:46:36 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

azucena, last fall you mentioned you had Airstone on the back of your bar.  Did you install it yourselves?  I'm now the proud owner of 22 boxes of Airstone in my dining room.  Just wondering how difficult it was for you to decide on the placement of the stones.  There are four colors of stone in each box.  I've opened one box and I see that none of the colors is exactly the color of the sample stone that I trotted around to various granite places to see what to use for the hearth stone. I brought three granite samples home, two were less favored that the third, and now I need to rethink that granite and find something with a slight bit of gray-brown in it. 

I'm glad I didn't order the granite.  Something in the back of my mind was telling me to wait until I could see the product I ordered rather than base it all on the sample. 

No, it was here when we moved in. Good luck.

[Sharon]

It took me a while to get motivated today but once I finally got going I got quite a bit done.

Grocery Run

Changed Sheets on bed

2 loads of laundry done

Cleaned the fridge

Finished mowing the lawn- I had started a couple days ago but didn't feel up to finishing the job at that time

Got quite a bit of organizing and cleaning done in the shop.  Got the hose hangers hung up so the hoses are no longer laying on the floor, filled up the garbage can with various random junk that was left behind by who knows how many owners.  Did tons of sweeping and got rid of a lot of dust, leaves, grass bits etc.  Things are organized enough that all the kids tricycles etc are all together and easily found, the basketballs are all together.  There is still a bunch to do out there but it feels good to get a big start on getting it cleaned up and organized.

[TheOtherMe]

The returns are in the car but I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the UPS return.  That may be a mistake but it's supposed to be snowing by the time the store opens.    Can't believe in Iowa, we are getting snow in April.  Boulder, yes.  Iowa, no.

[seriousthistime]

Apr 15, 2023 18:26:46 GMT -5 azucena said:

Apr 15, 2023 17:46:36 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

azucena , last fall you mentioned you had Airstone on the back of your bar.  Did you install it yourselves?  I'm now the proud owner of 22 boxes of Airstone in my dining room.  Just wondering how difficult it was for you to decide on the placement of the stones.  There are four colors of stone in each box.  I've opened one box and I see that none of the colors is exactly the color of the sample stone that I trotted around to various granite places to see what to use for the hearth stone. I brought three granite samples home, two were less favored that the third, and now I need to rethink that granite and find something with a slight bit of gray-brown in it. 

I'm glad I didn't order the granite.  Something in the back of my mind was telling me to wait until I could see the product I ordered rather than base it all on the sample. 

No, it was here when we moved in. Good luck.

You'd mentioned last fall that maybe you wanted to match the Airstone color to add to a different location in your home.  There are three color ranges, each with four shades of that color.  It should be easy enough to match because there are only three color palettes.  I got the Birch Bluff (shades of white and cream, mostly. 

Good luck indeed.  I have a pro coming to actually install the stone for me because the ceiling is vaulted and I'm not going to rent scaffolding.  I'm just a little worried about how to decide on the actual arrangement of the stones.  I don't want to get to the top and find out I have just one color and one shape left. 

[debthaven]

seriousthistime won't the person who's installing them work that out?

[seriousthistime]

I'm sure he would, debthaven.  But I'm not sure I trust him completely.  He has never used this product before. Also, at his hourly rate, if I can cut some of his hours down by doing the design myself, it would be worth it to me. 

[debthaven]

That makes sense seriousthistime .

We just signed the rental contract and paid the deposit for our week away with the kids this summer. Very happy and relieved! 

Easy week this week ... 1 day at school, and 2 short days on Zoom. I'll take it.

Laundry finally caught up.

We're meeting my DN, her DH and her DD for lunch tomorrow before they go back to NY. If they don't suddenly change the venue, it'll be my treat. 

I have clarified things with the friends we are travelling with for 5 days in May, and the friends we are meeting for dinner in June. Modestly-priced restaurants are absolutely NOT a problem.  There's another person I haven't contacted, but that's a lunch, so I'm not worried.

Thank you all for helping me set boundaries. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We have light cleaning scheduled for every other Friday. There are three cleaners who have come to our house from this company. The company is owned by a 25yo. The Friday we just had, the cleaning girl (I'm not trying to be pejorative, but she is definitely under the age of 22) told DH our house was her favorite house to clean. I'm sure she says that to everyone/everyhouse, but it did make me feel good. 

[debthaven]

It's a lovely compliment Knee Deep in Water Chloe ! And kudos to the 25YO who owns the company!

[moneysquirrel]

Just a quick check in as I am in the midst of last minute stuff.  I leave next week for my long awaited vacation.  I think  hope I got my bag under the 50 poind limit.  Had to pack several items I normally don't as there will be several dress up nights on the cruise.  I also have several disposable items packed and that should help on the return trip.  I am not a huge shopper and if I do buy something it is usually small, so there hopefully will not be an issue on the return trip with weight.  I have been checking things off my list and have it down to a lot of things that must be done the day before or the day of.  April bills have either been paid or will be taken care of this week.  Also pre-scheduled a lot of the May bills that will be coming in prior to my return home.  May have over estimated on a few of those but that will just make June a little easier.

When I signed up to teach this semester I scheduled my classes to end this Thursday.  So this will be my last week attending classes as well.  I am still working on several projects from the last retreat.  I really am going to try to get at least one of them done this week.  I am so close to fininshing that one.  Have been slowly working on the second one and making some progress on it.  I don't see myself finishing that one before I leave unless I really push myself and I may not have the time to do that.  

I will try to check in before I leave.  Till later.

[TheOtherMe]

Apr 16, 2023 9:33:30 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

The returns are in the car but I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the UPS return.  That may be a mistake but it's supposed to be snowing by the time the store opens.    Can't believe in Iowa, we are getting snow in April.  Boulder, yes.  Iowa, no.

It is really windy outside and there is snow on the road.  I have until May 12 to make the return.  They will wait until tomorrow.

Tonight I put out the trash and recycling.  Recycling bin is full again.  

I have to figure out where to take large boxes.  For the curbside pickup, boxes are supposed to be broken down in to two feet x two feet squares.  The openings in the larger community drop off around the corner isn't much bigger than that.

I may resort to taking the big boxes to my sister's burn pile.  I hate doing that.

[debthaven]

We had a very nice lunch and afternoon with my niece and her family. I'm so glad we met up with them again.

I have to catch up on laundry but I'm WFH tomorrow so I'll do it then.

[TheOtherMe]

I am so excited! I took a shower and cut my hair and did not use the walker!!!! I am not exhausted!!!!!



It's been over 2 months since the blood clot problem started and it's very close to being healed. When I take off the compression socks, there is still some swelling so I can't say it's 100% healed.

[debthaven]

Wonderful news TheOtherMe ! 

[Sharon]

Yesterday DD and family came over to do some work around the place.  DSIL stretched the barb wire fence on the side where the one cow keeps going over the fence.  Hopefully that will keep him home.   I got the bathrooms cleaned before they arrived and did a laundry load of towels.  I also started emptying my travel trailer so that I can put it up for sale. 

Today I found a home for all the things I had emptied out of the trailer yesterday.  Eventually I will sort out the dishes and put them up for sale, but for now they are boxed up, put away, and off the counter.  I finished emptying the trailer, now it just needs to be cleaned.  The bedding is piled on the bed in the spare bedroom.  I will get it washed up and then it will go to my Mom who has that same size bed in her travel trailer.

This weekend really wore me out so I'm resting for the rest of the evening.

[NastyWoman]

This weekend I took a huge load of misc stuff (including two boxes of books) to GW. Today I had this moment where I decided I needed to get rid of some serving/baking etc. dishes. In no time I filled up another box. But I put the items on the local buy nothing group on facebook. They will be picked up tomorrow morning. It took all of 10 minutes before I had an eager taker. Feeling happy about that.  They dishes which have not been used in years will go to a place where they are wanted

[TheOtherMe]

The 4 packages have been dropped off at UPS.

Alexa just told me the packages have been received and the refunds issued.

[Iggy aka IG]

I am behind here and will catch up soon but wanted to drop by and say hi.  I'm focusing here at the office so I can take tomorrow off (mostly) guilt free.  

This morning:
Doc visit
Walmart
Starbucks to treat myself
Bank
Fuel

[debthaven]

Glad the UPS stop is done TheOtherMe

Enjoy your day off tomorrow Iggy aka IG

Easy day on Zoom today, only 3 hours. I ran/emptied the dishwasher and caught up on laundry.

Cleaner is coming tomorrow, she was sick last week.

I had to give my availability for next semester today. I like having Mondays off this semester but unfortunately that won't work next semester.

So I'll be at Job 2 on Monday afternoons, at Job 1 all day Tuesdays, plus 5-6h of Zoom classes. Like this semester, only 2 days/week at school.  

[NastyWoman]

Items I put outside last night (you can't see them unless you climb the stairs) have been picked up. Now I am lazing in the couch eyeing my china cabinet thinking about the excess glassware in there. It will take very little time to sort through that but I need to go to Costco first to pick up some boxes so  I can get it out. No way am I going to wrap individual glasses in tissue paper just to give them away. 
With any kind of luck (aka lack of laziness) that will happen this week.

[debthaven]

Woo hoo NastyWoman you're on a roll!!! 

[wvugurl26]

In regards to packing glass, the auction people who came to get my grandma's collection used puppy pads to wrap it in. It's reusable and probably cheaper than a lot of other padding material.

[debthaven]

What a great idea wvugurl26 !

[NastyWoman]

Apr 18, 2023 17:00:09 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

In regards to packing glass, the auction people who came to get my grandma's collection used puppy pads to wrap it in. It's reusable and probably cheaper than a lot of other padding material.

Thanks. Good tip for when I move (IF I decide to do some of the packing myself) but it is not going to happen for simple give-aways. Too much work and I am not going to spend money for that either.

[snapdragon]

I had my brother over yesterday so managed to get to my suitcases.

Also managed to get 4 boxes out of the house and to storage also.

I will admit I was starting to get really annoyed with my brother and felt like either pushing him outside or smacking him upside the head. He kept making comments and I did not appreciate them at all. He's lucky that I let him use my laundry machines and supplies and I gave him extra food and kitchen supplies to take home. Hell, I even picked him up and took him back home! 

Obviously, that has been on my mind for the last several hours. I just needed to vent a bit.  


Met with a friend today and gave her some things for the local women's shelter so that felt good. 

So things are scattered, but I am not going to worry about any of it until after I get back from vacation. I have things in a pile for packing and will be working on that later today and probably until I leave the house for the airport. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Thanks, debthaven.  One of the things I did while off is purge half of a medium-ish donation box of items from several kitchen drawers and a cupboard.  The drawers were overflowing, becoming more difficult to open/close, and were driving me nuts.  (First world problems.)  I asked DH to purge his "BBQ and meat processor" utensil drawer when he arrived home, which he did.  As usual, I am proud of him for his continual help in the decluttering endeavour, LOL.  The drawers look much nicer.  I added a measuring spoons and cups set to the grocery list, and I'll put the decades old mixed and matched pieces in the camper.  Oh, and the six wine bottle openers?  Two old plastic ones were trashed, one will go into our camper, one into the soft sided cooler, one will stay upstairs, and one will go downstairs.

It's the little things.  

[seriousthistime]

I'm with you, snapdragon.  I'll really annoyed with my brother right now, and so is my sister. 

I'm really glad I waited to get the actual stone for the fireplace wall before I ordered the granite for the hearth stone.  I did rethink the color of the granite and almost went with something different that had a little variation/pattern, then decided with the black fireplace door/screen and the black tv that will be mounted above the mantle, a black granite would be best.  I picked out a black granite with tiny gold flecks, called Black Galaxy. The stone will be shades of white, beige, and light brownish gray.  The fireplace screen has a touch of brass and I was thinking of painting the brass part with some high heat matte black paint.  Now I think I will wait until the fireplace is done and see how it blends with the gold flecks. 

I also had the window covering people here to remove a blind for repair and also measure for a skylight shade.  Little by little, things are getting done.