2023 Declutter & Organize Your Life

[TheOtherMe]

I would think the government had to cave this time of year.  Good time for the workers to pull off a strike.  Hope all of the inconvenienced people are able to get to their destinations.

I have a few things to accomplish today.  Let's see how much I get done.  The laundry is the easy part.  I MUST put the clothes away today also or I will be on my way to making my bedroom not useable again.

[azucena]

Theo - I'll join you. Laundry must get done here today. 4 loads are thru the machines and in a pile. Prob 5 more loads to go since I didn't complete all of them last Friday.

Meanwhile, DD15 loaded the dishwasher twice this week and also washed the remaining dishes by hand twice as well. At 10 last night, she was making a cake mix and then proceeded to completely clean up and wash those dishes too. What is happening?!

[Iggy aka IG]

I'm with you gals regarding laundry.  I've been behind with chores this entire week due to the craft session and sleepover with the neighbor kiddos last weekend.  Clean towels never made it upstairs, etc.

azucena, LOL!  Perhaps they know "Santa" is watching.  

I managed to make no bake chocolate cookies and snickerdoodles last night and put them into goodie bags for distribution.  The trashmen and mail person have received one thus far.  Next will be fellow office building folks.  Last night I also cleared most of the main counter so DH can work on his meat processing project.  He's usually gone by the time I wake up, and boy did I miss my alone time this morning.  I don't understand morning people.  

Coffee with my friend was lovely this morning.  She is one of the gals whom I will be traveling with to the Stadium Tour next year.  We're excited!  

Tonight, I'll fetch DH's gift from the neighbors, wrap stocking stuffers, make fruit salad, and boil eggs.  A ham dinner with trimmings will be around 2 tomorrow.  We're having it early as some have to work Christmas Day.

Happy holidays, everyone.  

[startsmart]

I’m so excited! On Sunday I randomly caught an online sale and picked up some clothes that arrived today. While I’m returning the shoes to the physical store, all the clothes fit and I’m currently wearing a comfy pajamas set.

It was the good news I needed because I had to reschedule a vet visit for the cats when they ran and hid when I tried to get them into crates to go to the car today.

Most of the Christmas cards are out and everything that was on order is in so I’m taking it easy for the next 3 days.

Yesterday I volunteered at the Food Bank and realized I need some better shoes if I’m going to be in my feet for 3+ hours because they are still sore 24 hrs later. I have another shift next week and I think I’ll do it 2x a month as long as I can and hopefully be at a job with flexible hours to continue next year.

[busymom]

Can I count I "decluttered" 32 Christmas cards to the post office?


I'll wish you all a very Merry Christmas now, as I probably won't be on the boards much the next couple of days, other than to peek to see what you're all up to.  Enjoy this time with family & friends!  

[azucena]

Dec 22, 2023 13:00:15 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

I'm with you gals regarding laundry.  I've been behind with chores this entire week due to the craft session and sleepover with the neighbor kiddos last weekend.  Clean towels never made it upstairs, etc.

azucena, LOL!  Perhaps they know "Santa" is watching.  

I managed to make no bake chocolate cookies and snickerdoodles last night and put them into goodie bags for distribution.  The trashmen and mail person have received one thus far.  Next will be fellow office building folks.  Last night I also cleared most of the main counter so DH can work on his meat processing project.  He's usually gone by the time I wake up, and boy did I miss my alone time this morning.  I don't understand morning people.  

Coffee with my friend was lovely this morning.  She is one of the gals whom I will be traveling with to the Stadium Tour next year.  We're excited!  

Tonight, I'll fetch DH's gift from the neighbors, wrap stocking stuffers, make fruit salad, and boil eggs.  A ham dinner with trimmings will be around 2 tomorrow.  We're having it early as some have to work Christmas Day.

Happy holidays, everyone.  

I think it was a combination of her realizing that the kitchen mess doesn't help our collective anxiety, relief over school break, recognizing that we have let her off the hook on most household chores the last couple months as school and performing were so time consuming and stressful...and her nye party invite turning into a coed sleepover. Since all her friends were seniors last yr, she is now hanging with a college freshmen group home from college. Really good young adults, but still not allowing attendance at coed sleepover. DH compromised with 1 am curfew.

[Iggy aka IG]

Dec 22, 2023 14:10:38 GMT -5 azucena said:

Dec 22, 2023 13:00:15 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

I'm with you gals regarding laundry.  I've been behind with chores this entire week due to the craft session and sleepover with the neighbor kiddos last weekend.  Clean towels never made it upstairs, etc.

azucena , LOL!  Perhaps they know "Santa" is watching.  


[snip]

I think it was a combination of her realizing that the kitchen mess doesn't help our collective anxiety, relief over school break, recognizing that we have let her off the hook on most household chores the last couple months as school and performing were so time consuming and stressful...and her nye party invite turning into a coed sleepover. Since all her friends were seniors last yr, she is now hanging with a college freshmen group home from college. Really good young adults, but still not allowing attendance at coed sleepover. DH compromised with 1 am curfew.

That sounds like so much fun!  

[TheOtherMe]

I didn't start the laundry until this afternoon.  Load #1 is in the dryer and #2 is in the washer.

I completely changed the cat box.  What a chore that is and I was getting more "help" than I needed.  

[snapdragon]

I have a new garage door motor and accruements to go with it. It's much quieter than the last one so I am really happy about that. I have a new keypad too. The BFF's are coming for NYE so still working on my place. I found a few things while moving boxes for the motor replacement. 

Several boxes have been dealt with and I did some shredding also. I have a book that I've been trying to find locally (The Fright Before Christmas), but no luck so it's going to be ordered for delivery after x-mas. 

Everyone enjoy the time off if you can. Stay safe.

Snap

[megaptera]

Well, we're at my parents' and any cleaning/laundry/etc. that didn't get done before we left will be waiting when we gat back home In the meantime, it's time to enjoy my family and relaxing. 

Merry Christmas everyone. 

[Empire the P.A.]

Finally washing and putting away lighter jackets and coats. I pulled out my heavier winter stuff. Was able to declutter some out of date clothes too. 

[startsmart]

Hope y’all have a Merry Christmas!

I plan to start the 2024 thread on Tuesday so we have some time to set goals and plan. This thread will remain up for another week at least.

[saveinla]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All who celebrate! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

My DH's niece and grand niece are here and we have been running about taking in the sights, attending events etc. The Christmas gifts we had ordered from Amazon will be late, so we had to go to Target today morning to get some replacement gifts for the little one. That is done and hidden now. 

We don't celebrate and usually avoid going out during the week before Christmas, so it was a shock to see so many people at the small Target at 8 AM today. When we got out, the parking lot was packed. We had also thought of going to a very famous Cuban bakery here, but the lines were too long - we will do that next week.

[finnime]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and Happy New Year to everyone!

Made the cranberry nut bread. Presents all wrapped and those for DD and DH are under the tree, plus the stockings. We're going out for Chinese food in an hour, then watching the Christmas Story movie, then going to the candlelight service at church. After that I'll make dough for the dinner rolls tomorrow and bake sweet potatoes ready to mash.

Tomorrow we go to DSis's house around noon. She lives an hour away. We'll have breakfast and open gifts here first. And before that, Franklin the Dog and I will go to the beach. Hope I can get a decent photo, but if not I do have hundreds in my archives.

After Christmas I'll worry about organizing and decluttering again.

[moneysquirrel]

Merry Christmas to all!

Had a change in plans as DB's family is ill.  Currently throwing together a meal for DSis and DBIL so that we can get together today.  Will check in later.

[debthaven]

Happy Christmas! 

The Cirque du Soleil on Saturday was fabulous! 

We had a lovely low-key Christmas today, just 5 of us (DS2 + E, DS3, DH + me). The dishwasher has been run and emptied, and everything is put away.

DS1/DDIL/E/I arrive on Wednesday for 8 days. We're enjoying the quiet with DS3 until then lol.

[TheOtherMe]

I am about to take the rest of the trash that didn't fit in the trash and recycling bins so it will go away in the morning.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Good morning, good morning!
As we only have a week left of this thread, I'm going to challenge myself to toss at least 20 items from this house! 
I won't count regular trash, but I'm might count a gathering of no-longer-needed papers off of my desk as one. 

Time to make a list of chores for the week. I have this week off from my job, but it's time to for me to start doing some of those tasks also. 

[Sharon]

I'm slowly emerging and recovering from the big upgrade from work.  We celebrated Christmas Eve and it was nice but also chaotic, which you expect with little kids.  Yesterday I slept most of the day and have gone from complete exhaustion to just being tired.

I planned to be off today months ago just in case I went to see Mom for Christmas. I've already exceeded everything I did yesterday, I'm up, showered, dressed and made the bed.

Goals for today:

Empty the dishwasher

load the dishwasher with dishes that are sitting in the sink

Put away the Christmas dishes

Clean the bathrooms

Do a load of towel laundry

[azucena]

Dec 26, 2023 9:48:31 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Good morning, good morning!
As we only have a week left of this thread, I'm going to challenge myself to toss at least 20 items from this house! 
I won't count regular trash, but I'm might count a gathering of no-longer-needed papers off of my desk as one. 

Time to make a list of chores for the week. I have this week off from my job, but it's time to for me to start doing some of those tasks also. 

Might I suggest that the world won't gall apart if you fully stay off work all week. The break will do your headspace some good. If you want to be productive, lean in to the home front things that will help you the most.

[azucena]

Outing myself for not doing laundry whichever day I told Theo that I was keeping up with her. Guess what - the pile continues to grow and must be accomplished today bc housekeeper comes tomorrow.

Heading off to girls haircuts in an hour. Then grocery shopping and they each have therapy appts in different locations at the same time...Oops. Will drop dd15 off early as she won't mind playing on her phone.

Oh, also need to clean up Christmas mess before housekeeper.

[wvugurl26]

My laundry is way behind. I need to finish the office area organization project. I did declutter the unwanted electronics to Staples. I need to get a few more things listed on ebay. Most things have sold.

The spare room is looking better as the Christmas gifts are handed out.

Still have 2 sets to get shipped out.

[nikiz628]

My sister got me an at home gel polish set for Christmas, complete with the UV curing light and several bottles of color. To make room for this, I just decluttered all of my old polishes. I filled 2 gallon sized ziplock bags with bottles. My 15 year old niece will be happy to take these off my hands. 

[Sharon]

I met my goals for today

Empty the dishwasher
load the dishwasher with dishes that are sitting in the sink
Put away the Christmas dishes
Clean the bathrooms - The bathrooms got a seriously deep clean which they needed.
Do a load of towel laundry

I also

cleaned the litter box

caught up the shredding

vacuumed the bedroom

I ordered this for myself a few weeks ago and finally had time to try it out today in the bathrooms.  It was fantastic.  The charge held for a long time, it was lightweight so it wasn't tiring to use, and it did a good job.

[nikiz628]

Sharon- I've had my eye on one of those for awhile..... 

[debthaven]

DS1 & Co arrive this afternoon. Our cleaner is away, so I'm washing our bedding and towels. 

I need to go through my sweaters because they don't all fit in my closet anymore, which bugs me. I have to do the same with my socks/underwear drawer, since I recently bought a bunch of new winter socks. I have quite a small closet but I like everything to fit inside.

[finnime]

I need to fight the clothing battle, too. Not enough space for everything and truthfully I have a lot of clothes I'll never wear because I've changed in my interest in how I look. I don't care for ruffles, for example, or too short skirts and dresses, or tops that cling. Need to winnow it all out.

[debthaven]

I went through my sock & underwear drawer, then DS3 helped me sort through my sweaters. Everything fits where it belongs now. We took a bag to the donation/fabric recycling bin on our way to the farmers' market. 

It's the calm before the storm, DS1 & Co are 30 min away. They're staying for 8 days. 

[TheOtherMe]

How many littles?  I think it's 2.  They certainly keep you on your feet.  

[debthaven]

Yes TheOtherMe, 2 littles. E is 6.5 and I is 2.5. They definitely keep us on our toes lol.