Whoa. Friday I didn't get to do much in the purging category, but that was ok, because I was "ahead" a little bit. Then Saturday was a lovely, cool, springish day, and we cleaned out the garage and now I don't even know how to keep track.
We gave to friends a bike seat (for a toddler to sit behind a grownup) and a carseat; donated our big wheel type toy to a local toddler playground; filled an entire outdoor trash can with trash from the garage; recycled a large trash bag full of plastic; filled an entire cardboard box (from a new booster seat) with more cardboard and paper for recycling; filled one box and two bags of toys for donation; filled two bags for Goodwill donation; one box of books for library donation; and that might be it. In the process, I discovered my car's missing owner's manual, my black pumps (missed those!), and a library book I honestly thought I returned...oops. I'll beg forgiveness tomorrow. Plus there were four bags of yard waste filled and more in the back that I have to handle with thicker gloves (we had a huge pricker bush growing back there, which I'm in process of digging out).
The yard looks fabulous; I'm so grateful to my husband who did all that, did half the work in the garage, AND made time to play baseball with the kids on the street. It was awesome and a great weekend all around.
Conservative total: TEN bags and/or boxes. Whoa. Bringing the four day total to 14. This did put lie to my title, though; there is a definite difference in the garage. Huge, in fact. I felt like I could spin like Julie Andrews in the beginning of The Sound of Music in there, which was not the case before. Some of the difference was seasonal (rotating the snow blower, shovels, etc., to the back) but I guess ten boxes later (and three large items)--you can feel it. And the amazing thing is--some of that is still in there! (Recycling doesn't come until Weds.; there wasn't room for the books in my trunk, etc.). And...we're still not done in there. I could really do forty bags from the garage, I think. But--a good start. It felt great. And I have to carry that with me as I keep going. Because it will get harder from here.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day 2
Two more bags gone to Purple Heart. One was fairly easy, as it was mostly stuff that was just coming to be checked out en route to Goodwill; the other was baby stuff and stuff from both closets.
Still, it's sobering that on Day 2 I'm 10% done. And my house shows no evidence at all of decluttering. I'm bure it will take a little while but still. I am a quick results kind of girl. Hmm. Maybe this is my problem.
Still, it's sobering that on Day 2 I'm 10% done. And my house shows no evidence at all of decluttering. I'm bure it will take a little while but still. I am a quick results kind of girl. Hmm. Maybe this is my problem.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Title Explanation, Day 1
Since I don't know how many people over at my "regular" blog are interested in my hoarding/purging issues, I'm creating this blog to help me keep track.
This Lent I'm doing two tracks to help me purge: the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge, and the Simple Mom Project: Simplify Hot Spots. This week's hot spot is my closet, which could honestly take until Easter. But starting tonight, I'm hoping to get going with it and finish at least some by Friday.
Meanwhile, the first two bags of my challenge are stuffed to the gills and off to Mothers' Home. I had a bag full of baby blankets that were lightly used that we are finished with; and then I thought, oh, I'll just throw in a few other things and next thing you know, I had another whole bag.
It's hard to let the blankets go but we still have plenty so I'm ok with it. In some ways, the hardest to let go of is a gorgeous little pink fake fur coat. I bought it in hopes of having a daughter someday. I was blessed with two sons, but never a daughter, and it was never the right size in the right season for my nieces. But I know it will go to someone who will love it and be thrilled with it and that matters to me.
I really did have heart palpations, throwing the stuff in the car and getting ready to go. This is ridiculous. My kids are not using it, someone else needs it, and I need the space. So I am hoping that gets better over time.
Meanwhile, the name of the blog: when one of my most esteemed colleagues retired, none of us could imagine the office functioning without him. But in his typical style, one of the few things he said as a goodbye was that a good worker, leader or follower, leaves an organization like a fist leaving a bucket of water--with no real evidence that anything is amiss, and no sign that there was ever anything there.
I am afraid? hoping? that this challenge will be like that. Forty bags sounds like a mountain of stuff. But I do worry that, like the proverbial lawyers in the ocean, all it will be is a good start. Wish me luck!
Today's bags: 2
(PS--that awful joke--What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: a good start--is my father-in-law's favorite, and yes, he's a lawyer. So while I certainly do not support lawyercide, it's dark-humor code in our house for "a good start.")
This Lent I'm doing two tracks to help me purge: the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge, and the Simple Mom Project: Simplify Hot Spots. This week's hot spot is my closet, which could honestly take until Easter. But starting tonight, I'm hoping to get going with it and finish at least some by Friday.
Meanwhile, the first two bags of my challenge are stuffed to the gills and off to Mothers' Home. I had a bag full of baby blankets that were lightly used that we are finished with; and then I thought, oh, I'll just throw in a few other things and next thing you know, I had another whole bag.
It's hard to let the blankets go but we still have plenty so I'm ok with it. In some ways, the hardest to let go of is a gorgeous little pink fake fur coat. I bought it in hopes of having a daughter someday. I was blessed with two sons, but never a daughter, and it was never the right size in the right season for my nieces. But I know it will go to someone who will love it and be thrilled with it and that matters to me.
I really did have heart palpations, throwing the stuff in the car and getting ready to go. This is ridiculous. My kids are not using it, someone else needs it, and I need the space. So I am hoping that gets better over time.
Meanwhile, the name of the blog: when one of my most esteemed colleagues retired, none of us could imagine the office functioning without him. But in his typical style, one of the few things he said as a goodbye was that a good worker, leader or follower, leaves an organization like a fist leaving a bucket of water--with no real evidence that anything is amiss, and no sign that there was ever anything there.
I am afraid? hoping? that this challenge will be like that. Forty bags sounds like a mountain of stuff. But I do worry that, like the proverbial lawyers in the ocean, all it will be is a good start. Wish me luck!
Today's bags: 2
(PS--that awful joke--What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: a good start--is my father-in-law's favorite, and yes, he's a lawyer. So while I certainly do not support lawyercide, it's dark-humor code in our house for "a good start.")
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
