Two things bothered me about my daughter moving that stuff yesterday.
1. It was blocking access to that side of the room. I couldn't get through.
2. Everything was out of order. I didn't know what was where. I labeled the boxes but the boxes were not neatly stacked and the labels were not all facing out.
I have found that if a stack of boxes can be placed on wheels of some sort, they can easily be rolled out of the way. Most of the boxes that were in the dining room were on a rolling cart. She did not leave them on the cart. The cart is against the wall, folded up. Now I will have to move the boxes one at a time to get past them.
Friday, December 4, 2009
A Bad Day
Had a really bad day yesterday but it was the bad day that birthed the good day I had today.
My daughter started clearing the dining room (of my clutter) to make a place for our Christmas tree. I was away from home. When I came home and walked into the dining room I saw some open space. At first I liked seeing the space, but all too quickly I realized WHY there was open space. Something (a lot of somethings) were gone!
I looked into our office/work room/library/storage/etc ... room. That's what I was afraid of !! Everything she had moved was put into one side of the room -- the side where my scrapbooking materials are and the file cabinets. I could no longer walk into this area with the boxes everywhere.
I did not react well. I got mad. I vented. I left home. I went to a store and looked around. I tried to find SOMETHING to buy to make me happy. Didn't find anything that I really wanted to spend money on. Shopping just to make myself happy has lost it's joy (which is a GOOD thing).
My daughter started clearing the dining room (of my clutter) to make a place for our Christmas tree. I was away from home. When I came home and walked into the dining room I saw some open space. At first I liked seeing the space, but all too quickly I realized WHY there was open space. Something (a lot of somethings) were gone!
I looked into our office/work room/library/storage/etc ... room. That's what I was afraid of !! Everything she had moved was put into one side of the room -- the side where my scrapbooking materials are and the file cabinets. I could no longer walk into this area with the boxes everywhere.
I did not react well. I got mad. I vented. I left home. I went to a store and looked around. I tried to find SOMETHING to buy to make me happy. Didn't find anything that I really wanted to spend money on. Shopping just to make myself happy has lost it's joy (which is a GOOD thing).
Saturday, October 31, 2009
New Curtains
I bought new curtains for my dining room window.
I am disgusted with the stuff that is still in one end of the dining room. Bankers Boxes, plastic tubs, baskets and misc other containers. I wish it was all put away somewhere (or even GONE out of the house).
I've been telling myself that I can't think about decorating my home until it is cleared out so that the home decor is even noticable. So far so good. I've only bought things to put in areas where I have made some progress : )
I am disgusted with the stuff that is still in one end of the dining room. Bankers Boxes, plastic tubs, baskets and misc other containers. I wish it was all put away somewhere (or even GONE out of the house).
I've been telling myself that I can't think about decorating my home until it is cleared out so that the home decor is even noticable. So far so good. I've only bought things to put in areas where I have made some progress : )
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thoughts to Consider about things I collect
Am I hospitable because I HAVE dishes, serving pieces, housewares and linens in order to be hospitable or because I have people into my home?
Am I a scrapbooker because I HAVE a collection of tools and supplies or because I actually scrapbook?
Am I a connoisseur of great literature because I HAVE a large collection of books or because I have actually READ great literature?
Am I a scrapbooker because I HAVE a collection of tools and supplies or because I actually scrapbook?
Am I a connoisseur of great literature because I HAVE a large collection of books or because I have actually READ great literature?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
work done in the living room
Purged: toys I have for my grandkids
Put Away: work-out equipment that hubby wants to keep, but had been in our living room (unused) for weeks
Moved: a cubicle shelf, a folding table and a plastic two drawer stackable bin (that I emptied!)
Wow! What a difference. The living room looks much more open and cleaner now : )
Speaking of "clean" I discovered some wet swiffer type disposable cleaning cloths to use on my wood floor. I'm very pleased with them. They not only clean and pick up dog hair but they have a very nice smell too!
Put Away: work-out equipment that hubby wants to keep, but had been in our living room (unused) for weeks
Moved: a cubicle shelf, a folding table and a plastic two drawer stackable bin (that I emptied!)
Wow! What a difference. The living room looks much more open and cleaner now : )
Speaking of "clean" I discovered some wet swiffer type disposable cleaning cloths to use on my wood floor. I'm very pleased with them. They not only clean and pick up dog hair but they have a very nice smell too!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Obsessive Thinking
I decided to do some organizing with my scrapbooking materials. That would be FUN and enjoyable : )
I sorted through papers, documents and souvenirs that I intend to use on pages I make. I separated them and filed them away.
Two days later, I thought I would enjoy doing some more organizing. It didn't go as well. I hit a wall (frustrating myself).
I was working on making some sort of file in order to easily find words and phrases for pages about "FAMILY" or "FRIENDS," etc ... I started with legal sized hanging files. For some reason I wasn't liking how that was coming together. If only I had a smaller 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 file box. I thought I'd prefer the smaller size. I was happy to discover that I happened to have (not only one but two) of this type of box !!
I added A-Z divider tabs and started to file ziploc bags that contain "word" and "phrase" stickers. That's when I hit the wall. I was obsessing over how to file and how to KNOW what words and phrases I had. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I would need to keep an inventory of the "words" and the "phrases."
I continued to think about how I'd record the inventory; decided to use a small spiral notebook and list them alphabetically. I found a notebook the size I wanted. The number of pages were not listed anywhere on this notebook. I started to count them. Too many to count. I guesstimated that there were 80 - 100 pages. OK, I determined to use three pages per letter.
Next thing I thought about was that I wanted to be able to easily access a letter in this notebook. In order to do that, I would need tabs. With the straight edge of an index card and a pencil, I marked off the right edge of a sheet of paper. I held three pages together and cut out a notch (tab) for the "A" section. I did the same for "B", "C", and "D".
The tab would not be durable. I used a label and folded it over the paper tab (then wrote the letter on the label). This made the tab slightly thicker. I will eventually add some clear packing or scotch tape on top of the tab.
Next step was to come up with my codes. I needed codes for the location of the "word" or "phrase" and also codes that would tell me if this was a word (single word), a theme, a picture or
a definition.
After I came up with some codes, I thought about what order I would use to make an entry on a page.
At this point I had overwhelmed myself. This organizing was no longer enjoyable. I was quite stressed. I cleaned up and put everything away I had out.
Summarizing: I thought about coming up with a way to easily and efficiently be able to get my hands on stickers and sayings to use if I was working on a scrapbook page with the theme of "Friends" or "Family". My original thought did not pan out well. When I got down to using a smaller file box and my obsessive thinking brought me to the conclusion that I HAD TO INVENTORY each and every word sticker .... that's when I hit the wall and felt like crying or maybe even screaming a little because I also knew it would be a frustrating and tedious job to do.
I sorted through papers, documents and souvenirs that I intend to use on pages I make. I separated them and filed them away.
Two days later, I thought I would enjoy doing some more organizing. It didn't go as well. I hit a wall (frustrating myself).
I was working on making some sort of file in order to easily find words and phrases for pages about "FAMILY" or "FRIENDS," etc ... I started with legal sized hanging files. For some reason I wasn't liking how that was coming together. If only I had a smaller 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 file box. I thought I'd prefer the smaller size. I was happy to discover that I happened to have (not only one but two) of this type of box !!
I added A-Z divider tabs and started to file ziploc bags that contain "word" and "phrase" stickers. That's when I hit the wall. I was obsessing over how to file and how to KNOW what words and phrases I had. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I would need to keep an inventory of the "words" and the "phrases."
I continued to think about how I'd record the inventory; decided to use a small spiral notebook and list them alphabetically. I found a notebook the size I wanted. The number of pages were not listed anywhere on this notebook. I started to count them. Too many to count. I guesstimated that there were 80 - 100 pages. OK, I determined to use three pages per letter.
Next thing I thought about was that I wanted to be able to easily access a letter in this notebook. In order to do that, I would need tabs. With the straight edge of an index card and a pencil, I marked off the right edge of a sheet of paper. I held three pages together and cut out a notch (tab) for the "A" section. I did the same for "B", "C", and "D".
The tab would not be durable. I used a label and folded it over the paper tab (then wrote the letter on the label). This made the tab slightly thicker. I will eventually add some clear packing or scotch tape on top of the tab.
Next step was to come up with my codes. I needed codes for the location of the "word" or "phrase" and also codes that would tell me if this was a word (single word), a theme, a picture or
a definition.
After I came up with some codes, I thought about what order I would use to make an entry on a page.
At this point I had overwhelmed myself. This organizing was no longer enjoyable. I was quite stressed. I cleaned up and put everything away I had out.
Summarizing: I thought about coming up with a way to easily and efficiently be able to get my hands on stickers and sayings to use if I was working on a scrapbook page with the theme of "Friends" or "Family". My original thought did not pan out well. When I got down to using a smaller file box and my obsessive thinking brought me to the conclusion that I HAD TO INVENTORY each and every word sticker .... that's when I hit the wall and felt like crying or maybe even screaming a little because I also knew it would be a frustrating and tedious job to do.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
From My Heart
I give everyone permission to get rid of anything I ever gave them or made for them if they so choose. You are FREE to do with it as you wish. PLEASE do not hold onto something under any "obligation" or "guilt."
If it's mine, give it back to me (ha ha), seriously. But if it's already gone ... don't sweat it.
If it's mine, give it back to me (ha ha), seriously. But if it's already gone ... don't sweat it.
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