For the Love of a Box

My brother and I were the last ones to leave the park after a family reunion. We made sure all the trash was thrown away. There was a big empty cardboard box sitting on one of the benches. Earlier in the day it was packed with chicken from El Pollo Loco.

I admired the box. It was sturdy. It had handles (holes) on both sides. It had a lid that flipped up. It was clean (no stains inside). I was tempted to take it.

I carried the box over to where my things were gathered. I said to my brother, "Here's a good box." He agreed.

The box was larger than a Banker's Box which meant that it would not stack uniformily with my other boxes. As much as I admired the box, I was able to leave it.

Later that evening, I mentioned the box to my mother. She said she had seen the box and SHE had thought about taking it home too. She said it was a very good box.

My aunt said if she had seen the box, she probably would have taken it. She said she could use a good box. If we weren't so far away from the park now, one of us might have gone to see if the box was still there.

A GOOD Day !

I cried myself to sleep last night.

I knew I HAD to get some stuff out the door. I am the main clutterer. They have their's too, but mine has reproduced uncontrollably for years.

Now to the GOOD day : ) Today, I was determined to sort and purge ruthlessly. I opened the back of my van and filled it up with donations to take to Goodwill. I made myself sort through a box of papers. I emptied two other cardboard boxes and put them in the recycle can. I told my daughter to go and get one thing from her room that she needed to get rid of. That item was donated to Goodwill as well.

Any progress I have made is only by the grace of God. He is the one who is doing the work inside of me. And that's what it is, an inside job. I can't declutter and stop hoarding on my own. It's not my willpower at work. He is breaking this bondage in me.

A Bad Day, part 2

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.

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).

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 : )

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?

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!