Friday, January 15, 2010

too many bottles of handcleaner in the house ...poured them together and didn't even get one full bottle, but I am satisfied to throw out the empty ones

I made a conscious decision to not let saving a penny here or there deterr me from THROWING AWAY something. For instance: there was a time I would have had to try to squirt all the solution that was still inside the little tube that is attached to the pump, into the new container.

I'm not saving ketchup bottles that are upside down in the door of my refrigerator so that someone can use up the very last drops of it. It's so light, it falls out every time the door swings open.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Found some leftover potato soup in the back of the refrigerator (from Christmas Eve) -- that was an easy purge.

Sorted some of my mail. Amazing how fast it piles up. I pulled a bunch of mail out of my "incoming slot." We all have one. It's where the mail goes that's addressed to you along with papers I find around the house that I know belong to some person. My slot was so full it was bluging. I pulled out the contents and stuck it into an empty box a couple of days ago. The box has been sitting on the kitchen counter.

Today I purged the junk mail from this box and put all the rest back. I didn't have the focus to sort the leftovers into categories: to file, action needed, to give to ___, etc ...

The amount of CRAP (I can call it that) I have overwhelms me at times. It used to depress me and drain all my energy. I'm extremely thankful that it doesn't have that same power over me anymore. Baby step by baby step I'm going to get out from under all this.

One day at a time. One task at a time.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today I packed up our Christmas decorations. I had my daughter get the lights down outside and we cleared our porch together. She brought in the plastic tubs and I packed up the decorations from inside the house.

As I was packing I looked at the things that were left in the tubs, unused as decorations this year, and was able to let go of several of them.

Thinking about putting the decorations away seemed like a really big deal and it caused me anxiety. That's the main reason why I have put it off this long. Lots of emotions came to the surface and my perfectionistic tendencies too. I was happy to be able to pack up the tubs myself.

It's not that no one would help me, it's that I want to do it my way (carefully wrapping up some of the items) -- laying them in the tub in a systematic way. Not only that, but I pulled every thing out and packed categories together.

This year we put up less decorations and I was very thankful that it didn't take me as long as I had dreaded that it would. Getting rid of decorations that I didn't use made it go faster too.

As I was packing, I was thinking about how every year I want the focus to be more on the birth of Christ and God's loving gift to us. My decorations would really scale down if that is all I kept. I'll contemplate that. Now that they are all together, it will be easy to purge them again if I should decide to.

Frustration

Ugh! Bad night! I was looking for something that I put ... somewhere. In the meantime, we've moved stuff around ALOT even disposing of some of it.

I could imagine myself putting it SOMEWHERE that I knew I would not lose it. I know I put it SOMEWHERE with the thought that this would be a good place to put it because I would come across it when I needed it again.

I looked everywhere that I could think of ... everywhere that made some sort of sense to me. Didn't find it. That's the worst. When it's not in a logical place. That means it could be ANYWHERE. And anywhere is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

My husband got a little frustrated with "if all this stuff wasn't here" because I asked him to move a piece of his equipment that is very heavy. I can understand his frustration, I really can, but I couldn't deal with it at that moment.

I prayed and asked for divine help in locating the missing item. So far, I still haven't found it. There must be a lesson to be learned here.

I get the part that this is not OK. I need to keep working on decluttering. It's terrible to not be able to find something. It's even worse when you're trying to find it FOR someone else. I stuck the item away, but I'm not the one who needs it now.

The Twelve-Steps Work For Clutter Too

I found a Twelve-step yahoo group for clutters (Messies). I don't know why I didn't think of my clutter in that way before. I AM powerless over it. I went to the Messies Anonymous website and ordered a book that is written for this very topic.

What I've read already is very insightful. To be understood and to realize that my "tendencies" and "traits" or not unique to just me. There are many others who have the same thoughts and issues too.

One of the first things I came upon and have been contemplating is: my possessions are my drug of choice. Acquiring "stuff" makes me feel good .... temporarily. In the same way that an alcoholic feels good when they drink (at first) . Wow!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Today I was haunted by a couple of items that I got rid of. One was a new, unopened package of cheesecloth that I found in my linen closet. I don't remember why I bought it in the first place or how long its been in my possession. I don't use cheesecloth. I suppose I bought it for a science experiment or something ... but BECAUSE it was still in the packaging, I was bothered with the thought that in the event SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD that I may need cheesecloth, I already had a new package. And IF I SHOULD ONE DAY NEED cheesecloth, I wouldn't have to go looking for it in order to buy it (imagining that its not something I could find easily).

The second item that haunted me was a plastic zipperd bag (that sheets or curtains had originally come in). I found it on the floor of my closet. My first thought was "I don't need this, its trash." As soon as I dropped it in the trash, I thought about all the reasons why I MIGHT need it SOMEDAY. I walked over to the trash can and pulled it out. Then I said to myself, you didn't even know you had this. You won't use it. If, for SOME reason you need one, you can buy one.

The last item that spoke to me (ha ha) was the large stuffed bull dog that my husband won at the state fair this year. This was the first year in our whole life together that we went to the state fair. He wanted to shoot baskets, convinced that he would win a prize. I was very happy for him and praised him all night long for his mad skills : ) Thus the dog spoke to me as I put him into my van for his last ride (to Goodwill).

All of these (and more) were donated to Goodwill today. I can't hear them talking to me any longer. Hmm .... out of sight, out of mind!

Except ... I feel as if I must clarify one thing, the stuffed dog was not high quality or of the kind that you would give to a child. It was very stiff and not kid-safe. I wouldn't even consider giving it to one of my grandchildren for those reasons. Not to mention that you can't give ONE of them a large dog and not the others ..... at least this Grandmother can't do that : )

Living Intentionally

I started an "Intentional Living for 2010" notebook on January first. Using a spiral bound notebook, which I self titled, I started making lists of things that I want to accomplish this year. Goal setting you might call it. I listen to Dr. Randy Carlson's radio program whenever I can. Everyday I hear him ask callers, "What one thing can you do TODAY to make a difference ? " (in some area of their life). I thought I'd look into this Intentional Notebook if I couldn't think of one thing to do intentionally for a particular day.

As I was making lists, I decided to challenge myself with a special decluttering challenge for each month. For January, my challege is to get five things out the door everyday. "Out the door" means into the trash or bagged and ready to donate or give away.

January first I threw away five things:

1. an old cookie tin that my mom used to use for Christmas cookies (I have others to use) and this one is scratched up and showing wear on the outside and has rust on the inside
2. the handle to a pot that had broken off long ago (maybe even decades ago !!)
3. a plastic medicine cup (the kind that come on the top of Nyquil or some cough syrup) that was in the wrong drawer in the kitchen ... I have more of these
4. the outter box that a toy truck came in (a Christmas gift opened by my grandson) that I was saving, just in case ... by saving, I mean it was still on the floor in the living room, where the Christmas tree once stood
5. a box (with a pretty gold patterned lid, no less!) that a Christmas gift had come in ... surely I could use it to wrap another gift, someday ... or next Christmas ... if I could find it by then

January second I bagged up five things that had been on display in my dining room:

1. a wooden heart painted blue with "Welcome" on the front
2. a set of wooden house shaped blocks with different colored roofs and one letter painted on the front of each house, spelling out "welcome"
3. a small wooden goose with mobile legs (so it could sit down)
4. a scripture verse framed in a very small plastic frame
5. a small wooden school desk (a replica of an old fashioned desk)

January third I threw away five (or more) items which I will not bore you with the details of.