When Gabe leaves in early January, I mope about for a few days before I begin to focus on decluttering again.  It’s hard to know where to begin because my house is completely trashed.

During December and part of January, my biggest struggle was maintaining enough seating for my guests.

What’s wrong with this picture?  Well, everything.  So much that I’m going to write about it as soon as I finish this post.

One good thing about the holidays is that I get to rid the house of all the gifts that Kat and I have collected all year.  Here’s a few:

Some members of my family have a contest to see which of us finds the silliest gifts.  You might wonder what all this stuff looks like under the tree.  This year Christmas was at Lynne’s and it looked like this:

It’s hard to see all the presents in this picture.  Most of these presents were from Joel.

So no matter how much I give away, Christmas brings new gifts into my home, many of which have a theme.  For instance, among Mike’s gifts were 2 figurines.

What do they mean?  Well, to my dismay, my husband Mike refuses to purchase clothes until the ones he has are threadbare.  I call him a hobo because hobos dress better than him and it bugs the heck out of me.  One of the things that iritates me the most is that, in a pinch, he will grab a piece of rope and use it as a belt (I know you think the answer is to buy him a new belt but before I digress, I’ll write about that another day).  This Christmas, Joel (to whom I gripe about this problem incessantly) found two figurines that just so happen to have their clothing belted with rope, just like Mike.  I have to admit, they are pretty funny.  I placed them on the entertainment center to remind me to not take things so seriously.

Among the things I received, from Joel, was a lamp.

I don’t need it of course, but I do like it a lot.

And as usual, not all the things that make their way to my house are for me.

For example, the tubs of Coke that Sue left for Kat.  She picked up one but the other is still sitting in front of my hall closet door, waiting for Kat to return.

And in case you were wondering, I can’t put it in the closet because it is full of clutter.

I have a few posts to finish while I dispose of some more clutter.  I’m starting with the Christmas items.  The goal is, out with the old and in with the new, the latter in smaller quantities.

I’ve managed to donate at least a bag of clutter or clothing each week.  I just need to step it up a notch.

I found some contact lenses that I had been meaning to send to madre.org.

And there was the receiver that has been sitting in the living room since October that I wanted to take to the thrift store.

I was happy to let them go, but truth be told, neither one of those items belonged to me and I felt like I was cheating.

I wanted to find something that I identified as my own personal property.  I remembered that I had been given a drop leaf table by a FreeCycler in July and had planned to use it in my kitchen.  Months later, it sat disassembled in the trunk of my car.  I had forgotten about it until my sister Sue had given me another drop leaf table that I liked better.  It sits under a tarp in the driveway with yet two other tables (the green plastic one is my sister-in-laws and I haven’t moved the patio table to the back yard yet).

One of them had to go.  I liked Sue’s table better so I placed a FreeCycle ad for the other.

I had numerous responses from people who need a dining room table.  Here are three of them.

“I have been looking for a new kitchen table since mine got water under the veneer. It molded and was a huge mess so I had to throw it out before I could afford a new one, and now I can’t have family meals any more.”

“This table would be perfect in my home.  We just moved from living with family and have no furniture of our own, and would be able to make great use of it if it’s available.”

“We would absolutely love to have this table. We already have a drop leaf table in our kitchen but it’s even smaller than this one and now that we are a family of five we cannot all sit around it at dinner. We are barely making ends meet, so we don’t even talk about the situation. My hubby and I just take turns sitting on the floor at dinnertime!”

So while I rarely find the time to eat at my own cluttered dining room table, which is a personal choice, there are families in my area that wish they could.  I found it hard to choose so I pulled a name from a hat.  Less than an hour later, the table was gone.

Now I have it make room in the kitchen for the table in the driveway before it rains on Sunday.  But if I can’t, I have a list of people that could really use that table.

Me:  “Don’t be silly.  We don’t recycle them.  For every bag of bags that I take to the thrift store, they give me a coupon for a dollar off my next purchase.”

Mike:  “And when was the last time you took bags to the thrift store?”

I had no idea.  The last time the bags had crossed my mind was in July when I took a picture of the pantry and then lost all interest in the project.

Four months later, it was worse.  No wonder Mike was complaining, there were so many bags, plastic and paper, stacked against and beside the wire shelving that they had completely blocked all the appliances stored there.

I left the paper bags and brought the plastic bags into the living room.

When Kat stopped by, I grabbed a bag for her and one for myself and down to the thrift store we went.

When we arrived, Danny, the cashier, informed us that the store had discontinued the bags for coupons policy until January 2012.

Danny suggested that I keep my stash of bags until then.  I wavered for a moment and then realized how silly it would be to even consider it.  Especially since I would have to cram them right back into the pantry from whence they came until January.

But it would be very easy for me to do and I was disappointed that I thought about it longer than I care to admit.  It bothered me enough that I took the rest of the bags down to the thrift store except for two bags that I saved for my sister-in-law (she uses them for her pets).  And when they’re gone, I don’t think that I will allow myself to keep bags anymore.  After all, they are an extreme example of my sometime questionable judgment when it comes to items that have so little value.

]]> http://navalanche.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/my-bag-a-day-challenge-day-seven/feed/ 1 navalanche pantryjuly plasticbags http://navalanche.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/my-bag-a-day-challenge-day-six/ http://navalanche.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/my-bag-a-day-challenge-day-six/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:25:04 +0000 navalanche http://navalanche.wordpress.com/?p=4656 ]]> One of the habits that I have been trying to resist while decluttering is the urge to place items in storage.  I’m tempted frequently but the unfortunate truth is that I haven’t gained enough living space to justify adding things to storage in the house yet.  Today, I realized that I had to make an exception.

While I was sorting through gardening items on the front porch, I came across a box full of glass lamp shades that I had placed outside for “just a few minutes”.

What’s embarrassing is that they have probably been outside for over a month now (maybe two).  Despite the fact that they were just piled on top of each other, not one was broken.  I couldn’t leave them outside, I couldn’t leave them in the living room and I was not ready to donate them as I had collected them to use with some lamps that are buried in the basement.  There was only one option left, I needed to make an exception and box them up.

While I was wrapping the shades, I remembered that I had a box of Santa cups under a chair in the living room.

They are part of a collection that I don’t add to myself but my family contributes to every so often.  I thought that I would leave them out until Christmas but since I don’t really decorate any more (no room), I decided they should be boxed up also.

When I finished, all that was left was to label the boxes.  Not an issue for most people but reasons I can not explain, I have always had a strange aversion to writing on boxes.  Nonetheless, today was the day to try something new.  What could be better than writing the contents on the side of the box?  A picture of the contents.

I know that I have more Santas and lamp shades and I can add them to the boxes as I find them.  As a bonus,  I also dated the boxes so I can reference how long I’ve kept them in storage.  It might just work for someone like me.

When I looked around the house for a challenge project, I noticed items that Kat had brought over with the promise that she would pick them up at a later date.  They were scattered around the living room, dining room and porch.

There was the inflatable cooler that she bought for Jaxon’s birthday party that we forgot to take to his party.

There were the country cassettes that she plans on taking to her friend Patty’s house, when she gets the chance.

There was the elephant pool that she wants me to store until next summer for Jaxon.

The list goes on and on and consists of things of which she has no immediate need.  It seemed logical to gather her items together so that I would have better access to my own clutter.  At first, I planned on boxing it up and storing it all in the basement but then I changed my mind.  I would put in all in the car that Kat left in my driveway.

When Kat dropped the car off, she told me in no uncertain terms that Mike and I were not permitted to turn this car into a “shed” (she was referring to a clunker that she parked in the driveway a few years ago that Mike had filled with clutter, a story for another time).  I planned on honoring her request as this car only needed to have the title transferred to her name.  But after waiting patiently for two months, I reconsidered and decided to store her things in the trunk of her car.

I kept the elephant pool and placed the rest in the car.  There is plenty of room for more of her clutter and when she decides to take the car home, it will all go with her.  Bonus!

To clear things out, I had priced everything for $1 or less.  By the end of the day, I was ready to part with the rest.

Everything was packed up so that we could make it to the thrift store before it closed.  I did keep a pile of things that fit easily in to a small box (most of it was Kat’s).

And I kept some things to FreeCycle.

Everything was claimed except the vase and the lamp.

Anything else deemed unsaleable was placed in the trash.  With everything gone, I still haven’t created much new space but it helps.

Once I knew what part of town they lived in, I was able to find them as Ketstufke in 1910 and Kierstowski in 1900.  It’s a great start as its given me a few new leads and plenty of time to work on the rest of the family tree.

Outside, we condensed as much as we could and covered the tables with tarps and tossed the rest of the items into our cars.

The rain was so steady that it wasn’t long before the tarps began to leak through.  Determined to donate as much as I could, my sister-in-law Karen and I sorted through the items in the rain.  It took an hour and we were thoroughly soaked when we finished.  Karen, Kat and I headed to the thrift store to donate the things that were boxed and dry.

When we returned, the nephews told me that my neighbor Bobbie had called.  I thought she was calling to check to see how well we did at the sale (I lost money, I made $4 and spent $12 on building blocks and a wooden knickknack).  As it turned out, most of the neighbors sales were successful until the rain began but that wasn’t why she was calling.  Oh no, it was because she had committments from 5 of the 7 participants to do it yet again next weekend.  Would I join them?  Argh!  Of course, I will.  I’m just happy that I donated things before I agreed.  And now that Mike has returned from his mother’s after being away for the majority of the last 6 or 7 weeks, I should have time to dig deeper through my own clutter.  I remain ever hopeful.

On Friday, to my surprise, I saw Donna setting up the sale in the driveway next door.  By Saturday morning, their long driveway was overflowing with miscellaneous items that were beckoning to me.  Determined to stay away as long as I could, I ran errands in the morning.  Right before we left to visit Zack, I walked over to say hello (after all, it is the neighborly thing to do) and to mention that our neighborhood had scheduled a sale for the following weekend, just in case they wanted to reopen next week.  I managed to leave the sale having spent just $1 on a bag of decorative light bulbs for Kat.

On Sunday, business was brisk in the neighbors driveway and I stayed in the house working on projects so that I wouldn’t even look over at the sale.  Around 3pm, Donna was at my door, sunburned and looking exhausted.

Donna:  “I was thinking since I can’t do the sale next week, would you like our leftovers for your sale?”

I stood there speechless.  Did she sense my inability to refuse such an the offer?  I knew if no one wanted these things after two days, they belonged at the thrift store or in the trash.  The right thing, the smart thing, the sane thing was to say “no”.

Me:  “How much stuff do you have left?”

Donna:  “Maybe…….10 boxes.”

Me:  “Hmmmm, I’m not sure…..”

Donna:  “Maybe six boxes?”

Me:  “Are they….big boxes?”

Donna:  “Why don’t you come look and see for yourself?”

If I stepped into that driveway, I was doomed.

Me:  “It doesn’t hurt to look, does it?”

There it was, the lie that continues to perpetuate itself.  I can’t just look, I’m not strong enough to resist temptation all the time.

So I took a look and before Mike knew what was happening, he was helping haul boxes from the neighbors driveway to our own.  He wasn’t happy.  There were more than 6 boxes, it just kept coming and coming.  He piled it in the driveway, on the porch and in the yard.

Mike:  “I don’t know what you plan on doing with all this stuff but you better hurry.  It’s going to rain.”

I knew that I couldn’t keep it all until next Saturday for two reasons.  One, I don’t have room for any of it.  Two, if I fill my driveway with these items, where would I place my garage sale items (and my sister and sister-in-laws)?

I decided that most of it had to go.  I called my neighbor Bobbie and asked her if she wanted to help me sort through it quickly.  I thought that since she has tidy household, together we could easily dispose of the majority of the items.  It didn’t work the way I had planned, Bobbie took a few things home and suggested that I keep the rest until next weekend.  It was a recommendation that ran counter to my desired goal.  And it felt like the wrong thing to do.

The final decision was mine and it was getting late.  I went through the contents of two of the boxes and found nothing of interest and placed them in the truck of the car and donated them on Monday.

Over the next few days, I sorted and resorted and donated until a had only 2 boxes left for the sale on Saturday and I stored them in the car that Kat left in my driveway ( yes, a car and it’s not the first time she’s left one for months ).

Although, I’m pleased that I was able to donate most of these items, the truth is that by spending what little spare time that I have available on someone else’s clutter, I’ve done little to nothing to clear my own mess.  I’ve found another excuse to avoid what I need to do.  I’m ill prepared for a garage sale to begin with especially one where the weather isn’t likely to cooperate with a forecast high of 46 degrees and an 80% chance of rain.  It’s going to be a long day.