My new thing is that I want to get rid of stuff. That's not the fancy way to say it, even "decluttering" is passe', we're now "going minimalist", or "Marie Kondo-ing". Or even "Death Cleaning", because you do it yourself instead of others having to deal with your junk after you pass. (Now THAT's a scary thought!) I want to go through every single drawer, every bin, every cubby, and throw things away. I have always been a saver, because when someone needs something, I want to have it for them. And we all KNOW that as soon as you throw something away, you NEED it!
But. Realistically. No one wants or needs the christening bonnet, yellow and crunchy, that all of my siblings and I wore...or the first boy baby outfit we purchased after having two girls...with no sonograms or gender testing way back in the day, when Benjamin was born, yay, baby boy clothes! And the fact that Paul went and bought it...:)
See? I get sidetracked so easily. Every item has a story. Oh, I know! I can just take a pic of each sentimental item before deep-sixing it!
When you have grandkids, you need to have a playpen, a walker, a high chair, a stroller, a booster seat, and some bibs...a few spare sips cups and bottles, and some little spoons and forks, plates with the dividers, ect. So you can't just get rid of ALL of it.
So here's the thing: I am now officially thinking of cleaning things out. Hoeing out. But not today.
Today, we have plans! See, we have been very busy lately. We usually have our little girls here, and now we have three older children staying with us for 12 days. But today, we don't have Anne, and poor Mali is sick, so she has Lydia home with her, and the three children got on the bus and went to school (phew, I did it! Hair brushed, lunches packed, showered and folders in backpacks, phew!).
So today it's only the three homeschoolers and me. And we're going on an adventure! There is a place called Wonderworks, rope-climbing, laser tag, interactive museum, etc, with special homeschooling pricing....:)
When you live south of Lake Ontario in the winter, you have to plan around the weather. Even if it's 5F (-15c) degrees out, which it is, you're happy if it's not snowing, in fact it's a perfect day to go out and about.
It WOULD be a perfect day to start in on a few junk drawers, but ahhhh....we need an adventure.
I have a list of adventures coming up, besides today...
February: Mexico in less than three weeks, all inclusive, no plans to explore ruins or to leave the beach and pools...just relax.
February: Florida a few weeks after that. Last night we reserved a hotel a block from the ocean, just for one night, on the way to visit Grandma. We don't have many plans for our visit, maybe Busch Gardens, but lots of lying by the pool. I hope it's seriously hot and sunny. Get this: Paul and I and only four of the kids are going! One fourth of the kids! The older ones are all working, etc., and Jonathan doesn't want to come with four sisters, well, he does, but would RATHER stay with Margaret and Adrian and hang out with his friends on their week off from school.
March: Norway for long weekend, sisters' conference with Emily, Abigail, and Mirielle.
July: We rented a small cabin near Algonquin Mountain in the Adirondacks for a three day weekend.
July: Norway!!!! WE are going for ten or so days, not sure dates yet.
August: Three days reserved at a water site on our favorite lake in the Adirondacks, tenting! Several of the older ones in the family have also gotten sites, so it'll be really fun.
Of course all this traveling costs money, I save every bit of my babysitting money towards it, plus sell things on eBay and craigslist. (The Mexico trip is a gift from my dear sons:).), I am going with two of my girls.
Wow, in four days is Emily's birthday! I became a mommy 34 years ago...our 35 wedding anniversary is coming up in March. The days are long but the years are short, right?
From Saturday's adventure, Evelyn and me...then friend Amara, my daughter Margaret, me, friend Karen, and daughters Mirielle and Evelyn Joy, we went on a wine tour on Seneca Lake. Did you know that the Finger Lakes region has excellent wine? Evelyn was our driver, and we had too much fun. But not too much wine. Just enough.
3 comments:
We started a serious purge in October 2018. We designate one specific project/area/drawer per week and get through it. Though I admit, the garage became a multi week project that is still in the works, and no one wants to tackle the closet under the stairs. It feels good to throw things away or donate them. My husband FINALLY got rid of a drum set that he's been storing in our garage for a dozen years. The kids and I went through all of our close closets and linen closets and purged down significantly- old towels and blankets went to the animal shelter. Bags of clothes went to other charities. There are other projects too- like the cabinet of old art stuff- years of broken crayons and half colored in coloring books were thrown out, and the cabinet was reorganized to hold the school supplies we actually need right now.
Once you commit to getting rid of something, put it straight into the trunk of your vehicle so it can be dropped off at the thrift store (or where ever it's going) when you go to town. Sometimes I HAVE to drop stuff off so I can make room for the groceries...lol. I would have a designated area in the garage to collect stuff I was getting rid of and alot of it ended up back in my house, "saved" by one of our family members. It's hard to get rid of things you have a sentimental attachment to, or something that was a splurge that you paid full price for. I keep reminding myself that someone else might be able to use it right now and since it's not me, I need to pass it on. That's not to say my house is clutter free, but I really try to stay on top of it.
I have been working at estate sales lately with a friend of mine who owns a company that does them and I have seen some pretty amazing (and sad) situations. The last house we did took weeks to go thru all the boxes upon boxes of clothing, glass knick knacks, crystal, craft supplies, etc. I could see all the different decades worth of stuff boxed up "just in case". The woman's five kids only wanted some of the furniture, none of the keepsakes, including all of her mementos from her travels. They didn't even want their high school trophies/awards or diplomas! So, send all of their stuff with them as they move out and leave it to them to keep it/toss it (I couldn't bear to watch my kids toss 20 years worth of stuff I've saved for them out!). Also, we had to fill a dumpster up 5 times because so much of the stuff had deteriorated and/or gotten ruined in the basement/garage and closets. I need to keep that in mind as I purge!
Della.......I’m a procrastinator too........😬........oh well, we have such good qualities the bad ones are overshadowed, right? 😂😂😂😂 We have been sorting things, but more work is needed. This is the year! I might have said that last year............we arrived in Arizona safe and sound to RAIN! Now the rain has stopped and the FOG has rolled in big time. So we wait for it to lift to go get some groceries. Houses in Arizona don’t have eaves troughs.......probably because it hardly rains.....and today it coming down so hard to go out our front door would have been like walking through Niagara Falls!! Always something........
Marilyn from Canada......now Arizona for a bit
Post a Comment