I came up with what I thought was a fun and inspiring cleaning goal: fill one trash bag (NOT from trash cans) before Trash Day. It did not work. Not because it was a bad idea, but because I just Didn’t Do It. Didn’t even take a trash bag out of the cupboard.
I DID, however, get rid of three Large Items from our playroom: two big toys (a riding toy and a sit-‘n’-spin) and one child-sized chair. We Freecycled them. The playroom floor looks so much bigger and clearer now.
I also got one step closer in the PLANNING process of hanging a picture that’s been leaning against the wall since I bought it a month ago. I didn’t hang it, but I thought of where I might like to hang it. Uh, woot!
I finished off an almost-empty bottle of orange vodka. That was some HARD WORK, but now there’s one fewer bottle cluttering up the shelves! …Well, except that I used the bottle to make a new batch of vanilla extract, so now it’s cluttering up the counter instead. I wonder if I can Freecycle all the cordials I bought when I thought I’d like them? (I don’t like them.) I suppose not.
Fastest de-cluttering turnaround ever: I bought three bottles of lotion on 75% off, tried it once, didn’t like the smell, gave the opened bottle to my mom and put the other two in the food pantry donation bin. It was hard to do it (it smelled FINE in the store! it was 75% off! it was Dove and I love Dove!), but I thought, “I’m not going to use it. So do I put in the donation bin NOW, or do I store the bottles for a couple of years and THEN donate them?” I could also have returned them, but they were something like $1.24 each, and also I hate returning things that the clerk might think I’ve opened and used, and also the food pantry recently put out a request for more of this sort of thing—I can’t think of the word for it, but non-food stuff like paper towels and lotion. “Sundries”?
I’m going to get rid of the rest of the dolls. I’d done a first sweep and didn’t find myself any more attached to the remaining dolls, and I think it’s that I just don’t want to collect/have dolls anymore. I’m going to keep some of the outfits for Elizabeth’s doll, but not many because she doesn’t really play with her doll either.
All good, all good! I can see things steadily taking shape for you. Also, getting rid of those bottles of lotion is a change in THINKING, which will serve you (ALL of us, too) well.
I’m excited to hear of your progress- keep it up!
Im loving these posts. Im packing and moving this month so I have some standard purging to deal with but I wish I could be doing all these fun projects right along with everyone.
It does sound like you’re getting things organized. Keep it up
I don’t mind that you just talk about cleaning. In fact, it’s helping to keep me going. The me who is about to have a whirlwind day of cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry doing. The me who must get her house cleaned pronto, as she just invited her parents (if my house doesn’t get clean, my mom spends the WHOLE visit doing that instead of visiting) for Labor Day weekend.
Go us!
Now THIS is what I call progress. Well done! [I am patting you on the back virtually.]
You could put some of those cordials into muffins, feed them to your mother-in-law, and hope she remains passed out for much of her visit.
Yay for you and your cleaning! I’m working on trying to incorporate Many Boxes of Stuff from storage into my home and so far results are mixed.
Also, you make your own vanilla extract? Seriously? Just thinking about that makes me feel like I need to lie down for a minute.
So what did you decide to do with the other dolls? I’d totally buy #15 from you!!
I love the cleaning posts! I hope to be inspired enough to do my own cleanup at home someday…
I love Freecycle! You should try to freecycle the cordials – ppl in my freecycle take the weirdest stuff. One woman freecycled a frozen ice cream cake!!
The cleaning process takes awhile. I’ve been working on my house for 6 weeks knowing that it was going on the market to be given away for free…errr…I mean “sold”. Every week I would throw something away. Sometimes it was a whole garbage bag full and sometimes it was just one item. Either way, it was progress. Today? The day before the realtor shows up to take pictures and to actually list my house? Seven garbage bags. SEVEN. I am sure there will be things I will need at some point and will remember finding during my frenzy, yet have thrown out. Going slowly is sooo much better. No regrets that way.
I have a love/hate relationship with cleaning… I put it off because it never sounds like fun. That’s probably because it’s NOT fun, it’s work that makes me all sweaty. But then, it’s so satisfying, and I’m always so delighted to be DONE! –at least for a while. And what’s more satisfying than filled bags and boxes to donate to charity! Do good, and feel good, too!
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Good for you for making your own vanilla. It’s the only thing I do that makes me superior to Martha Stewart, who quixotically uses store-bought. So easy! And so incredibly delicious.