a small stack

Ok, went over the top of the changing table.

I found a place for hair stuff - a couple of weeks ago I bought an over door CD/DVD holder, and it's not full, so put the hair stuff in a little plastic bin on one of the bottom shelves.  So that's handled, sort of.  Still not sure where to keep the iron.  

But off the top of the changing table, I did manage to clear a bunch.  

From the left, that's a piece of cardboard, a nice ribbon, a stained yellow tank top that is not mine, a sticker, a CD that we've never listened to that was a toy inside some sort of happy meal, a stick that has been in the house for about two weeks, and under it all there is a super cute pillow cover that is stained, and the stain won't come out despite repeated treatments.  

The only bad thing is I put mod tot this in the trash, but then took it out to photograph it.  And I couldn't part with the cute ribbon.  Sigh.   So 6 things total today.  

Declutter 2013:

Day: 8

Items gone: 10!

Goal: still undecided

ONE!

I'm writing this on Monday, having had no blogging time on Sunday.  (And eventually there will be a picture but my plan of using drobox is backfiring when Dropbox won't work properly!).

Sunday night I was mulling over AwwwClutter and thinking I need some sort of theme or goal for November.  Is this about problem areas?  I could easily just wander around and take pictures of all the clutter in the house but that doesn't actually get me anything.  And then there's still shoes, do I want to touch on my shoes at all?  Should I pick an arbitrary # of things to discard by a specific time?

Im still undecided, but as I was leaving Elizabeth's room last night (one of the top problem areas, without a doubt) I spied a toy that was broken and palmed it.  She called me back into the room and I thought she had seen my grab, but she just wanted another kiss.  So I was able to bury it in the trash in my room.  It's a small solar powered plastic thing that was a flower - under light, the flower sways back and forth.  Andrew has one, too, in his window, but Elizabeth managed to break off the flower.  So it doesn't actually do anything.  And now it is in the trash, hooray!

Of course I did spend a minute wondering if I should get a replacement but nope.  It's gone and she will never know.

So that's one thing gone.  Maybe that is the best goal - decluttering at its most basic.  Just counting things out of the house.  I need a target goal - any ideas?  50?  More?  One a day, so 30?  Any ideas?

Declutter 2013
Day: 3
Items gone: 1
Goal:  ?? 

and so it goes

While my sister did an amazing job motivating Elizabeth to make her room less of a disaster area, they didn't really tackle the root of the problem, which is stuff crammed everywhere.

I've started to notice that if Andrew is enjoying a particular toy a lot, it winds up squirreled away in Elizabeth's room.  This is annoying, to say the least.  

When he pulled out a little car set, and one car was missing, Elizabeth casually said it was in her room, in her nightstand.  I went to find it, but her nightstand was mysteriously empty.  So I went on a small rampage, rooting around in all her stashes.  

Never found the car.  But in 5 minutes of rummaging, I did find:  

1. A used teaspoon
2. a yellow cherry from the Hi Ho Cheerio game
3. a red butterfly from the Elefun game

That girl!  I am in a total funk right now over the toys, and specifically the games, and are really feeling a lot of annoyance directed at the nanny.  Games get hauled out and then pieces distributed everywhere.  It makes me crazy.  None of the games we have can be played right now.  None.  The pieces have been dispersed to the far corners of our house, never to be reunited again.  CRAZY.  ANNOYED.  

And we're heading toward Christmas, and more toys will make their way into our house, and the whole thing makes me think my head is about to explode.  

I'm gearing up for a huge toy sort, and it has to be done before Christmas.  And I have to comprehensively sort the main level, the basement, and her room, or the whole effort is fairly useless.  Why didn't we choose a nanny who was more organized than us?  Or at least even slightly organized?  Or who at least understood why toys should sort of go together.  I'm perpetuating my disorganization on another generation and it is making me grumpy and crazy.  

I tried to throw out 50 things

My friend TSM is heavily involved in a neighborhood co-op of women who sell their gently used children's items twice per year.  She tried to get me to be a new seller for the spring sale, but it conflicted with t-ball, so I finally got to participate for the fall sale.  In September.  E's birthday weekend.  Right in the midst of what I was already dreading as hell week, early childhood style. 

As a new seller, you're allowed to sell 50 items.  Perfect, I thought, what a way to get rid of 50 things, and then I will blog about it, and I can finally close that browser tab that has linked to the throw out 50 things website for 18 months.  I knew I could fairly easily find 50 things to sell, without even really getting into all the stored baby stuff I have amassed in the basement.  I started mentally deciding which things I would tag and sell. 

This sale is pretty elaborate (and to protect anonymity I'm being fuzzy on details).  There are strict rules for what you can sell and how you tag your items, and how you are supposed to contribute to the organization of the sale (ie, volunteer time).  I knew I had to get my act together and start gathering and sorting items.  As per usual, I kept putting it off, though I did root around in a few boxes in the basement and continue my mental cataloging.  Mental cataloging worked fairly well until E grabbed the stupid Lincoln logs she had not played with at all in three years and decided they were the Best! Toy! Ever! thus reducing my catalog by one item. 

About a week before the sale, just as our hell week was starting, I said to Rich, you remember in the midst of the soccer and the birthday parties and the school snacks and everything else that I am doing the sale, too, right?  Noooooooooo, was of course his answer.  But I had it all figured out - if I just tag 10 things a night, skipping E's actual birthday, I'll be done in plenty of time and be all organized.  That of course changed to well, if I just tag 15 items a night.  Which turned to 20 items a night.  Which then turned into, ok, I have two hours before I have to be there, what can I grab and tag quickly? 

When your house is totally cluttered (and some credit here, you've done a fair amount of advance thinking about it), you actually have quite a bit you can grab.  Which meant instead of 50 things, I started my plan with 39 things to sell.  But that was still a pretty good effort, and heck, one of the problems in discarding things is coming to terms with the value of those things, so selling 39 things was a good first step. 

So how'd I do?  Say tuned for tomorow's update (hey, what can I say, NaBloPoMo is a bitch and I'm already weary of posting, so dragging this out!)

Weekend to-do list

It can't all be shoes this November - some real decluttering has to take place, and a (relatively) quiet weekend is the perfect time.  So what's on the to-do list?

• Plant the pansies.  They've been in the front hallway for two weeks (Rich, when I bought them: let's plant these and not have it be weeks before we get to it), and have to go in the ground.  Of course this also means weeding the front yard, and then it would be nice if we also mulched the front, too.  Oh, and last year, before I got sick, I bought some bulbs and they've been stored in the basement for a year.  They might not still be viable, but some might, so it would be good to either plant or trash what's lurking around, reminding me of the failure to plant. 
• Take down all the Halloween decorations, and switch to Thanksgiving.  There's some outside that require a bit of work, and a bunch scattered throughout the house.  It would be good to pack them all neatly in their tubs and store them neatly too, which gets difficult when we've acquired more and they don't actually fit neatly into the space allocated in the basement.
• Do laundry, which is more of a regular chore than decluttering, but it can go on the list, too.  
• And now I have to pick one of the big three areas to tackle, and I can't decide.  It'll have to be whichever strikes our fancy.  The big three, right now, are: the front hallway - there's a ton of paperwork to organize, bleah; the kitchen - a lot of organizing and cleaning to be done, along with moving some pictures and hanging some other new stuff, and I have GOT to organize my recipes, but that is a project in and of itself; and the ever present looming black hole of the basement - toy sorting, cleaning, organization.  Since we have to cram the Halloween stuff back down there, it might be a good weekend for the basement, but there's only so much basement stuff I can handle at one time, so we'll see.  
• And a fun one, my favorite store is having double dollar coupons, so I have to organize all my coupons and plan for a shopping trip.  Yes, as unbelievable as this sounds, grocery shopping is actually kind of fun for me.  But my coupons are a mess right now so I need some sorting time. 

Check back Sunday for a full report!  

NaBloPoMo = decluttering

Well, here we are again, another November underway, another NaBloPoMo (national blog posting month) challenge.  Which means another chance to declutter around here, and boy, does it need it.  Plus I've got to catch you up on my shoe acquisitions (um, I've lost track of how any shoes in 2011, let's just leave it at that), not to mention maybe someday accounting for shoe-mageddon!

But mostly, decluttering.  My to-do list is long.  LONG.  We have a party in mid-November (Andrew's 3rd b-day!), plus our haphazardly scheduled kinda annual holiday open house in December, so the stakes are high!

Here's a rough first cut at a to-do list:

• front hallway, always a disaster area
• our small back yard and front yard need attention, ripping out dead plants, putting down mulch, maybe getting some bulbs in, plus planting the pansies that have been in the front hallway for 2 weeks
• the ever present need to toy sort
• the basement needs major attention
• Andrew is going to need a big boy bed after Christmas, so we need to overhaul his room
• Elizabeth wants a pink room (after the holiday!) so we also need an overhaul of her room in anticipation
• The attic is in sad shape right now and needs major decluttering and organization

Etc.  Need I say more? 

and so it goes

All right, well, I haven't covered shoe-mageddon, but let's just say I got rid of a LOT of shoes.  A LOT.  Like I think at least 35.  Before shoe-maggedon, I was holding at 169 pairs, having gotten rid of 31.  And that means now I had settled on about 130 pairs.  That is an unbelievable amount of shoes!  It's hard to do an accounting as it all happened so fast, and we got rid of so many, and then completely re-organized.  I have a good memory, and it's what I call a situational memory.  So I was able to remember prices of shoes or where I got them, or when I got them, based on what I remembered from the situation, or context, around the purchase or wearing.  But that means that by re-organizing the shoes completely, my memory that a particular shoe was in a particular stack has now gotten all jumbled.  In fact, just this past weekend I was rooting around in a stack and ran across a pair and realized I had forgotten I had them.  And I was going through the blog and am really wondering where the 2011 new black pumps are.  I have no idea.  Not a clue.  I have to go on a hunt to re-familiarize myself with my shoe holdings.

And do you know why I was looking at the post of the 2011 black pumps?  Well, you may recall I've spent a significant portion of 2011 un-employed, or seriously under-employed.

In 2010, I bought 22 pairs of shoes, a number that actually kind of stunned me.  I knew with a tighter budget in 2011, I wouldn't even get close to that purchase total.  Surely 2010 (another year when I was under-employed) was an anomaly.

Well, let's see, before I stopped tallying in April, I had purchased 6 pairs of shoes, helped by a mini-frenzy of 3 pairs in March.  The other day, after a shoe purchase, I jotted down what I knew I'd acquired since April.  And - what the heck.  Uh, that would be another 10 pairs.  TEN PAIRS of shoes in 4 months.  4 months in which I was unemployed!  How was it possible?  Well, 4 pairs came after I started working, but still!  Ok, 2 are $10 espadrilles, and another 2 are $10 flipflops (both once I started working).  So, looks like I might have to do an accounting of my new pairs.  (Some of which are awesome!)

Also, my house is cluttered.  Way, way way too cluttered.  I did the dreaded toy sort this past weekend, and threw out three bags of crap!  Three bags!  From just the main level of the house (toys + craft supplies) - the basement could probably generate another 3 bags, and Elizabeth's room.....I can't even think about it.

Anyway, bottom line - more shoes, and more sorting coming soon to AwwwClutter!

decluttering returns!

OK, so in addition to shoes and food, I've got to get back to decluttering. My goal is one project a week. On the 10th, I sorted and organized the toys in the living room.

The toy sort. My least favorite activity. How in the world do the toys get so disorganized? WHy can't they keep their toys together? It makes me crazy. I did a toy sort in July, so we were way over due. Though I guess once every three months is probably all I can handle. I've got to sort through toys in bedrooms and, ugh, tackle the basement.

But for now, I got rid of one plastic bag full of broken toys, crappy toys, broken bits and pieces, etc. I'll count that as 1 item, even though it was a long, tedious job (Rich and ELizabeth were out and Andrew was supposed to be napping, but he 'helped' instead!). I also threw away 2 wooden puzzles. The pieces had never fit together well, so they were super difficult to put together. And after being chewed on, too many of the pieces had portions of their picture worn away. Oh, and each were missing at least 2 pieces. So 2 more things gone.

I kept this puzzle. But J, where are you?


Total items: 3

you asked

I've got to admit I'm growing weary of the shoe blogging. It's a lot of time. But, it'll continue. I want to start up real decluttering, but it's hard to find the time and space to both declutter and then write about. Two weeks ago we sorted through all the toys in main living level - yes, we did. I hate the toy sort. Hate it. Horrible, but a full plastic grocery bag of crap gone. If I was blogging about it, or had photographed, it would be probably 30 pieces of crap thrown out. My brother once said to me, a McDonald's toy is gone within 24 hours in my house. Good rule (though we kept the Penguins of Madagascar McD's toys). Have to tackle E's room, the basement, and the bookshelves, but that'll be another day.

Anyway, the volume of posts means it's hard to reply to comments. So a quick post to answer your burning questions.

My mom and Elaine have both asked what about purses? Are there matching purses for all these shoes? Well, I have a multipronged answer (of course). The basic answer is no. But then I went and started counting and got to over 30 and stopped. 30 bags doesn't seem like a lot compared to over 150 shoes, but it is quite a lot. I rarely change bags, though.

First, the advent of the laptop really changed things. Before laptops, I did carry a purse every day. But once you have to start lugging the computer back and forth from work via public transportation, the purse equation changes. I have 4 bags big enough to fit my laptop - black, brown, red-ish, and a laptop sleeve. And actually my current orange bag could fit a laptop, and I have a black bag that I can also shove the laptop in when needed. But then suddenly you're carrying two bags at a time, which is a hassle. For a while, I used the laptop sleeve (which does not hold any computer accessories like power cord) and carried a purse. But then I started just carrying the laptop/big bag, and used an oversize wallet, so when I ran out to get lunch or whatever I'd grab my wallet. Not a perfect solution as now you have to use a hand to carry the wallet, plus now where do the keys go etc. Plus I use a hard-bound notebook for all my work stuff, so if I needed to go to a meeting, I needed a bag for wallet, keys, and notebook. Would love any thoughts on what others do, as I could never resolve this satisfactorily. I guess the sleeve/purse solution is the best for daily commuting. Which I haven't done in 2.5 years.

Second, though, and perhaps more liberating, is watching What Not to Wear. I've learned the difference between something matching and something going. Despite my 80s upbringing, everything does not have to MATCH. It just has to GO. In fact, matchy-matchy is quite dated and tends toward the frumpy end of the scale. If something GOES, it's a complementary color or theme or pattern or weight (size, material, etc). So, now I carry my super cool orange leather bag (from Talbots, natch) nearly all the time. I used to think if I wore a orange t-shirt, I'd need orange shoes and orange bag. Now, the bag is just my "pop of color" and my shoes can be anything that stylistically goes with the outfit. Freeing and creative.

Third, changing bags is kind of a pain. My mantra is wallet, keys, phone and sunglasses. If I have those 4 things I am good, so the switching shouldn't be that hard but with the hundreds of other pieces of crap in my bag suddenly it is a pain to switch bags.

Fourth, the kids. When first on a maternity leave I carried a huge stupid diaper bag, then once again could not figure out what to do about the purse. Then I started watching the nannies. All you really need, on most outings, is a couple of diapers and some wipes. So throw them in your bag and off you go. Maybe a snack bag and a sippy cup, too, that ends up leaking in your leather bag, but leather wipes up so just go with it. But this also means your bag has to fit a couple of diapers, a small pack of wipes, a bag of cheerios, and the hated (by me) sippy cup. Plus a handful of plastic toys. Maybe some crayons, and a little bit of paper. Essentially, my purse has become a diaper bag. But that's ok. At least it's not the other way around. But it also means changing bags is more of a pain because it becomes more to transfer, and I don't want extra diapers lost in my stack of bags.

So, whew, more than you wanted to know about bags. All this means is right now, I carry my orange bag nearly everyplace. If I have a work meeting that involves the computer, one of my computer bags carries the computer and becomes a purse. My friend KG coined the term "pit bag" - short strap that when worn over the shoulder means the small bag tucks nicely into your armpit. If I go out sans kids at night and am wearing black (as in, not brown or blue - I think black, brown and blue are tricky to mix and it has to be done carefully, so I stick with the theme then - no brown shoes and black bag!), I have a small patent back pit bag I carry. For fun outings, I have a Vera Bradley pit bag in java blue. I have an orange/pink Vera Bradley I carry sometimes, but it doesn't have a shoulder strap so less useful these days. I have a larger black bag (Talbots) that I used to use all the time with the computer sleeve, but I just have less use for it. It's the perfect size for my work notebook, but it's too "heavy" for regular summer use.

So that's 8 bags that get semi- regular use - 4 computer, 1 orange, 1 black, 1 VB pit, 1 black patent pit. I could probably use a couple of brown bags, or things that go well with brown - cream, gold, etc for my rare going out. Heck, for all I know I own them and they are buried someplace. Anyway, typing this has made me realize I should go through bags for a culling, too. Another time.

headed down the wrong path

So, in the Sunday ads we got the big toy catalog from Toys 'R Us. Elizabeth decided to look through it and point out good ideas for Christmas. And her attention was completely taken by the dollhouses. Great, I thought, a giant piece of plastic that costs over $100. Can't wait.

Later in the day we went to a party and there was a huge dollhouse in the playroom. And guess where Elizabeth spent all her time? I stood there watching her thinking about the reality of buying a dollhouse for Christmas, when someone asked me if I had ever had a dollhouse. Lightbulb! Indeed, I did once have a dollhouse. When I was around 10 or so, I got a big wooden dollhouse, that we were going to decorate and finish off. Uh, though we never did. But it is there, someplace in my parent's house. It's big, it's wooden, it's designed to be finished with paint and little wallpaper and twee little real dollhouse furniture. Hey, I think I did actually get some furniture, too, throughout the years, so there's probably someplace some furniture.

We're off to my parent's for Thanksgiving, and our plan is to pick up my old bedroom furniture and haul it back for Elizabeth's room. We'll rent a trailer. You see the issue here. I bet that trailer will have more room than the furniture needs.

Do we seek out the dollohuse? Could it possibly still be in good shape? Is it a good idea to give a 4 year old a huge unfinished wooden dollhouse? Will we ever finish it? Or even attempt to finish it?

And most importantly, can I get away with not bringing too much stuff back from my parents?

Back to it

Wow, I really abandoned this blog, huh? And I am sad to say, I abandoned the effort, too.

Once again we are drowning in too much stuff. Kid stuff crammed in the living room. Junk piled in the front hall, on top of the three strollers. Basement play area a wreck of toy detritus. Our car....oh, our car full of crap, not ever cleaned out after a handful of trips this summer. I think the DVD player is shoved under the front seat.

So, tomorrow, it's on. Haven't decided yet how exactly, back to tallying things out per day, or organizing area by area, room by room. But NaBloPoMo provides a level of motivation to start back up. Even if we are headed to my parents for the last ten days of the month, trying hard to make sure we don't bring too much stuff home!

starting back up again

Rich is a hard worker. He was back in the basement today and there are stacks to be photographed and thrown out and more accounting to be done. But either blogger or my wireless are aggravating me again, so the accounting will come tomorrow. But we'll have this basement organized in December.

One of my friends gave me the idea that by selling stuff, I could put that money toward a toy storage solution. I have $50 left from selling the stroller, so this is not outside the realm of possibility. So tomorrow more photos of the stuff I'm putting on Craig's List. Or possibly ebay.

Recovery from a c-section is slow, but soon enough I'll be better than just the photographer/seller.

Day 25 - toys

The state of a 3-year old's toys is a never ending source of frustration to me. Things get put away, but in a haphazard fashion that leads to lots of junk just piling up, toys separated from their other parts, and general mess and sloppiness. So today I sorted through the toys. Stuffed animals went back upstairs, some bigs things went to the basement for temporary out-of-rotation, puzzle pieces were reunited, and a pile of junk was thrown away. Papers, parts of never-t0-be-finished craft projects, broken plastic crap, gift bag, a broken dog toy...the list goes on.


Back in August, end of season sale, I bought an outdoor storage box - only $20. But the box has been sitting in our front hallway since purchase. So we put it together and put it in the back yard. We have outdoor stuff stashed everywhere, so slowly we'll be able to fill it.


Today's accomplishments: Quarterly organizing of the toys, resulting in a big pile of trash and things organized. Oh, I also found one of her babies' pants, which have been missing for months. What a relief to have the baby clothed. Anyway, we'll call it two dozen things. Deck Box out of our front hallway, put together, cardboard box in trash and deck box placed in backyard. Oh, and also I started to organize the changing table, and threw out two nearly empty hand sanitizer bottles. My dad puts water in ketchup containers to get out every last bit of ketchup. Um, watery ketchup. These two nearly empty sanitizer containers had been sitting on the changing table for months. Sanitizer does not consolidate from one container to another. And so I threw them out. Yay, me.

Total items: 27

Day 9 - a quick run through

I'm falling behind! No time to really devote to decluttering, so today I just did a quick run through and got rid of some obvious stuff on the main level and in the basement. Trash and donation. In addition, the mattress from Day 1 went to the alley for bulk trash pickup (but thanks to the city, no actual pickup occurred). And, my daughter went to a little nanny birthday party in the neighborhood and presents are sometimes given, sometimes not in nanny sponsored parties. But I sent Sweetpea and Gee off with a regift of a present Sweetpea got last year and we never opened.

Today's accomplishments: 1 water damaged mattress in the trash (sorta); 1 child toy gone; 5 things for the trash (along back of photo)- empty shoe box, empty jewelry gift box, empty hair detangler from under the couch, torn gift bag from my (August) birthday, oh and a candle all the way burnt down (near front of pic). 6 things for donation - 2 weird teapots that look like buildings, a box of recipe cards, a heart shaped wire box with sachet, a wine glass with a candle in it (wrapped in paper), and who knows why I had this - a cassette tape of "Mountain Music of Peru." Seriously.

Total items: 13