Nothing to See Here

It's been a week of cabin fever, bad weather, and cranky kids. It snowed this morning. Snowed! That isn't right.

So, nothing to show for this weekend. Husband got ambitious in the kitchen, which means I spent 2 hours cleaning for every hour he spent cooking. The dishwasher is on its 4th pass for the weekend and there's another yet to go.

And I kind of lost it over the kids' playroom today. They spent some time picking it up with me standing there glaring at them. Good times.

That's it for this week.

Lame.

Check-In No. 4

It doesn't take much for inertia to take over my life. A couple weeks ago, I decided I could take a weekend off because it was my birthday... fair enough. Then last week, I just... didn't do anything. And this week it was a STRETCH to do a tiny bit of decluttering. But I did it. For you, my readers. All four of you.

OK, that's a lie. I did it for me. Because I like making progress, and um, I needed to find some tax paperwork.


ONE STEP FORWARD

If I may remind you of our starting point. Note the shelf on the right, second photo down.

I had done a little work on this handy, skinny little bookshelf already. The drawer unit holds cookie cutters, and I decided that it made sense to let them live on top of the fridge. See? I'm deciding what goes up there, not just shoving things up there randomly to get them out of the way. That's a big step. I also bought two baskets, one of which you see there, which was helpful when I was clearing off the china cabinet last time I checked in.

By the way, it's worth noting that so far, the only money I've spent on organizing accessories is the shelf unit in the hall and these two baskets. I've got a lot of containers already; I'm trying to repurpose them as much as possible. This accomplishes TWO decluttering objectives, because I have to go through the junk in the container to empty it, and then I decide what to fill it with and where to put it.

That's progress.

So at today's starting point, we have the shelf to the left. Lovely, no? No. I'd like to say that I sorted through that big pile of paper and put away all the things that no longer appear on the shelf. However, what really happened is that I dumped all the papers into a big laundry basket, with other papers waiting to be sorted. Maybe one of these posts, when I'm either feeling really brave or I've had an exceptional amount of wine, I'll post pics of the paper pile.

Then I took all the craft supplies that had piled up in that corner (including a package of brads that I really needed for a Christmas present last December, grrrr) and dumped them in a pile in the craft room.

That little white shopping bag on the top shelf? Has Christmas ornaments in it. Does that happen to you? Every year I have new ornaments or a handful of things that don't get put away with the Christmas stuff and then they're orphaned for 11 months. I need a better system than that. But at any rate, they don't need to live in prime real estate for 11 months.

You would not BELIEVE the size of the dust-bunny that was hiding under all that crap. Yuck. Anyway, ta-da! shelf on the right. Love it. Maybe we'll even try playing some of those games.

TWO STEPS BACK?

What do you mean I have to KEEP CLEANING this crap up? over and over? Man, housework just sucks, it really does. I need to hit that pile of stuff under and around the table, but I'll say that the top cleaned off a lot quicker than it did the first time. Look how shiny it is, too. Mom would be proud.

How about that fridge top? I take stuff off of here almost every day. It's a nearly irresistible clutter magnet. That white thing on the right is an extra shelf for the fridge door. Actually, I think it goes to a former fridge. That we no longer have. It's going in the trash. The basin might stay, but the stockpot has an actual home. The juiceboxes might also stay, but at least they're consumable and won't live there forever. At any rate, it's still clean enough to make me feel like I'm getting control.

Check-In No. 3

KITCHEN BUFFET: MUCH IMPROVED.

Before:




After:


The bad part about this story is that I didn't really declutter much, I mostly just shoved things into other piles that I have not dealt with. But I bought a dock for my iPhone and needed a place to put it. And being able to listen to music I like should make future endeavors more productive and pleasant, right? Right!

This surface is right behind where I usually hang out on my laptop, so I think it's inevitable that it will have some stuff there most of the time. The key is to limit it (ie, no teetering stacks, everything is visible) and make sure that it's actually stuff I need to have handy here. The stack of discs will get a new home somewhere (they're out because I ripped them to my iTunes library), and the books are for an Alpha Heroes post I'm working on, so those particular ones will go away shortly. I suspect that others will take their place however.

I know that the bulletin board contributes to the visual clutter, but for now, I need a place to put up school papers and artwork and such. I can probably shoot for a little bit neater arrangement, though.

The big spinny thing on the right is how I hope to tame the paper monster. It hasn't happened yet. I'm going to think on it a little bit, set a deadline and if it hasn't proved useful by whenever that is, I will ditch it (how's that for decisive?).

In other news, I stopped by a second used book store to offload some more of the books that the first one didn't take. They offered me $6 for a whole grocery sack full. Criminal, really. I let them have all but two nice hardbacks that I'll either attempt to eBay or offer up on the book blog for the cost of postage.

I have tomorrow off so it's possible I'll make a bit more progress.

And hey, thanks for listening -- I probably wouldn't've bothered with this much without having this posting schedule to keep.

Used Book Store: FAIL

They only took about 3/4s of my books. Pewp.

Now the question is, do I try to ebay them, throw them out, or drop them on the library steps and run?

Check-In No. 2

Living Room End Table: WIP


I had some trouble with this one. I started today with this:

Please excuse the blur, I don't know WTF is up with my camera. Wrong pre-set, apparently. Anyway, it's just junk, perhaps it's best you don't see the excruciating detail.

So this week's progress involves more cheating than last. A bunch of those papers, rather than really being dealt with, just joined other papers to be dealt with later. Consolidation is good, right?

The toolbox went to live on the hallway shelving unit. This may not be its final home, but I actually do need it to be handy. Down in a utility room somewhere doesn't work for me.

The bag o' paper was trash that was already sorted. THAT was easy. Same for the broken boombox. I salvaged the power cord though. It's hidden in an even junkier room, but in a basket of other cords where it won't get lonely.

There's a packing box stashed under the table. I'm pretty sure it has books in it, but which books? Ah, yes. Books that I sorted out to be donated. Approximately a year ago. Procrastination is a bitch, seriously. I had intended to send this box to reader to reader.org, a worthy organization which helps get books in the hands of low-income kids, but a closer look at their guidelines suggests that most of these books are not great for their purposes. Guess they're going to the local UBS. This blog however, motivated me to take the box out to the car and put it in the trunk -- hopefully it won't just live there for another year; I do get out to that store pretty frequently.

In the stack of books, magazines, school papers, mail, and junk on top of that table were some books I've been planning to send to a friend; they're now boxed up and waiting for me to finish reading one more book to include with the batch and actually get the box out of the house. I have two other packages that have been pending the defeat of the procrastination monster that lives under my bed (and in my closet, and in piles of paper on my counters, etc. etc. etc.) so while not specifically in scope for this weekend's project, that got done too, or at least prepped for mailing. Sealed and addressed, even. As of right now, I'm left with this lovely tablescape:

The books that you see there are library books. I'm OK with those staying pretty visible. Two packages, ready to be shipped out. Oops, packing tape, hang on.... yeah, that's put away now. Coasters that should live there on the table, and yay, room to put them down with a nice beverage on top.

The magazines...? I have no idea what to do with. I'm not ready to ditch 'em yet. The box is in my car. There are two bags that I haven't dealt with yet -- one is a bunch of Yvette's school papers and such from last year, the other is basically leftover Christmas stocking stuffers. I need to figure out what to do with them such that they're out of my hair for the next ten and half months but I don't forget about them come the Stocking Stuffing 2009 event. Suggestions welcome!

So my commitment next week is to get rid of the stuff that's staged and ready to go out of the house. I think the school papers I can go through with Yvette and weed out all but the best stuff, maybe put them in a ring binder or something and keep it with the photo albums and scrapbooks. I also need to make a start on the paper monster. I'm getting tax documentation in the mail and I don't even want to tell you what happened last year. And the year before. But it needs to NOT happen this year.

Check-In No. 1

1. TOP OF THE FRIDGE : DONE.

Things Leaving the House:

Note: if you really want to see the numbers, click on the photo and you should be able to see a larger version.

1. Ugly fake Chinese vase. Belonged to my father-in-law. I have always hated it, but DH wanted to keep it. Today I caught him in a get-rid-of-it frame of mind. Gone!
2. Weird very old craft kit. Suspected origin: my grandma’s garagesale habit. Newsflash: this is not an heirloom. Gone!
3. Hideous green apple paperweight. Why do we have this? Gone.
4. Dead leaves. WTF?
5. Sun tea or kool-aid jars for parties. Lids are lost. Pitchers work just as well – no, better. Gone.
6. My ancient alarm clock. Kept for sentimental reasons…. Except really? Why? No, not worth anything, I checked. The alarm is heinously loud. I took a nice photo and will maybe scrapbook it with some of the other flotsam and jetsam from my childhood. Til then: gone.
7. These are those marbles you put in vases to help arrange flowers. My children are fascinated by them and I keep finding them everywhere. SOOOO not worth the trouble. Gone.
8. Irritating noisemaking toy from a birthday grab bag. No-brainer.
9. Pacifier-style baby thermometer. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Gone.


Put Away or Found New Homes:

1. Easter basket. Yeah. It’s not Easter.
2. This looks like a bowl but it’s really part of Nadia’s kitchen set. I had hoped that set would be on its way out, but for now that remains a dream. Returned the “sink” to its proper place.
3. Bane of my existence, I mean, play doh. There’s a designated place for art supplies and messy stuff, so, put away.
4. These are like a bazillion little magnets representing chores and goals for preschoolers. I think I’m going to see if Nadia’s preschool teacher wants them. They didn’t really work for us.
5. Bag of confetti. My sister sent this in a big jar full of similar things like sequins because she hates me for the girls to do artwork with. It’s in a safe place now. Other than the fridge top.
6. These may look like ordinary markers, but they are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, ie, Nadia’s. Sigh. With the art supplies.
7. Ditto. (it’s a little stamp kit).
8. Um. Junk drawer. It’s to keep mittens/gloves together. You may say I’m a dreamer.
9. Wind-up flashlight. It goes in the “Let there be light” box with candles, matches, and hey, other flashlights. Excellent.
10. Tool box. The kids love playing with these. I find them all over the house.
11. Non-skid drawer liner stuff. It’s handy. I tucked it away in a basket somewhere else.
12. and, um, 12. Both candleholders. One I stuck in the LTBL box with the flashlight, the other got put in a large box of other candleholders.

There was also a half a dozen or so little vases, which I found room for in one of the kitchen cupboards. And so:


2. HALLWAY PILE: DONE.

This shelving unit doesn't really fit here, but it's better than what was here before. Longer term, it could go in the furnace/storage room, but until that gets dug out, this is a good spot for overflow linens and misc. Those are suitcases up top. Finally out from underfoot.

Next week: I think I'll shoot for the end table. There's more crap here than it looks like and I have no idea where I'm going to put any of it.

Don't worry, I won't inflict the item-by-item inventory on you for every post. And for the ones I do... I'll use a bigger font on the number labels. Sorry about that...

Exhibit D: Foyer and Hall

Welcome to my crap! Here's the view as you walk in the front door:





More crap stuck at the end of the hall:

Since I took these photos the first week of January, I have done a tiny bit of chipping. Cleared a couple of things off the fridge (some of it got moved to the counter, arggh). Emptied a basket of stuff that's been living on the kitchen floor (basket relocated to the living room, slowly re-filling with different crap). The biggest change is a shelving unit I've set up in this hallway. I'll put up a pic this Sunday. Right now, it's the same pile of crap, only stacked instead of piled. Sunday, there will be less crap. The empty basket will be re-emptied and put somewhere useful. The trifecta? clearing off the fridge.

This is achievable. See you Sunday.