36 to go - eek!

The bag project has been a little slow going, due to the holiday last week. More time spent out and about than in and bagging.

I've managed to get all of the 'comfortable' stuff packed up. The easy stuff. The surface clutter. Things that don't fit. Paper clutter. Old clothes.

Now it's time to dig deeper. To start getting uncomfortable. I have a couple of easy spots left. The basement (easily 5 bags), the crawl space (hello size 5's that I haven't worn in 8 years. Hello size 2's that haven't been worn in almost a decade! Oh, my.)

I do have two very large bags of kids clothes and 3 medium boxes of baby clothes that I'm not yet counting since they are still in the house. Can't count it until it's gone ('cause sometimes those things have a way of sticking around for quite a while).

I have a couple of overwhelming areas too. Namely, sewing stuff. I have a very hard time parting with craft items. I have much too much for the space in our home though. If I haven't used it in a couple of years, I won't be using it and it's time to go.

I feel like I should cull my cookbooks even further, but I've already gotten rid of a couple dozen (yes, couple dozen!) and I'm having a very hard time finding any that I am ok with letting go of. As I get closer to the end of this project, I may need to come back to them though.

funny, cause it's true

And board games. Our cabinet is full, full, full. And we're getting more. But I love the ones we have! We have weekly board game night, so these things get used. I may need to assess these more at the end. If I keep them all, then something else somewhere else has to go in it's place.

The house is feeling breathable again. I already feel like I'm cleaning less. Giving the cranky eye to less clutter. But it's just comfortable enough. I feel like it's teetering and one extra item will send it back spinning into clutter chaos.

What is lovely is that my oldest seems to have joined in, on his own. He spent last week working on his room and cleared out one bag of his own!

I think that with just a couple weeks to go, it's time to start some hot spots. I plan on doing these in parts, since they can be overwhelming and I'm attached to many of the things. My sewing area and the kitchen get started this week.


Have you been bagging up too? How's your progress?

43 to go

Off to a very slow start on my 47 bags project.

It's a bit overwhelming, honestly. This week I started on very small projects and cleared most of the paper clutter out of the house. Two brown bags full of paper, and two bags of books.

I've been feeling very crabby and I really don't know if it's the clutter, or the removal of the clutter that's making me cranky.

I'm stuck in a spot of being sentimental, of liking things - even those I have no use for. But I also get anxious around a lot of clutter and I definitely get cranky when I'm picking up the same things over and over and over - or washing clothes I know haven't been worn. That's absolutely a sign of too.much.stuff.

For the record, other peoples clutter rarely makes me cranky. I don't judge other peoples homes or their clutter usually. It's just the kind that I have to look at everyday that makes my eye twitchy.

You'd think that I'd feel refreshed after the weekend. I spent several hours out at a concert Friday evening, for the first time since the baby was born. I took some time to sew yesterday. I should be feeling relaxed and ready for the week.

But I'm not.

Part of me feels like I need to stay in today. To bag up more stuff. Clearly it's getting to me and I should push through it and be done with it and feel better, yeah?

I don't think I'm going to do that though. Because, following my attempt at being more mindful of how I'm living, I think what I really need is to get out of the house. To step out, step away and recharge some more. I'm pretty sure, if I'm being honest with myself and paying attention to what my body is telling me, spending a day inside cleaning is only going to make this cranky attitude worse.

I'm off to visit a friend for coffee. I'll do a little grocery shopping and I'm thinking I just might stop by a favorite used bookstore with a cup of coffee. Just for browsing, of course!

Are you following along on 47 bags? Working on your own piles of clutter? How are you doing? How does it make you feel?

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47 bags in 47 days

We have too much stuff.

It kind of just sneaks on in. My love of thrift stores, old books and good deals, generous grandparents, school work and paperwork, 5 people and their veryimportantthings, saving odds and ends for future crafts, kitchen gadgets . . .

It's incredibly easy to end up with stuff just spilling out of everywhere.

And now that I am home all day I am noticing it more. And cleaning it more. And it's just got to go. In my efforts to be more mindful of how I live my life - unnecessary clutter is a huge problem.

There are 47 days until Christmas - at which point we will get more stuff (though we have, and our families have done an amazing job of paring down the last few years)

So my plan is to get 47 bags of stuff out of the house in 47 days (or less) it can be trashed, or donated or sold - but it has to be gone.

That sounds like a sickening amount, but I bet it adds up easy. I know of many hings hanging around our basement that we don't use or need. At the end it might be a little painful to get rid of some things, but I've got to be ruthless - if I don't love it or need it, it's gone.

I'm going to start easy this week and do the obvious things. Clothes and shoes that don't fit and surface clutter in each room.


I plan on posting progress each Monday. If you are inspired to do the same please comment or link to your blog in the comments, so we can support each other!


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quote for the week

I need to concentrate on these words this week. And next week. The week after too. And on and on.
My house, my life is driving me crazy lately. Too.much.clutter. Too many things in our space and in my head and filling my days. It's time to bare bones it.
We need to make room for the new baby. For the things we love. For ourselves. For breathing.

I really do (for real!) plan on coming to this space more. I've been spending too much useless time online. Playing games, chatting. These things are good (for me) in small doses, but sometimes they begin to take over way too much of my very precious time. I'm restricting my internet time starting this week, allowing myself a few minutes each day to touch base with people, to check blogs (because honestly, they are a wonderful way to start my day) to write in my own blog (to get a check on where I am, where I'm going). And that's it. Slow down on the mindless TV and internetting.
I've finally got most of my energy back, but very little motivation. I think I'm going to have to slowly force the motivation to return, and I can't very well do that while I'm wasting so much time accomplishing nothing.

Household decluttering starts this week too. In the most painful place. My books. Ouch. I just ordered several new ones - it's time to let go of the ones I don't love (and don't use!) to make room for more relevant and needed ones.

I don't know if it's nesting already kicking in, the urge for some early spring cleaning or my frustration at my total lack of motivation and progress. But I am ready for change. Now.

Stuff.

Somehow over the last couple of years, I have accumulated a lot of stuff.

I've always been a bit of a pack rat. My mom is too. Maybe it's hereditary.

I used to just keep things. Old papers. College reports. Notebooks.

But for the last couple of years I've been buying things.

I never spend much, which I think makes it easier to let it slide. I shop clearance racks. Thrift stores. Rummage sales.

It's a little bit of a problem. I know this, I do. Part of it is I like the thrill of a great find. Another part of it is, what if I need it someday? I may not have needed it yet in 5 years. I may not be able to even find it if I DO ever need it. But what if I do need it someday, and then I don't have it?!

I stock up too. Which isn't really a bad thing. But I have no rhyme or reason or system. Stocking up- being, prepared, that's a good thing. But I need to be more organized about it.

I also have a lot of hobbies. Hobbies that I have a lot of supplies for. Scrapbooking. Sewing. I made a promise to myself a while ago that I wouldn't bring anything new in until I use a good amount of what I have. I've been doing really good with not getting more fabric and notions. But I've also been slacking at using up my existing stash.

I also collect things. My biggest collection right now is cookbooks. Man, how I love them. Not only do I get the thrill of finding a great cookbook for cheap (thrift and used book stores) but I also get OLD cookbooks. AND I get to use them, you know, for cooking and things :D They are useful. But I do have too many. I just love them. I love books in general, but I really adore old cookbooks. They say so much about the time period, the way people lived. I especially like cookbooks with a previous owners notes in the margins. They are something special.

:sigh:


Whittling down that collection has not been easy.

It's strange how I get attached to things. Clothes. Toys. Games. Books. Photos. Just things. Lots and lots of things.

I've tried to scale down and get rid of some things. But I always find more. Another great thrift deal I couldn't pass up. Or it was free! Or the kids made it! Or, or, or!

When we move. It's going. A lot of it. I don't like the feeling of clutter. I don't like the cleaning of clutter. We're making a lot of changes. And this is one for me. It will NOT be an easy one!

But I'm ready to start clean. And clutter free.