I was hoping to have collected more things for the Arc pick-up last week, but I didn't get that far. Although, I realize now that there are clothes upstairs that should have been added to the box.
Anyway, there was a box of baby socks, a snow globe, some kid clothes, etc. I estimated the count at 63 items. YAY!
In the use-it-or-lose-it category, I'm working on dresses, using fabric and patterns that I've bought and set aside.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Well before Halloween!
I hadn't updated my totals yesterday, because it was a post-and-run. The weekend collection brings me over my goal!
So... I need a new goal. Here, this is what I really need to do. I need to give away a BUNCH of clothes. My clothes, Digital's clothes, the kids' clothes- and those are the hardest.
I'm not sure how to measure this, though. Per item? Per box? By weight? I think I can set a goal of 100 items and not be reaching too far beyond my abilities.
Beyond that, I hope I can reach 1,000 by Halloween.
So... I need a new goal. Here, this is what I really need to do. I need to give away a BUNCH of clothes. My clothes, Digital's clothes, the kids' clothes- and those are the hardest.
I'm not sure how to measure this, though. Per item? Per box? By weight? I think I can set a goal of 100 items and not be reaching too far beyond my abilities.
Beyond that, I hope I can reach 1,000 by Halloween.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Labor day weekend
What a treat! My in-laws were headed to Kansas City for Labor Day weekend, and I was inspired to ask if they wanted to take the kids, too. They did!
So, my two older girls left Friday at noon, and I didn't see them again until Wednesday morning!
We had the littlest, and THREE WHOLE DAYS without work. Man, that was nice.
I had a list a mile long of things to do while they were gone. Then I came to my senses. heh.
Mostly, we cleaned the garage and the playroom. We also went shopping and played games on the Wii.
The garage- I wish I had before and after pictures! Basically, we have a three car garage, and only two cars. The last bay was holding a few remaining moving boxes, a table we had moved out of the house, stacks of newspapers, but worst of all, toys, papers, clothes and trash that get thrown out of the van and into the mess.
I picked up a whole basket's worth of clothes, threw out SO many boxes and collapsed and kept much more. Oh! I did take video of the pile of trash on trash day. I'll get after Digital to get that done.
I sorted toys out, combined several boxes of stuff into one (to be gone through later). Digital sorted his tools, used a few to fix the van, and we moved the table into the corner to actually be useful.
We threw out two good dishpack boxes (I KNOW! but what could I do?), full of newspaper and packing peanuts. We threw out a good four or five boxes that were packaging for stuff, one full of over 100 items of trash. We moved an unused trash can into the house. I packed up a bunch of things to give to Arc. Of those, a lamp that's never been used, and a snowglobe that our oldest daughter received as a birthday present, and wasn't ever opened. That caused a bit of discussion between us, but the rules stand: it held no sentimental value, it wasn't being used, etc.
And we swept out all kinds of dirt, tumbleweed and brake dust. The garage looks *good* and I still stop in surprise when I walk out.
We're certainly not done yet. One thing we didn't tackle was the pile of newspapers. With any luck, I'll get that done tonight and they'll be out for pick-up tomorrow. There's more, but it all takes time.
I haven't even started on the playroom! Long story short, I got rid of 110 trashy toys, old papers and other trash. The good toys got put away, and so far the kids have been good about returning items to their boxes, and back up on the shelves.
So, my two older girls left Friday at noon, and I didn't see them again until Wednesday morning!
We had the littlest, and THREE WHOLE DAYS without work. Man, that was nice.
I had a list a mile long of things to do while they were gone. Then I came to my senses. heh.
Mostly, we cleaned the garage and the playroom. We also went shopping and played games on the Wii.
The garage- I wish I had before and after pictures! Basically, we have a three car garage, and only two cars. The last bay was holding a few remaining moving boxes, a table we had moved out of the house, stacks of newspapers, but worst of all, toys, papers, clothes and trash that get thrown out of the van and into the mess.
I picked up a whole basket's worth of clothes, threw out SO many boxes and collapsed and kept much more. Oh! I did take video of the pile of trash on trash day. I'll get after Digital to get that done.
I sorted toys out, combined several boxes of stuff into one (to be gone through later). Digital sorted his tools, used a few to fix the van, and we moved the table into the corner to actually be useful.
We threw out two good dishpack boxes (I KNOW! but what could I do?), full of newspaper and packing peanuts. We threw out a good four or five boxes that were packaging for stuff, one full of over 100 items of trash. We moved an unused trash can into the house. I packed up a bunch of things to give to Arc. Of those, a lamp that's never been used, and a snowglobe that our oldest daughter received as a birthday present, and wasn't ever opened. That caused a bit of discussion between us, but the rules stand: it held no sentimental value, it wasn't being used, etc.
And we swept out all kinds of dirt, tumbleweed and brake dust. The garage looks *good* and I still stop in surprise when I walk out.
We're certainly not done yet. One thing we didn't tackle was the pile of newspapers. With any luck, I'll get that done tonight and they'll be out for pick-up tomorrow. There's more, but it all takes time.
I haven't even started on the playroom! Long story short, I got rid of 110 trashy toys, old papers and other trash. The good toys got put away, and so far the kids have been good about returning items to their boxes, and back up on the shelves.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
A hard day's work
The house was fairly presentable for the party today, thank goodness. Every time the house looks this nice, I hope to keep it this way. But, inevitably, health problems get out of hand, and it all falls apart again.
I'm so cheerful today!
It was a crazy, wild, noisy party. The kids were sent home, the grandparents are gone, our own little ones (we didn't successfully give any away) are in bed. I'm beat. What do I do?
Purge the "important papers" box, of course. ??!!
It all started like this. I was lounging on the couch, watching Digital play a word game. I couldn't quite see the letters, which meant I was entirely unhelpful when I yelled, "QUAKE!" The E was actually a K. I've been thinking about getting new glasses, but I need to find my prescription first. (This is where Digital reminds me that I could just go... get a check-up?) The Rx might be in the important papers box.
One hour later, I have sorted through the whole thing. I did not find my Rx. I did find...
*old sermon notes
*user manuals to VCRs that are long gone
*energy guide and receipt for our washer/dryer
*insurance packets from our first house/rental
*student welcome packet for Digital's semester of grad school
Lots of other interesting things, too. Some that were meant to be there.
I'll take a stab at the focus challenge, although there's probably a new one for August.
C- credit cards, long expired
L- life insurance quote
U- university mail
T-
T-
E- energy rating for the clothes washer
R- receipts for computer memory
No T, yet.
I actually counted the pile tonight. The number is a bit skewed, I think, because I took things out of the envelopes as I was sorting. This means that it got counted separately as I finished up. I'm okay with that.
The final total?
105.
Thank you, thankyouverymuch.
I'm so cheerful today!
It was a crazy, wild, noisy party. The kids were sent home, the grandparents are gone, our own little ones (we didn't successfully give any away) are in bed. I'm beat. What do I do?
Purge the "important papers" box, of course. ??!!
It all started like this. I was lounging on the couch, watching Digital play a word game. I couldn't quite see the letters, which meant I was entirely unhelpful when I yelled, "QUAKE!" The E was actually a K. I've been thinking about getting new glasses, but I need to find my prescription first. (This is where Digital reminds me that I could just go... get a check-up?) The Rx might be in the important papers box.
One hour later, I have sorted through the whole thing. I did not find my Rx. I did find...
*old sermon notes
*user manuals to VCRs that are long gone
*energy guide and receipt for our washer/dryer
*insurance packets from our first house/rental
*student welcome packet for Digital's semester of grad school
Lots of other interesting things, too. Some that were meant to be there.
I'll take a stab at the focus challenge, although there's probably a new one for August.
C- credit cards, long expired
L- life insurance quote
U- university mail
T-
T-
E- energy rating for the clothes washer
R- receipts for computer memory
No T, yet.
I actually counted the pile tonight. The number is a bit skewed, I think, because I took things out of the envelopes as I was sorting. This means that it got counted separately as I finished up. I'm okay with that.
The final total?
105.
Thank you, thankyouverymuch.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Bummed
I'm feeling pretty down today, and my go-to ear is a bit stressed, himself.
Dancing Queen's 6th birthday is tomorrow. We have at least three kids coming for a party.
The house, no surprise, is a mess. It's 10am, I've eaten breakfast, showered, and addressed several crises. I have a big list of things to do, and I feel like there's no possible way to get it done. It's an easy enough list, with basic stuff on it- vacuum, do the dishes... things that I'd be doing, anyway.
But when the baby pushes the gate down and interrupts your shower, and when you find the litter box in the middle of the almost-clean room, it's discouraging.
I have to start somewhere, of course. I think things will turn around soon. I just need to get going. I'm starting with the sweeping.
Bonus, there's a lot of throwing-away going on this week. Yesterday, I threw away lots of coupons from the counter (some expired in April!) and a whole 13 gallon bag of stuff from the basement.
Earlier this week, I sorted the pile on the dresser. You know when things have been sitting there for over a year, you likely don't need them. :-P Well, we did need some of it, like the very important document I found, but a large portion of it is gone now.
I'm counting 55 toward those purges. I've also dropped the day count. It's just not working for me.
The kryptonite seems to be the stuff that's not trash, but turns into trash by use. How do you tackle that?
Dancing Queen's 6th birthday is tomorrow. We have at least three kids coming for a party.
The house, no surprise, is a mess. It's 10am, I've eaten breakfast, showered, and addressed several crises. I have a big list of things to do, and I feel like there's no possible way to get it done. It's an easy enough list, with basic stuff on it- vacuum, do the dishes... things that I'd be doing, anyway.
But when the baby pushes the gate down and interrupts your shower, and when you find the litter box in the middle of the almost-clean room, it's discouraging.
I have to start somewhere, of course. I think things will turn around soon. I just need to get going. I'm starting with the sweeping.
Bonus, there's a lot of throwing-away going on this week. Yesterday, I threw away lots of coupons from the counter (some expired in April!) and a whole 13 gallon bag of stuff from the basement.
Earlier this week, I sorted the pile on the dresser. You know when things have been sitting there for over a year, you likely don't need them. :-P Well, we did need some of it, like the very important document I found, but a large portion of it is gone now.
I'm counting 55 toward those purges. I've also dropped the day count. It's just not working for me.
The kryptonite seems to be the stuff that's not trash, but turns into trash by use. How do you tackle that?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I've been tagged!
What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, summer of '98. I was working for the church, giving tours of historic buildings. I had met a guy I thought I could marry. We ended up not getting married, but I married his statistics tutor!
Five things on your to do list
Make invitations and mail them
Plan a birthday party
Learn how to make frosting roses
Clean the house
Pay bills
What snacks do you like?
*popcorn, made from kernels in the microwave at home.
*chocolate, preferably dark
*ice cream, usually with brownies
*trail mix- the 'indulgent' kind from Wal-Mart. I make my own and leave out the almonds and white chocolate chips.
What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would... get debt free, build our own home in the country with a fabulous mountain view, travel to Europe, donate a bunch to charity. Some of it would go to church and humanitarian efforts, some would go to finding a cure for diabetes and JRA.
Three bad habits
*not throwing away items
*late library books
*Digital says that I'm bad about follow-through
Five places you have lived
Illinois, various places
Cleveland, OH
Laramie, WY
Tampa, FL
Colorado, various places
Five jobs you’ve had
I don't know if I've had five jobs total!
'utility clerk' (grocery bagger)
tour guide
admin assistant
data entry clerk
deli clerk
Look, I have had five jobs.
How did you name your blog?
I wanted to emphasize the food take-out habit, but in reverse. Take more stuff OUT of my home than what I bring in. Right now, I am so fed up with all of our stuff that I may get rolling soon and really give away a bunch.
Ten years ago, summer of '98. I was working for the church, giving tours of historic buildings. I had met a guy I thought I could marry. We ended up not getting married, but I married his statistics tutor!
Five things on your to do list
Make invitations and mail them
Plan a birthday party
Learn how to make frosting roses
Clean the house
Pay bills
What snacks do you like?
*popcorn, made from kernels in the microwave at home.
*chocolate, preferably dark
*ice cream, usually with brownies
*trail mix- the 'indulgent' kind from Wal-Mart. I make my own and leave out the almonds and white chocolate chips.
What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would... get debt free, build our own home in the country with a fabulous mountain view, travel to Europe, donate a bunch to charity. Some of it would go to church and humanitarian efforts, some would go to finding a cure for diabetes and JRA.
Three bad habits
*not throwing away items
*late library books
*Digital says that I'm bad about follow-through
Five places you have lived
Illinois, various places
Cleveland, OH
Laramie, WY
Tampa, FL
Colorado, various places
Five jobs you’ve had
I don't know if I've had five jobs total!
'utility clerk' (grocery bagger)
tour guide
admin assistant
data entry clerk
deli clerk
Look, I have had five jobs.
How did you name your blog?
I wanted to emphasize the food take-out habit, but in reverse. Take more stuff OUT of my home than what I bring in. Right now, I am so fed up with all of our stuff that I may get rolling soon and really give away a bunch.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Success!
Look at that. My total is over 365. At least I made it that far! By no means does that mean I'm done, but it's a milestone, for sure.
I want to hit 730 before Halloween. Would you keep tabs on me? Then you can celebrate with me when that happens.
I want to hit 730 before Halloween. Would you keep tabs on me? Then you can celebrate with me when that happens.
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