Back

I'm back after a few weeks with an update on how I'm doing redoing my life and stuff.

It took me a little bit to get going and once I did, I now feel like I can't stop.

The big hurdle for our family and for me is getting all the Christmas/holiday things put away after Christmas. There is so much and I keep sorting and tossing but I can't do too much because the items have meaning or belong to other family members. And even though we don't need any more Christmas items or decorations, we always get something for a Christmas present or we manage to buy something on clearance after 12/25. This year my husband got another large plaster Santa from his mom. The Santa will not fit in our "Christmas" closet. Yes, we have a designated closet for all of our Christmas items- it's in the basement. Don't like it, don't want it, and doesn't fit anywhere. I left it in the large box next to my husband's workbench. Not the ideal clean out, but it's not shoved into a closet that is already stuffed with items. Stuffed, but organized I need to add.

The trees are finally down, the live tree and the artifical one. The artificial one is in the attic. I packed away the ornaments this year in a way that it will make it easier to set up next year. Why two trees? Wouldn't life be easier and more organized with one? The live tree my husband and daughter set up and put the lights on. She and I pick out the tree together. The artificial tree she and I set up and decorate. We get to put only white lights on and certain ornaments- a color theme. It's a big part of the Christmas ritual and it's something that she and I share. Hopefully, next year it won't be as tedious to decorate and put away, now that it's more organized.

Here's what else I've done. I cleaned out the linen closet and my pantry. I've sorted through all the baking items and tossed old spices etc. I threw out or stored somewhere else the large amount of bowls I had that took up space. I cleaned off the desk in the kitchen and filed or tossed the papers that have accumulated.

I've been extremely diligent about taking care of the mail the day it arrives.

Now I'm going through piles of papers in the guest bedroom, including the piles and folders associated with the volunteer jobs I have. Also in proces is organizing the information I've accumulated for a job search and redoing of my resume.

I feel like now that I've started, I don't want or can't stop. I think this is the most important thing I've learned from this process so far. It's getting started that's the hardest. The task at first seemed insurmountable, and I started attacking it in a pretty haphazard way. Once I cleaned the linen closet and baked goods, though, I thought, this wasn't as bad as I thought. I had thought that the two areas were a disaster and would not look clean or organized ever. Guess what- they weren't a "disaster" and they are now clean.

1/1/11

Happy New Year! 1-1-11. I am going to try to keep chronicalling my steps to be a less cluttered, more organized person. This is the year where I only keep the things I love. I don't want stuff in my life that's not useful or beautiful, that fills up space and creates distractions.

It's very hard for me to throw things out that could be potentially useful. My family, especially my father, saved everything that could possibly be used again. He didn't realize this but he was the world's greatest recycler, but we also ended up with a lot of stuff that did not get used again. Many times he would be able to fix something or find something without buying it. And you can do that if you have the space and you remember where everything is.

So you can save it, if it really will serve a purpose someday and you have a space for it. Or better yet give it to someone who really can use it. Or don't buy it in the first place.

Today's Boston Globe talks about people that buy gifts or get gifts, and realize they don't want them. But it's too much effort to return them. So they stay and clutter up the house. I think that is one of my biggest challenges for this year, is how to get rid of gifts I don't want or need without feeling guilty. Most of last year's xmas gifts that I didn't want I gave away, by donating to raffles, or taking it to the Take it or leave it, or some items I simply tossed out. I really felt guilty, but I also felt relieved. These were gifts I could not return. My mother-in-law gave me this white casserole dish with lid she found at a house sale. I thought it was ironstone, but it was new and the lid did not match. I wish that I had loved it, but I didn't. Sorry.