Tag Archives: organization

Spring cleaning (and other odds and ends)

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I will it away each year – the dreaded spring cleaning.

My goal is steadfast: clear out clutter, recycle paper junk and send boxes of gently used items to charity.

Check, check and check.

I don’t know about you, but I have loads more to tackle. Most years, unless I take days off of work to tidy up, paint and declutter, it falls to the wayside. This spring, I was on a mission to reclaim a few rooms.

It was Meri’s mom who offered the sage advice: Pick a room and start. The rest will fall into place.

So last month, that’s just what I did.  And for the first time in three years, I can once again see the floor of our office.

spin clean 028I wish I had taken a pic before I started my cleaning frenzy, but this part of the room was filled with office supplies and samples and old magazines. ALL GONE!

Among the personal goodies I trashed were my old discman and my answering machine, which didn’t record any more. Why oh why do I still own that? (Side note, if you call my home number, you no longer have the option to leave a message. Call my cell or email me instead.)

spin clean 027These boxes are ready to be donated

I love to share no-longer-needed items with a local charity, A Second Thought. It’s run  by a local Christian-based non profit and the proceeds benefit programs for people with disabilities. Every few months, I take bags of clothes there. It’s a win all around – they get items to sell or share with people in need, and I reclaim my closet.

Slowly, I am making my way through my house and items my husband stockpiled when he worked from home for a few years. We’re working our way through boxes and sending them to off their new homes.

However, I get easily sidetracked by trying new recipes – and new workouts.

spin clean 004 Easter Enchiladas!

spin clean 017

Spin class in the local YMCA’s new spinning stadium! I think I found my new Monday morning workout!

spin clean 025

And halfway through writing this post I decided I HAD to make banana bread.

Really, I know it’s a work in progress. It will never be perfect. It’s so far from ideal its not even funny.

Here are a few tips to help you declutter:

– While considering getting rid of an item – ask yourself when you last saw or used an item. If your answer is over a year, toss it.

Books get their own category in my home as I’m a complete bookworm. I hold onto books (and newspaper clippings) far longer than I should. I blame my profession. Lately, I’ve been clearing those away too:

– I ask if I have any plans in the next year to read or re-read the book. If the answer is no, away goes the book.

– Put paper junk directly into the recycling, shredder or garbage can. Don’t let it lay around. Cut it off at the pass.

– Not sure if you want to permanently get rid of a once-beloved item? Put it in the “not sure” box. Revisit that box a few months later. If you didn’t even think about the item(s) inside, you know its fate.

And don’t worry – you’re not alone. Here’s a look at the room I am dreading. (I just shut the door to cope.)

clutter 001No, really. This is real.

 Happy Spring y’all! Please share your tips on what works best for you when trying to declutter?

Celebrating small successes

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So much has been a battle in my home lately, including finding motivation to clean, cook and organize.

My hubby has been out of town for work quite a bit in the past few months. (China, Vegas, China, Taiwan, China. Did I mention China?) And while I miss him terribly, I typically use his business trips as my motivation to organize and purge.

I started off well as he left for his most recent two-week trip, and I donated three bags of collected items and some of his old suits to a local secondhand store.

Small success! Stuff left my home and would be used by others. Gently used clothes would be sold and old rags would be given to an animal shelter. Even donated toiletries will go to people in need. I love it when items can be re-purposed.

Then I did all the laundry I could find. You know, everything he didn’t pack to take overseas that was let in small piles all over the house.

Towels, check. Pantry-purging, check. Clutter-clearing, check.

Small successes continued! Huzzah!

Then I hit a snag.

As you may know, last month we took in a new kitten. We love her. She’s tubby but sweet and always under your feet.

And that kitten, she loves to make messes. She unravels the toilet paper nearly every day. She swipes socks and stockings. And everything on the coffee table is daily knocked to the floor – pens, paper, coasters, magazines, napkins, cups.

cat1Oh look, adorable new cat also stole my remote.

Our older cat was less than pleased with the new furbaby. She’s barricaded herself into our loft/attic area and screams (really) and hisses whenever new cat catches her eye.

loftcatUnhappy old cat, perched in the loft

Oh, and she started to poop up there. (And yes, there was a litter box in the next room. She used that too, but apparently leaving piles in the loft was far better.)

Most definitely, that was NOT a success. That was payback.

Let’s just say choice words were uttered and she was temporarily locked in another room far away from me as I scrubbed and cursed. And I repeatedly yelled at the cat as I uncovered each new landmine.

I tossed box after box over the balcony to the living room below. (They were later broken down and recycled.) Most were already empty and for some reason I’d held onto them. Some contained old clothes I couldn’t bring myself to part with 9 years ago, when I shoved them into the loft. Some were brought by my mother, who in our first year in the house brought boxes of childhood memories each time she visited.

Nearly everything went over the balcony or in the donation box; Even the misbehaving cat. (Don’t worry, I took her out.)

Saved were my old swimming awards, old newspaper clips and a box of my late grandfather’s sweaters. (I just couldn’t discard them even though he’s been gone nearly a decade.) Oh, and Meri, I found some fun stationary, a 22-year-old framed pic of us and my senior prom photo. I’ll share those gems another day.

There’s now an old area rug over the former minefield. And I added another litter box to the loft. (and huzzah! She’s using it!)

loftboxWhatever works!

Unfortunately, she also leaves me extra piles outside the box. I’m hoping that will soon stop.

My typical hubs-is-away-cleaning-effort was officially derailed with cat cleanup – then cat maintenance.

When Hubs came home from his trip on Friday, two days early, I hadn’t quite finished all my organizational efforts. But do I ever?

But with his return, old cat ventured into the second-floor spare bedroom for a cat nap. And last night, I woke in the middle of the night to find her snuggled next to me, purring.

Small successes.

I know this had nothing to do with fitness, but it had everything to do with not wanting to murder my cats. Thanks for bearing with me! How do you deal with a misbehaving pet? (heck, or child?) And how do you introduce two uncooperative animals? Will they ever get along?

Guest posting

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Chick Vic here.

Today, I am a guest blogger on one of my favorite blogs, Heather’s Looking Glass, as Heather and her husband Bobby are vacationing on a Disney cruise.

Inspired by some spring cleaning, I talk a bit about the challenges of home organization, especially when you’re a clutter-monger like me! So please check out my post on Heather’s blog for some humor and tips. And I’d love to hear any suggestions you all may have!