Today I gave away the Texas flag shower curtain my husband was given on his 23rd birthday (when we lived in Ohio, btw). It has never been used (because seriously- he was a married man, not living in Texas, there was zero chance a Texas flag shower curtain was going up.) But for some reason we have had it in the linen closet for nearly 20 years.
Also gave away 3 pairs of toddler flip flops that the hotel we stayed at in Portugal gave us. The woman I gave them to is making a wreath. I thought about doing that, but I have no energy for it, so I’m glad she is.
“ This made me realize maybe I didn’t actually like the things I owned because I didn’t get that same glow of pride while cleaning them. Many of them were hand-me-downs, and others were simple decor items I impulsively bought from Target or Amazon from time to time”
I think a big emotional barrier to getting rid of old electronics is sentimentality about their contents (first text messages with now-DH!) And worry I’ll lose some data on them that isnt saved anywhere else and will one day need/ would be nice for the great great grandkids to read.
Yes this sounds unreasonable but also they found the secret to Roman cement was seawater because they’d only written “water” on the recipe, sooooo clearly I’m not unreasonable to hoard every bit of information ever.
Breathe ok I am collecting the old electronics now. Phones first.
oh, good. because it has bugged me for so long after I was told by some tv show as a kid that it had been lost.
I have a plastic container for embroidery floss with a bunch of those cardboard bobbins. It feels wrong to throw it out, and I’m not sure where to post such a cheap specialist thing. I guess to just put on fb and see if anyone bites.
This should be sooo much more functional. The big one is hard to get in and out, collapses if something damp is on the side, etc. And since this is downstairs (laundry is up), air holes will be good for lightly damp everything that ends up in there. thank you ikea.
So I have the urge to get rid of a lot of my work clothes. Since I don’t have to go to the office I don’t need all the pants and skirts. They are still good, but I have had a lot of it for 8-10 plus years so they have paid their dues. I have my eye on some lulu pants I would like to get because they were super comfortable and flattering. I also cleaned out some tank tops and shorts, and some capris I no longer wear because I got new ones that are more comfortable.
Tonight I tossed an old pair of sneakers, cracked a new pair out to be my new indoor shoes. We are going to an engagement party tomorrow afternoon and I have a tortoga rum cake and bottle of wine for the host, and for the happy couple a bottle of wine and tequila to contribute to decluttering. Repurposed some fancy gift bags and a wine bag. It’s not much but it’s getting it out of the house.
SO and I tackled our closets today. Being fairly ruthless and none judgemental(I started to get a bit soft so I knew it was time for me to pack it in for the day), we have 3 huge garbage bags of clothes to donate, one huge garbage bag of garbage for worn out stuff, and a huge bag of hangers to be donated. A few other things made it to the donation pile too.
I still have a ridiculous amount of clothing left over. Of course some stuff I was a little sad that I got rid of, but if I slim down a bit I can always get replacements when needed.
You must be so proud of this, it’s truly hard work. Good on you for following your own emotional cues about when to wind down for the day. After many past closet clean outs, I think I’ve only regretted passing on one item. One out of hundreds, surely. I hope the same odds are true for you!
Ok one more win- I have been accumulating stuff I will never use from various golf tournaments this year. For example, a kids’ super soaker set, a worklight set, etc. I also had a few items sitting in the basement never used (soaker hose, cheesecake pan, etc). Because I know the general manager of the local Canadian Tire store I politely asked if I could return all these items to their store and get an in store credit because I have no receipts. He said yes!
Did the returns today and got a $147 gift card for future purchases. Well I did buy one thing, which is a replacement screen kit for my patio sliding door.
We also took all the clothing and more donations to the donation centre today. SO added even more to the pile with 4 pairs of shoes. It felt really good dropping it all off.
So I just did a really emotionally difficult thing. I have been thinking about it for a while, and finally did it. I took down a picture of my dog that passed away 13 years ago. The picture is from when she was a year old. It has sat in the same spot for 20 years. I am donating the frame, and I put the picture aside for my photo albums.
Crazy, isn’t it, how difficult these little things are. I still have 2 pictures of her with me on the wall from when she was a puppy.
Th other difficult thing I am not sure what to do is her ashes. Because she was so big I have 2 urns, one on the fireplace mantle and one upstairs. I would rather manage this now. I was thinking of planting her in the back yard with some nice flowers. I also have one of my previous cat’s ashes on the mantle too which I think is time for him to be buried too, they passed within 4 months of each other so that was a hard year!
Anyways, some hard decisions. How have others dealt with this?
Proud of myself. Auction ending today was 1.5 hours away. DH convinced me I really didn’t need a steam mop and that renting a Rug Doctor once would be cheaper than what I’d bid and we’d still have the object…
And that meant, to me, that bidding on a pair of binoculars, to replace a not great pair we have, wasn’t worth the drive with our not-so great shape (mechanically) cars… so I bid on NOTHING and walked away.
There are various pieces in upcoming auctions I’m interested in. Many are lots where I want 1 hard to find piece and the rest I don’t care about. Some of the pieces I’m watching are pieces my ND neighbor would like, she has some of it already and I was thinking it would be cheap Christmas fodder. And there’s various other odds & ends: a pizza stone, a blow up single mattress, etc. But those auctions are in the next few days/weeks. I only bid on the last day.
I told DH we needed to find a new place for the battery storage and he found a temporary solution, but it’s a solution. Got the 3 drawer metal unit off the kitchen counter/island. Hurrah!
Today i caught up on all the crap from having houseguests - things from my study that were in the bedroom, laundry and finding homes for extra sheets. Unpacking and putting away the last three items in a million bags…
I only have a handful but i know the ones in my house they mean…
thank you ikea.
she put the old hamper back. Called it.
so hard to know how to approach it.