it never really worked in the first place, which is another reason I didn’t use it regularly. I probably have the wrong kind of hair
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Last week I had more garbage than I was actually allowed to put out at the curb.
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There you go. Toss with zero guilt. It ever worked for you and after 18 years won’t work for anyone else either.
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Hurrah!
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Another 100 books cataloged. 225 on the spreadsheet.
The “lose” here was that I faced was that it just isn’t cost effective or fast enough to keep dribbling the books to the antique store, various dealers, the dump, etc. So, the massive effort.
I’m sort of numb. My last therapist said the reason I have so many problems letting go of the books is that they were my “family,” well, yes, in ways they were … the only absolutely unabashedly positive legacy I had. Fine, but too many is too many. And I had 1,000s too many!
I’m not letting myself think about anything, but the next step… the next box, the next stack of boxes, the next 100 entries, etc.
I made dinner this morning when I needed a break, for example. I suppose I need to also give myself credit for acknowledging that this is HARD for me. The Midwest Magic Cleaning Guy says he gives himself a break periodically, or he can’t do it. The messes he deals with are much worse than anything I have here, but this is my mess, not someone else’s, so I have my own emotional BS to deal with.
Anyway, 225 books cataloged. About 8.5 boxes worth. Have piles started to mail to various folks, but not too many. These are people I was giving books to already and are certain categories of stuff.
One dealer bought another dealer’s end inventory and the guy who owned the stuff originally had consigned a batch with me. So, the consigned books are being sent to the other dealer.
I have a book about PA county names going into a box for another dealer, who lives in PA. I won’t be able to sell it here, so why not?
I have 4 dealers I’m selling or giving books to, and they’re specific categories. None of the cataloged books fit them. I"ve discarded about 5 books too: disbound, damp stained, or otherwise unsaleable. Why bother to catalog them, then lot them up?
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I’m really glad you found some wisdom to borrow from those videos! 
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Yes, I’m glad I found him about 2 months ago. One of the most compassionate attitudes about mental health issues I’ve found. My last therapist told me that almost all hoarders have other diagnosis, in my case, PTSD. It took me decades to realize that what happened to me when I started cleaning was panic attacks… having adenaline dumped into your system when you do x all the time means you avoid x… in my case being tidy.
It wasn’t until I did the trauma work that I could “see” the panic attacks, admit the hoarding, and work on it. It has been decades of emotional and physical work to try and eliminate it.
I closed the store in 2005 and stopped trying to be a bookdealer, etc. about 5 years later. That makes it what, almost 10 years.
I have the world’s most patient husband! 
Without a support network, the therapy, and a lot of work emotional and otherwise on my part, I would never have gotten this close.
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And books seem to be, for most people,* the most challenging thing to declutter- they can be really emotionally freighted! You’re doing great!
*We librarians are specially trained in book disposable but I can still empathize.
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Was able to very organically declutter! A neighbor just revealed she’s 18 weeks pregnant (big jacket season means we’ve had 3 “oh hey I’m actually super far along” neighbors now), so I offered her the red raspberry leaf tea I had around still. Dropped them off on my morning walk. 1 box and one pouch out of my tea cabinet!
Also for those of us who try and sell on Marketplace:
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I went through 4 photo albums and got rid of a ton of pictures! I really don’t need 50 pictures of junior prom. I think I still probably kept too many, but it is a good start. I will do a second pass before organizing them.
I’m debating whether to even keep any of them physically or whether I want to take the time to scan them in. I’m not really someone who gets photo albums frequently, but I do enjoy it when I do. If anyone has done a similar project lately, let me know any lessons you’ve learned.
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Keep a few physical ones! No one else is ever going to look at your digital photos.
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Finally posted our futon on BN! And immediately someone wants it for their preschool 
“… need an adult sized seat for families to sit and settle before drop off.”
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Today I learned about the Johnny.Decimal system. I’m fascinated
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Started this morning tackling the pile o’ stuff in the new entry. Between Midwest Magic Cleaning… “If you don’t have something to do in an area it will collect stuff” (paraphrased) and Remi Clog “Don’t know how things just got piled up here, again…” (also paraphrased) I looked around and realized that I have both problems.
The new entry isn’t finished. It became a place to park the tools related to its creation, then other tools, then just extra laundry and other “stuff.” So, I started to unF that this morning. I have a load of laundry going, a pile of laundry to do in front of the washer (on the other side of the room that I’m cleaning, for the moment) and started into the pile o’ stuff in front of the window. Tools, plastic bags, bits for the entry, things which had been pulled out to sell/cull from elsewhere – it was a mess.
So, now, there’s a load in the wash, another in the dryer, some things have been trashed, consolidated, and pulled out to talk to DH about. I will do more in a bit. I want to deal with some of the odds & ends which are mine before I tackle more mess…
And, of course, it includes books: 6 boxes worth! Did one box, on the 2nd now…
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I’m struggling with what to do about my shoes as I look forward to having to store things during the renovation.
There are a few pairs that no longer fit because I stopped wearing fancy shoes regularly and my feet have widened. There are a few pairs that are damaged beyond (reasonable) repair. There are a few pairs that my knees cannot cope with atm.
The shadowy one says I should keep them all, and pay to store them (or risk them under tarps in the basement). I think they want to help prevent me regretting the decision to move them along to another home. I feel like I should at least try to rehome them.
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I’d at least get rid of the ones that are too narrow and that are damaged beyond repair!
The ones that are too narrow someone else can use now - they’ll just degrade in storage, and it’s not like your feet are going to unwiden (I have very wide feet and so I feel you here, haha).
The damaged shoes - no need to throw good money after bad. Shoes are so important to feeling good physically and mentally; please don’t devalue your health by holding on to them!
The ones that your knees dislike - do you actually like the shoes otherwise? Could you see yourself wearing them ever, or are they for a different season of life that you are no longer in?
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Panda’s advice is good advice.
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Yes. Don’t wear shoes that hurt you. Get rid of things you will never use again.
There are more shoes in the world, you can get non-painfu shoes you will actually wear.
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If you do pass them along… poshmark?
You’ve also had so much joy finding them that storing them is very reasonable. My closet can handle a Rubbermaid tote if that helps
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I was thinking this too, that I know you really love some specific shoes. It’s ok to hold on to them if you aren’t ready to let go
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