Declutter #13 - baby steps (again)

 Last week was busy, but here's what went away:

• cole slaw dressing . . . it was a year past its date, which wouldn't stop me from using it, but it didn't taste very good to begin with! I like the dressing I make myself. That bottle got emptied, rinsed, and recycled.
• an ice bucket container from our old fridge. I had taken it out when we started having water issues with the old fridge and stowed it in the china hutch. When I found it there, I got it into the garbage can.
• with a new refrigerator and a new dishwasher, I went through our appliance folders and got rid of the old manuals. In addition to the appliances that left our house, I had manuals for other old things that I was able to recycle.
• I dropped off a box of donation items. Some went to Jenifer for Saving Grace Village and the rest went to Goodwill. (Hands of Friendship in New Prague is my last resort for getting rid of items.)
• There are two Christian books that I've added to my MQ bag for the next quilt meeting to put on their Little Free Library shelf.
  

Declutter #12 - baby steps?

 It was another underwhelming week for getting rid of stuff. I tried, but had a busier than anticipated week. A quick summary of bits and pieces:

• pencils - I grabbed out some of my extras to put in my teaching bag. I like being able to supply them to students so they don't have to make a trip to their lockers. I subbed three half days last week, so I shared a lot of pencils.
• markers - Joshua and I were decorating the inside of a refrigerator box and I ended up going through my entire marker bin to test and toss the ones that were no longer juicy enough for art.
• I finally dropped off the box of toiletries to the Peace Center in New Prague! They graciously accepted it all, even the old hotel soaps . . . makes me want to go buy some of the good stuff that they really need!
• two boxes of clothes. This isn't technically a declutter, since a friend GAVE me the two boxes. But I finally tried on all the shirts and only kept the ones I truly wanted. (It's fun to have some cute new clothes for free!) The rest went to her sister-in-law today.
• I used up some of the really old rhubarb from the freezer to make a crumble. It tastes pretty good!
• I used up some of my fleece scraps to make two neck gaiters for my sister-in-law Viv. They'll probably end up being used next winter, but they're made! (One is double-thick reversible and one is single layer shaped. I have a drawstring for it, but need to get the little plastic toggle.) I'll bring these to her in a few weeks when we head up for Easter dinner!
  

 

I feel as though there were a few other things I was going to blog about, but I'm getting tired. Perhaps I'll be a bit more successful at getting rid of things this next week.

Declutter #11 - a raft and paperwork!

This entry is easy! My husband mentioned that we could probably get rid of "that raft." I had said that I was going to fill the bird feeders with seed. Typically, I have to make my way through all the stuff in the garage, move things off the can (including an old inflatable raft), and then open the lid of the garbage can to get at the seed. (The garbage can is to keep mice out of the bird seed!)

 

I don't remember when we got the raft or from whom, but he had intended to blow it up, locate the leaks, and patch it. It has been in our garage for a long, long, long time. I was so excited! I put it in the garbage can right away this morning. Then I saw him put it back on the porch as he was leaving for work. What?!

 

It turns out he had wanted to remove the ropes from it to repurpose them. (It's a pretty big raft.) Fine! I brought it in the house and used screwdrivers to loosen the knots and remove the ropes. The raft went right back into the garbage bin and now it's gone!

 

That was huge . . . and not even on my radar.

 

After doing our taxes, I typically file papers and shred the oldest tax return documents. I actually keep eight years' worth instead of seven. It's a "just in case" thing and not hard to do. One of my jobs is very paperwork heavy and I save a full year's worth of the time sheets just to be on the safe side. The paper from 2021 (at that job) probably measured an inch and a half thick! 

 

In addition to our paperwork, I took out the 2014 tax return for my parents. My mom died in 2014 and I hired a CPA to do their taxes. There were lots of papers  and that all went into the shred pile. Again, I don't anticipate needing the legal or tax paperwork for my parents' estate, but it gives me peace of mind to have it "just in case." I've heard too many crazy stories about audits and government idiocy. It's easy enough to have those papers on hand!

 

It is a bit sobering, though, to notice that the bin with my parents' paperwork used to be stuffed full and now it's only about half full. I only have a few years of stuff left. Our dad died in 2016 and I wrapped up all the legal stuff in 2018.

 

Declutter #10 - towels, toiletries, and candles

This was another week that felt as though more got ADDED to my household than I removed. Ah well, progress can feel like the proverbial "one step forward, two steps back" at times.

 

My sister-in-law Del gave me four large bags of things that SHE decluttered from her combining two homes (no small feat!). The towels were in one large bag. I went through and selected some hand towels for the lake. Next time we go, I'll remove some of the more worn and well-used hand towels to become household rags. I took some of the bigger bath towels to add to our bathroom cupboard and removed some that were in great shape, but in pale shades of pink, peach, and white to add to the huge bag. Next stop is to offer them to my daughter-in-law for their new place. Whatever she doesn't want will go to the thrift store. We don't need more towels!

 

The big bag of toiletries . . . some of it I've added to our stash of lotions, etc. Some of it will go to the Peace Center in New Prague. Whatever they don't want will go to a homeless shelter or the garbage. (Old hotel soaps, lotions, travel toothbrushes in original wrappers, teeth whitener packets, etc.) I hate throwing things in the garbage! But having just gone through my own bathroom stuff, I don't think I need to buy soaps or lotions for a long, long time.

 

I went through my candles and decided I have too many! Right now, I have put a few into a give away box (thrift store). I have a set of four gold tapers that are so beautiful, but I've had them for a long time and I don't do fancy dinner parties! I may offer to bring them (and the holders, which I want to keep) to my sister-in-law Viv's for Easter dinner. We'll see. I brought them to church today, but nobody that I asked wanted them. I have a lot more new ones I should probably donate.

 

It didn't feel as though I accomplished much this week in the declutter department, but part of it is the HABIT of thinking, "what can I get rid of that's just taking up space in my life?" Also, I'm enjoying the challenge of making do with less. I've been drinking tea that I don't love . . . and I've now decided that I can just get rid of it (give to my sister Ann or throw away?) and put the kind I DO like on a shopping list. Not really sure why I have tea that I didn't buy for myself . . . 

 

A new week. My next sort and organize room is the guest bedroom. I've already given away two cute little candles in Easter themed tins. We're not hosting this year and I have sooooo many candles! I hope to have a more productive blog entry next week!

 

 

 

Declutter #9 - posters and makeup stuff

Again, this wasn't a huge week for decreasing my possessions, but I did go through a folder of posters. Some of them went right back into the folder, but the ones pictured below will get donated at NPMS (or tossed out).

The one with the baby always reminded me of Alex. I used to love posters so much! The Aruba poster - I dreamed of going to warm, sunny beaches, especially in the winter. The Peace Corps - I dreamed of joining. The Moonlighting Teachers - sarcastic humor. Kim Possible! Loved that show. Still have the soundtrack CD. I also had a laminated picture of the NPMS eighth graders of the 2002-03 school year. 

Getting rid of stuff feels good!

I also finished going through the basement bathroom thoroughly. Lots of cleaning and nitty-gritty scrubbing was involved! I held a small bottle of eye makeup remover . . . and realized that I haven't worn makeup in almost five years (since Nick's wedding to Mari, I believe). Initially, I thought about donating it. But I quickly heard my daughter-in-law Stacie's voice (quickly seconded by my best friend Jenifer's) saying, "Just throw it away!" So I did. I dumped out the fluid and recycled the bottle. 

 

There were some other makeup items that were a minimum of four and a half years old that got thrown away. When I told Jenifer via Marco Polo about this (because it made me laugh), she lectured me on not keeping any eye makeup past six months! Since I rarely wear any, this will not be an issue going forward. I simply won't buy any!

Declutter #8 - Lou's yearbooks!

So this isn't a huge declutter, but it feels like a tremendous victory! In the seven boxes of my in-laws' stuff that I got, I found three yearbooks belonging to my father-in-law. They were from his sophomore, junior, and senior years at Grand Island High School in Nebraska. I went through them thoroughly and took pictures of him in football, choir, etc. It was interesting to see these yearbooks!

The quality isn't the best, but I love how much Lou looked like Charlie (his grandson) back in the day. 

 

Here's a better one along with one from Charlie. Also, super interesting that Lou went by "Charles" as a teenager. I knew that, but have never asked him why his middle name became how he was known. (Even his report cards have him listed as "Charles LaMoore.")

 

After I took images of all Lou's pictures, I brought them over to his house to ask him about the yearbooks. He's 92 years old and I got twelve minutes of video of him talking about high school. (That's another project - upload to YouTube and add captioning.) In any case, he said he didn't feel a need to keep those yearbooks and told me I could donate them.

 

I went to the Grand Island H.S. website and found a "contact" button. I emailed the person asking if the school was interested in yearbooks from 1946, 1947, and 1948. I waited a week, but didn't hear back. Then I found out that GI is in Hall County, Nebraska and I called their number that I found on their webpage. No way to leave a message, so I sent them a notecard via snail mail asking if they were interested in the yearbooks. I didn't hear back from them, either.

Then last week, I decided to call Grand Island H.S. The voice mail system gave me different options and I chose #4 (the registrar). What a blessing! Gabriela Ryan Jaramillo answered the phone and was super friendly and helpful! She got my contact info and said she would ask around and let me know. She got back to me in just a few hours! They had a 1948 yearbook "in the vault," but would love to have the two older yearbooks. Woohoo!

She also gave me some Facebook groups where I could try selling the 1948 yearbook. I decided to just send it to the historical society with a note. They can do what they want with it! I just wanted to be done with these. This little declutter has taken me almost a month! Now I can tackle my mother-in-law's yearbooks . . .

Declutter #7 - Miscellany

In some ways, I'm more focused on getting rid of stuff than actually decluttering my home . . . but it's almost becoming a mindset. Buy less. Use what I already have. Get rid of excess!

Here are some relatively recent "get rid of" items:

• an ancient bottle of hair gel (from a decade ago? Longer?) I threw it away.
• a bulletin from South Santiago Lutheran Church. Initially, I thought it was from Joshua's baptism. But the date is from a few weeks before he was born! Must have been from the baby shower . . . I taped it into his journal where I'm writing stories and wrote about his baptism and his brother's baptism (which was today).
• My sister-in-law did not want the remainder of the cleaning supplies from her house in Maple Grove. Today, I threw away a few sponges and put the rest along with some rags into the wash. I'll add them to my cleaning supplies and use them up! (Theoretically . . . I don't actually do much cleaning.)
• I've added a few things to a giveaway box for my friend Jenifer. She is on the board of Saving Grace Village. They do a huge sale each year as a fundraiser. I'm putting nicer things in it, mostly clothing and household stuff. When it's full, I'll bring it to her house.
  

I feel as though there have been a few other things, but it's all pretty small stuff. I hope to move on to something more significant this next week! Also, I'm way too lazy to take and post any pictures!

Oh! Actually, I took this photo (of Louie with little Nick) out of the frame and added one of Morgan with Joshua when he was littler. I don't know where I put it . . . perhaps it's with stocking stuffers. Or my "grandma" bin. Or with the stuff I'm hanging onto until they're in their new house. In any case, I'll keep the photo of Louie and Nick but give away the cute frame.