OK, at first this post was going to be about why I wait so long to do laundry and then have to go to the laundromat and wash 4 loads at once. So, I will talk about that briefly - Why do I wait so long to do laundry and then have to go the laundromat and wash 4 loads at once?? I'll tell you why - I hate laundry, that's why. I don't so much mind the washing it - it's the folding it and putting it away part that I don't care for. I need to hire a folder/putter-awayer. I would have my 11 yr old do it, and trust me, that is definitely going to be on her list of responsibilities for this year - but she helps me at the laundromat too, and I am constantly refolding her folds. I'm not the best folder on the planet, and I know I should probably let it go, but ugggh...I can't. Anywho - so there's a great feeling once you know ALL the laundry in the entire house, including towels, has been done. PHEW!! But then guess what happens when you get home and you have to put it all away???? (And now for the MAIN topic of this post...)
You realize you have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!!! When every shred of laundry is done, you go to put it away, and you are literally cramming clothes into every nook and cranny of the drawer - holding the clothes down with one hand and sliding the drawer shut with the other hand and hoping that the drawer doesn't explode and shoot clothes all over the room. Goodness sake! So, then you start looking in the drawers, and realizing that neither you nor your children wear half of the crap that's in the drawers.
And guess what that realization makes you do? Yep - you start surveying the rest of your closet, and your room for that matter. And then you think about your junk drawer, and the stack of magazines on the counter. And all the birthday cards you're holding on to for "posterity" - the list goes on and on. And then just short of a major freakout - you decide - I am going to de-stuff my house. You realize the task is daunting, you promise yourself that you will do it in small chunks, no matter how badly you want to do it all in one day, and then...you go sit on the couch and wonder if your plans to de-stuff will ever come to fruition.
Oh yeah...I'm totally doin' it. Not saying it's going to be easy. But seriously people...we have WAY too much stuff. The problem is, I could probably make some money off of a lot of this 'stuff' by having a yard sale, but that would require way too much organization on my part and I'm not sure if I'm up for THAT task. So, needless to say, Good Will and Savers are probably going to be the ones making some dough off of my stuff.
My goal is to have my house de-stuffed before the baby comes - Feb 2010. I'm probably not going to start the de-stuffing until after the summer is over (oh yeah, by the way, I decided today that I don't want to live in Arizona anymore, it's too damn hot) - so September is probably when I'll start, and then just a couple months later is 'holiday season' and I know things get crazy then, but I think I can do it.
The crazy thing is - I don't really think it's me that buys all this stuff we don't need. I have loving parents, grandparents, in-laws and friends that love feeling like they are contributing to our family, and I love that they do that - but I honestly think that's where most of the stuff comes from. So - do I send them all a letter/email/phone call letting them know about my de-stuffing process and to please not bring us more stuff? Or would that be rude? I don't want to offend anyone, but at the same time, I'm afraid if I don't speak up, you're going to be reading this exact same blog entry in a year's time. Know what I mean? Help!,
Wow - I feel lighter already. Do you feel like you need to de-stuff? If so, what is your process going to be like. And if you've had a yard sale and want to give me some pointers on how not to be afraid of having one, please feel free to share. :)
5 comments:
I went on a binge of watching 'Clean House' on the Style Channel, you talk about people with stuff? OMG! It was amazing but it inspired me to get rid of so much stuff. It was nice to get rid of it too. So good luck to you!!
And I'm with you on living in Arizona. Ugh I'm so over the summer. And at about this same time last year I was anxious for fall, but not an AZ fall. A REAL fall with leaves and cool breezes and all that fall should bring. Sigh.
I relate to EVERY WORD of this post! Ugh! The endless cycle of laundry, keeping the house clean and organizing/de-cluttering my house is one of the things that is stressing me out at the moment. I have a perpetual basket of clothes that just sits in my room waiting to be put away cuz I just can't seem to get to it.
Good luck with your project! And good luck withstanding the summer heat in AZ--yikes!
Love the new site btw! :-)
I also loath laundry and having the kiddies help me is sometimes double the work. I recently decluttered and I can report I have less laundry to do!
I swear I give so much stuff away every year and I always have tons more to get rid of; it's never ending.
Way to purge, Crystal! I've always found that I appreciate what I have more when I have less. And I purge regularly because I have a rule: equal mass into the house, equal mass out of the house. Which means purging before holidays and birthdays and that sort of thing.
I don't do rummage sales. I bring it to the thrift shop because then I'm done really quickly. Or I give things to people who need them, like our neighbor with a toddler--she takes a lot of our handmedown toys.
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