My family, especially my two adult children would say: "mother is somewhat of a packrat"...they are dismayed by how much "stuff" I have. They don't want to be responsible for going through it all when I'm gone..Having just done this at their father's house after he passed away in March of this year, has made them much more aware of how much they don't want to do it again at my place.
With Ontario being hit with so much rain this week and I'm sure we aren't alone in this, I've decided since I can't get out for my daily walk it would be a good time to tackle some organizing..Now I bought a great book on organizing but haven't been able to organize my time enough to read the whole book! Then I rip out articles on organizing from my many magazines. My son mentioned them this week, how I have hordes of magazines. But I'm not able to throw out any gardening magazines and I really love my Country Home Magazines or my Better Homes and Gardens. But I did manage to throw out quite a few other ones..
I feel good ripping out articles I want to keep and throwing them in a box to read later..when later is going to come hasn't been determined yet..so instead of having so many stacks of magazines, I now have a nice sized cardboard box full of torn out articles..makes sense, well maybe not...
I started by carting out armfuls of papers and folders from my office/junk room and started sorting, shredding and disposing...I made new file folders and now have more folders for gardening, hundreds and hundreds of recipes I'll probably never use and a new folder for ideas for our new place in P.E.I. That was an exciting folder to start. I have a whole file full of ideas for my office there which will also be my craft room..wonder if I can keep it as tidy as the pictures look?
Another reason for organizing is yes, to get rid of a lot of clutter but also make room for things that will have to be put up high out of reach once our nine month old granddaughter decides to start walking. I have a lot of indoor plants I hope she won't pull over and fragile things I don't want broken. It's either get very organized or spend every minute entertaining her so she won't be tempted to start dumping things on the floor..I love the part where I play with her all the time..but then who will get the meal?
I'm very excited about getting my office looking so good, people will not believe it's the same room! Even I won't believe it....that is going to take a lot of doing, so many things I don't know what to do with find there way in there..I ask myself, do I need it, just want it or love it! You guessed it, I love a LOT!! I have a girlfriend who goes shopping with me and can't believe how much stuff I just LOVE..
I am not a lean and mean type of person, I see apartments and houses in magazines that look so modern and organized with everything pared down. I think I could do that, but then who am I fooling..I LOVE my books, my magazines, my collections and feel warm and fuzzy when they are near me. I pointed to a corner chair in a house in another town years ago to a friend and said: "that is MY corner"...she looked around the living-room and said: "they all look like your corners" and yes, we are still best of friends..
I'm trying each month to send a large bag of "stuff" off to the Salvation Army..once one bag leaves the house, I start another one. I have started one this week. Wish me luck, that I can tear things out of my fingers, place them in the bag and not be tempted to look through it again. I'm going through my stacks of papers and file folders again today and maybe reward myself if I do a super good job..I've been craving a Snicker's Bar for a week now!
