|
|
Post by c0mm0n on Aug 2, 2012 18:21:33 GMT -5
New here, my first post. One day I was looking for something to watch on TV and ran across Hoarders. Wow. That scared me. I started looking around the house thinking "heh, that could be me". So I decided to change.
Picked up a book on hoarding, started to read, got depressed. Watched more Hoarders. Started to feel some hope.
Woke up early today, at 3:15am. Make coffee, surfed the net, then looked around at my office. Wow, not as bad as it was but it needs work. I decided to work on my desk. 3 bins - trash, keep, recycle. Sat around and tossed/sorted while I had coffee and surfed the net. The shelf under my desk is now cleaned off. I need to get some furniture cleaner.
Posted on the forums then hit chat in time for a 15 min clean. Worked on my nightstand, you can now see it. Put my collection of change in my change bin. A bunch of stuff into the trash. Nice pile for goodwill. My books need to be put away, working on that now.
Hated to toss a coat that i've been meaning to repair for years but if i've not hit it now I probably will never get to it. A coffee maker unit that I had planned on working on? Into the trash too.
Day one and I feel ok.
|
|
|
|
Post by lizzie on Aug 2, 2012 22:00:11 GMT -5
Welcome c0mm0n, you have made a great start!
It sounds like things have just piled up, and become invisible, rather than that you have a strong emotional attachment to things. Once you have had a sort out and throw out, 'maintenance' will become your new best friend - it is so much easier than clearing out, and when it becomes a habit then you are in a whole new world!
You might like to read around the concept of 'amnesty' here, which is about having amnesty to just throw out stuff without worrying about recycling, selling, donating - all things which can really slow you down. Then when you have your place sorted, you can put recycling, selling, donating systems into place if these are important to you.
Keep reading and posting! Regards, Lizzie
|
|
|
|
Post by scribbliz on Aug 2, 2012 22:02:59 GMT -5
great job! that's a fantastic start, keep up the good work, and remember, the people here are awesome, and so very helpful!
|
|
|
|
Post by c0mm0n on Aug 3, 2012 6:33:40 GMT -5
I like the idea of amnesty - I might do that. Actually I sorta have with a few things. We have curbside recycling and we have these huge wheeled bins and the pickup trucks have motorized arms, so I don't have to worry about killing the poor guy who has to lift the bin when I'm done.  I showed off my clean nightstand last night. Daughter was impressed, SO was "meh". Told the DD that she can do the same thing as I did - it's all about working in 15 minute sessions. Going to get her started today. As for me, today I'm going to work on my bookshelf, which is this built in floor to ceiling unit a good 9' high and 4' wide. Creating individual shelves for everyone - 2 for me, 2 for SO, 2 for daughter. If your stuff won't fit on there then maybe you don't need it. Or something like that. Hurdles today for me will be tossing books...I have a lot of technical books that were expensive but are out of date, they might go into the recycling bin. Some foreign language books that, well, I've not taken the time to learn Italian yet I'll probably never will. Off to ebay for those items. |
|
|
|
Post by vagabondmoon on Aug 3, 2012 12:09:09 GMT -5
 Wow, c0mmOn- what a start! I'm impressed and inspired, thanx! The people here are great, and so is the amnesty thing. Welcome!
|
|
|
|
Post by lil on Aug 3, 2012 23:59:10 GMT -5
Yay c0mm0n enjoy your new found spaces and wonderful idea getting your daughter started too good luck |
|
|
|
Post by joyinvirginia on Aug 4, 2012 0:33:53 GMT -5
Great start! You sound very motivated, make use of that energy. You're bookcase idea is very good
|
|
|
|
Post by PaperGrace on Aug 4, 2012 9:51:05 GMT -5
Welcome! You've made a great start! Don't be too hard on SO for not 'getting it' yet. Sometimes it takes a while for our partners to catch up on this journey. This is awesome: I showed off my clean nightstand last night. Daughter was impressed, SO was "meh". Told the DD that she can do the same thing as I did - it's all about working in 15 minute sessions. Going to get her started today. |
|
|
|
Post by c0mm0n on Aug 5, 2012 6:51:05 GMT -5
Saturday was pretty productive. Lots of headway made.
SO is sick, pneumonia. Apparently one of the families she cares for had it but they didn't realize it. So she's bed ridden while the drugs do their thing.
Sat log:
1) dresser totally cleaned. Dumped out eat drawer, then either trash/keep/donate. Not too much of trash, a few donation items. I rolled my tshirts/underwear/socks up and put them in so I can rotate through them - take one from the front then slide the stack forward. If I pass on something it will be moved over to the side, anything on the side will be revisited as a toss/donate item. Tossed some old jeans that i wore when doing stuff around the house, both were very holey. Some tshirts that were past their prime are now rags for the furniture cleaning.
2) Cleaned out under bed, vacuumed it. I need to mop under there once SO is better. Not a lot of clearance.
3) Went through closet, did a brief sort of what I no longer wore.
Went to goodwill. Dropped off 2 bags of clothing (waffle tops that I rarely wore and some long sleeve shirts that I want to replace with a newer style). Also a printer (recently replaced) and a rice cooker that we never used. Bought a vase for 2 bucks, put shells in it then put it on the bottom shelf of my nightstand. SO and DD think it looks cool and it got rid of 3 bags of shells I had sitting around.
Posted some old concert tshirts on ebay and a little used surfboard on craigslist. Have a few more items to post to ebay/CL today.
Sunday's list:
1) clean furniture in bedroom. most is ok, a couple of areas need some oil soap love then will wipe down with old english.
2) work on closet, hanging shirts in a new way so I can track what i'm wearing and what i'm not wearing.
3) help DD on her space.
Out of town rest of week for work, so this is it for me until Friday PM when I return.
|
|
|
|
Post by joyinvirginia on Aug 6, 2012 20:40:54 GMT -5
You are doing great! Pneumonia is really nasty, hope your so gets better quickly. I had it once, about 20 years ago, and it took Mr about six weeks to readily get back to normal function and energy. So be patient with your so while she recovers.
|
|
|
|
Post by c0mm0n on Aug 7, 2012 4:19:55 GMT -5
Trip cut back. Work changed and I had to work on an emergency inventory for work. Got back in late last night. SO is still feeling bleh, so I'm going to work from home this wk.
Last night, in a fit of "must do something" I cleaned out the drawers in my desk. Dumped them out, picked out the junk, put back the good stuff. Ran out of steam and I just put stuff back into the drawers w/o putting it away in the proper location, but I must have tossed out 3/4 of it. Shredder jammed up, the rest of the shredding will go to work.
On Tuesday I have to go into work for a conf call, while that's happening I'll clean off my work desk.
|
|
|
|
Post by messymimi on Aug 8, 2012 19:10:14 GMT -5
C0mm0n, i'm sorry to hear your SO has pneumonia. It can take about 6 months to fully recover, just so you know. Mine scarred my lungs and i still have trouble, 2 1/2 years out.
Amnesty is great! You can't save the world from more stuff going in the landfill by turning your own home into an extension of the dump, so toss stuff, and when your place is in better shape you can worry about donating or recycling or whatever.
Good work throwing out stuff you haven't repaired in years. The fact is, it is human nature (scientifically proven, too) that people always believe they will have more resources in the future -- money, time, etc., and to plan as if that is the case. Yet it seldom is. So if you can't fix it right away, don't worry with it, you won't want to be bothered with it during your golden years. Do we really think we will want to spend time on things we don't make time for now at some mystical point in the future? Well, we won't, so getting rid of it is a great thing, it frees us from a load we didn't know we carried.
Oh, and i don't have a shredder, i have cats. If you can't shred papers, line the litter box with them, or use them as "paper towels" to clean the dog mess. No one will want to go near them. 
messymimi
|
|
|
|
Post by c0mm0n on Aug 8, 2012 19:40:40 GMT -5
Yesterday was the last day of her drugs. She's feeling better but she's still taking it easy for the most part. It's nasty, several people in one of my remote offices had it over the summer. I'm passing on amnesty on what I can. If something clearly belongs in the trash then there it will go. I did save a small grocery bag of tshirts for rags. As I went through the pile (with DD helping) we discussed them and how I received them. That was fun and made me realize that I really didn't need to keep them around as they were way too small and had seen better days. I gave them the boot. Some pants that I bought last year (at a deep deep sale) and wore all winter before realizing that I'm not the heavy corduroy type of person are in the goodwill box, which is a good sized. Closet is DONE. LS shirts and wetsuits on the top bar, SS and pants on the lower bar. I put them in with the hanger backwards so I can track what I'm wearing. I had a rolling storage on the bottom of it, that is going to SO for her special yarns - and it will be in the other room. It's cool to see the floor, too. In the morning DD and I will go by goodwill to drop off the clothing then off to Mr K's (bookstore) to trade some DVDs I've watched once and never again. They give cash or credit, they had a cookbook I wanted and the rest will go to DDs school for books. No cat anymore.  Once the house is restored to normalcy we'll go to the rescue and get a couple of kittens. |
|
|
|
Post by PaperGrace on Aug 8, 2012 20:21:47 GMT -5
Great work with clothes! I'm glad your DD is getting into this with you.
I hope your wife feels better soon! Pneumonia is no fun. Make sure she doesn't over-do just because she feels better, or she may feel poorly for longer.
|
|
|
|
Post by scribbliz on Aug 8, 2012 22:20:47 GMT -5
c0mm0n, ya know, the rolling storage is a great idea for the yarns. It will probably help SO feel more relaxed about it too...they have a safe place, so she may feel safer. You are also making efforts to treat her items with respect, which will help her feel respected too. This is great! You are doing a fantastic job getting stuff done!
|
|
