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Post by desposito on Nov 6, 2022 19:23:50 GMT -5
Scholar, you're checking off a lot of jobs! Are you having Thanksgiving at your house?
I finally did my first thing for the challenge yesterday--so I lost 4 days without doing a thing. I will try to report every 4 days again, which would mean starting on Tuesday. I would like to choose my 2 books for these 2 months so I can get started reading them--that involves pulling a box out of the little side storage room, and in order to do that I have to move the microwave cart. It has wheels on it, but they don't "wheel" very well so it's not the easiest thing. I'll try to do that tomorrow.
Diane
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Post by Unswamping on Nov 7, 2022 21:17:54 GMT -5
Diane, thanks for starting this challenge. I haven’t decided on goals yet. My beginning of the month got derailed. I started putting a kitchen towel on door shelves. Folded lengthwise in half, it fits pretty well over the whole shelf. I found that helps a lot with spills and sticky bottoms. When it gets gross, I remove it, put down a new towel and wash the first. Because my towel is terry cloth I also find the bottles don’t jostle and slid around as much whenever I open the door. I also put a kitchen towel folded in half the other way in the bottom of my produce drawers. It absorbs moisture, produce stays fresh longer and if anything gets icky, it’s easy to take towel out and wash it.  can you tell I hate cleaning the frig? Hate cleaning but love a clean frig.
I think the biggest thing right now is getting donations out. I had filled three big totes from last challenge. Stuff is still here. Plus I’ve been adding random items on top as I come across things and just added two bags of clothes to the top of the pile. Will have to see when I can fit that in this week.
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Post by phoenixcat on Nov 8, 2022 9:34:15 GMT -5
Unswamping GENIUS! I have so many kitchen towels - two drawers filled and constantly getting them as gifts. THANK YOU THANK YOU !
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Post by Unswamping on Nov 8, 2022 18:35:46 GMT -5
phoenixcat you’re welcome! I tried using paper towels first and that slid around too much. The terry cloth towels work so much better. My maple syrup bottle always seems to drip. I sometimes use chocolate syrup and that would get messy too. I put an extra coffee mug on frig shelf so I could store chocolate syrup bottle upside down in mug. Contains drips and also means it’s easier to squeeze out.
It’s trash and recycling night. Missed recycling last week so it needs to go out tonight. I already put two kitchen bags in trash. Most of that was from the office. Last night I went through a large tote of clothes that I wanted to repurpose the fabric. There were some donateable things I bagged (mentioned that in prior post) and a bunch of stuff that was beyond donating. Realized that if it’s so worn out and threadbare, it’s not going to be useful for sewing projects so I tossed it. Also went through a big bag of fabric scraps. Tossed anything I didn’t like and anything too small or odd shaped to be useful. That filled one bag solid. Going to walk around and see what else can go tonight.
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Post by desposito on Nov 8, 2022 18:58:56 GMT -5
Wow Swampy, you are doing great in getting rid of fabric, I know that's one of your favorite things.
As for the fridge shelves, I'm not sure--I don't really get a lot of food drips in the door, I don't use a lot of condiments like most people do. And one of the shelves has my water bottles which I slide across every day to refill so that I'm using the oldest first, so I couldn't put a cloth there, maybe on the other two shelves. I also have many bins on the regular shelves, for various categories, so I don't lose things in the back of the fridge--so I don't think I could slide things on cloth. I remember my mom used to put paper towels in the produce drawers but I don't use those like other people do so I've never done that. Maybe I'll try them for the door shelves that don't have the water bottles. My fridge doesn't have a lot of spills in it, it's more just a layer of light grime (sounds terrible, but it's the best way to describe it) from not continuously wiping the insides down--it's a combo of dust and maybe a little food debris, but I don't have sticky spills all over the place. It would just be nice to open it up and see shiny white walls again.
Tonight is my night to report, I have to consolidate my two posts about my goals first. I haven't done much, just a few things, but now that I've started I'm getting eager to work on some of the goals.
Diane
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Post by desposito on Nov 8, 2022 20:04:42 GMT -5
Okay, here is my first report. In the past 4 days I did 40 minutes on the plant room, 10 minutes on old paper, I cleaned out one drawer, I posted 9 books (2 of which have already been requested!) and have chosen two possible books to read.
Something interesting happened when I pulled out a couple of the boxes of fiction books that I had saved--many of them looked good to me, but not great. I kept passing by several of them, saying, I don't want to read this now. That was the criteria that I used when I was doing my huge book purge of nonfiction--if I didn't feel eager to read a book next, I let it go. So...I wonder if this is because I'm using my library so much. The library here is even closer to me than the one in my old neighborhood, this one is a little more than a block away. Plus, now that I'm retired, I can go there any time I want, whereas before it was a little harder to get there because I was dog walking and after a few hours of dog walks I didn't necessarily want to make the 5 block round trip right after. Now I feel like I have ready access to most any book I could want, so maybe the ones I saved over the years don't look quite as good. I'll be thinking about this, maybe I can let more of them go. So the books I chose are possibles, if I start them and am not excited about them, I'll just move them along to someone else!
1. CLOTHING--get ready for winter GOAL 40 minutes
2. CLEANING--other than routine things GOAL 3 hours and 10 minutes
3. BASEMENT GOAL 1 hour and 20 minutes
4. FRIDGE CLEANING
5. PLANT ROOM CLEANING 40 minutes done
6. POST MORE BOOKS FOR TRADING 9 out of a GOAL of 10
7. READ BOOKS FROM MY OWN STASH GOAL 2
8. CURRENT FILING
9. OLD PAPER 10 minutes done out of a GOAL of 2 hours
10. PLANT CUTTINGS GOAL - (Still don't have a count of them)
11. ENCLOSED SPACES GOAL - Reorganize as many of them as possible 1 drawer done (wallet drawer)
12. OFFICE SUPPLIES & STATIONERY ORGANIZATION
Diane
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Post by mylittlescholar on Nov 9, 2022 17:50:38 GMT -5
Yes, Diane, early Thanksgiving/bday party here tomorrow. Invited 13--four are immune compromised, two are sick, one is stuck in Reno and I-80 is closed (snow) and we don't know about his +1. So maybe five people?
DVD is here now, starting the cooking.
DONE: cleared the rooms to vacuum and mop cobwebbed cleared the counters wiped them down
its so nice having all this empty space that is clean! I hope to find some storage solutions so we can keep it this way.
I still need to make cornbread, but am resting next.
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Post by goldenthreads on Nov 10, 2022 18:00:53 GMT -5
Election tasks finished! Deadlines can be so handy.  All right. For the boxes of papers (and a very few things that aren't paper), here is my inventory. I'm hoping it'll be useful for deciding what to do each day without having to reorient myself. - Box 1: miscellaneous, sorted, 2/3 full
- Box 2: financial, unsorted, 1/2 full
- Box 3: financial + old career, sorted, 3/4 full
- Box 4: miscellaneous + non-paper things, unsorted, full
- Box 5: financial, half-sorted, 3/4 full
- Box 6: miscellaneous, unsorted, 3/4 full
- Box 7: my childhood, sorted, full (small box)
Box 8: miscellaneous, unsorted, overfull (small container)- Box 9: miscellaneous + non-paper things, unsorted, 1/2 full (basket)
- Box 10: miscellaneous + things, unsorted, full
- Box 11: things (no paper), unsorted, full
Box 12: books + things, unsorted, almost empty because I've been going through it- Box 13: used school supplies, full (small)
The last 4 boxes I brought out of storage in the hopes that there'd be things that'd be easy to get rid of, and also that there might be something I wanted. There was--my most frequently used cookbooks! 😘
No plan yet. My tentative goal is to empty three of these containers.
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Post by outfromundah on Nov 10, 2022 18:19:07 GMT -5
Challenge, challenge... challenge? I don't know if I need to challenge myself or be more gentle with myself. A challenge can be a game, however, so maybe I will make a game out of getting some of my tasks done — a game like Beat the Clock. That usually helps me, but these days I am just not sure what will work for me to actually do the things I need to do. I'm in a weird place lately. Sigh.
Okay, so I am tentatively going to state the areas that need the most work in my apartment. There are five broad categories: dishes, papers, clothes, inventory, and mixed clutter/junk. I am giving myself a goal to address at least two of these categories for the rest of November and then December. If I do more, great, but I do not want to set myself up for failure by saying I will do more than that.
Hopefully that is enough of a challenge but yet gentle enough for me to start getting "out from undah."
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Post by goldenthreads on Nov 10, 2022 18:21:07 GMT -5
Well, that was easy. Box 12 is empty and broken down. I got rid of a few things from the box, and put the remaining few things in Box 4. I found undeveloped film! What a messy life I've led. Hi, outfromundah! I know what you mean. I hate boldly stating what I'm going to do and then failing to do it. The way you're approaching this sounds like you know how to tailor it to suit you. |
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Post by desposito on Nov 10, 2022 20:23:32 GMT -5
I hope you're enjoying your party today, scholar!
Golden, I love your specific list of boxes--I think it helps to have a list of exactly what you're dealing with. And it feels so good to cross things off!
Hello outfromundah, glad you're joining us! Don't worry about making a goal that you don't complete, what counts is the effort--these challenges always make me do more than I would otherwise, even if I don't finish all my goals. Tell us more about what the issues are with the categories you're going to tackle.
Considering the fact that today we are already 1/3 through November, I feel like I'm getting a slow start on my goals, but I will try to pick up the pace over the weekend!
Diane
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Post by goldenthreads on Nov 12, 2022 12:31:13 GMT -5
Yesterday I worked on Box 10 for 15 minutes. I was able to get rid of a few things and put some kitchen things away. Found some loose change and a bunch of Sharpies. I have some whiteboard markers I hope someone will be interested in. (I got rid of my whiteboard last year.)
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Post by desposito on Nov 12, 2022 20:53:13 GMT -5
Found some loose change
Sigh--I wish I would find money amongst my clutter--maybe an occasional Canadian penny or two, but that has been it!
Okay, I realized that tonight is a reporting night if I'm going to stick to every 4 days--but I've just done a few things so I'm going to wait until tomorrow night. The last few days were spent getting my yard ready for winter, including taking in the hose and birdbath since tonight we are supposed to have our first real freeze. So, I will try to add some challenge work tomorrow.
I did want to mention something about the books I chose to read--one is a nonfiction, I already read a few pages and I know I will like it, it is short essays by medical students about something that had a powerful effect on them during their training. However, the fiction book did not appeal to me once I started reading it, and although it's an author that I respect and I felt like I "should" read it, I decided to give up on it. At this age life is too short to spend time reading something I don't love.
Unfortunately the book has writing in it so it doesn't qualify for trading, so I'm putting it in the box of books I'm saving in case I ever do manage to get the "little free library" that I want for my front yard.
Diane
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Post by desposito on Nov 13, 2022 19:34:28 GMT -5
Okay, I'm going to do a 5-day report.
I found one more book to post for trade, so that's done. I did 30 minutes of current filing, I cleaned out a 3-shelf kitchen cabinet, and I started potting some cuttings. I did one small one--some cuttings from a graptosedum plant that was too leggy. Some of these soft succulents grow really tall, even under decent light, and you eventually have to cut off the tops and root them to make new plants. Sometimes the stems that are left will grow leaves back, sometimes they are tough and don't do well. Anyway, that one is done, and the other thing I did was major, I had four different containers with spider plants rooting. I took a large pot, the same size as the giant spider plant that I just took in for the winter, and planted all the cuttings from all four containers in that big pot. So, hopefully by spring I will have a second giant spider plant to put on the enclosed front porch.
1. CLOTHING--get ready for winter GOAL 40 minutes
2. CLEANING--other than routine things GOAL 3 hours and 10 minutes
3. BASEMENT GOAL 1 hour and 20 minutes
4. FRIDGE CLEANING
5. PLANT ROOM CLEANING 40 minutes done
6. POST MORE BOOKS FOR TRADING 10 out of a GOAL of 10 This project is done.
7. READ BOOKS FROM MY OWN STASH GOAL 2 I have started reading the nonfiction book I chose for this, but decided not to continue with the fiction, so I need to choose a different fiction book.
8. CURRENT FILING 30 minutes done
9. OLD PAPER 10 minutes done out of a GOAL of 2 hours
10. PLANT CUTTINGS GOAL - (Still don't have a count of them) 4 containers of spider plants done, graptosedum cuttings done
11. ENCLOSED SPACES GOAL - Reorganize as many of them as possible 1 drawer done (wallet drawer) - 1 cabinet done (3 shelves of kitchen items and food)
12. OFFICE SUPPLIES & STATIONERY ORGANIZATION
Diane
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Post by Unswamping on Nov 13, 2022 21:50:57 GMT -5
Diane, what a great report! I hope your spider plants do well so you can have a matching pair come spring. Great job on getting book trades done! Smart thinking about decision making on books.
mylittlescholar I hope your early Thanksgiving went ok. Snow already?
goldenthreads I like your list too. Great job on clearing one out and finding favorite cookbooks!
outfromundah making it a game sounds like a good idea! I find that making things fun, especially the hard things like decluttering, makes it much easier! Do this anyway you want, there’s no pressure here, just encouragement. I haven’t decided on my goals either and that’s ok.
I still have decided on my challenges yet. I had planned a certain goal for this month and it’s not going to happen. I’ve had alot of things going wrong the past few weeks which have distracted me from what I planned to do. I’ve been doing a lot of work in office. NT suggested I try focusing on one room at a time. The rest of the house has a lot of chaos going on. To remedy that will create some more short term chaos (it involves moving furniture around and the associated stuff). I had a hanging and fixing items challenge from last challenge I thought I wanted to carry over. I did just fix one thing which broke yesterday and shockingly I put the stuff away (glue, nails, hammer). Maybe I can try a list like Diane.
1. Office - this won’t get done this month or even this year but if I can spend some time every day that would be a big help. Aim for 30 minutes a day.
2. Hanging project - lots of different things need hanging up around the house. I did one last challenge.
3. Fixing things project - I fixed one thing today that broke yesterday so it didn’t even make it to fix it bin. Fix it bin is a large Rubbermaid tote so full, I can’t put lid on it.  item I just fixed couldn’t have fit on top.
4. Mending project - as part of my office/sewing/craft room project, I sorted through my totes of “sewing projects”. Sewing projects got organized into two totes. All the items that needed mending got tossed in a lag hamper. Today I sorted the hamper into three categories: stuff that needs the sewing machine, hand sewing and knitted items that need crochet hook to fix. Put the three categories back in that order. So the easiest stuff is on top. my sewing table hasn’t been clear for I don’t know how long. it’s clear now.
5. Donations - need to get current donations out. Plus if I get more sorted out, I need to get those out promptly.
6. Important/urgent items done. I will list these as I get them done.
7. Dailies - I’ve been slacking on my dailies, which right now consists of two tasks. I would like to get back to get them done daily and then maybe adding a few more (one at a time, of course)
I don’t know if I want to add anything about the rest of the house. My goal for the office is for it to be functional, not perfect. Even if I have boxes of papers to go through or totes of sewing projects or bags of yarn projects, I will consider it done if I can work on these projects. That means having cleared spaces to work on stuff, having supplies organized and any decluttering done. I still have some areas to declutter in there, sewing table just got cleared. Desks are somewhat functional but could be better. I can’t seem to find a good space for the white board I bought. I really should have measured and planned exactly where I was going to put it. It’s 3ft wide and there just isn’t space. Of course I opened the packaging so I’m not sure I can return it.
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