Oh man, I am really feeling it now. For the first time today, discouragement... I almost have the scrapbook room cleaned out. I sold the furniture out of it today and it felt strangely good! Now that it's gone, I can't fill it back up. I am allowing myself two small shelf units and a teeny, tiny linen closet in the new place to store scrapbooks, supplies and photos. Those that know me well may have seen the huge shelf unit in the garage where all of my extra albums and photos and memorabilia are stored... This is in addition to the room full of supplies and the shelves full of albums in the living room. Downsizing all of this is a REALLY BIG deal! I mean, I'm ready to do it. I just honestly didn't realize how much I have and it really hit me pretty hard today.
Tonight, I decided to tackle my cake making supplies. Big mistake! My goal was to organize it better in an effort to conserve space. There is precious little space in the new kitchen. I had resigned myself to that, but when I actually pulled the cake stuff out of the nooks and crannies where I had it stored around my currently gigantic kitchen and got it all out in one place, my heart stopped for a second. I had NO IDEA I had this much stuff. Now what do I do??? I couldn't find one single thing I wanted to part with. Damn!!! There's not room to keep it all but nothing I want to get rid of. I'm really frustrated, so I'll move on for now. Maybe after I sleep on it I'll feel better.
Tomorrow the estate service will be here to meet with me about having them facilitate the sale of the things we aren't taking with us (Which is most of it!). If we use their service, we can move out and take what we want with us, leaving everything behind that we don't want. They sell what they can, donate what they can't, clean the house and cut us a check. Sounds guilt free to me! I don't know how much they will charge, I'm pretty sure it's commission based. I also don't know if what we have will be worth their while. I guess I will find out tomorrow. One problem with using the estate service is that right now, I am using money I am getting from selling what we have to pay for furnishing the new place. If I use their service, I'll have to wait for one big check instead of a little here and a little there. I have waffled back and forth about whether to do this myself or to use them. I think using their service would be the best emotional route to take. Of course doing it myself means I don't have to pay them, so more money in my pocket to make the new place wonderful. Hmmm....
Decisions, Decisions!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
LONG Weekend!
I have started the Craigslist madness! The first large piece of furniture is gone and we also sold my biggest toy out of the garage, the sand car. We have also sold some other odds and ends. So now one of my many challenges is to furnish the new place. It's pretty small, so none of the furniture we have (with the exception of my bedroom set) will work in the condo. One of the hardest parts has been to find a table that will fit in such a narrow dining space. I think I solved the problem today at West Elm. Phew! It's so hard to know what to keep when you don't know what kind of furniture you will have. Now that that's settled, making decisions about what to keep and what to part with should be a little easier.
I am still sorting away in the scrapbook room. That's the toughest spot for me to downsize because craft supplies have been my biggest buying addiction for so long. I'm weeding things out slowly but surely, but man its tough!
I went out in to the garage this weekend and started sorting things out there. I am just amazed at how little I actually want to keep now that I have made up my mind about downsizing. I have held on to SOOOO much stuff for so long on the off chance that some day I might need it or reuse it. With the new mindset it's not as hard as I thought it would be to let go. I am on a purging binge!!!
We got the keys to the new condo on Sunday and I was finally able to get in there and measure and really visualize what it will be like to live in 1720 square feet. We can totally do this!!! I am excited, I just wish I could clone myself to get the work done faster!
I am still sorting away in the scrapbook room. That's the toughest spot for me to downsize because craft supplies have been my biggest buying addiction for so long. I'm weeding things out slowly but surely, but man its tough!
I went out in to the garage this weekend and started sorting things out there. I am just amazed at how little I actually want to keep now that I have made up my mind about downsizing. I have held on to SOOOO much stuff for so long on the off chance that some day I might need it or reuse it. With the new mindset it's not as hard as I thought it would be to let go. I am on a purging binge!!!
We got the keys to the new condo on Sunday and I was finally able to get in there and measure and really visualize what it will be like to live in 1720 square feet. We can totally do this!!! I am excited, I just wish I could clone myself to get the work done faster!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Late Night Sorting
I was up until almost one a.m. sorting the kitchen, my side of the master closet and the scrapbook room. I made a lot of progress, but it's not enough. My plan right now is to go through each room once and purge what's easy to purge. Then once I have an idea of what's left to deal with, I'll go through a second time and make the tougher choices.
I'm struggling the most with things that trigger memories. A Christmas gift from our first Christmas together or an item that belonged to a loved one that passed away. The item itself has no value, but the memories are priceless. I have honestly carried around a microwave hot dog cooker for 17 years! Why would anyone do this??? Wayne gave it to me for Christmas the first year we were married. I never use it, but it's so funny to think that he actually gave me a microwave hot dog cooker as a serious gift. LOL! Every time I see it I laugh and think of what a dork he used to be. What do I do? It doesn't take up much space.
You see, this is the problem I have... A few bazillion items that don't take up much space on their own, but there's power in numbers, people. Thousands of items that have had the the power to take over my life. There's a story to go with each item that I have been hauling around for the past 17 years. And we move around like gypsies, so this really is pure insanity! Yes, that's exactly what it is. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? LOL
So I have a plan. It involves a camera... It's not my idea, so I can't take the credit, but it's a pretty darn good one. I heard of doing this a long time ago and it sounded good then, but I just wasn't ready to let go at the time. Back to the plan:
I am going to photograph sentimental items. I'll put all the photos in an album and journal a memory that goes with the item. This way I won't have the actual stuff, but I won't lose the little smile I get when I think of the item. Who needs a microwave hot dog cooker anyway? All I really need is that little sentimental twinge and the warm memory that comes back to me every time I remember our first Christmas as husband and wife.
I'm struggling the most with things that trigger memories. A Christmas gift from our first Christmas together or an item that belonged to a loved one that passed away. The item itself has no value, but the memories are priceless. I have honestly carried around a microwave hot dog cooker for 17 years! Why would anyone do this??? Wayne gave it to me for Christmas the first year we were married. I never use it, but it's so funny to think that he actually gave me a microwave hot dog cooker as a serious gift. LOL! Every time I see it I laugh and think of what a dork he used to be. What do I do? It doesn't take up much space.
You see, this is the problem I have... A few bazillion items that don't take up much space on their own, but there's power in numbers, people. Thousands of items that have had the the power to take over my life. There's a story to go with each item that I have been hauling around for the past 17 years. And we move around like gypsies, so this really is pure insanity! Yes, that's exactly what it is. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? LOL
So I have a plan. It involves a camera... It's not my idea, so I can't take the credit, but it's a pretty darn good one. I heard of doing this a long time ago and it sounded good then, but I just wasn't ready to let go at the time. Back to the plan:
I am going to photograph sentimental items. I'll put all the photos in an album and journal a memory that goes with the item. This way I won't have the actual stuff, but I won't lose the little smile I get when I think of the item. Who needs a microwave hot dog cooker anyway? All I really need is that little sentimental twinge and the warm memory that comes back to me every time I remember our first Christmas as husband and wife.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Simplifying
I still can't believe that we are actually doing this... Together, Wayne and I have made the decision to downsize and simplify our life. We are leaving behind a 2600 square foot home with a three car garage that is packed to the gills full of everything you can imagine. We have so much stuff that we can't even park a car in the garage. We have been married for seventeen years and during that time, we have accumulated a staggering amount of stuff. We have collections of every kind, one of each of damn near everything... How did this happen???
It's mostly my fault. My "collecting" habit started when I was a kid. I loved to collect... Stickers, elephants, dolls, cassettes... After I got married, I developed a scrapbooking habit. My dirty little not-so-secret. My scrapbook corner turned in to a scrapbook room which developed in to LITERALLY half a U-haul full of paper racks, custom furniture built to hold it all and box after box after box of one of each of everything. Looking at it now, it turns my stomach a little to think that I was actually proud of having so much stuff. What was I thinking?
Now that I have kids, I have the tendency to buy them one of each toy... Hey Brady, let's collect Cars... Making a game of hunting store to store to find one of each. With Dustin, it was Disney VHS tapes, then Beanie Babies and with Makaylah, it has been tiny Disney princesses. Once you start one of these collections, it's almost impossible to part with it. There's some sentimental value there, memories of the hunt.
How do you emotionally disconnect yourself from stuff? Everywhere I look in my house I see an item that triggers a memory. Do I use this stuff? Hell no! Do I dust it? Unfortunately. Do I have room to enjoy my home? No! Do I spend my weekends cleaning and cleaning because we have too much stuff and too much space? Yes... I'm tired. Tired of stuff, tired of not having time to do what's important because on top of my stuff addiction, I am a clean freak. I won't have company over unless the house is cleaned to perfection and when I can't keep up, I cut myself off socially because I can't stand the embarassment. It's a viscious cycle.
The cycle continues... The more room I have, the more stuff I put in it. When the stuff gets out of control, I bag/box it up and move it to the garage because I can't bear to part with it. 17 years of this has created an unbelievable trainwreck of a mess. I have tried to downsize unsuccessfully several times before. I have gotten rid of literal truckloads of things on many occasions and yet, I am still left sitting in the middle of an unmanageable gargantuan amount of stuff.
So how am I going to overcome this problem? I started by downsizing myself... I took control of my health and have lost more than 60 pounds since Spetember 2009. This was a big first step for me. The manifestation that I can successfully downsize has boosted my confidence and led me to the realization that my big butt wasn't the only thing I needed to part with. This month, we traded in two cars for one and we are now a one-car family. Yikes! It's been tough to get used to, but guess what??? We're doing it and somehow it's working. Baby steps. So here's the plan:
We are moving our family in to a 1700 square foot condo. Upside: This place is beautiful and I absolutely can not wait to live there. It's on the 17th floor and has breathtaking views of the Las Vegas strip. You can literally see from the Wynn to the Tropicana from the living room. Downside: There is not a garage and our only storage is a 4x4x6 "cage" barely big enough for some holiday decorations and maybe a suitcase or 2. 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a very small kitchen and a great room. That's it...
How are we going to do this??? It's not going to be easy. We're all going to make some serious sacrifices. But I have faith that what we will gain in quality family life will be well worth anything we "sacrifice" in the way of personal belongings. How much stuff does one family really need anyway???
My plan is to post every day on the progress we are making. Downsizing myself has made my life so much better, I can't wait to see what downsizing my stuff does for me!
It's mostly my fault. My "collecting" habit started when I was a kid. I loved to collect... Stickers, elephants, dolls, cassettes... After I got married, I developed a scrapbooking habit. My dirty little not-so-secret. My scrapbook corner turned in to a scrapbook room which developed in to LITERALLY half a U-haul full of paper racks, custom furniture built to hold it all and box after box after box of one of each of everything. Looking at it now, it turns my stomach a little to think that I was actually proud of having so much stuff. What was I thinking?
Now that I have kids, I have the tendency to buy them one of each toy... Hey Brady, let's collect Cars... Making a game of hunting store to store to find one of each. With Dustin, it was Disney VHS tapes, then Beanie Babies and with Makaylah, it has been tiny Disney princesses. Once you start one of these collections, it's almost impossible to part with it. There's some sentimental value there, memories of the hunt.
How do you emotionally disconnect yourself from stuff? Everywhere I look in my house I see an item that triggers a memory. Do I use this stuff? Hell no! Do I dust it? Unfortunately. Do I have room to enjoy my home? No! Do I spend my weekends cleaning and cleaning because we have too much stuff and too much space? Yes... I'm tired. Tired of stuff, tired of not having time to do what's important because on top of my stuff addiction, I am a clean freak. I won't have company over unless the house is cleaned to perfection and when I can't keep up, I cut myself off socially because I can't stand the embarassment. It's a viscious cycle.
The cycle continues... The more room I have, the more stuff I put in it. When the stuff gets out of control, I bag/box it up and move it to the garage because I can't bear to part with it. 17 years of this has created an unbelievable trainwreck of a mess. I have tried to downsize unsuccessfully several times before. I have gotten rid of literal truckloads of things on many occasions and yet, I am still left sitting in the middle of an unmanageable gargantuan amount of stuff.
So how am I going to overcome this problem? I started by downsizing myself... I took control of my health and have lost more than 60 pounds since Spetember 2009. This was a big first step for me. The manifestation that I can successfully downsize has boosted my confidence and led me to the realization that my big butt wasn't the only thing I needed to part with. This month, we traded in two cars for one and we are now a one-car family. Yikes! It's been tough to get used to, but guess what??? We're doing it and somehow it's working. Baby steps. So here's the plan:
We are moving our family in to a 1700 square foot condo. Upside: This place is beautiful and I absolutely can not wait to live there. It's on the 17th floor and has breathtaking views of the Las Vegas strip. You can literally see from the Wynn to the Tropicana from the living room. Downside: There is not a garage and our only storage is a 4x4x6 "cage" barely big enough for some holiday decorations and maybe a suitcase or 2. 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a very small kitchen and a great room. That's it...
How are we going to do this??? It's not going to be easy. We're all going to make some serious sacrifices. But I have faith that what we will gain in quality family life will be well worth anything we "sacrifice" in the way of personal belongings. How much stuff does one family really need anyway???
My plan is to post every day on the progress we are making. Downsizing myself has made my life so much better, I can't wait to see what downsizing my stuff does for me!
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