Not quite a horder - decluttering
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I got a kit on sale last year, and got it out to build this year. Two buck beats the ten they want regularly. People in my family only eat the candy off them, and it still hasn't expired anyway. It's fun to build them.
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Actually my kit is a gingerbread train. I think I will actually make my own house this year.
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I didn't realize people actually ate gingerbread houses. I thought you were just supposed to eat the decorations while you decorated.
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UMM - Went to a Mexican grocery yesterday. Making food to take to party Saturday. Just had to have one of their gingerbread piggies to eat while I drove. I bought some neat stuff, but just what a hoarder does not need. Now I have 2 jars of Mexican sauces to use up - Sofrito which I've had b4 and one called Recaito, both Goya brands. Last is very green, cilantro based both for white chicken chili. Crockpot here I come.
Didn't get anywhere close to Michaels yesterday to see Woodland Santas which is just as well. Have 7-8 maybe more (see I don't even know how many) storage boxes of Christmas decorations. Maybe next year I will have dug this house out enough to put up more than slender tree with OH maybe 1/2 box of ornaments. And manger which is out of closet but not yet set up.
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Teka - LOVE it. Edible clutter, that's my kitchen.
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I am hoping that the rain swhich arrive last night will stay through the day and I can bake in a cozy little kitchen today. Edible clutter, I like it.
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Teka - some of the edible clutter got used today. I used the Goya sauces Sofrito and Recaito (very green) in white chicken chili for a party tonight. Pretty pleased with it. Of course, the remainders of the sauces will go in refrig. to become food clutter in there. I think the Recaito is pretty spicy but did not try them by themselves.
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Teka - You're welcome to come. Ft. Worth, TX. The recipe is off of Cooks.com White Chicken Chili. Recipe starts with 1 lb ground turkey if you go searching. I must say it turned out pretty good if rather green from frozen spinach (???WTH). I hesitated to put it in but it was VERY pale unappetizing even with the special sauces. I put in a packet of Goya saffron powder like bouillon powder. WOW - that was the thing that kicked it up and not really spicy. Have it in the crockpot to take tonight. Also made a Texas trash thing with homemade caramel sauce, Fritos, pretzels, nuts and M&Ms called Frito Snack Mix. So you have the spicy and the sweet. It's a bunch of old friends who's kids grew up together. We go out once a month for Mexican food (easy to do in TX) so for Christmas we cook and have a Dirty Santa exchange. There will be alcohol (margaritas of course) but little for me and DH is not much of a drinker besides being the designated driver and him having to be at work at 9 am tomorrow.
On google these sauces seem to be Puerto Rican as well and lots of ways to make your own. I think I see baked chicken thighs tomorrow with red Sofrito sauce mixed in the packaged mix I was going to make.
I ran out of steam (I love to cook but with just 2 of us no real need); was going to make rum balls also. Oh well, maybe a small batch for us. Do you know, at least around here, you can't get vanilla wafer crumbs in a box? I settled for graham cracker crumbs; I read you can use all kinds of liquers and cookie crumbs. Think my mom might have made rum balls, for sure she made date nut candy. Yum but not something I'm likely to do.
Special plans for the evening???
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That sounds yummy.
Yesterday we worked on decluttering our back yard. I took out all of the tomato bushes which served us well. We also raked the leaves and I actually threw away a few of things which were broken or rusted beyond help. I keep things with good intentions to repair them, but don't get to it. So, I feel good about getting rid of a few things.
On Thursday I cleaned out my linen closet. Found eight sets of twin sheets, and I only have 2 twin beds. Since I don't have anyone living here using the beds, I certainly don't need spare sheets, so I gave 2 sets to DS to take to his house! HA! He gets to store them and I have some less cluttered space!
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Teka - My crockpot full of the chili was enjoyed to the bottom of the crock last night. It turned out closer to soup than chili because I didn't have anything I trusted to thicken it with but it got rave reviews. I added some lime juice and a lime/chili salt I got at the spice place but I bet just lime juice and a good chili seasoning would do it. I don't like real spicy and this was perfect. I did not put in the mushrooms (?in chili) and put in 2 cans of garbanzo beans. Let it cook/simmer about 1.5-2 hours on low then put in heated crockpot to take it into town.
The Frito snack mix also went over well. I had some leftover at home. Could not get it all in the container to take.
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We are probably watching the same shows, Luv. I have a lot more areas to declutter, but sdoesn't it feel good?
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LuvMyGoats, vanilla wafer crumbs can be made by putting the wafers in a plastic bag and using your rolling pin on them. It is a pretty quick process. I do love Rum Balls.
Ginger
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Yesterday I was feeling a bit better after this crappy cold and I reorganized my bedrooms. I also donated 20 more cookbooks. I am down to about 100 now and still going. I went into the basement and I have way too many towels in plastic bins and sheet sets. Why did I do that?????
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Our animal shelter takes donated towels to put in the animal cages. Some people donate towels better than the ones I'm using at home lol.
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I never thought about the animal shelter. Good idea.
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We use old ones to dry our cars when we wash them, but that doesn't take a stack of twenty. Every little bit of decluttering helps. After all, Christmas brings in a bit more clutter. Hmmmm should I get rid of one thing for every gift I recieve?
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Today I went through 8 years of Taste of The South, Southern Lady and Paula Dean magazines. I opened each one and looked at it and tore out a recipe or two and am going to drop them at the Dr ofc the next few days. OMG I have stacks that were in the spare bedroom. Unreal. Why did I save them for so long?
I am glad I am doing this because I do not have time to dwell on my health issues and as Peter Walsh would say...it's all too much. I think that was the name of his book. I like him.
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Sheesh! I just caught up on reading the last six pages of posts... everyone has been so busy!
Most of the de-cluttering I've been doing has been the frantic rush to throw piles of stuff in the off-limits closet right before the cleaning crew comes every two weeks. If the counter tops are cleared off, and the carpet is open enough to vacuum, I'm happy....
When DH and I got married in 2005, we HAD to build a new house. My little 1300 square foot house was crammed to the rafters with my junk, as was his 1600 square foot house. We built a new 2600 square foot house to accommodate all our crap. Well, that, and to start fresh.
The house has a three car garage, and one of the first things DH did was to cut a big honkin' HOLE in the ceiling, install a drop-down ladder, and create an attic in the space above. It's sort of a Victorian-style home, so there is plenty of room to walk around below the roof.
Over the years, all manner of junk has found its way up there, especially our Christmas decorations. I never, EVER, threw away anything. But this year, I was adamant - we sift through everything, and all the excess gets donated.
I was amazed. The "Donate" pile of just Christmas items filled up the entire back of his pickup truck. I let go of so many things, including brand-new-in-the-box lighted churches, villages, figurines, etc. I suppose I could have tried to sell them, but this way, our local hospice thrift store can get the money, and we can get the tax write-off. (TurboTax is VERY generous in pricing donated materials!)
I've already donated old rugs, towels, and bedding to our no-kill animal shelter.
I also donated six huge boxes of books to the hospice thrift store.
My next project is to let go of all my big clothes. I've just lost 60 pounds, and gone from a size 18 to a size 8. Now my 1X and 2X tops just hang on me and my size 18 pants fall off. Some have already gone to our church's Homeless Outreach, some will go to the hospice thrift store to be resold, and some will go to a program for women recently released from prison who are looking for jobs. I have a huge professional wardrobe that I no longer need, having retired 7 years ago.
I dread the prospect of going through boxes and boxes of my cookbooks. I've loved collecting them, but now when I cook, I turn to Google for recipes.
At least now I've got the motivation (tax write-offs) and the time (weekly obligations on hold til after the holidays) to really get in there and purge!!!
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Our recycling only comes every two weeks. The last time was Christmas Eve. We have a mountain of cardboard to recycle, sons family here, daughters family here, our gifts arrived from across the country in cardboard and a ton of amazon boxes. DH has to move all trash 2 tenths of a mile for pick-up, we didn't know the trucks don't come down here when we moved here from the flatlands of IL.
We actually only took oput a few tree decorations, put up two wreaths, one outside one in the big window inside, and a couple small items this year. I think it could all be put away in 30 minutes. The carpets look like they have been used outside with all the play and pets coming in from the rain and children too.
I hope for the new year top actually get my sewing room decluttered to the extent that I like it up there. I think if I think about it as an ideal I will never ever get it done and will feel bad about myself which is not the idea at all. I kike everything that is actually mine up there and should, (well would like to) be able to see those things. I have some momentoes of when I worked in Haiti, my dolls, not too many, doll furniture, not too much it is all for 8" Muffies and Ginny dolls. I have sme things that were my Grandma's like her kitchen cupboard. It is a shame this is in disarray. I will stop my going on about this now!
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.
Hugs GInger
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I did some decluttering today, but it was really hard to let go of stuff. I did manage to toss or give away at least 27 things, I'm pretty sure. Still I have soooo many sweaters. I will just start wearing the ones I haven't been wearing, and if they don't fit or I find I don't love them so much, I will give them away. I definitely made some progress in my bedroom, and I will work in my bedroom again later today. I need to clear off the furniture, organize drawers, get rid of jewelry, get rid of socks, get rid of underwear. I swear I will make this work. I will make it so my stuff fits into my closets and drawers.
At least now there is a clear path to my closets! That is huge!
I'm shooting for a 27 thing fling every day for at least a month. I bet I can do that and STILL have too much stuff!
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Hello,I'm a newcomer to this writing, reading, and responding to people. I may grow to liking it. A t any rate I'd like to come back to this at another date.
For now, my 72 yr young mom has been diagnosed with DCIS stage 3 BREAST Cancer thats embedded in her right breast. its has exuded some kind of fluid. its 2x2x3 cm in size. we do not know how long shes had this cancer. She's literally in treatment for bladder cancer now. She has 3 more chemo injections with aim of preventing it from returning in the future. Thus she's frightened beyond her mind will allow. Her memory is shot to heck. I have medical power of attorney on her behalf. I am her 52 yr old daughter living with multiple myeloma (cancer) with no remission nor cure for last 10 yrs. therefore,I'll be writing and placing inquiries,etc.......
We've not spoken to an Oncologist yet, as just read pathology report X-mas morning.
What to do now? I'm worried because of her age,and she is literally 2 weeks out bladder cancer surgery. It's mandatory that she wear oxygen 24-7, as she has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (copd) trouble breathing. See why I'm concerned!!!!0 -
Concernedsierra, I can see why you're concerned. That's a lot going on with both of you. I was diagnosed last year at age 71 and found the surgeries (lumpectomy and mastectomy) were much easier than any sort of abdominal surgery. DCIS has not spread, but that size is probably large enough that they will want to do something to remove it. She should definitely stay on the oxygen because that will speed healing. A lot of women on here talk about chemo brain--and they've just decided it's real. So that could be some of her memory problem. Sending good vibes to both of you. (((((HUGS)))))
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Get rid of socks indeed. I have two drawers full of those cute ones I wore in the 90s with flats. I took a bag of clothes to Goodwill yesterday and plan to do more cleaning today. This is really hard to do but am getting better at it. Once it is gone I do not miss it I just have to get it out of the house.
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I hope to take a bag to Goodwill tomorrow. I have one bag ready to go, but I would like to get another bag together. They are calling for bad weather, so it might not happen. Still, I will at least get them ready to go, hopefully before the end of the year.
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WooHOO!!!
Nine bags of clothes and shoes went to our local hospice thrift shop yesterday!!!
Two more bags of clothes and shoes in the spare room, waiting to be taken to our church for the homeless outreach!
The whole top shelf of my walk-in closet is empty, and you can actually MOVE the hanging clothes back and forth. They're not crammed in there like one of those TV commercials for the space-saving hangers.
I'm slowly getting there......
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Blessings20 - Thats a lot of good work. Feels good doesn't it?
Teka - They were in plastic bins under the beds. That is why I did not know I had so many. I kept putting them in there for storage. I discovered something else. All those magazines are published by the same Hoffman media company. I found the same recipes in all three over the last several years. What a waste of money. I will keep taking Paula Deen because I really like her but the others can run out. I now have a closet completely clean. I even found a crock pot in a box in my closet. Unreal.
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Thanks, BUNKIE10 - Hey, we recently found out a can of soda had exploded a long time ago in the back of our pantry, and in moving everything out, DH found a brand-new electric sandwich maker/grill, still in the box, unopened. Must have been a wedding present!!!
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For me it has been long overdue. When both my parents died within 2 years of each other I was overwhelmed and depressed. I was also sick from the stress of their care-taking and my autoimmune disease went nuts. I saw about 10 Dr's and had every test there was. I was also put on a nasty drug called prednisone. It affected my thinking. Now I realize a lot of it was me and my not dealing with stress and loss. During that time I thought I cleaned out a ton of stuff. I did but it was my parents stuff so I did not address mine. After loosing a gallbladder and now getting Cancer I have been alone in this childhood home to see my own clutter. Since that it is winter and I can not go anywhere much it is a perfect time to get rid of my old stuff that is dragging me down. I am glad I found this site for all the cancer stuff and now after wards it is helping me declutter. My goal is to get down to about the size of a 2 bedroom condo so I can sell thsi old home and move west again.
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I didn't do anything today. Ugh.
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Dune, you THOUGHT about it. That's part of the process.
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