Confessions of a hoarder

I like to laugh a lot about my basement and my clutter "issue" around the house. j Joke that I'm a hoarder and need an intervention. Well....I am decluttering my basement (HA! as usual) and trying to find some sense in all this mess that I've managed to accumulate for years and years. And really working hard to declutter. So I've enlisted Goldilocks (Who btw has the same issue as I do) and she who is yet to be named to help me in the basement. They are becoming great help and working with me to part with "stuff" I would chronicle this journey in pictures, but to be honest I'm too ashamed to. LOL I am taking pictures though and eventually will do "before" and "after" Once the after is complete and I can feel better about it. :)

But here is what I have found so far:

1. I am completely emotionally attached to "stuff:....Pictures of loved ones, letters or books of my dads who passed away 18 years ago. Bells that were my grandmothers. Pictures my kids have made. Tokens from vacations or fun times. China and dishes that were my great grand mothers and beyond....Lots of things to cherish but so much that the meaning is gone when it's packed away in a box in the basement for years on end.

2. I keep "stuff" because I have this thought that I might need it someday and not be able to buy it. *sigh* I'm pretty sure this comes from being poor as a child. But....Seriously hoarding a bunch of blankets or purses or shoes or "whatever" for the past 10 years isn't really going to help me if I do NEED them someday. Likely they are outdated and not usable for any purpose then just having it. Which...is pretty silly.

3. I am surrounded by stuff that serves no purpose. And I don't really LOVE but can't seem to part with it for a variety of reasons.

4. I keep "stuff" that I have plans to change into something else, or redecorate, or upcycle. But....I have no time to do that stuff because I am constantly working to declutter.

As fast as I take out it seems to pile up. I declutter and a month or two later it's back!! From where? I don't know. I purged 60 bags (YES 60!) during my 40 bags in 40 days project over Lent and I seem to have more now then when I started....What is up with that?

So....I have forced myself to face this. Taking an hour out of each day during nap time or after bedtime and making myself sort a box one at a time and either re-homing it or throwing it to the curb. I have given up on the "yard sale" idea. Because that gives me a reason to "hoard" so I'm just ridding it.

The past two weeks I have managed to rid out another 20 or so bags/boxes from the basement. And little by little it is going away. Not as fast as I would like and not as easy as I would like. I need to changed my attitude and my emotional connection to stuff.

I might not ever reach "simple living" status, but maybe I will be able to have more space and less "baggage" literally. :)

100 Things to do and No time to do it?

So as you all know I've been working on my 100 things a day for a week project. Well, today is Wednesday and it's really been Hump Day for me in more ways then one. I promised myself that I would not give into temptation to not complete this project. And today was a test. I had other stuff going on, I'm exhausted and really could have done without it today.

So....Here is what we did. When Brother Baer came home from school I explained I had a game to play. But it was going to be really hard and would he help me. Of course he said (Because it was a game and not work. haha) And I told him the plan.....100 things in the trash bag in 15 minutes. We would set the timer.....

So I grabbed a bag and we planned our attack.

We raced around the kitchen and Dining Room and Bathroom downstairs....Found a few things

We raced to the living room and glanced through toys and boooks...any broken? or ripped up pages? GONE

Then we headed to the basement....Racing.....

Found a few things down there like an empty bottle of kitty litter, an empty box of kitty food, and a few stray dryer sheets....All trash.

Then we ran up 2 flights to the upstairs....Racing against the clock...

Brother Baer found a few things in his room, I found a few in the babies room, and mine...

But we weren't to 100 yet?

Upstairs bathroom....to the junk drawers.

I found old razors waiting for refills that weren't coming, old battery from who knows when, some junk I will never use, and an empty bag from razors....hmmmm....

Then to complete the 100 things we went back to the babies room and found some alcohol pads from when one of them were born, a shoe box, and a fwe other misc things...

BAM.....We hit 100. (With 3 minutes to spare I might add!!!!!)

SO...not the massive clean up from previous days...but 100 things is the goal. NOT massive decluttering everyday. And today I made the goal!!!

3 more days to go. And it only took up 15 (well 12) minutes of my life.

AND Brother Baer and I had a blast and laughed the whole time.