OT--On a roll!
 

So last week I got a call from the new organizer that the original one referred me to. We had a great conversation on the phone--I think I will like working with her. She charges about the same as the first one, and she seems to have more time available and lives much closer to me (20 minutes or so versus over an hour for the other one--I paid a surcharge for travel time). She's very active in her professional association, so I feel like I will be in good hands.

I did some stuff on my bedroom to make it work a little better for me, got most of the bathrooms done, and I am now on a roll. I went to an unfinished furniture place and ordered new solid wood bookcases. I'm having them finished to match my other stuff. It will take about 60 days to get them, and in the meantime I can replace my flooring (which was desperately needed regardless of what the cats did to the floor). I have a carpenter friend who can probably do the flooring--otherwise I will hire someone else. I need it de-stinkified as much as possible.

NOW I have to work on getting the basement fixed up--at least the part furthest from the foundation cracks--so I can move the cats' litter box back downstairs. I got almost ALL of the junk pulled and put in one corner of the basement, and made an appointment with a junk removal service to haul it all away on Monday. I also posted my pool table, and a small bar that I have, on craigslist. Once all that stuff is out of there I will have a TON of room. I decided to put down a rubber floor on part of the basement floor so I can put some exercise equipment down there, do stretches and yoga. I have a treadmill that is taking up space in the living room.

LOL, I'm making searching and fearless junk inventory. My pile of junk:

Way to go! Glad it's all coming together. Woo!

Easy does it, but do it!

(Gee, I miss slogans. Seems none of the Alanon mtgs I've been goiny to do them at all. )

:puppy:Lexie---I must say that your pile of junk looks pretty benign.

Just saying......

dandylion

Well, it looks more dramatic in person, lol. Not to mention all the space I will be getting back where this stuff was crammed in.

Thank you for sharing your progress, LexieCat.
I appreciate it, and I am going to do some UFYH today.

Beth

Way to go, Lexie!! That's wonderful!! That's a huge inspiration!! I tend to think that clutter and "stuff" causing problems in our space can be super related to emotional clutter for me, I hope it brings you lots of nice peace in addition to more physical space!

This inspires me, I have a cluttery room I've been avoiding like the plague I'm going to work on some today!!

I've been following your organizing/cleaning/having help come in (and out) and now back in (yay!) thing since you started.

You've done a heluva lot of work!

Not only do I like the UFYH website better than Flylady but have always enjoyed
the chattering, showing how things progress, general comradely over everything you've been sharing. It's not easy work, especially in this heat. I'm near beat before I even start. But slowly and surely things come together if we keep at them.

So, thanks! To you and everyone else who's been sharing too. These are my favorite kind of threads. :)

Taking inspiration from you, I am going to clean out my garage this summer. Plus, I need the extra space to park the Mini in this winter. Being so small, I think I could actually park it in my SUV.

Anyway, thanks for sharing. I am inspired to find ways to maximize my space because the majority of stuff cluttering the one stall in my garage is stuff I want to keep.

Keep us posted on progress. Love the 'before' photos. Take lots! ; )

Thank you for posting about this. You inspired me, too. I got a lot done in our disastrous basement this weekend. Two big pieces of furniture gone, and quite a bit of sorting out of little stuff.

Thank you, also, to whoever posted about UFYH. Loving that!

Thanks LC for posting about this, and I do not believe that this is OT. This is about doing a 4th and 5th steps on our environment which is important to our continuing recovery!

I would suspect that 'junk pile' might grow a bit more yet before 'pick up' on Monday!

Good job so far. It is 'one step at a time' and you are making GREAT progress!

Thaks for keeping us updated.

Love and hugs,

OK, just got back from delivering an entire carload of stuff to Goodwill.

I had all this STUFF I accumulated from my days living with the winemaker (last partner--not alcoholic but other issues including pathological lying). I collected all these things with grape motifs--jewelry, dishes (a very nice set that included some lovely serving pieces). They aren't tremendously valuable, but they are in perfect condition. I've had them taking up room in a buffet in the dining room because I don't like to look at them or use them, but I kept thinking I really should sell them, because I could probably get at least a couple hundred bucks for them. The thought of boxing them all up and shipping them if I were to sell them on eBay or something, though, made my head ache.

So I bit the bullet and loaded them ALL up, along with a bunch of other things that were too good to throw out but too much trouble to sell.

OMG, getting rid of those dishes felt SOOO good. I wasn't much of a wine drinker, myself, but we owned winery property and I planted 3 acres of grapes by hand--TWICE. The reminder of grapes makes me slightly nauseous.

I gotta jump in the shower so I get to my home group tonight plenty early. I'm opening the meeting this month. I got my speaker lined up and I need to get there early.

Woo hoo!! Once they pick up stuff tomorrow, I figure I will have gotten rid of literally close to a ton of junk.

I've been donating all my unused items to my mother's church "estate"sales run by the youth group, they have raised enough $$ for a new laptop and lcd projector...the minister sends me a signed official receipt for my taxes too.
The vietnam vets also do scheduled pickups in the driveways of my areas, salvation army...one woman 's clutter is someone else's treasure!
Lexie you can come and clean my closets anytime! You are an expert now.

Lexie, your grapes experience is pretty stunning!! I can understand why your grapes are sour.

Get it...?

dandylion

Awesome!!! I'm at the other end of organizing and purging, the pre-moving end. I laughed at the idea of applying slogans to the process - "More will be revealed" presented itself immediately when I thought about helping my teenage daughter shovel through her room. :lmao

Go you!!!

I didn't know what UFYH was... So I googled it, installed the app, and just checked off my first challenge! What a neat tool. Committing to two more right-sized tasks today, thank you again for the inspiration!!

And huge congrats about the grapes items -- what a nice space you've cleared both physically and emotionally in your life and home!!

Junk guys just hauled away my junk! The pile approximately doubled in size by the time I was done yesterday. It wasn't cheap to get rid of it, but man. I look at the basement, and it seems HUGE. I still have a few places I need to de-junk (kitchen drawers, a couple of closets), but it's not going to be a quantity that I can't put out with the trash.

I'm glad I did it this way--making the appointment and putting it all in a pile motivated me to get it all, and to be ruthless about it. There are very, very few things I still have that I am holding onto because "maybe" I will want them someday. Almost everything I have is stuff I will almost certainly need, or really WANT to keep.

Good for you!
As an antiques/collectibles dealer, I am on the other end--supplying people with stuff. Lots and lots of stuff.
Who am I to tell them they don't need it? LOL
On that same note, selling thousands and thousands of pieces of stuff has made me value owning very little of it. I keep some very rare antique for awhile, then pass it along. If it doesn't have some personal sentimental or useful value, I can't see the point in owning it simply to just own it. Selling stuff has cured me of wanting to own stuff.

And I have to agree with Dandylion that pile looks benign...you haven't seen the storage units of antique dealers...lol

Thank you Lexie for posting this. I feel much better about my apartment now. :)

It's funny, I've been gone for 2 years and only now is it starting to feel like home. Because of that I have started to actually do some decorating and cleaning up. My place actually looks pretty good as long as you don't go in any of the closets.

Your friend,

Good for you, Lexie. I am totally impressed. Seriously, it's hard to dig ourselves out of all our junk. I need to do a few rooms too and am totally avoiding it. It takes a lot of energy both physically and mentally that I am currently lacking. You are going to be so happy when it's done!!!