(An abbreviated list)
1. Joe. Many thanks for the messages of sympathy, though at this point, I’m not sure which of us is being driven crazier by the state of affairs. He did indeed injure it at the end of his canoe trip, and two trips to the hospital later, we still aren’t sure of the degree of injury. There seems to be a vertical break in the shin bone (tibia) but he’ll have to have a bone scan on Friday (something about needing to have it start to calcify to see something) to discover the extent. Then he’ll go back to the fracture clinic on Tuesday and we’ll find out what we’re in for. In the meantime, he’s awfully swollen, awfully slow on the crutches, and has instructions not to put any weight on it at all – thus making the walking cast sort of a cruel taunt. Cross your fingers for a good answer on Tuesday, and I’ll try not to kill him before then. He’s actually a pretty good patient, but have you heard that old saying “You can’t keep a good man down”? Just know that Joe’s a very good man.
2. The house. We keep an untidy house. Every member of this family is either sentimental or frugal, so we save things because we love them (that’s mostly the kids) or we worry we might need it someday and won’t be able afford another (that’s me and Joe). The only one living here with any sort of cleaning up urges is me, and I usually manage to ignore those and knit instead. Having been gone for 5 weeks, the house is in a state that I am loathe to speak of publicly. Joe and I had decided that it was time for a total top-to-bottom declutter, fix and tidy festival, knowing that if we had less stuff it would be easier. and well, now it’s just me. I need a plan. Anybody ever do one of these?
3. My sister’s sweater. The knitting is just about finished, just a few rows on the collar to go. I blocked the pieces and am now doing all the sewing up, because I feel like that’s a better way to handle the zipper thing. I wouldn’t want to sew in a zipper and then block it, because things often change when wool hits water (and they did.)
Now that the sweater is in more or less it’s final shape, I can go buy another zipper (the first one is the wrong length due to aforementioned sweater hitting the water type of changes) and sew it in. Zippers come in fixed lengths, so I’ve left the collar undone so I can knit to fit.
4. I started a new something. It’s very unlike me. When I was at WEBS there was a sample of “Flow” from Norah Gaughan Collection #2 hanging up and I fell for it hard. Totally hard.
(That’s sort of a crappy picture I took of the picture in the Berroco book CLICK if you want to see it bigger.) It’s a trapeze sort of top, really sheer, knit out of Berroco Seduce,
which is exactly the sort of yarn I would never, ever buy. Yet, something about it got me, and the next thing I know I’m handing Steve my credit card and shaking my head. Until I started it, I was worried that it was the colour that got me and I was going to hate knitting with it, but I told myself it was at least a wee little top, and it would be over quickly and I’d have the finished thing, which is totally what I want this time. (Every once in a while I surprise myself by being a product knitter. It’s out of character, but there you have it.)
I’m delighted though, since the knitting is quick and pleasant – or maybe pleasant because it’s quick. Whatever the case, I’ve only been knitting it for a couple of days and it’s just about knitting itself.
5. I’m not going to knit though, because (I already did during today’s Dr. Appt.) it is Tuesday, and I’m back to Tuesdays are for spinning.
See? 4.oz of Merino from MaryJane’s Attic, bought at the Maker Faire.
Just my colours.
Lovely sweater. I love the way it’s coming out! (even if it is a a little late… hehehe)
AM I FIRST?
Hehe. Beatcha. Not that I’m competitive or anything…. 🙂
I need to do the same as you and declutter my house as it’s driving us all a little crazy. My Joe just wants to take a trash bag and throw everything out. I told him that we can’t do that and that I need to go through everything and decide if it’s a keeper or to put in a donation pile or throw out. He still likes his idea – I don’t – we’ll find a good compromise I’m sure.
I don’t think there was any doubt that “Joe’s a very good man.” Best wishes for a speedy recovery and an as painless as possible declutter!
De-clutter plan? You need the 3-bag method: throw away, give away, keep. You go through every resting spot for stuff in your home…closets, under the sinks, drawers, etc…and pick which bag it goes in. This usually works best if you enlist an outsider/friend who doesn’t have any emotional attachments to your stuff and is rather blunt when asked, “do you think I’ll ever use this again?”
I’d gladly help (having the blunt part covered rather well) but I’m a country away. Good luck and I’ll send good vibes on Tuesday for Joe.
Hmm… you’re well-known (in certain circles). Perhaps Hellen Buttigieg (http://www.neattv.com/home.html) would take you on as a special case?
I hope it all sorts itself out soon.
Clean out from top to bottom? No probs. I did this last year. Not as scary as it seems.
Make 2 piles: definitely unload and maybe unload.
I gave myself 3 days to decide about the maybe pile and funnily enough 75% of those piles went into the ‘definitely unload’ pile.
What’s amazing so far – I haven’t missed anything that was either donated or tossed away.
AND – obviously (perhaps the real impetus for the clean out) more room for stash! It’s a win-win situation.
Good luck with yours!
Nan
I agree with the three bag (box in my case, large boxes) plan. One for things that are not where they belong, but are going to stay (divide into three boxes for really messy houses: upstairs, down and storage area), donate, and trash. Be brutal: you may need it in five years, but will you be able to find it when you need it? Good luck on the clean out and with Joe’s leg.
Love that fiber, those are my colors too!
You want help decluttering? I am your woman. The important thing to keep in mind is that the process gets easier the more practice you have. It’s a learned skill.
When I was younger and my mom wanted me to unearth my room, she would put a big garbage can in the hall outside my room. She would say, “Fill it or I’ll do it for you.” You can place an appropriately sized recepticle that will suit your purposes for your own daughters (or self). Also, it helps to have someone going through your crap with you. Have a friend there to say, “Really? You really need XYZ?” And then you have to explain to someone exactly why you need those anthropology textbooks from college.
Also, consider taking photographs of objects that hold sentimental value. I had a few stuffed animals from childhood that I was able to trash after taking some pictures. Know what? Pictures store easier than stuffed animals.
Good luck!
So Kermit was wrong: it IS easy being green.
I want to hand Joe a Heathkit to work on, along with a soldering iron: something electronic to assemble for fun to keep him occupied and creative. Alas, the Heathkit company is no more.
I am a big de-clutterer from way back. I suggest taking three containers into your target room: a trash bin, a give-away box, and a container to hold things that belong someplace else, so you don’t get sidetracked (hey, this hairbrush doens’t go in the kitchen… better take it back to the bedroom, oh, while I’m in here I’d better make the bed, etc…). Then set a timer (15 minutes, an hour, whatever) and go to town for that period of time, not letting yourself get involved with other tasks. Don’t get burned out the first day, or you’ll give up.
If the give-away box causes you anxiety, once it’s full, date it and put it in a closet for a month or two. If you haven’t needed anything in the box, take it (without opening it!) to the charity of your choice! Good luck!
Make a party out of it. Get some friends who you know would be able to help you declutter, and serve lots of pizza and beer. People will do almost anything for free pizza and beer.
Fly Lady has a web-site and books out on de-cluttering. She is the queen of de-cluttering (especially with cases that have gone on for years and seem hopeless). Her system is designed not to overwhelm. I would try the web-site…www.flylady.com Don’t be fooled by the zanyness…it’s a great program!! I started it when the kids were little and I felt overwhelmed. I am a loosey goosey follower now…but I do use her “room by room on a rotating basis” the upkeep plan once you are done de-cluttering.
Good luck! ha
Ruth
i have done the all-house declutter, and the best advice is this: do one room at a time. take a garbage bag (or 2) and an empty laundry basket, as well as a notepad and pencil. garbage goes in the garbage, anything you don’t want in the room goes in the laundry basket, and if you need something for the room (like hooks or a window repair or storage baskets), you write it down on the notepad. when that room is done, empty the laundry basket into the rooms the stuff belongs in, or the sally ann boxes, then off to the next room. and joe can sit in a chair and sort out papers and drawers! i sympathize with the no walking thing, happened to me too!
I tend to declutter in little bits – one room at a time – or when moving. So no, I’ve never done what you’re attempting, but I do heartily recommend it. There have been many discussions of decluttering on Ravelry, do a little forum search, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of good stuff.
Take a look at the Flylady web site http://www.flylady.net/
My daughter follows her suggestions and is able to keep her house looking great with an extremely busy life style.
I love the green yarn in your new sweater.
Pro Tip: Start in one corner of one room. Clean this corner until it is done. (I like to start in the kitchen or bathroom) Move to the next corner. Etc, until day is over.
Next day: start in the same corner you started in yesterday, and follow the same order, and it won’t take you long. Then, continue down the list. So the first day might be “Sink, stove, fridge, table” and then bed because a realllly dirty kitchen takes forever. Next day, the “Sink, stove, fridge, table” Will take you 5 minutes, because they are already 99% clean. Then, move to the bathroom or bedroom or wherever else and again, corner by corner. Then the third day, start again, “Sink stove, fridge, table, make bed, put laundry in basket, put away books….” again, everything you did yesterday will take you no time at all, and you start a new thing. Always maintain the old thing, or it creeps up behind you and you never win. >,<
Oh, and don’t leave the “corner” until you’re done. Put things that do not go in that “corner” in a box. Take a trash can with you, and a box for goodwill. 🙂 Easy pie! Like knitting. Just keep making one stitch, and eventually you have a sweater.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery that’s as pain-free as humanly possible.
I’ve been making genuine attempts at de-cluttering for a few weeks now and have gathered quite the pile of stuff that – as you may guess – has become another area of clutter. I swear, it never ends sometimes… although our local Salvation Army is going to love us when we finally get around to dropping it all off. 😉
And I can’t wait to see the sweater in all of its finished glory. Looks great!
I have done the declutter, I have been on both ends of Sarah’s fate (fill it or I’ll fill it for you), and that works best. I also found out that filling it with one big box does not count. 😛 Good luck!
I agree with Barbara…and actually, you can make Joe a captive audience at this point. While schlepping will be bad for you– you can have his undivided attention. Put the boxes in front of him and haul things in. Then when the boxes are full–TAPE the ones you’re getting rid of SHUT. Don’t allow yourself to look back through them. Make the girls carry them out to the curb.
Prayers for your sanity and a speedy Joe recovery.
I love this type of cleaning project. Go room by room and ask of each thing: 1) how long has it been since I last used this; 2) will I ever use this again; 3) is it still usable? If it has been more than a year since you used said thing and you don’t think you are going to need it – then you don’t need it anymore – really. If it is still usable – donate it – and if not, toss/recycle it. But, most importantly, you have to be harsh with yourself about whether or not said item really needs to be kept. This is the hard part. Good luck. And good luck to Joe!
About the spring cleaning…it seems like a monumental task until you just up and decide that today is the day. Just pick a room and have ‘atter. Pitch and toss, pitch and toss. Categorize and reorganize. Once it’s done, it’s thrilling and really does wonders to clear some head and soul space. Don’t overthink it…ride on instinct. Always works out better that way.
Ah yes, “declutteration.” We do that every time the US Gov’ment shuffles us from one side of the country to another…
The previous comments are right: sort into piles of “Keep” “Maybe” and “Trash.” Be stingy with the “Keep” pile, and fairly liberal with the others. Put the “Maybe” pile(s) into a big box (or ten) and store it somewhere out of the way (attic, basement, garage, mother-in-law’s house.) Flip the calender ahead a few months, and jot down “Check the Maybe Box.” Whatever is in the box that you haven’t needed in that time: toss it (or give it away to a charity.)
Oh, and only do ONE ROOM AT A TIME. It’s easy to build up momentum in an ADHD kind of way and get left with a house in even worse shape than you started with.
The sweater(s) look great, and it’s good to see you spinning again.
Barbara A.M. has the right idea. 3 bags (you may need to replace each one as you go along) – throw away (black) – give away (yellow or white) and keep (clear). Sometimes the keep can be a box. Start at the top of the house and work your way through each room, then downstairs, then basement. Before you do that walk through the house and take stuff that is on the first floor that should be on the 2nd floor (and vicey versy) and put them where they belong. Then when you get each room de-cluttered your stuff will actually already be there to put away in the now clean room. As you’re cleaning – take a 15-minute break every 45 minutes or so, get some fresh air, have a coffee, whatever – then go back at it for another 45 minutes. Hourly chunks don’t seem as bad somehow.
Now – once you’ve gone through the whole place – let me know if this method works, because in my house it’s only a plan right now, I haven’t actually tried it! And I’m having some trouble getting the big guy to buy into it!
Hope you find a way to work through all the stuff you’re getting a grip on. My best to you and Joe.
There is a group in Yahoo that deals with the handling of clutter and cleaning…she is called the flylady…you get an email each day reminding you to do your 15 mins and what to do and where to do it….and when you take your break you can knit…gotta love that…sorry about your troubles…knit on… http://www.flylady.net
Simple:
Make a pile of stuff (a small pile to start, ie, try your junk drawer to warm up)
Keep that which is essential and eliminate everything else.
Put the essentials back into the junk drawer. Jola! you’re organized. Im proud of you.
I find a good way to clear out clutter – especially for frugal folks – is to put a financial aspect to it: Would you be willing to pay to put this into storage for six months? If not, why are you keeping it?
For the lazy among us, the question becomes: Would you be willing to clean, wrap, pack, transport, unpack, unwrap, and find a new home for it?
FLY lady rocks…I highly recommend her website. Funnily enough, her homepage is a little…cluttered…but her techniques will get you through a house full of crap in no time.
Also, does Toronto have Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/)? It can be a nice way to get things you don’t want/need anymore directly to someone who wants/needs them without going through a charity.
Good luck!
I love your colors! They are my favorites too. As for cleaning strategy, I feel your pain. If my husband and partner in clutter broke his leg right before a major cleaning/purge I might feel like giving up and wallowing in the chaos…not that I’m recommending that. I would suggest 2 strategies: 1) Realize that it will take longer and set a specific doable goal for each day so that you don’t get overwhelmed. 2) Bribe your daughters to help. Good luck and I really hope Joe’s injury is minor and heals quickly.
We cleaned our entire house out 4 years ago. We had a truck come from the thrift shop and haul everything we didn’t sell at our huge garage sale. We hauled 3 tons of non recycles to the dump and burned papers for three weeks (20 of the largest garbage sacks). I had two and and a half rooms empty by the time it was all over, and felt freer and more easy in my mind than at any other time before that.
It took at least one other person and sometimes a team of 6 to help me and three weeks worth of work.
Start in the most empty room have boxes and plastic trash bags. Have someone else go through your lest favorite stash. Good luck it hurts during but feel wonderful after
Check out the Apartment Therapy 8 Week Cure blog – they do a multi-week program that helps you de-clutter based on their book by the same name, likely available at your library. At core it’s very practical, although you may want to skip some of the fooferall. My favorite concepts are the landing strip and the outbox – worth a look.
I’ve cleared massive amounts of stuff out of our house in the past six months (yes, including yarn). Nothing motivates me like having fastidious house guests!
The questions I asked myself in deciding whether or not to keep something were “Am I absolutely delighted to see this when I lay my eyes on it?” and when it came to books, cds, dvds, yarn, etc., “If our house burned down, would I immediately want this replaced?” There are still some things that I can’t bear to part with, but I don’t feel that I need to get rid of *everything*.
The spinning is an excellent idea. Especially spinning with colours that couldn’t be more you if they tried. Good choice.
About the declutter/tidy up thing, what I heard once and now follow because it really works – not just for cleaning up to move, but also cleaning up to declutter is: Get a bunch of boxes and give one to each kid and several each for you and Joe and go through EVERYTHING you own – clothes, games, garage stuff, tools, bedding, kitchen stuff/spices even – and put into the boxes everything you haven’t used in recent memory (the last 6 months). Label box(es) with your name and date. Then, in 1 year -whatever is still in the box that you haven’t retrieved during the year to actually USE, you bring all of the boxes to donate to the charity shop or the kids school fund raiser or church jumble, WITHOUT OPENING the box up! Can’t bring it or hold a garage sale because you will eventually retrieve your precious junk back from the sale tables. This method does really work.
Remember – if you need it in the future, it’ll be cheaper to buy than when you first bought it, it may still be at the charity shop, and if it’s a game or technology item – it’ll be way past it’s prime and time to get on board with newer technology. This of course does not apply to your yarn stash as there is always something valuable you can knit with leftovers for small projects and for charity!
I’ve lived by this method and it’s the only thing that enabled me to move from my 2400 square foot home of 20 years to a small 1200 square foot house without going insane with grief. 🙂 Barb, a recent transplant from Seattle to Long Beach, Washington, USA
Here is my best decluttering tip: imagine you are moving cross-country. Recycle/donate/trash everything you don’t want to move. Pack away everything you don’t want showing when others are looking to buy/rent your house. If you need support, get a decluttering-type friend to start the process with you (not Joe or the girls). Start in one small, easy area and once that area is done, don’t put anything back into it that doesn’t meet the requirements that got it clean. Move on to more and more challenging areas. I must admit I find this process very freeing. Stuff requires maintenance. Stuff holds us down. Less is better.
How to declutter, courtesy of the Fly Lady:
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp
It’s easy, fun, and over before you know it. Plus, you get to sing. She’s the best!
declutter – set a timer for 15 minutes. Everyone gets two bags – one for trash, one for give away. Do this every day for 15 minutes and see where you are as a family at the end of the week. Maybe come up with a tier of prizes based on how many bags are filled? the more bags, the better the prizes?
It’s too easy to get overwhelmed with doing a whole, big, plan. Just start, little bit at a time.
If I feel the urge to de-clutter, I watch 30 minutes of “Mission Organization” on HGTV. Seeing how hard it is to get other people’s stuff organized (even with a whole team of experts) is usually enough to get me out of the mood.
Decluttering: Study up on how much various charities near you could really use your cast-off stuff. Recruit two of the your strong-minded friends. Fix upon a date for attack. Fortify yourselves with chocolate (before 4 PM) and beer (after 4 PM). Write the name of each room/closet/storage spot on a separate slip of paper, and draw one to start in on. Start just to the right of the door and proceed counter-clockwise. Get rid of stuff. Get rid of more stuff. I said more stuff. Do it. Remind yourself that it is the environmentally virtuous thing to do to own less stuff. Remember to breathe deeply now and then.
I’m not talking about yarn or fiber here, obviously, although if you get rid of any, in whatever fashion you see fit (raffles for Knitters Without Borders, maybe?), you get a gold halo and a wad of cash to spend at Rhinebeck. Heck, I’ll personally buy you an artichoke – how’s that?
Tuesday Spinning: If it’ll help with Joe’s gansey, I’ll keep you company and devote my Tuesdays to spinning, too. I think there are 7 or 8 fleeces around my house, plus all the prepared fiber.
I hope Joe gets good news on Friday about his leg and that it will be a speedy recovery.
I love that “Flow” top. The shape is so simple, but so pretty.
And I’m totally jealous of that fiber. I just started spinning and I’m quickly becoming addicted. I’m off to check out that Mary Jane’s Attic website… I’m always looking for new sources of roving to spin ’cause I’m so new to this!
Oh, my! I hope Joe heals quickly. That sounds like a difficult thing for everybody…
Good luck with the cleanup – it’s a great idea… too bad I have no tips for you (I need to do it myself)!
The cardigan is going to be lovely, and I look forward to seeing how Flow turns out (the yarn and color are quite pretty). I’m a Norah Gaughan fan, myself (currently working on her Serpentine Coat from Knitting Nature), so I can totally sympathize.
Oh, yes… the fiber (and your singles) are lovely : )
I’m a huge fan of FlyLady, wwwdotflyladydotnet.
I do the whole house declutter through out the whole year, if I didn’t we would be living in the yard as the house exploded. I use the 4 box method, define an area you want to clean -one room,one closet or one set of shelves- tearing apart the whole house at once often results in a bigger mess, total dicouragement and the job never gets done. Label the boxes or laundry baskets, put away, throw away, give away and keep. Line the trash one with a bag. Be methodical, try to handle things only once. Put away is for the stuff that doesn’t belong in the space you’re cleaning, the last thing before I stop is to deliver the stuff in this box to it’s proper location most often the kids rooms. And have a plan for the give away stuff, I usually put it into the car and it goes to the Goodwill within the next day or two. Be strong! Once it goes in the give away box it’s tempting to pull it back out again. I also find that I’m too distracted or busy to work at it more than 2 hours at a time, and if I’m working with the kids then 30 minutes might be all they can handle. Once I’m done with the sorting I clean the space, dust, vaccumn, what ever, then put the stuff in the keep box back in place. Lastly admire your tidy space and reward yourself with a little beer and knitting.
It’s easy to declutter. Remove all your wool and your computer from house; place in car or in storage unit(s).
Burn house down to ground.
Start over.
Believe me, this method is way quicker than the more traditional ones mentioned above. My friend did it. Although she didn’t think to remove her knitting and her computer first. Because she didn’t think that the boys could actually set the house on fire with only a magnifying glass and a pile of leaves in the middle of February.
You learn something new every day…
you want to declutter your house? give each kid a bag and room and everyone fills up bags for an hour. then you chose elements of a room: closets, drawers, surfaces, containers and you tackle one element per day for 4 days until its done. then the next weekend everyone does the attic/basement.
or you can go all out like they do on TV and put everthing on the lawn. make keep/donate/sell piles. Redo the keep pile again. then have a tag sale and schedule a truck for pickup of whats left. you can bang it out in a weekend!
Untidy packrat here. And then we moved cross-country and had to pay the movers by the pound. That changed my attitude toward the clutter pretty damn fast. Here’s what I did, and it worked and didn’t hurt much at all and now the new house is still untidy because we’re the ones who live in it, but it’s not cluttered.
I invited a ruthless friend with no sentimental attachment to my stuff as a helper/observer. Since there was a lot of crap and just piling stuff would have meant the piles sliding into each other and getting all mixed up, I made four signs, one each in a corner of the room (you can do this in one room at a time and it’s less overwhelming this way). KEEP, DONATE, TRASH, GIVE AWAY. The Give Away pile was for things I knew specific friends or family might want. They had a crack at it, and then what was left was also donated or freecycled.
So the idea was to move quickly, rather than taking the time to wallow in all the memories/potential usefulness of each item. Every time I faltered, my friend was there to say something like, “Another pair of toast grabbers? Really?” It worked. Totally worked. But only because I was supervised.
There’s something about winter… By the time we start to thaw, every horizontal surface in my house is covered with a pile of something. Every chair, every shelf, every counter, table, you name it. I have a very high tolerance for dust and clutter, but every so often even I reach my limits. My decluttering rule is quite simple and I try to apply it at least once a year: if I haven’t touched it in the last six months, out it goes. Works great for me. Good luck.
i forgot to add that you should pay a service to clean and polish the house while you are working the tag sale and use the money made to cover the cost. anything left over funds go towards dinner out!
Your situation sounds very familiar. My best advice: 1. Stay focused. Don’t get discouraged thinking about cleaning and decluttering your entire house all in one day. Focus on decluttering/cleaning one thing at a time whether it’s a drawer, closet or shelf. 2. Set a deadline each day — one one or two hours of decluttering per day is really all anyone can take and still remain among the sane. 3. Reward yourself after every session. 3. Play your favorite music while you work. 4. Don’t give up. You can do it! Good luck.
Like other folks said: Flylady. She rocks.
http://www.flylady.net
Just a thougt on the zipper thing. You might want a slightly shorter zipper than the actual length of the sweater. Weird I know, but Grumperina did a great tutorial on it on her blog about a year ago. Completely fit worthy when she was done.
Good luck on the house. I just go for tables…with table cloths to the floor….don’t try to slide your legs under though. *wink*
Do your cleaning one room at a time. The FlyLady (www.flylady.net) has great organizition tips for those of us who live in chaos. She uses a timer method which I find very motivational. And I highly recommend having boxes/bags ready for trash and charity. If you get distracted with having to go find them, it’s all over.
I suggest a rolling chair for Joe. If you have hardwood floors (I seem to remember some refinishing..?) then he can wheel himself around. When I had my knee surgery, I wheeled myself from room to room and didn’t have to use my crutches at all in the house.
Good luck!
The clutter in my house reached reached frightening proportions — I mean I began to recognize myself in the stories of houses filled to the roof with boxes and papers. But then — I had to move. Halfway across the country. And I discovered that sentimentality, frugality, and ADD could be resolved with a simple yes/no question: Would I move it? Amazing how many years of clutter that question cleared out of the house. Now that I am in my new place, I have promised myself that I will ask that question every six months. If the answer is no, it goes to freecycle, St. Vincent de Paul’s, or the curb. It is a much more effective question than “Do I want to keep it?” or “What should I do with this?”
The idea I’ve always wanted to try for a top-to-bottom tidy:
(and I realize this may not be feasible for your household right now, what with Joe down for the count)
THE VIRTUAL MOVE:
1) Rent a large U-Haul or other moving truck. Make it a big one; it will make your life infinitely easier.
2) Identify the things in life that you cannot live without, that are exquisitely wonderful, in good repair, and that you would weep over if they were lost in a fire.
3) Put them in the truck.
4) Add ONLY A FEW THINGS that don’t make your heart pitter-pat, but that make your daily life easier. (Like, say, the vacuum cleaner.)
5) Close the truck.
6) Put out garage sale signs, invite your friends, loved ones, and neighbors to TAKE AWAY everything else that remains in the house. For free, for a wee garage-sale price, for a donation to MSF/DWB, whatever. Keep inviting people until it’s just about all gone, then take what remains in the house to your favorite charity shop.
7) Clean the house.
8) Drive the truck around the block;
and move back in to a clean house, filled with only the things you love.
Phew!
Like I said, not perhaps the most easy thing to do right now, but something I’ve longed to do for years.
I’d recommend this to anyone who’s lived in a house for 10 years.
Lather, rinse, repeat every decade.
I second the comments on Fly Lady. The one about burning the house down, though, not so much! 🙂
I just did a top to bottom, side to side, room by room de-clutter and clean, etc. We’re moving our family of four across the pond and back to my husband’s hometown of Leeds, England. In preparation for selling the house, I went through every single, nitpicky thing in this house and evaluated for “do I really want to pay to move this across and ocean?” as well as “will I ever need/want/use this again”. Brutality was required. I’m fairly certain we got rid of more that 1/3 of our stuff and it’s actually a pretty cool thing, though the process was damned painful. Good luck…know it can be done.
:)k
We have the same problem. I have one child of the three who can’t even bear to throw away things others would consider to be trash. Clothing tags, scraps of yarn, bits of fabric, shoeboxes – it all gets kept in her room. My solution? We clear out rooms. We haul everything out of a room and dump it on the back porch. Everything out of the dressers, closets, desks, shelves. While the room is empty, I dust and wash the floors and walls. In the meantime, whoever’s room it is has to sort through the CRAP and has to haul what they have to keep all back into the room. Sometimes there are a couple flights of stairs in between. Give a 10 year old that task a couple of times and the clutter starts to moderate itself (miraculous!)Same thing goes for public areas. Everything out on the back porch for airing and dusting. I advise you to do this to only a few rooms a year…there’s only so much room on the back porch. Also, DON’T LOOK IN THE TRASH BAGS! It’s counterproductive to grab things out and makes you look like a nutcase in front of your kids. I know the look well.
I do the big clean-out all the time. I usually start with other peoples stuff & then by the time I get to mine I’m wiped out. It has worked pretty ding danged nicely so far.
I have a 3 box/bag system for other peoples things:
1.) Garbage
2.) Donate
3.) Can Not Live Without
Depending on the person, space, or my love of what we’re going through I put a limit how many boxes of the third kind can stick around. And I never do a “sell” box because it just ends up laying around until the next time I clean up.
I agree with what others have suggested: start in one room, keep seperate bins for things, etc. etc. etc. I also think Joe will be a great motivating factor. When I need to do a top to bottom clean I have my mom come over and help me. It’s not fun for her to see a messy house but she makes sure I stay on task until I totally finish cleaning EVERYTHING. And Joe can help you sort and decide what to keep/trash/donate.
I think the sweater looks beautiful and I can’t wait to see how the top turns out. I’ve been meaning to knit myself a tank/summer top of some sort for about 3 months now and just haven’t had the go-get to start one.
So how does “sheer little trapeze top” work with “only finds her bra on special occasions”?
Continued healing thoughts for Joe and sanity thoughts for everyone concerned.
I feel your pain re: decluttering. The pack rat gene runs strong in both sides of my family. Luckily, my husband’s stoic upbringing is rubbing off on me and I’m learning to be ruthless when I need to be. (Do I really need 3 copies of the same book… or all of that fabric when I rarely sew anymore?) I’ve found that tackling it one room at a time works the best. Especially using the three pile method already mentioned here – keep, donate, trash. Depending on how big the decluttering project is for a room determines how long it takes for me to tackle the next one. I just unearthed my sewing/reading/stuff room and will probably not tackle the master bedroom until the fall. I might tackle the pantry though. It’s small… ish…
I really like how your sister’s sweater is turning out. Pretty! (Makes mental note about collar and zipper for husband’s sweater.)
LOVE the spinning! The colors are great!
I’m not going to tell you how to declutter, b/c, umm…well. If you saw my house you would know why. 😉
But–regarding zipper size. Obviously one that is too short isn’t good–but if one is too long, can’t you trim it to fit?
I hope Joe gets better soon and that your normal (whatever “normal” means anyway) routine can resume soon!
With the decluttering I think it is a combination of going one room at a time, and being willing to be ruthless. If [item] hasn’t been [worn/used/opened/dusted/noticed/enjoyed/played with] in [choose time frame], then chuck it. The more I keep moving house the more I realize how true it is that hanging onto clutter really can be more psychological than practical (we keep things out of sentiment, worry, love, duty, etc), which means that getting rid of stuff can be just as psychological. I often find it emotionally draining to be confronted so abruptly with the material remnants of my life.
Just as long as I get to keep my yarn it’s all good though 😉
Eegads. Please post the suggestions you get for the decluttering (single handed, no less!) because our house is in need of it, too.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Joe!
I tend to use the room-by-room method of decluttering the house. Because if I get sidelined, at least something is DONE. So, pick a room and start there. The first thing that should be cleaned in any room is storage: closets, cupboards, dressers, bookshelves, etc. That way, there is some place for all the rest of the stuff to go. As you are cleaning, you have the boxes everyone else has mentioned. I use 4: 1.) Hey, that doesn’t belong here!, 2.) Stuff I want to keep, 3.) Stuff I want to keep but that needs to be repaired,cleaned, etc. and/or things that should be put in the attic because I want them but don’t need them right this minute 4.) Stuff that I don’t want (which is subdivided into trash and Goodwill/Salvation Army).
Then you do the actual room itself. Everything in the room needs to be put away.
Then you clean (as in vacuum, mop, dust, do the windows, polish the furniture).
And go room by room. I find it best to do bedrooms first, because those are the places I tend to hide the most stuff so, they are little hidden minefields of clutter. Also, the most wayward stuff (see box #1) tends to be in the den and kitchen, so if the bedrooms are clean I actually have some place to put the wayward things.
That merino is gorgeous!! Very spring like.
I agree with the others…check out flyladydotnet
It is a whole system to train yourself to declutter, assignments, etc. I tried some of it before we had to move a few years ago. Some of it is corny and quirky, but it got me going in the right direction without being overwhelmed.
I also put all of the jobs to do in the house on craft sticks. Then hubbie and I each have our set of stuff to do, and move the sticks from the To-Do cup to the Done cup. You could make ones for each of the girls too.
BTW, I enjoyed your talk in Madison (I was wearing a Kauni shawl), right in front of the squirrel beer woman in the signing line.
I agree with the one room at a time plan. But you need a friend (or two) who is unsympathetic to your pleas to keep something because it might be useful someday.
Joe can help too, by sorting through all the papers that manage to hang around and breed. He may not be mobile, but he can file.
The girls need to get their stuff out of the big rooms (living, kitchen, dining) before you can start and they also need to massively de-clutter.
Two things that do not count in the have I worn/used it in a year category: yarn and handknit anything. Otherwise it’s all fair game. Including books.
Then when you’re done, call a cleaning service to come in and clean it top to bottom. You’ll be glad you did (mostly because you’ll be too tired to do real deep cleaning…)
Drink beer. 🙂
If it makes you feel any better, I’m doing the same thing right now before my neat freak of a mom comes out in a week.
Oh, and when you finish I have an awesome present for you. I actually got it for your launch, but this seems worthy too. xo
Here’s another Fly Lady link for cleaning the house in one fell swoop: http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyingLessons_crisiscleaning.asp
I think her strategies are great but the sub-culture gets a little annoying after a while.
I have been using her “I can do anything for x minutes” mantra with trying to get the house ready for another baby. I sit and knit one row of the stole I’m making for my friend’s wedding, then set a timer for five minutes and clean in a designated area of the house. The knitting keeps me happy and relaxed, and after a few rows I discover that I’ve cleaned a room (or at least worked through weeks of junkmail and school papers). The only downside is my preschoolers end up watching a lot of PBS.
The throw away/give away/put away boxes are about the best decluttering scheme I’ve ever tried to use. (Now I just need to use it…)
The “give away” box should be taped up and taken to the car for delivery to the thrift store of your choice immediately upon becoming full if there’s any chance of people going on rescue missions. Likewise, full “throw away” boxes or bags go out immediately so that they’re not staring at you making you feel guilty.
If the whole process is overwhelming at first, start by setting a timer or by setting a target number of items to put in each box. Work systematically.
There’s a longer-term process for kitchen utensils and small appliances and clothing – set aside a “stasis area” or mark items, put things you use back in their normal storage location when you put them away, and on a target date of your choosing, give away anything still in “stasis” or marked.
My house is in a similar state, but I haven’t even been away! Haha! I have a complete decluttering / reorganization / possible-redecorating of my crafty room scheduled for next weekend (Monday is a holiday, so I’ll have 3 full days…in theory.), and I’m just hoping I can stay motivated. I took “before” pictures, um…months ago? Yeah, motivation is definitely an issue.
When I have a big decluttering job ahead of me, I can get overwhelmed to the point of anxiety when looking at all the stuff – looking at it all can be paralyzing. My never-fail cure:
1. Go into the room with a notepad and pencil. Take an inventory of what is in the room – one item per line on the sheet of paper. You may need several sheets! Just write down what you have (that you can see) – do not try to make any decisions or get overwhelmed, remember that you just need to write the list. You have given yourself permission not to take any action (yet).
2. Now, go to a less-cluttered part of the house with your list and your favourite beverage, and turn on some relaxing music. Review the list, and decide what to do with each item on the list (keep, charity, toss), and write down the decision. If you are going to keep something, write down the room that it belongs in.
3. Now you have a plan – on the day before garbage pickup, haul out all the stuff that’s listed as “toss”. Grab a box and put all the “charity” stuff into it, and immediately put it into your car to drop off. Pick out all the items that belong in Room X and move them.
I find that removing myself from the sight of the heap really reduces the stress and makes it easier to decide what to do with each item. Hope this helps!
Love the trapeze tank and good luck to you both with Joe’s recovery.
Decluttering: along with all that great advice above remember this, which I may have heard on Oprah and really helps me: there is a cost associated with KEEPING all those things you “might need/want/wish for” one day. With most things the cost of keeping it is higher than the cost of maybe replacing it someday.
Good luck and thanks for inspiring me to both do some knitting and some decluttering!
Wow, you are brave! Perhaps your chosen method will work for me and get me inspired too. Having lived in the same place for 22 years (and increased to 6 people living here) you can only imagine the chaos. Nothing can be cleaned because there is so much stuff in the way.
I have at times photographed things that are sentimentally important and then gotten rid of them – it helps.
My sister-in-law keeps bringing up that show where they take everything out of the house and then you have to earn it back, but I am not quite ready for that.
On the other hand, I am the most amusing person in my knitting group when I bring in an ancient project, some old yarn, or a classic book that I have just because I have been at this for such a long time.
I did have one recent decluttering success: my daughter’s girlfriend dropped by one night (escaping her own house, I think) with tons of nervous energy and proceeded to clean off my kitchen island and scrub a good chunk of the floor as well. Maybe I should just hire her?
I am also a pack rat.
One solution that sort-of worked: one room at a time. Everything but furniture comes out of the room, gets sorted through, and either gets returned to the room, put into the proper room (which will get its own treatment someday), put into storage, or gotten rid of. Sometimes the right storage is the solution to clutter.
If your rooms are in really bad shape, set a timer for an hour, and commit to working on only one room for only one hour.
And if that all fails, there’s always moving.
If you figure out the magic decluttering method, let me know – we need it as well…
and the 70’s appliance coloured roving? Absolutely delicious. And perfect for you.
Yes, I’ve decluttered. But if you’re a creative person, it comes right back. And brings its friends.
I sympathize with the decluttering. I have been trying to do that. My oldest is a packrat. He doesn’t live here, hasn’t in more than 2 years but tons of his stuff still does. The other day i wanted to give away a lego motor, his reaction was to suggest I give his brother’s lego motor instead. I should add that the “child” in question is 22. So, I am attempting to sort the rest of the house, his stuff aside. Today I through out a single handful of junk, sigh. My husband has promised to find new homes for the half dozen broken bikes in our basement.
Decluttering: for me, it was not a lack of information that was the problem, it was my emotional triggers, very much like thoese you described. After clearing my mother-in-law’s clutter bomb of a house, John and I decided to change our ways. I now look at things I don’t use and say to myself: someone else could really use this, and I should pass it along before it is outdated or broken or otherwise unusable. We now think of how happy someone will be when they find whatever at the thrift store. This has changed my attachment to things radically.
I work much better when there isn’t clutter around, so that helps me keep from reverting to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Also, I really do not enjoy housework, and it is so very much easier to keep things neat and somewhat clean when there isn’t as much stuff around. More motivation, at least for the person who cleans!!!!
We found a lot of inspiration in the books by Don Aslett (Clutter’s Last Stand, Not for Packrats Only, etc.).
P.S. Best to Joe–it wasn’t that long ago that I was non-weight-bearing for some 4+ months, and it is beyond a PITA!
Regarding #2 – Carry very large bag and do the house in sections! Do not try to take it ALL on in one day, or, if you are like me, it will never happen. Also, best to not start projects late in the afternoon – somehow, tasks I start in the afternoon go on for weeks (maybe years). Also – in Calif we get these post cards in the mail from charity groups that one to come by and collect your stuff – makes donating stuff SOOO easy!
I didn’t have a chance to read everyone’s comments yet, but I heartily recommend
http://www.organizedhome.com
Good luck with everything!
As far as cleaning and getting rid of stuff, I am all for a big de-clutter fest! The first thing is to do it when no one is around, i.e., kids are at school, dh is asleep. You have to keep all emotion out of it (maybe have a friend come and help you!) and get rid of things you haven’t used in six months. Forget a year…if you haven’t used it in 6 months you probably won’t use it. Be sure to give things to charity because that will make you feel better. Some homeless person would love to get those shirts and pants that just don’t fit right! Just keep in mind that you can always but something again if you need it…you probably won’t be needing it anyway! I actually got rid of some yarn (gasp!)that I had in my stash because I heard the Girl Scouts were looking for extra yarn to make laprobes for the elderly…what better way to give up some yarn! Good luck and let me know if you need help!
I am NO help at all with de-cluttering. I tend towards the pack rat…I come by it quite honestly. My mother is a pack ELEPHANT. I haven’t seen my kitchen table in years…though I vaguely remember it was brown.
Spinning question. Since I am a beginner with much fleece. Do you like to pre-draft everything before you start? I read where Brooklyn Tweed likes to pre-draft…..perhaps I’ll be a Tuesday spinner soon.
All I can say is good luck, the psyche of a frugalist is formidable, been there, tried that. The best way around it I found was to merely organize, a closet/garage/basement/attic full of marked boxes, bags, baskets, and drawers do wonders. A small unobtrusive box(es) easily accessible for tossing in things to be put away later helps a great deal. I also coped by regulating the public rooms of the house clutter-free zones. When the kids lived at home if something was left in the clutter-free zones after bedtime it was ransomed for chores when they wanted/needed it next, it’s not too late to for your teens even though frugalists and sentimentalist will never quite get it. BTW the kids had the same “power” over me and my things got ransomed as well. lol Private rooms such as bedrooms and second floor playroom had/have no rules, please don’t peak inside my workroom!
OK, not good to do a deep throated “ohhhhhh” when working in office with three men. It just came out of my mouth when I looked at your fluff from MaryJanes Attic. As for organizing/cleaning …when I get my house cleaned up I’ll have some advice..
Poor Joe (and poor you!) Wishing you good news as to the injury and a speedy recovery. And please please post a photo of your sister’s sweater once the zipper is in!
Here is a tip for the “de-cluttering”. Buy some big rubbermaid totes. Give one to each of your children. Tell them whatever they can fit in it they can keep. The rest can be given away. Good Luck!!!
Stephanie,
I can’t help with the house cleanup plan but will probably need the same advice, but what I CAN do is tell you that zippers DO NOT come in fixed lengths on the innerwebs – you can order a custom zipper for any cardigan – I have used them, I swear by them – I never order the zipper till the sweater is done – measure and order – Yay for technology! http://www.zippersource.com/
Awfully sorry about Joe’s mishap. Now would be a good time for him to learn to knit, ay?
Sending some good bone healing vibes your way!!
I too have a messy, cluttered house. And garage. Oh, and if your house is truly tiny, mine’s prolly bigger. Which equals more mess.
I also have an almost brand new quadruple bypass. Whee! No lifting more than 10 lbs. No raising arms above head. No driving. No vacuuming, sweeping.
I don’t have kids or a husband. I do have four cats and three dogs who are shedding. Oh, and one slightly demented 84 year old mother. She’s constantly ‘looking for’ things, which means she finds other things that she must transport all over the house.
I feel your pain.
I also applaud your thinking ahead on that sweater for your sis. And sharing it with us – it’s going in the memory bank.
Love the sister sweater. Again, let me offer myself as a sister, just in case. On Joe, yeah, good luck with that keeping him off his foot thing. Like trying to get a 2 year old to do, well, anything. The trapeze top, though, love the pattern, not so much the yarn, but, it’s yours, so enjoy. On that cleaning the house from top to bottom thing, check out the Flylady’s site, http://www.flylady.net. Somewhere on there, she has a crisis cleaning checklist that’s works wonders! Not that I ever need it, of course. With 3 boys, my house stays perfectly neat and tidy all the time. Yeah, and back here on earth, I do my adapted version of the Flylady stuff. I work for 15 minutes, then take a 45 minute break to knit, or whatever else. Like if I know I need to do upteen loads of laundry to catch up, plus clean off all the crap off the table and kitchen counters and vaccuum and etc etc., I put the clothes in the wash, set my kitchen timer for 15 minutes, and start on something. I go for 15 minutes, then take a break until my washer buzzes. I put them in the dryer, put the next load in and do another 15 minutes. My kids also help out, since they KNOW I’ll only have them work for 15 minutes. You’d seriously be surprised how much a person can really get through in 15 minutes. Warning, though, I know you’re not particularly religious, and I don’t want you to get turned off, but the Flylady does talk quite a bit about God. Just take what you need from the site, and leave what you don’t need.
Just a side note, ever think about knitting Joe a cozy for that walking cast thing?
I cleaned out my apartment about a month ago. The first thing I did was clean out my closet and drawers and anything I hadnt worn in 6 months to a year was given to GoodWill (do you have an equivalent of GW or Salvation Army in Canada?) Anything that couldnt be given to GW went in the trash. No one wants old underwear or socks. Between you, Joe, and the kids, it might be a good place to start but it’s not a sentimental activity. You do have to be a bit ruthless. It’s something that between you and the girls could be accomplished in a day or so, and whenever I do thorough cleanings it’s the first place I start.
My best de-clutter involved a friend who was brutally honest and a dumpster full of junk. The friend came over and we started with the messiest room in the house. She went through piles and I got to say yay or nay and claim sentimental value on some things, but then it was my responsibility to find a place to keep it if I wanted it. Some things she would just look at me like “Seriously? Why the fuck do you even HAVE this?” and I would feel ashamed that I had it and we would throw it away. A good friend, lunch, and a lot of garbage bags is a good way to go.
I like what suburban correspondent had to say. I fear this is the only way to declutter my house. Some day if I decide my friend B is on good meds, I might invite her to my house to help. She’s a very non-packrat type of person. We packed all the knick-knacks in her three bedroom home into two tubs. And it all was in original boxes.
Quite a few years ago, we decided to prune our book collection, due to running out of shelves. He went up, I went down. After a couple of hours, we met on the main floor, sheepishly, each holding ONE BOOK.
The solution was to acquire many, many bookshelves.
However, this doesn’t work for general accumulata. I’ve been told that moving house is the best solution for that….
Good luck with your tidy. And best wishes to Joe. I’ve been there, it ain’t fun, but it ends eventually, and improvements go on for years!
To tidy up:
Things fall into three categories – Keep, Donate/ Give Away, or Junk. To make it more difficult, there are three categories in the Keep pile: saved for sentimental reasons (see below), saved because it might be worth something some day, or saved because it’s something you actually use at least annually.
Things that are to be donated must be removed from the house immediately, especially if there is more than one packrat residing in said residence.
Things that are worth something really aren’t until you’ve sold thewm. Commit to eBay or give it up.
No item should be picked up more than once. No papers or books should be read, no photos should be coo-ed over till the madness is over. Discussion regarding each item should be avoided -again the number of packrats in a pack.
I like to have copious amounts of sugary things on hand for junky energy. I also like to have a lovely wine for when I’ve finished. Don’t throw out the wine!
*Decide UP FRONT exactly how much space you have for sentimental stuff – a bucket, that weird little back room, whatever. Then, anything that doesn’t fit hits the road. Harsh but very effective.
Have fun.
More questions to ask for an item in the I don’t know pile. How expensive would it be to replace? How hard would it be to find such a thing? Is it truly important memorabilia?
And a tip I got for clothes: turn all the hangers backwards – when you wear it turn it forwards. Get rid of the backwards ones after a designated time, like a year. Mark the one year date or whatever the time period is on a calendar.
One piece of advice that helped for papers was to keep tow years worth of bills and five years worth of taxes. Put each year in it’s own folder. So one big hanging file for power bills, and two smaller folders inside. One for the current year, and one for the past year. When the new year comes, just toss everyting in the old year’s folder.
I also have gotten some good advice on preventing clutter. One is to have recycling right by the mail box. I have on box for office paper, one for newspaper, and one for magazines, because that is how I need to sort them. Also, having small designated baskets or something for items that need to go to another room, in strategically located spots
I see a lot of references to FlyLady. she’s got good idea. but I found the Side-tracked Home Executives to be more help! LOL (web site is “www.shesintouch.com” Lived with their system for years when the kids were little and just restarted on thier cards this week. It’s work, but it’s also worth it.
Tell Joe to behave, keep the foot UP and to heal quickly!!
I like the three bins suggestion – I’ll have to try that in my seriously cluttered house.
And, rememebering lessons learned before on this blog – while I love that fabric, is the top going to be OK for bra-less wearing? (I figure someone should ask before you finish it….)
I am so in love with that top!! I’ve been biting my hand to keep from buying the yarn (I’m blaming the marks on the puppy).
As for the de-cluttering, let me know how it turns out. I’m all for it but I’m married to a first class pack rat who sneaks stuff out of the garbage when I throw it out. Some day, I’m going to send him out of town, rent a dumpster and call a few friends over to help. But with my luck, he’d start canvasing the nearby landfills and Salvation Army outlets to buy back his stuff.
I totally agree with the three box/basket/bag approach. That works for me really well. The last time we moved, my motivation for working hard at getting the house de-cluttered was that all the stuff I wasn’t keeping I determined that I would sell at a yard sale. And all the money I made went to stash enhancement. I made several hundred dollars and the stash was indeed enhanced.
My most successful de-clutter was as a result of my parents informing me I had too much stuff, that no-one would ever want to rent my spare room, and that I’d never manage to get it done in less than a weekend.
I lost my temper and cleared the sitting room and parts of my bedroom in two hours flat.
It helps to have big strong bags: so you can go straight to bin, and straight to charity shop. And straight to eBay.
Good luck
~x~
fix and tidy festival, wow, that almost makes it sound fun… I think you should host that festival!!
Declutter and clean out? Having moved about every 3 years for almost 30 years, here’s the plan: 3 piles or boxes (keep, toss, sell/donate), do one room at a time (starting with closets, then drawers, then what’s out in the open), sort OUTSIDE the room you’re working in, clean the empty room and return the keep pile, the toss and sell/donate piles leave the house immediately. And most important? Start with the bedrooms, leaving the public rooms (kitchen, dining, office, and living room) to last. Because if you start in the front, you’ll quit when they’re done and never do the bedrooms. And teenagers will “rescue” stuff and put it in their rooms, making them even worse than when you started. (Been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt!)
Most everyone has already given great advice about decluttering, so the only thing I have to add is that once you get the bags ready to go to the Goodwill or SA or wherever, TAKE THEM. Don’t leave them sitting around for three months in your basement gathering dust.
Take it from me. I just dropped off LAST YEAR’S spring cleaning, on Sunday. 🙂
I do hope, you’ll fill us/me! in on the plan for the “total top-to-bottom declutter, fix and tidy festival” – I’m not making much progress (and therefor have no tips to offer) on my own “party”. I have no one to blame but myself (and the furry ones) and the entire process is about reducing me to tears. Or buying more yarn.
Try this, it works for me. Set a timer, mine is 30
minutes. When the timer goes off knit, when it goes
off again work on the declutter, when it goes off again knit and so on. At the end of the day you
have both some knitting and some decluttering done.
As off the wall as it sounds it makes both more enjoyable. You DO have to stop knitting when it goes
off, of course (downside). Hope Joe has an easy time
getting back in action. Hugs to you all.
I helped my parents declutter their basement a few years ago. We ended filling a rather large dumpster with bank statements from the 70s along with other useless stuff.
exactly my thoughts: that is a yarn I would never buy, but this top has such a beautiful drape….so before I could react, I had already ordered the yarn and the pattern. Did you see all the other really cool tops and shirts in the book?
The Berocco Seduce looks like an affordable alternative to the Silken Straw, which I bought at Lettuce a couple of years ago. I loved working with it, but can’t afford to make half of the tops I see using it.
Umm, if Seduce is nothing like Silken Straw, please don’t let me know. I would just like to keep dreaming of finding the perfect alternative.
Stephanie-
For your delutter fest the most important part is to get someone else-not Joe- to help you. It needs to be someone without an emotional commitment to your stuff. Don’t try it on your own. I know of which I speak!
Decluttering made easy…
Three boxes/piles/buckets/rooms/whatever you have…
Keep
Sell
Toss
Go through the house one room at a time and separate into these three categories… at the end of the sorting in a room, toss/recycle the trash, put away the keepers and store the sell stuff in one place (garage/basement/something?? – maybe start the process with the basement…?)
When you’ve made it through the whole house, have a garage sale and then donate whatever didn’t sell… it helps if you can have the place you are donating to drive a truck up to your house the day of the sale and drive it all away… you feel SO MUCH better when it’s all gone, plus whatever money you made can go toward more wool! 🙂
-T (:
On the zipper – put it through the washer and dryer before you sew it in, so it won’t shrink later. (ask me how I know.) Also, you can buy a longer zipper and cut it to fit. You just use thread to sew some little zipper stoppers at the right place.
“Joe and I had decided that it was time for a total top-to-bottom declutter, fix and tidy festival, knowing that if we had less stuff it would be easier. and well, now it’s just me. I need a plan. Anybody ever do one of these?”
Are you kidding? That’s like my other favorite hobby. Knit, argue with people on the Internet, and re-organize/declutter.
There are great inspirational blogs—my favorites are Unclutterer (unclutterer.com) and Zen Habits (zenhabits.net, IIRC).
But basically? Get a garbage bag, a recycling bag, maybe a donation box, and just go drawer by drawer pulling *everything* out and sorting it. I’ve heard that in a real declutter, you should expect to be getting rid of something like 30% of the stuff, but obviously YMMV.
Good luck!
For inspiration on getting rid of stuff, I like to read the Unclutterer blog. (http://unclutterer.com/) There are lots of good ideas for organizing the things you actually need, and lots and lots of photos of clear, simple, uncluttered spaces for inspiration. FlyLady (www.FLyLady.net) is also a great place to go to get some serious motivation on getting rid of stuff. Her 27 Fling Boogie is a favorite.
As for Joe, give the man lots of Comfrey Leaf tea. It’ll help take down the swelling, relieve some of the pain, and is waaaaaay easier on his liver than any pain meds out there. Don’t use Comfrey Root internally unless it’s an emergency, but the commercially available dried leaf is perfectly safe to drink. 1 teaspoon dried leaf per 8oz boiling water. Let steep 15 minutes, and drink a quart or more daily. (You could always put his chair in the bathroom. ;o)
Oh, and x-rays can’t pick up anything that’s not calcified (i.e. made of bone), or metal. So, if it’s a very fine break, it won’t show up on an x-ray until the healing starts. If he puts weight on it, the break could shift and shorten his leg, requiring a re-break and re-setting. Ouch.
Best of luck on all fronts . . . and can’t wait to see Flow!
My de-clutter method – one corner at a time. It helps to do the more visible corners first, that way you feel you’ve accomplished something (as opposed to tackling the attic or basement). Just a little every day, eventually you’ll get there!
One thing that makes my declutting less painful is instead of saying I am “throwing it away”, I say I am “moving it on.” As if I am sending the item on a journey or an adventure. Silly, perhaps, but I don’t feel wasteful or guilty anymore.
The other thing about decluttering is not to burn out. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and just do 15 minutes at a time. Drink water, knit, giggle, whatever, for a few minutes in between. It also helps to do one room at a time, and go very methodically, starting at the door and going in one direction around the room, forcing yourself to deal with whatever is next. Have your containers (keep, give away, throw out) ready and don’t let yourself second guess anything you’ve thrown out. Get it out of the house as soon as possible, either in the trash or to the donation center.
You could also do 15 minutes a day for the whole summer (and make the kids do 15 minutes a day). Then it’s not so intimidating and doesn’t seem like work because it only takes 15 minutes.
Good luck sorting through all the advice on how to sort through your clutter. =)
My aunt cleared out her home after 43 years with an unsympathetic grandson, and GOT-JUNK. Worth every penny she said.
I think most people have covered all of the pertinent advice, so I’ll just throw in my best recommendation – IMPARTIAL OBSERVER. I helped my mother-in-law sort through her kitchen stuff a few years ago, and it’s amazing what that woman tried to keep. Something like 45 coffee mugs, when there are two people in the house. Three crock pots, two of which were the same size. A coffeemaker she got for free in the 70s that had never been out of the box. Sheesh.
I liked the “pretend move” suggestion, although you could do the same thing for less money if you rented one of those PODS storage units and stuck it in the driveway for a week or two.
Oh, and in terms of getting rid of stuff – screw the garage sale, just donate it. If you leave it for a garage sale, you have to store it and price it and unless you’re really lucky you won’t make more than $200 on the sale anyway. If you get any sort of tax benefits for donations, or even just a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you did something nice, just take the stuff to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. And take the loads every day or so – that way you don’t get overwhelmed by how much you’re unloading and try to sneak any back into the house.
And for the kids – maybe pay them for each bag/box of stuff they get out of their rooms? It would have to be something substantial in order for them to think it was worthwhile ($1 isn’t going to cut it, but $10 might).
Organizing — I’m an evangelist for Julia Morgenstern’s Organizing from the Inside Out. Seriously, she knows clutter and disorganization (she lived it for years herself) and she’ll help you through the psychological stuff.
Prayers for Joe’s leg!
You cannot do “the whole house” – use the suggetions above (3 piles – keep, throw out and donate) – but do ONE little thing at a time… A CLOSET today – tomorrow try another closet… small bites…
THE GOOD NEWS? Once you start … it’s addictive, it feels good, it feeds on itself and you actually get the URGE to clean more – you’ll feel inspired – not that you “HAVE TO” (“have to’s” never work anyway right??)
Speedy recovery to hubby…
As for the clutter clear out, I recommend breaking it down into rooms or even sections of rooms at a time. It just makes it seem less daunting and then you feel like you have some victories along the way.
And it makes getting rid of stuff easier because it isn’t an entire skip full of stuff.
You will likely just have to make a weekly trip to donate items. Do you have Freecycle in Toronto? Good source to give away things.
Oh, and my mantra when I’m doing this kind of clean up. When I find myself waffling between getting rid of it or keep it, I ask myself, “would I feel bad if I lost this in a house fire?” If I really wouldn’t then I don’t think it needs to be taking up my living space. Living space has become more precious to me than things in the last few years.
You are going to like the declutter. It feels really good once done.
I like to declutter by number of items. Take a deep breath, and… find 10 things to throw away and put them in the throwaway box. Literally just counting 10, 9, 8… as fast as you can. Repeat for the donate box. Keep on repeating, switching back and forth for every room until you can’t find anything. Up the number once you get the hang of it.
This is also how I clean things up. I clean up ten things, then I invariably find myself in having cleaned up half a pair of shoes, so I have to start a new set. I trick myself into actually doing it. It works for writing things as well… 100 words at a time.
I fell in love with that top from your earlier post link! About Joe – my sympathies of course – and I have some info to share: My friend Roberta fell off a ladder and broke her heel in 3 pieces. She also was given a walking cast and told not to put any weight on her foot – for 12 weeks!!! I hope Joe (and you!) never have to go thru this, but in the process she discovered a nifty little scooter-y thing designed for a patient to kneel on with the injured leg (thereby keeping it well off the ground and not tempted to use). You steer with the hands and zip along using the good leg to propel. No help on stairs (her only bathroom is also upstairs – YIKES!) but great for travelling down streets, long corridors and even across lawns! If he does have to endure even a few weeks without weight bearing, and if he can bend his leg at the knee, this just might help! I hope so, anyway.
You’ve gotten some great advice here.
I’d still try http://www.flylady.net/
great how to website for decluttering and cleaning.
Love those colors! I went to my first wool & sheep festival this weekend. Now I have this urge to spin (never have).
The Toss & Tidy thing. I have done it twice. Both times I had a dumpster delivered. Only one unforeseen circumstance. Lock the animals up, the real furry ones (we had a very unfortunate accident; don’t even ask).
Thanks to all the Bloggers for declutter advice! I sure do need it and am almost motivated enough to try some of it!
Back to Ann Arbor for a bit. Was wonderful to meet you, Stephanie!! Also the friendly ladies in the front row who were so affirming and encouraging!
If tube socks are really socks, then I have finished my first pair!! 😉 And started on the second. Getting used to 5 dpns. I am determined to try “real” socks with heels before the year is over.
Happy sorting to all and quick healing for Joe!
Sarah Z in MI
I’m sure you’ve gotten tons of decluttering advice by now, but my two cents is to only (strictly!) concentrate on one room or area per week. Otherwise, if you’re like me, the sheer amount that needs to be done gets too overwhelming.
Also, I love the new Berrocco patterns – I just bought one and I’m considering going back for another. I don’t usually buy pattern books, but these just call to me!
I sympathize so much on the decluttering. I am a lifelong “messy” (as we’re called in the excellent New Messies Manual) and I have removed over 15 trash bags worth of stuff (clothes, books, papers novelty yarns I will never knit with, etc.) from my apartment to charities or the trash and still there are boxes all over the place and clutter blocking most horizontal surfaces. I even signed a pledge over three months ago that I would do a complete one-month declutter of the apartment to appease my poor husband and yet the place is still embarassing.
I think the part of the problem for me is maintenance. I get a thrill out of a cleaning burst, but then the procrastinator in me takes off her clothes at the end of the day and puts them on the chair instead of in the drawers, or leaves her cereal bowl in the bedroom, or leaves her yarn out for the cat to chew on…
Another part of the problem is (and it sounds that way for you too) is that I have very little leisure time and that every minute spent cleaning is stolen from something I’d rather be doing–whether that’s knitting or sewing or spending time with husband/friends/family. Of course, the amount of time I lose looking for important things–bills, checks, tools, papers–in my clutter would probably free up a lot of leisure time as well!
I know many people love FlyLady and she has some good advice but it’s just too cutesy and doesn’t really speak to me. I really love the New Messies Manual that I mentioned, as well as Peter Walsh’s GREAT book “It’s All Too Much” (I bought the audiobook and listen to it whenever I need a decluttering boost/reenergizing). I also watch TLC’s Clean Sweep on occasion.
Finally, one of the most difficult aspects of following the advice of such cleaning/purging gurus for a sentimental person such as myself is that they scoff at sentimentality. They illustrate their stories with anecdotes about parents who filled rooms with “mementoes” and “heirlooms” to keep for their children but left the kids no place to actually play/live. They scoff at “crafters” who fill rooms with scrapbooking materials or fabric that they will never have time to use. They say you don’t need to keep that vase grandma gave you or all of your kids’ drawings. I say that I have a terrible memory and I love to look at objects or letters or old photos and remember the things associated with them. But maybe I can purge/curate those objects down to a reasonable level!
After listening to one of those speeches, I did actually purge my collection of scarves knit for me by my beloved late grandmother. I don’t actually wear any of them any more as they are all knit in Fun Fur. I kept my favorite and photographed the others, so I could still remember them without keeping them stuffed in a box. And as I said, I got rid of all the novelty yarns she left me as well, as I had to realistically admit I had not a single use for them.
P.S. I am having 35 people over to my apartment this weekend. I did this deliberately so I would have no choice but to finish my decluttering. We’ll see!
Sorry, Steph–I”ve got no declutter advice–the only time we ever declutter is when we move. Haven’t done that in 10 years–our house is slowly imploding int he weight of our own crap.
You can ignore the ’15 minutes’ and some of the other bits, but this is the guide I use (And I do adhere to 15 minutes at a time, then put things where they go, then knit for 15 minutes….rinse, repeat, etc.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp
Very good luck and good thoughts for Joe. It’s got to be incredibly frustrating.
We also tend to get rid of things when we move, and since we haven’t moved in 4 years and have no plans to do so, we’ve been trying to…SOMETHING…with the stuff. We’d actually like to finish the basement someday, which means we’d need to find it. I’ve been slowly figuring out: what’s trash? what’s storage? what can be given away? It’s a long process. Our main roadblock is we have young children, and it’s hard to get a full day’s work in.
And I know the sentimental. My son has been known to cry when I’ve tried to put a scrap of paper into the recycle bag.
For declutttering, I’m a faithful FlyLady follower since Jan 2000. But I’m sure someone may have given the same advice (I confess I was too lazy to even scan the comments). I hope Joe’s leg is better.
Cistina in Lisboa, Portugal
In my life, there are two things that motivate me to declutter. One is a visit from my parents, particularly my sharp-eyed mother, and the other, when things get really bad, is moving. Moving forces me to wade ruthlessly through every smidgen of stuff I own and make Decisions About Things. Since I’m not moving in the immediate future, I think I’d better have my mom over for dinner. She will have to eat in the kitchen, however. The dining room table is covered with knitting, art, and dishes I have no storage for. I hope Joe gets some good news about his leg and can soon walk with that walking boot. Tell him to be careful with the crutches–they can cause injuries of their own!
I am digging out from under a semester of squalor. so I understand exactly. About the no weight bearing thing. There are knee scooters that would be good, and much safer than crutches.
As the spouse of someone who has no feet, I suggest that locomotion on the butt is effective and a lot faster than you think. For a while we had stacks of books of varrying hights at varrying places to make the transition from floor to chairs easier. Shower stools with multiple hight legs can help with stairs. Anyone scooting across the floor on his behind will start clearing paths through the schmutter by sheer inertia, sort of a snow plough effect as he goes through the living room backwards.
My sympathies to you & Joe…here’s to a quick recovery. Gorgeous green yarn!!!
For De-cluttering help…check out http://www.flylady.net (or maybe .com). A friend shared it with me a few years back & it has helped me tremendously. I used to think it took HOURS to clean and I used the excuse that if I could not do it “perfect”, then I just wouldn’t start. Fly Lady (stands for Finally Loving Yourself) helped me see things differently. You can do it!!!
Likewise seduced by Seduce. I haven’t started with mine yet, so I’m glad to hear you like it. My only tip on the top to bottom de-clutter, clean thing is just not to be in a hurry. And I always save the worst for last – because by the time I get to it, I’ve had plenty of practice and I’m “in the zone” so to speak, and I’ve made some room and maybe the worst turns out to be only the worst because you can’t figure out where to put all the stuff.
Grumperina wrote a detailed set of instructions for inserting a zipper so that the sweater doesn’t look weird when it’s being worn, posted on February 5, 2007 “Closing the Brilliant Retro”. Read them before you begin sewing the zipper into your sister’s cardigan; it will save you much frustration.
I have no cleaning advice.
P.S. I also feel you on the frugality vs. decluttering issue. I read a lot of frugality/thrift blogs and if I followed all their advice, I’d save EVERY plastic bag or box or rubbed band or piece of packing bubble wrap in case I could turn it into a frugal solution or because I “might” need it someday. When you have a serious clutter problem, decluttering has to take precedence over thrift. If you limit yourself to a certain space/number of such “just in case” items, once they exceed that space, toss em.
Plus, there’s nothing frugal about paying bills late or losing checks in clutter (I’ve done this).
Also think in terms of rent/mortgage. Are all the “just in case” items worth the rent/mortgage of the space they take up, or the cost of the organizing furniture/solutions required to store them? I calculated the rent per square foot and I try to think about how much it’s costing me per month/year to store things for “just in case.” Also, think about what else you could put there (like yarn?)
I speak from personal experience–I once got over 30 used picture frames at Goodwill and kept them stuffed in corners and under furniture “just in case” I got around to painting pictures or retouching family photos to fill them, even though my walls are already covered in art. I purged 20 and may purge the rest if I don’t use them in a year.
good luck on the decluttering thing.. you can tell from my house that we have not figured out how to do that either, so I’ll expect a full report, complete with hints and tips. I’m wondering, does it help to have one member of the decluttering team incapacitated, so the sole upright member can toss out more of the other members stuff than their own? I love the merino… love the merino… totally love the merino… what do you have planned for it?
I’ve totally done the declutter thing. We move every few years (sometimes cross-country), so it is imperative for us to get rid of things periodically. We also have three young children with rooms full of happy meal toys.
You need a really loud annoying kitchen timer (the kind you can carry with you), lots of big garbage bags, and boxes. Set your timer for 1 hour, pick up all the trash you can find for one hour and put it in the bags. Trash left lying around, old shampoo bottles from the cabinet that you will never use, clothing with holes or stains (don’t say you will fix it someday) just go through everything. When your timer goes off, you’ve earned an hour of knitting time. Set the timer again and don’t do any knitting that takes 3 hours for one row. Repeat this process until you’ve gone through every closet, cabinet, drawer, and under every bed in the house. This could take days, but you will survive if you keep at it. (BTW, if you think you’ll have a truly huge amount of trash, you can rent the really big dumpsters. Just check the phone book or see if your city waste removal will rent one to you.)When the trash is out you do the same type of thing with all the stuff you are not using, but is still usable. Go through every closet, cabinet and drawer, packing things into boxes that you will then donate. When you get enough boxes to fill up the back of whatever vehicle you are using, put it all in and drive it to the Goodwill or Salvation Army or whatever you have there. It is necessary to put it in the car and take it in IMMEDIATELY or someone will take things back out of the boxes and squirrel said things away back to their rooms. You have to be sneakier than them. Also, find out the date for your local “BIG JUNK” pickup and have any large items ready on that date.
Finally, one last thing that has helped me enormously. Rather than deciding what you (or your kids) want to keep, decide instead where things will be stored, and how much will logically fit into that space. For example, my daughter’s closet has room for her laundry hamper and three large tote boxes. So when we declutter her room, she picks her favorite things to go back into the totes. When they are full, everything that won’t fit goes. This helps to make picking up doable. Nobody likes picking up if there’s nowhere to put things.
Now, as for husbands decluttering… As much as they might want to help with the process, don’t expect your man to get rid of a lot of his stuff. As incomprehensible as it seems, my dh seems to feel about his stuff the same way I feel about my stash. Now, some wives have gotten the idea to declutter their husband’s stuff while he is out. You and I however, are too smart to even consider doing that. So, since my dh is an adult, I let him deal with his own stuff and only ask that it be contained to a certain area and not all over the house.
Hope this helps, Stephanie. Sorry for the super size post. Remember to keep rewarding your decluttering efforts with knitting time and lots of caffeine. I’m decluttering now too (another cross-country move) so I’ll be sending lots of decluttering thoughts your way.
You’ve got lots of great advice to read above, but in many moves as a military wife, from state to state and back and forth across the pond a couple of times, I came up with one idea that helps me persevere, against my nature! I love magazines, so in addition to the 4 boxes or bins many people mentioned, I have one called “later.” This saves me from taking too much time deciding about one item. When all is purged I get to read through all my magazines that have been lying about or stacked in corners one more time before I either 1) tear out the great ideas and put them in file folders in my file, or 2) store them on the proper shelf for the ones I’ll hang onto for awhile because I’ll use them.
Good Lord, I’m in the wrong place. The woman shows us knitting, the woman shows us spinning, the woman shows us roving…
…and people want to talk HOUSECLEANING?????
Rachel H, I adore you. Not a whisper of it — though you may be feeling hot breath on your neck as person after person says “get a friend to help you…”
I’ll be over here hunched on my dungheap. Knitting.
Jeez.
Flylady.com for decluttering – she’s got everything you need to know. Basically you can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. Get yourself a timer (I use the timer on the microwave) and go to her website.
One crucial step in decluttering that I’m not sure has been addressed is that you can’t go around buying stuff while you’re in the decluttering process. Kind of defeats the purpose.
I can very much empathize with Joe. After a nasty wreck 11 years ago, I was out of work for two months healing and went completely stir crazy. Within a week or two I was out doing yardwork and gardening with broken ribs and collar bone. I had to do *something*.
good luck with the declutter project, I am on the internet currently avoiding my cleaning plans.
tell Joe to wiggle his toes if he can, it helps the swelling go down, It took 6 weeks after I tore my ACL for my surgeon to tell me, but it works.
You need FlyLady! http://www.flylady.com
You most certainly can shorten a zipper.
Unzip it to the length you want,
cut it about 2 inches longer than you want.
Then either sew a new stop at the top of each tape, so that the slider won’t slide off, or when you sew it into the sweater, fold the extra length underneath.
its true, the new stop at the top wont be molded plastic or metal clamped on there, but you can sew one stitch, over and over and over, until it makes a thick bump, too large for the slider to pass over – one on each tape, at the new desired length.
or again, just fold the extra length underneath.
Okay, as you have never seen my house I feel safe to comment (hey, you asked for it:) )
As a person who, between work (as in the entire office not just my cube) and home had at one point moved 6 times in 5 years, I did a lot of purging prior to moving. There is nothing like the idea of schlepping crap into and out of moving vans to get you to cut down.
There is a strategy that works well for me. It is a long-term process but it’s also something that can continue to work and isn’t too hard to get going.
Put crap in boxes. Organize by topic, group by owner or something if you like. Close the boxes up. Come back to them in 6 months, and if you haven’t needed the stuff in there, get rid of it. Stretch it out for a year if you like. But seriously, if you haven’t needed the stuff while it was in the box, you don’t need it and you won’t need it later. And you can’t empty the box to see if there’s something at the bottom you need. Root around in there for a bit if need be but don’t take stuff out of the box.
The trick is, once you dump the box you need to go through the house and fill it up again. That’s the part that trips me up a lot.
Also this is something that works well when you move, as you have to box stuff up. There’s nothing like going into a garage or spare room and finding boxes full of stuff you moved from one house to the next and then to the next without ever opening them in between to realize you really, really don’t need so much stuff.
Another option (and this might not be helpful at all, depends on the person) – do one room at a time. Be ruthless, and don’t allow yourself to put something “away” in another room without serious consideration. One room at a time can be serious inspiration.
“Look how great this room looks!” you say to yourself.
“And the rest of my house looks like a pre-school before naptime – I gotta get in gear……..”
Good luck!
I live a really cluttered life. I’ve been told by concerned family members that to deal with clutter everything has to have a place. If something doesn’t have a place, it ends up in a pile – hence the clutter. A big part of getting the clutter under control is finding a place for everything. Sometimes, I just don’t know where to put things. In this case, I declare war on the house. I try to wage separate battles in each room. Don’t be afraid to hide the things that you don’t know what to do with immediately in another room like the basement. Once you’ve conquered the rest of the house, then you can deal with the pile of stuff in the basement that you really don’t know what to do with. For those items that you have separation issues with, some people recommend putting them in a box and writing a note on it to discard it in a year. If you don’t need it in the next year, it is a little easier to toss it – maybe – in theory at least…
Ask yourself: have I used/worn this item at all in the last year? If the answer is “no,” it goes. Unless it’s a precious family heirloom, of course.
My little family of 4 lives in a 900 sq ft house, so we are forced to ask this question pretty often 🙂
I do the whole cleaning thing to my room about every other year or so, I justify throwing things away by saying that I need to make room for new things. It horrifies my mother who still has clothing in my closet, of all places, from her college years. Let’s just say my mother is past the 25 year anniversary of her college graduation.
I start from top to bottom, left to right. Get an opaque trash bag, reach for something from the top on one side of the room, then work your way down, then move to a different location. If you touch something, think hard of the last time you used it and how that went. If it’s bad memories, then toss it into the dark bag and never look back. If it’s mediocre, then put it somewhere else, in another bin perhaps, then come back to it later. Save the rest of it. Works for me, but then I’m only dealing with my things, not mine and 4 other people’s things.
Decluttering? I see there are already about 20 comments that recommend Flylady, so I will instead just say sorry about Joe’s leg; I hope he feels better soon. Also, your spinning fiber looks yummy. 🙂
As to #2, I’m currently sort of doing that because I’m in the middle of moving into a smaller space. It’s really not fun. At all. I’m determined to not acquire as much stuff next time.
RE DECLUTTERING/CULLING
Don’t over do it. Just pick a room each day and take 15 minutes out of each hour and clean one part of the room. The other 45 minutes for knitting or something else like drink/food and bathroom.
If you get the girls to help, then that’s 30 minutes of decluttering. And if you give Joe something to work on while he rests on the couch, then even more done.
Because you only focus on one room a day, it won’t be so bad and you get to knit in between. Before you know it, culling will be done!
Great Luck….
ps.. if you decide to “cull” any yarn,,,,, I am a willing recipient….. hehehehehe 😉
kelly
Someone mentioned a cast cozy for Joe. When my son broke his wrist a few months ago, I knitted him an arrrgyle cast cozy. Everyone who saw it thought it was so cute.
I’ve got the de-clutter bug as well. I have decided that I have enough clothes in my house for a family of 12. (probably the sizes for all of them too…..) Since it is just me and my husband, I didn’t mind the clutter (if you can’t see it, I can’t see it). But, my stash/craft room is getting kinda cluttered, and some containers have snuck into another room in the house, so I decided to start getting rid of stuff. Unfortunately, the de-clutter bug in my house does not necessarily mean the cleaning bug. I’ve made it through three rooms so far and thrown away 14 garbage bags of junk and have 10 garbage bags waiting for Goodwill/Salvation Army. Not a vacuum or duster in sight, though, I’m afraid. Why did I do this? I’ve got plans for my stash and what I’m going to do with it. (I actually dream about sorting my stash) It’s all about the stash anyway… don’t tell my husband that though…. 🙂
I also fell for that pattern and book! I bought a silk blend yarn in the same color!
I noticed lots of people are recommending the piles method – but one little part is missing…you have to force yourself to make a decision quickly (less then a minute) on each item. Otherwise you get bogged down in the, “Oh, I remember this…” trap! I used it for my basement and the job went so quickly using that method – I totally recommend!!
Several people have mentioned it already, but I’d like to chime in with total, energetic agreement that the fly lady will change your life. Granted, you have to stay on the wagon (I’ve relapsed into flylessness), but it really works.
Ah, decluttering–here’s my theory, although clearly, we all have our own. I’m a fan of the 3 bag system as are others here, but even more important is to look at each thing you decide to keep and ask yourself “is this in the best/most convenient place to store this?” I used to keep appliances I (sadly) rarely use–like the Forman Grill and wafflemaker–on lower shelves, and my everyday cookbooks on top of my cupboards. I’m 5’2″, so it meant getting a LADDER every time I wanted a recipe. And I cook a lot. Moving things around made it much easier to put things away in a timely manner. The other great thing I discovered is that getting rid of some stuff means that the remaining stuff in said drawer/cupboard/shelf will have more room and consequently is less likely to fall out and hit you in the head when retrieving it. I don’t know about you, but I end up getting mighty cranky when I’m constantly getting bopped in the head. Preventing this, my friend, is worth the weight of all your children in gold. Finally, because I tend to get overwhelmed by huge undertakings, the last time I did this sort of thing (which resulted in removing TWENTY garbage bags of Goodwill items/trash/shredding and was life changing in its success) I made a list of every single thing that needed to be organized in my entire apartment. So, if a dresser had 5 drawers, it got six line items: one for every drawer, and one for the top of the dresser. As you can imagine, the list was long. Everything came out of each area and the space was thoroughly cleaned before returning the items to their original space–unless, of course, convenience dictated that they be moved somewhere else. I know this sounds kind of compulsive, but I have to tell you, it not only worked, but kept me on track until I finished everything. Even knitting procrastination was kept at bay, which is something. Good luck!
All sorts of good suggestions on the decluttering. I can only add – get as much help as you can, try to free yourself from the need to hang on to the stuff, and make sure the other people in the house are “on board” with the decluttering. It just makes for an angry house if someone feels like they are defending their territory against an onslaught.
Plus, if you think that something might be too valuable to just away, give it to Joe to look up its value online. Perfect solution to his lack of mobility. Actually, the same applies when turns out the item is dirt cheap and can be repurchased for a song, should it be needed in the future.
Thanks for this post, Stephanie… I need a good cleaning strategy, too. I found loads of very helpful suggestions in your comments!
Does Craig’s List work in Canada??
I have post several things, both for sale and give-aways, and have been rid of them in the same week. When the urge strikes, do it before you change your mind!
Sheila
I’m with Presbytera!! And Rams!! You knit, girl. These helpful declutterers are beginning to scare me; they’re like my sweetie, who somehow thinks that decluttering will happen magically during the summer while I’m not teaching. Don’t hold your breath, honey!! I’m pretty sentimental; she’s practical; so it goes!
the way I have evolved in doing this:-hold the item in your hand. Ask yourself, “Do I want to spend any time taking care of this?” If the answer is ‘no’ then out it goes. Ask yourself, “Can I easily buy another one of these without causing myself financial anxiety?” If the answer is ‘yes’- out that goes. If you haven’t worn it in over a year and your mother didn’t make it for you, then give it away. my husband is always afraid he won’t have the part/tool/piece of lumber that he needs, so it is a real chore to get him to throw things away. I have to sneak my stuff out the door lots of times so he can’t squirrel it away again. I read a good article in the paper where the woman vowed to throw/give away 1 item everyday for a whole month. It really worked!
Mary
hire a professional to help
you all to declutter
house and garden hgtv shows
how most every day -they
are really good -some one
in the middle really helps
good luck with the leg
the knitting is quite nice
i presume webs will be out of
this yarn- have you seen the
cover on your new book thats you?
That’s funny. Seduce was one of the samples from Yarn of the Month last month. I knit up the swatch the other day and really disliked the yarn. My tension was all wonky. Eh, to each his own, I guess. Maybe I’m the one who was wonky and not the yarn.
I do hope that Joe is on the mend soon!! Is there such a thing as a cast cozy? Maybe knit him a couple beer cozies instead 🙂
I noticed Norah’s pattern about a day before you did, and queued it on Rav. Then I noticed you did too. Not sure where I spotted it but it sure is a beauty. You picked exactly the color I would too.
Don’t sweat the house. It’s getting warm out anyway and time to spend outside.
I LOVE the roving! Such beautiful colors!!! You are such a bad influence, you make me want to learn how to spin! 🙂
Best wishes to Joe for a speedy recovery.
Regarding the whole house declutter…approach the problem with ruthlessness and a complete lack of sentimentality. Here are some strategies that worked for me:
Have a give away instead of a rummage sale. Don’t charge for things, just give them away. It’s easier to let go of things if you think of them as going to someone else.
After the give away you will look at the things that are left, a sad lot of mismatched things that no one wanted, and you will think: what is this junk? And you will no longer want to keep it. It will also help you be less attached to the things you kept. You can look at your belongings with your new un-rosetinted glasses. More things will go into the get rid of it pile.
Call up the local thrift store to schedule a pick-up. Usually they’ll pick it up right off the curb and you don’t have to watch as your treasures are hauled away.
Just one quick addition to all the great information – I use collapsible laundry bins from the dollar store. That way, I have one for each person in the house, as well as the throw away, keep, and think about. I move them all to each room, and deposit the bin back to each kid’s room. when I’m done. Then they get to sort their own stuff. And, those things come in really handy on vacations,camp, etc. Keeps dirty laundry from running amok when there isn’t a laundry room floor to catch it all!
When life gets crazy, I become a “stuff” purger. Basically, the more cluttered my schedule the less clutter I can handle in the house. I use the three bin method, too. But, I go one room at a time and everything that I’m keeping from that room has to be put away in a permanent home whether in that room or another. No just dumping it in another room and then having to include it in the sort a second time. (That encourages me to get rid of more, too.) Then I toss and give away all the extras from that room and move on to the next room and do the same.
Incidentally, zippers can be shortened. I know you hate to sew, but seriously a simple bar of dense sewing across the bottom and you have a new stop. So, you can cut off the rest of it. I’m sure there are tutorials on the net that would help what I just said make sense.
I feel for you. My idea for decluttering might make you cringe but I’m so tempted to do it. A can of lighter fluid and a match (snort)We moved from a 4 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom trailer house and have no room for anything!!!! We had to move due to father in laws health. Not bad yet but he can’t live by himself on the farm place so we got elected to move. I love how that works LOL
Hi
I can so identify with this post!!! Try a mum downsizing, a partners mum unfortunately dying , another son moving and downsizing and another moving to Washington DC and guess where all their excess ends up?? That’s right in our garage, and passage and spare rooms etc etc.
Just three words… get a “skip” at the gate, “recycle” as much as possible, and finally “donate”. I worked out if I “give” away to charity then the item isn’t wasted but is going to “help” a needier person than me. The charity either sell it and use the money to buy food for the food bank or they give it to someone who doesn’t have. Either way it is a win / win.
I was going to have a garage sale but ended up with so much stuff couldn’t be bothered.
Oh and developing a thick skin and a blind eye can help!
Good luck….
Cheers >^..^<
The only way I know how to declutter is to completely empty each room one at a time and throw out stuff or put it in a bag for charity if it’s still good. Eventually only the good stuff we are going to keep is in the room and the rest goes to the dump/Salvation Army.
The lady at the quilt shop here in town alters zipper length. You should be able to get someone in a fabric store there who can/will. It doesn’t look all that hard either.
I would recommend putting the stuff you’re getting rid of in dark bags. When I did a declutter, my husband Joe saw a few things he wanted in my clear plastic bag. He started taking this and that out, and before I knew it, all of the stuff to be thrown away was now on various counters in the garage!
Another recommendation: put your current knitting projects in someone else’s house so you’re not tempted to sit and knit “just one row” and before you know it, an hour has gone by!
Good luck.
Interesting tank. I look forward to seeing it done, as the picture is a little small and brown. Sweater for sis looks great. Did it grow much? Reading the doc run-around makes me NOT miss Canada. Keep in mind the pain may be in part ligamental as well. The cure is the same, though, isolation and rest. And that’s the LEG, not Joe!
I went looking for a zipper-shortening article I read in Threads or Vogue Patterns last year and couldn’t find it. But I did find this: “How to Shorten a Vislon Separating Zipper” at http://www.sundroptextiles.com/tips.htm .
I had a break like Joe’s about 10 years ago. It was right above the ankle and they had to pin it. I spent 6 weeks in a non-weight-bearing cast. There were two great things about spending those 6 weeks on crutches.
1.) I developed great upper body strength.
2.) When I went to Disney World in Orlando for a business conference, I gave up on the crutches after day one and moved to one of those motorized chairs. This was great, I got through the crowds relatively quickly and never had to look for a seat at the meetings. And the best part of all — on the last night we went to one of the parks. As soon as the Disney employees saw the chair, I moved right to the front of the line.
Went thru a horrendous move last summer. It’s worth it to be where we are. But, moving the volume of stuff we accrued in our former place was awful. We filled a huge dumpster 3 times, hauled off more to various charitable org.s. Love having less. House is easier to clean. There is a feeling of lightness that’s wonderful. I second the 3 bin method. It wasn’t easy, but totaly worth the work in the end. I find I hesitate to haul things home like I used to (except for really fine fiber). It’s a good thing…. ;o )
This process (of course) did NOT include my stash….some things are sacred! But it is all together & wayyyy more organized than before,lol.
Good Luck with the house/decluttering & Joe’s appointment.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned but I’ve read in Feng Shui books that keeping a thing “in case you need it some day” is akin to telling yourself that when that someday comes, you won’t be able to afford to acquire that thing….so you’d better hang onto it now.
I’ve been collecting fabric for years and now that we’re contemplating a move back to Canada I want to get rid of all extraneous things. I horde fabric for “someday” but the idea of divesting myself of it feels very good!
You’ll feel so much lighter once you get rid of the extra stuff in your house!
Ok I am a throw away kind of gal. Trust me when you are done you will feel purged, toss lots keep little. I never understand why my husband still has elementary school report cards.
Re: de-clutter and tidy-up festival: yes, I’ve had one of these, going on for -ahem- years now. Be ruthless, take no prisoners, ignore the whining. OR set all that stuff free to go on to the next stage of its life. OR wait till Joe recovers so you have a decision making partner. OR. . . you see why my festival has taken on the proportions of a year-round celebration. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TOUCH THE STASH WHILE THE TIDY-UP IS IN PROGRESS. YOU WILL REGRET IT.
You need me… remember the embroidered clock…remember the hallway rug…remember how much I owe you? My days off are Tuesday/Wednesday – I’m all yours.
http://www.flylady.net
If you have a look at flylady and find her a bit, well, weird – you might want to try organizedhome.com. A lot of overlap with flylady but somehow I find it a bit easier to take. I just can’t get into the whole shining the sink thing.
Either way, enjoy – and remember that dirt & clutter won’t kill you. If they did, I wouldn’t be here posting this comment.
On the decluttering, give yourself a time-limit by setting a stop watch and only working on it for say 15 minutes. This might also be the time to hire yourself some help in the form of some teenagers.
I recommend the “SPACE” plan by Julie Morgenstern:
Sort – like to like
Purge – throw away things that are broken,stained
A – damn, I forgot “A”…must not be important
C – containerize
E – damn, I forgot “E” too.
Anyway, knowing that you have to do “C” is a huge incentive to throw away way more stuff than you thought you would because pretty containers are freakin’ expensive.
The Purge is 2 stacks of “Donate” or “Garbage”
Oh yeah one more thing about flylady – she wants you wearing shoes all the time, and in Canada that’s really not acceptable. (as an American who lived in Canada for 6 years, I learned that people frown when you wear your shoes inside.) I think you can ignore that advice and just put on some nice handmade slippers or something.
That top really caught my eye, too! i thought it might be a good project for trying a bamboo blend. Then I thought, “would need to wear a bra.” Now I’m knitting socks instead.
The sweater is gorgeous, and leaving the collar til yo have the zipper is brilliant. The kind of thing i would think of *after* finishing the collar.
Spinning! Pretty!
and fingers crossed for Joe!
Decluttering. Yes, my husband and I dealt this with his parents’ house when they moved into a retirement home. My mother-in-law saved everything – broken, useless, etc. Some was wonderful and most not. The rule of thumb for us is “When in doubt, throw it out.” (or recycle or something). We also have a theory about half-lives of things that you own. At any one time, you can get rid of only half of any pile or any stuff. When you are keeping more than you are getting rid of, it is time to take a break and come back to it later. You probably can get rid of more at that point. We also have discovered that stuff has to reach its “half-life”. The physics concept. If it hasn’t reached its half-life, we are incapable of getting rid of it. Thank goodness my mother has been good about getting rid of stuff, but we will have to do this all again with my in-laws. We struggle with it constantly.
Funny, I bought that book this weekend, for Flow and Pleat! Love the shapes.
When I moved in with my fiancee, we had a great system. I don’t think it will work for you while Joe is immobile though. I sat in my knitting chair. Mike went around the room and picked up one object at a time. My job was to say, “keep”, “Goodwill”, or “trash.” We did one room at a time and it was over in a few days.
I think the key thing is to break your house up into zones and do one zone at a time. Fly Lady also has some great tips at http://www.flylady.net.
Good luck!
Call me crazy but I LOVE doing the major cleaning and organizing stuff!!! My advice, one room at a time. That makes it seem much more doable. And give yourself a week or two for each room and have a plan (ie – a box for donation, trash and keepage) and a plan to clean each part of the room (window, curtains, shelves, baseboards, doors, floor, etc.). Oh I want to come help!!!!!
Cleaning method: my sister uses laundry baskets; I use paper grocery bags. You don’t leave the room until everything is either put away, or is in a bag. The bags are labeled for the room in which the item belongs (e.g. “Kitchen”) or “Trash” or “donate.”
How do you decide what to donate? I don’t know. What I do know is that I give myself a break; if I don’t donate it today, I’ll donate it next time. That way, there’s no *gasp* “Maybe I should keep it! Should I? Should I?” gut-wrenching decision. “I no longer love this” is an easy way to decide to get rid of something.
Best of luck. Maybe tie a weight to Joe’s belt.
My dad had a vertical fracture, and while he is older than Joe, if the break doesn’t calcify, it doesn’t heal strong. My dad had to keep the cast on longer and take calcium supplements. Get Joe on the calcium supplements ASAP – it certainly can’t hurt.
How about doin’ the Trashbag Tango? You take 2 trashbags each day- one for donating and one for trash. Work room by room and by the end of the week you will have 14 bags to leave the house. 28 bags if one of the kids will do it as well! It really adds up, and it’s bit by bit which seems to work better for me.
Go Rams, you crack me up.
I have just two things to add about cleaning:
1. Hire out. I have a friend with a business that helps people get organized and get rid of stuff (she even does bathrooms). She never throws anything out without permission. Even strong, cool women need help sometimes.
2. Put a face on your donation pile. I have cooked monthly at a family homeless shelter for the past four years. Whenever I donate goods I think of the folks I have met there and it makes me more generous.
Be persistent in getting Joe’s diagnosis. Be insistent. I spent three months walking around on a broken foot with some creative and some dismissive diagnoses. Get to a specialist sooner rather than later. It will make a huge difference in the quality of Joe’s and your family’s life.
Importantly, pace yourself. Healing is more important than anything else.
Cleaning in short bursts when busy ie: a closet or a few drawers one day, another area the next day– adds up over several days. Another nice approach when there is more time is one room at a time–just when you think you know what you have you uncover some great treasures! Then you can put stuff in boxes designated for certain places so you aren’t running around putting things away one at a time and wasting time. Then assign someone to sweep and mop…..
Think of it this way. For everything you get rid of that you haven’t used in say the last year, will leave a spot open for you to store yarn in. closets, under the bed, night stands, drawers in the kitchen. Everything can go! The yarn stays!
I think this would be a great time for Joe to finish the socks he promised you.
(Nov 1. 2004 entry).
Let me second, third and fourth everyone who has already mentioned the flylady site. The way she breaks such tasks down makes them very do-able. The core is: use a timer, do 15 min at a time (then do what you want for 15 min). Never take out more than you can put back in an hour. Have three boxes: put away, give away, throw away. Line the latter with a garbage bag and take it right out to the bin when it’s full. As soon as the first is full, make a run around the house stowing stuff in its proper place. And for the second, when it’s full, then out to the car to be dropped off at your local charity of choice the next time you are out. Her cleaning system now keeps my house pretty much presentable, but no means perfect, in simple to do routines, to the point that people compliment me on it. NEVER would have happened before.
I like to make it manageable. I either keep at it until one box is full of donateable stuff or until I’ve thrown away 10 things.
And please tell Joe that I hope he recovers quickly!
You know, usually we’re not exactly on the same page about the “This is a gorgeous color combo!” thing, which is good, because then I don’t compete with you on yarn. However, I love that green. Reminds me of granny smith apples!
This is for Joe:
Bless you. Feel better. Start knitting.
Again, Kudos to Rams who has HER priorities right…
*Sigh*
I admit- that while I find the “flylady” often annoying… it DOES work. her crisis clean thing is great. effective. effecient.
nice to see you spinning again;) and that Norah G piece is to TOTALLY outside your box.. good for you! Looks like a great summer piece!
Check out the “Flylady.” It is the only thing that ever worked for me. AND you can get the whole family in on it. Joe can supervise until he’s back in working shape. Good luck!
Yikes, I miss a day, and suddenly you’re writing about broken bones! Heal, Joe, heal!
I’ve got to say I find the flylady pretty annoying. Try reading Don Aslett’s books. Not that I spend much time cleaning. I’d rather knit.
I love the sweater and the color !!! Gotta get me some of that !!
As for the clutter … I follow most of the declutter suggestions but I totally empty the room. Then I put things back one item at a time. What’s left over goes in the keep, toss or donate boxes.
I LOVE to declutter, weed out, organize, and clean, so I would be happy to come and help you!!! We might end up fighting over things I think you should toss and you think you shouldn’t, but I bet I could ease the pain with some yarn…and hey, think of all the extra space for yarn stash……
On the declutter thing – it’s easier if someone *else* does it – we want to hoard, and the outsider can take a critical, unbiased eye and sya – “Chuck.”
My sympathies to you for having fallen in charge of the massive amounts of cleaning. Perhaps we should stage a knitters’ intervention? I’m sure that many of your readers (myself and my organizationally-minded mom included) would be more than willing to come to your rescue and help with the sorting. If it weren’t for the fact that I live in Pennsylvania, I would be more than willing to pitch in and help. 🙂 Best of luck!
My condolences to Joe on the injury, and I certainly hope he gets well soon.
Also–lovely job on the cardigan for your sister; certainly worth the wait. The sleeveless top is fabulous as well, and gorgeous color–can’t wait to see your progress on it!
For help on learning to declutter and how to establish morning and evening routines and a few short (15 minute) weekly routines that will have your house welcoming and calmer by the day, go to http://www.flylady.net . She’ll have you doing 27 boogie flings every day until the clutter is gone!
Re: decluttering.
Think about what you can lose first and be ruthless. When you decide, put it in a bag or box and take it to whomever/whatever will best recycle/buy/take it as quickly as possible. Plan and investigate this ahead of time so it can happen quickly and painlessly.
On no condition, look in the box or bag again while it is waiting to leave the premises, or let anyone else do this.
Good luck.
Ugh. Crutches suck. Sorry to Joe. Maybe you could knit him some little cotton comfy pads to go on the armpit pieces? (With all your spare time?)
We’re seriously considering moving this summer from Portland, OR to Jackson Hole, WY, (near Yellowstone) so I’ve been decluttering like mad. I suck at it and so does Jim. I like the “three receptacles, 1 room at a time” approach, too. I try to be generous in what I send OUT the door of the house. My single best question is “Will I miss this if it’s gone?” If I pick something up having not laid eyes on it for more than a couple of years, I don’t even bother to ask the question (unless it’s fiber.)
Trash day is Friday. I always try to have a full can. And I take at least one carload to Goodwill a month.
I really like that yarn for the trapeze top.
wow! so many flybabies!
definitely flylady. you can find ways to help yourself with her system. it works, her basics are sane and kind.
she got her name because she taught fly fishing. shs is definitely Christian, so be warned. but hers is a compassionate, non-judgmental voice to counteract the self-defeating, cynical sneering inner dialogue that usually accompanies overwhelming house work – whether it be cleaning, clearing, sorting or de-cluttering.
there are also sites for hoarders… Oprah did a show so the links are on her site. it’s pretty sobering.
good luck to you and Joe and family. cleaning up really does feel good.
and keep Joe off his leg! egads! to have to break again to set it!
Poor Joe. You both have my sympathies. The only thing that might be worse than being the person who can’t do the things they need to due to an injury is being the person who has to deal with the person with the injury and the stuff the person with the injury was planning to deal with. Everyone lost yet?
Decluttering. I sympathize, I’m doing the same myself. My biggest piece of advice: Do your bedroom first. Really. You will sleep much better and have more energy for dealing with everything after that. The next most important space is wherever you spend the most time working. The third most important is, for you where you spend the most time knitting and spinning. Don’t worry about public spaces until after you’ve done the others, unless of course, they are also where you spend the most time working or knitting/spinning.
Make your kids responsible for their own stuff. Just make them get it into their own rooms for now. Help them later if they ask.
Don’t work too long at a time. Burning out is almost worse than not starting.
I find it helpful to use the rule of three “keep, donate, trash” but only put away the things that actually live in the room you are in. The others go in the box to move to other rooms when you are done with that batch. Also, start just to the right (or left) of the door and work around the room clockwise (or counter) to keep from darting around. Oh, and if you can’t figure out where something should live, that usually means it is something that doesn’t need to live in your house anymore.
To cope with the psychological issues of “what if I can’t afford it when I want/need it?” I find it helps to think about how long it took to find the last thing I knew I had, or how many times I had to buy a new one anyway because the old one wasn’t findable. Or how I’d have more room for yarn or books if I wasn’t trying to store two crockpots.
I found Flylady to be helpful too as long as I took what I could use and let the rest be. She has a “decluttering for a move” section that might be helpful for you if you’re in a real hurry.
Good luck, Joe! Hope its nothing bad.
Y’know the sight of lovely spun stuff on your blog and the influence of *that* laurie’s lovely colourwork got me into spinning. 30 something fleeces later no wonder my old craft room was all cluttered! lOL
I use the chuck/recycle/give away/small box for keeping method.
Joe can finish knitting your sock!
Hmm, you mention that Flow is sheer, but you’ve also said that you only find your bra for special occasions. Would Flow *be* that special occasion? Knitter, know thyself.
when decluttering try to organize some categories that many things will fall into. for instance
– donate
– throw away
– resale if market available
– ebay if clever teen nearby
– knitterly items it is time to pass on (this category may be myth)
and so on from there. I am preparing for my second cross country move and have adopted the theory that there is very little that I actually need and very few things so rare that I could not locate another if required. Note that it is stll unproven theory at this point as I have six boxes of books, fabric, yarn, etc to mail. Best Wishes to Joe!
Cleaning plan: invite (beg for help from) someone who doesn’t save stuff. Someone who’s not a collector or accumulator. Someone who is NOT afraid to tell you some pseudo-treasure is totally unnecessary crap. Someone who will remain your friend even after wading through your stuff while you cry and moan and are unproductive.
I’ve been that someone a couple of times, and it’s actually been fun.
Now if I could convince my husband to let go of some of his timber and scrap metal.
Carol
“Click to make it bigger”. What happened to ’embiggen’ ? I LOVE that word.
Love the sweater. I hope Joe heals quickly.
Cleaning plan-
1 room every 2 days. 3 boxes-Keep, Toss, donate. A laundry basket to hold items that belong in another room. Be ruthless. Force the girls to help. Bribe a friend with a car or truck to help you get rid of the donate stuff.
And Steph? If you haven’t worn it, you don’t need it. If you haven’t used it, you don’t and likely won’t need it. If you do need in the future- there is more. I promise.
Unless it’s a part of your furnace.
ACK seized with yarn envy. Unable to concentrate on your de-clutter suggestion! All I can say is that, for a young ‘un (well…mid twenties? late twenties? when does one end and the other start?), it really helped me to up and move. So maybe something that replicates moving, as in only keep what you’d want to keep if you had to fit it in a moving van? And yarn doesn’t count – unless of course you want to start giving it away, haha! Good luck with cleaning and with the injured Joe.
Mmmm, green!
On the top to bottom declutter thing: I put everything off the shelf and then started matching things up to their mates and original boxes, etc. It creates a huge mess but if you actually get through it, the pile in the middle of the floor that is left behind is the stuff that goes to Good Will or what ever group you use in your area. My friends at the time pretty well thought that I was nuts. I assured them that they had excellent assessment skills and found new friends that weren’t hung up on neatness. : )
We did a total declutter when we put our house on the market and moved overseas…basically, 1/4 of our stuff went in the bin or to charity shops, 1/4 went to storage, and 1/2 came with us. It’s amazing how much we had accumulated over the years.
My suggestion is to start with one room at a time, and go slowly. Does it need to be kept? Does it need to be out? Could someone else utilize/benefit from it better if you yard saled it or donated it? If you haven’t worn it or used it in over two years, it could go (or at least get boxed up and moved to the garage!).
Good luck…I’ll check on your progress when you come to iKnit in London! Wahoo!
All the others have great advice for decluttering…but I have a few suggestions to add. Clearly label the throw-it-out container so that is the one that actually gets thrown out, instead of the keep-sentimental-stuff. (you can guess how I learned that one) Go into another room when you take breaks for a mental rest as well. Also, I always find vaguely familiar bolts or screws and have learned to put them in a little “unknown things” bowl, so later when it becomes apparent what it went to, I don’t have to go to the hardware store to finish repairs. The other thing is, about 15 minutes before time to go to bed, have everyone pick-up and put away their things. This works very well but needs to be every night to prevent creapback. I learned it when I worked in a factory, it’s a great habit to get into, because it usually doesn’t take the full 15, and you feel rewarded too. The green roving and yarn is gorgous!
The colour of the Berocco Seduce is lovely. I am really curious to see the finished garment modelled by you. As you said, the picture wasn’t the best and I can’t really see how the top hangs on the model. (Would it suit someone busty do you think?)
– Pam
For decluttering all my friends who’ve successfully cleaned their homes rented a dumpster for a week. That way things that they wanted to toss instantly went into the trash, so they had instant results as they cleaned. This was so motivating (because the room actually looked decluttered as they cleaned it with only the Salvation Army bags hanging around) that it spurred them to new heights of cleaning. Of course these people had been in their houses for quite a few years and quite a bit a stuff had accumulated, but they had a lot less after the purge.
The new Norah Gaughan book is very cool. My favorite thing in it is Pleat. I’m not really a tank person but for some reason I love that one!
My husband has been on crutches 3 times since I’ve known him and twice since we’ve been married. It can be really tough for both you and Joe, especially if he’s never been on the injured list before, (we call it the Man Down list LOL!) Thankfully, most guys are much better about having an injury than they are when they’re sick. Most of the guys I know are kinda whimpy when they’re sick, but tough it out when they are injured. Sounds like its time to load up on Sci Fi dvds. Good luck on the cleaning and the nursing, being chief cook and bottle washer, and the gophering. I think you should make up a rotating schedule with a different daughter each day responsible for being Joe’s gopher. It would keep both of them out of trouble, not to mention your hair LOL! Sending you both healing thoughts and well wishes for a speedy recovery (and extra strength and patience especially for you Steph!)
Flylady.net
Don’t be scared….just go with it.
I’ve tried to do the “swoop and burn” with my house. My mantra being clean it as though you’re moving out. It never quite makes it. Oh, I can get a healthy start, but, somewhere along the way, it all goes to pot. Good luck.
Have you tried http://www.flylady.com/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp for decluttering advice?
If you need tips and tricks for de-cluttering, maintaining and all around get it out the door advice, check out http://www.flylady.com she is awesome!
I just spent 4 days helping out a friend of mine clean out her house to get it ready to sell. I am lucky? that I don’t place alot of emotion in my things, and can get rid of it pretty easily. I justify it by telling myself that I will have room for more!
My advice is to start with one room, take EVERYTHING out! Shampoo the carpet, or clean the floor, wash or dryclean the window treatments. Even paint if it needs it.
Start by putting in the furniture items. The rest of the ‘stuff’ sort by KEEP, DONATE, SELL, UNSURE. Start by putting the KEEP stuff back in the room. Bag up the DONATE and get it out of the house ASAP, so you are not tempted to pick thru it again. SELL, if someone you know is having a yard sale, get it marked and put in another area in your house. Or here in Minneapolis, I have sold lots of stuff on Craigslist. UNSURE, by the time you get to this pile, you will be sick of all the stuff and usually it goes to DONATE or SELL.
Once you have one room done, you will walk past it and have a sense of calm. This will inspire you to start working on another room.
I really enjoyed seeing you in Minneapolis!!!
Good Luck! Maggie
My mother did a sort of declutter- and my sister and I picked it up. The trick is, have everyone throw everything into the pile of the respective room and then replace everything in its “spot”. Its a long process but it is generally helpful when you pick something out of a large pile and questions like “where did I get this?” “why do I have it?” or “what the heck is this anyways?” come to mind. Its easier to see the importance of say, a bedspread versus a broken piece of someone’s snowboard or something, when they are all in the same pile. Usually I reserve this cleaning process for moving years (I’m in grad school and move a lot and I’m getting too old- my piles would be too huge now) but on a smaller scale, it really works- especially for kids who just collect because the world is a cool and awesome place to find stuff that is portable.
By the end you have a clean organized room, and I promise as it has never failed, at least a bin full of shoes and such for goodwill (donation organization of your choice) and a trash bag full of things that only you could ever think would ever be helpful or reusable.
Try the holiday grand plan- http://holidaygrandplan.com/holiday-grand-plan but ignore all the stuff having to do with the holidays- it is a bit early to be baking christmas cookies! It does give you a way of organizing and cleaning each room of your home. I like the printable checklists. Look at the whole website:http://organizedhome.com/- its worth it!
Hey Steph check out Flylady.net
They have good tips on how to get your house back in house. They have a top down way to do it and they have little exercises to do everyday.
It does work if you do the steps:)
As for Joe- Ugh well if joe does have break he will be in a real cast soon enough. hugs to all
Declutter is my middle name. I actually sometimes have to sneak stuff to work to throw away so king of the clutter, hubby doesn’t retrieve it from the garbage-recycle bin or give away box. He makes me crazy.
Not sure, as I didn’t read previously; what the injury is a result of; but hope Joe heals soon.
Love the blue sweater.
Stop in for a visit, the welcome mats always out…but hey…don’t make a mess when you come. lol
Sandy
Decluttering takes time away from knitting. It should be avoided at all times. People without clutter have too much time on their hands.
My advice would be to do what I’d doing …. filling my house with crap I’ll never need ever and then in the future if I decided to sell the house I’ll just move everything out to the front lawn with a free sign on it, let people take whatever they want (to clutter their own homes) and throw whatever is left over in the trash.
I highly recommend http://www.flylady.net! You can take her system to extremes or just pick out what works for you. The two most important things you will use are: 1) you can get rid of a lot of stuff in just 15 minutes, 2) use 3 containers to sort your “life” – trash, keep, donate! Good luck! Her system actually encourages knitting (or reading or whatever!)
Do you have any more details on your appearance in Philadelphia. I only live three blocks from the Free Library and I can’t wait to see you. BUT this is going to be a very big festival and the Web site is not helpfull on where to find a yarn harlot.
At first I thought you meant that you saved the kids because you loved them!
I am so sorry about Joe. I will keep him in my thoughts. Love the sweater! I would also endorse http://www.flylady.net as a solution to your clutter issues.
As a sentimental keeper-of-all things married to a travel-light-at-all-times guy, I learned to say “someone ELSE could be using this” instead of “but I might NEED this someday.” (Mostly does not apply to anything made of yarn, thread, or paper, though…)
We have a similar problem at our house. Two of us are crafty AND stingy, my DH just loves to collect cool things and we are all too busy with our endeavors to stop and clean. Yet, I do find the stuff starts to feel oppressive, and even cuts into my enjoyment of knitting.
I agree with the Flylady suggestions. I have also found that an acronym for the process helps! Decluttering just sounds so depressing so we call it GRO (short for Get Rid OF, which is so ridiculous it always makes us smile.) “Honey, I think we need to GRO this week end,” just sounds better than the alternative. Try it.
Also, the hardest part about GRO is the endless decisions, so Joe could be of great help even if laid up. Hope his leg heals fast!
I’m actually engaged in my own personal “Operation Chaos” clean-up at home now. I probably do this once every few years, as we have a tendency in our home to enjoy being surrounded by our own toys and also rarely throw things out.
I started with the worst offending area – in our case, the back hall closet, into which all don’t-need-right-now-but-can’t-part-with items go. I had to organize that so that I could use it for real items that we actually will use. I figured if I hadn’t used it in two (or x number) years, it was gone. Now I can actually see and reach what’s in there.
Next to that closet is my craft room. I organized that so that all crafts I actually do and need to finish are out and visible. Other WsIP and UFOs are neat and tidy, but put away in an organized manner.
I’m using our hallway to stack stuff that isn’t being thrown or given away as I now move to my daughter’s room.
One of my guiding principles has been that the stuff in a room has to now belong or be needed in that room – like kitchen stuff in the kitchen (I previously had the crock pot on a back counter, other stuff stored in my daughter’s closet, homeschooling materials in the kitchen, etc etc).
Just a few thoughts that may help you, I hope. I know that I tend to be more easily distracted and less productive when my house looks like a rat’s nest. I’m trying to at least move closer to the appearance of a bird’s nest… 🙂
ps – it was helpful to me to have a general idea of time frame of accomplishment (I’ve given myself several months), but no firm deadline… 🙂
I LOVE the fiber. Love it, love it, love it. Want to come mug you for it (whoops, was that over the top?). Love it.
Try the ‘Clean House’ thing where you put tarps or mark an area of the yard – one sell pile, one give away pile, one keep pile. Much harder to do with one person but it is shocking to realize just how much stuff is stuffed into the house. Of course, you’d have to have protection for the fiber against the s……. creatures. 🙂
But the NAME of that yarn’s color!
“passimenterie green.” That’s awesome.
I hope Joe and you get good news and that he’s on the mend real soon. Lovely fiber! The Nora Gaughn is going to be very nice to wear this summer — LOVE that color too!
As for decluttering, I have that task before me as well plus, I have a house to put back together after a renovation. My plan of attack is to hit one room at a time and the three pile thing like others have mentioned. The get rid of pile is further divided into yard sale, consignment shop, or Goodwill/Salavtion Army whatever non-profit org you have for these things. And lots of caffeinated beverages to keep me going. Maybe your girls can do their rooms? At least threaten to do it for them if they don’t and you would get rid of stuff they might want. Good Luck!!
pps – another guiding principle is to take pleasure in even the smallest accomplishment – even if the other moving creatures in your home throw a wrench in the plan (or hallway). It’s like I think with respect to my gardening; even if I pull just ONE weed, that’s one less weed. Who cares if for every step forward, the others may move you two steps back? Keep moving forward. The tortoise won the race.
Sorry for the multiple comments; I have my own 5-year-old rapidly moving creature “helping” me on the computer….
gorgeous fleece.. that will be lovely yarn
i am 0 help with declutter..i need to do the same
I can’t imagine what your house looked like. I know how mine looks after I’m done working for 3 DAYS.
My hubby and I often fondly discuss cleaning from top to bottom. But his style: irritated rampant tossing of everything–is rather stressful to me as I’d rather take a little time. Although I am for the rampant tossing of OLD computer games and cords for machines long gone. We have BOXES of them.
Then again…cleaning your house means you’d have to stay up later after Joe went to bed to move your stash into the “clean zone” so it would remain undiscovered. Ditto, I suppose, for his recording and electrical stuff….oy……
Declutter plan, I’d find a friend who understands the yarn but is otherwise something of a minimalist and willing to ask the hard questions and just go room by room weeding stuff out.
I did the uncluttering not too long ago. My two best friends, who are A type everything has a place and everything in it’s place people, said they would help me. My plan was the three of us together. Their plan was to lock me out of my apartment until they were done. I will spend the next year looking for things that may or may not still be there. But hey, my apartments spick and span. Do you have any close friends to help?
I was doing OK with this post until I hit that last one. Do you not realize that it is festival season?
I can’t offer anything more helpful than what everyone else has said about decluttering, but everytime I look at that fibre it sucks me in with how pretty it is.
I’m working with a drop spindle at the moment and loving it, but my eye has already wandered to spinning wheels.
I’m doomed…
Oooh, very pretty! It’s similar to some of the stuff I got recently at Maryland Sheep and Wool. Except mine isn’t carded. Do you happen to know where I can procure carding material?
I definitely will send healing vibes Joe’s way. As for the decluttering? I would suggest packing up every single thing in the house. (Yes, every single thing. I know it sounds impractical. Work with me.) Do it one room at a time if it sounds too much. Make sure the boxes are all organized. Then, unpack as you use it. Whatever isn’t unpacked in six months, chuck.
FOR JOE’S EYES ONLY–STEPH DON’T READ!!!
Here’s your chance. You can delight Steph’s heart by making her some things that she will really appreciate, and thereby show your deep love. Send the girls to get some nice glittery acrylic yarn (hot pink preferably) and some crochet hooks. Then check the web for some appropriate patterns. She would LOVE to have crocheted toilet paper roll covers, and what the heck, might as well make the matching tank and top cover, and the floor mat as well. Toaster covers, blender covers, coffeemaker covers–you’re going to be off your feet for a while, so you might as well make the most of it. And, really, since you’re such a smart guy, you can surely make up your own patterns, which will only make it all the more special. Shhh, it’s our secret. And don’t forget–hot pink. She’ll be ever so grateful.
When my husband and I married, we considered the ‘massive decluttering’ plan. Then we put a second story on the house instead.
I’ll just be over there knitting with Rams, Donna, Lindy, Lulu and Presbytera….
I have cleaned room-by-room, but usually I do a major declutter by THEME. Going room-by-room means that you keep repeating certain things in every room. Doing it all at once means you get a sense of accomplishment sooner, and that’s what it’s all about for me. So, I organise, declutter and find homes for everything in one category, scratch it off the list and move on. By the time the list is done, doing the actual cleaning is a breeze because the house is organised to within an inch of its life! The key to this method is Not To Stop or the chaos may take over.
Here is my general list, in no particular order: clothing, toys/games, craft stuff, books, cds, photos (including computer files), camping gear, sports gear, the garage, school supplies, tools, computer files, recycling, linens (bed and table), cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, bathroom supplies, the car, food (which includes cleaning pantry, fridge, freezers, and renewing spices…), kitchen equipment.
Some areas have many subsections such as clothing (hanging clothes, clothes in drawers, clothes waiting to be grown into, winter outer clothes, shoes, boots, hats and scarves, summer hats…) and these are all faithfully written down so I will have something to cross off.
My three tips:
1)Accumulate everything that is leaving the house in the main living space where you tend to relax. Relaxing is not part of spring cleaning. You should not have anywhere to collapse except your bed at the end of the day. Keeping the baby clothes in your favourite knitting chair will be the best incentive for getting it out of the house pronto!
2) Do not be tricked into thinking that adding more shelves will solve the problem. If your stuff doesn’t fit in your house, you have too much stuff. If your clothes do not fit in your closet, you have too many clothes. Prioritise what you can’t live without and get rid of the rest. I think of donations as gifts to someone I don’t know. Give that ratty old stuffed giraffe a squeeze and know that it is going to a good home.
3) If you don’t work up a good sweat, and yell at each member of the family at least once for slacking, it isn’t really spring cleaning.
Have fun!
I vote heartily for flylady.com, even though I am in CHAOS relaspse right now. I also use the principles (15 minute – 30 minute increments) for all sorts of unpleasant and necessary tasks.
Don’t look at your house as a whole, or you will just get overwhelmed and nothing will happen. Pick a room – any room. Then pick a corner and start there. Make your way around the room, just a small area at a time, never looking ahead. Before you know it, the room will be done! Time for a little celebration, then move on to the next room. Remember that all decluttered areas are sealed and strictly off limits to receiving new clutter! Good Luck!
Hope Joe feels better soon. At least his cast isn’t plaster… 🙂
Best wishes to you both.
I’ve never done a de-clutter, but I’d appreciate a blow by blow account of your experience as I really REALLY need to do one…
Good luck to Joe! (and you)
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…and I’ll try not to kill him before then.
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Drown him in kittens!!! 😛
Hope you have a painless-as-possible decluttering.
The book that changed my life:
“Clutter Control” by Jeff Campbell
especially if paired with his other book
“Speed Cleaning.”
Good luck!
flylady.net is a great place to start. We are starting a remodel and for several months I am losing 3 closets so have had to go back to flylady and get a grip. The good news is after the remodel I get 2 closets just for yarn. 🙂
Hahaha – you’ve built an entire career and persona on not being able to declutter and that’s why we love you!
Everyone has so many good suggestions to de-clutter. I’ve been doing a bit of it around my own household. I find breaking the project down into really small, manageable bits works best for me. Like clean out one drawer (and try to be really brutal about it). Then move on to the next, then the next. In the case of paper goods, one stack, then the next… When I’m in a mood like that, I get out a trash bag and a give away box/bag and put the item where it needs to go. When there is a car-full of stuff, I take it to Salvation Army. The good news is that Joe is stationary, so you can just set something next to him to sort through.
Hey Steph.
As for the house. When we had to get ready for our Foster Parent inspections we just took it one room at a time.
Pick a starting point and clear out everything in that room that you and your family don’t need, aren’t using, won’t miss. That doesn’t mean move it to another room ;-). That means it gets packed to go to Charity, good will, a yard sale, a family member that doesn’t live with you. whatever.
I’m not even going to touch on what to do with your stash. I had to organize mine (I’m OCD) but I also have the luxury of having a room dedicated to my craft stuff. Since the dogs share that room, my stash better be protected.
Hubby and I culled a lot of stuff to get ready for the foster parent stuff. We had to reorganize everything. It was worth if only that I now know where everything in my house is, and everything has a place.
Okay one exception. I have an item that’s been missing for three weeks, but that’s no one’s fault but my own. Now if only it would turn. I want my Costco card back. Stupid hiding backup wallet.
http://www.flylady.org (or is it .net?) is a great site to help you get organized, bit by bit. “Anything is possible in 15 minutes” and “Progess, not Perfection” and “Good Enough really IS good enough” are some of her mottos.
For big clutter jobs, that Australian guy who’s new book is “Does this Clutter make my Butt Look Fat”….Peter Walsh I think. He talks about the two types of hoarders–like you mention, and how to deal with the emotions behind those two types.
I’ve done the total declutter thing twice in our present house and am due to do it again. I go through every closet, drawer and hideyhole pretending that we are moving (this takes a few weeks). Everything that we would be willing to box up and move, we keep. Otherwise, out it goes. It’s amazing how much stuff goes (either to trash or to charity).
We moved into a smaller place and were forced to de-clutter. I had to talk myself into being utterly ruthless. Everything was thrown away, given away or donated. After all was said and done, we feel liberated by the lack of ‘stuff’. (But clear space is an awful temptation! And I didn’t get rid of ANYTHING from my spinning or knitting stashes.) My plan was be fast (don’t think about it too much) and be ruthless (It’s only stuff).
re #2 on the list: OK, here is a method that *sounds* really good, even if I have been unable to apply it myself with any degree of success, since I’m also too busy knitting or spinning:
Designate a time DAILY for working on decluttering project. Get 3 bags or boxes and designate them as follows: file/put away, recycle and toss. Then pick a spot and work on putting all the extraneous stuff in one of the 3 receptacles, then dispose of each appropriately. Use a timer. Look at this:
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp
She’s Canadian, eh?
Re: Decluttering. Do one room at a time and be ruthless. Goodwill is your friend, and don’t stockpile for a future tag sale. Then you just end up with a pile of junk all in one place rather than spread out, and it’s just as bad 🙂
#1: You have string, you can tie him down if necessary 😉
#2: Yes. Every year, I go in on a yard sale with friends. This year it’s going to be a not-a-yard-sale in which we bring all our junk to one yard, pay $10 each to our unspecified religious organization of choice, take what we want, and have all our junk hauled away to the thrift store. I try to take a Zen approach to stuff. Stuff is transitory and if it’s not being useful, out it goes. Attachment to stuff leads to suffering. Whether this applies to yarn depends on your school of thought.
#3. Ooh. That is very nice. I still have a collar and zipper to go on my Cambridge Jacket.
#4. Hmm…I wonder what it will look like all finished.
#5. Stupid bug research, cutting into my spinning time. Rawr! I have this lovely soft Lincoln longwool that was grown locally. It calls my name! Jess! Come spin me! I’m so soft!
But alas! I’ve got to figure out what the heck is going on with the wing veination of Neomaenas (Alas is Spanish for “wings.” I think this is terribly funny).
I’m in the process of a big declutter both in the house and the garage with the goal of not falling over stuff everywhere. I have been trained by my mother who is the queen of neatness and organization.
We’ll talk.
Can’t help you on the decluttering. Mine’s probably worse than yours.
So you fell hard for a sweater. The yarn was Seduce, right. Berroco’s good at seduction. I was taken in by a rich red Comfort.
One more for the de-clutter.
The basic process I’ve used is this:
For De-Cluttering/Cleaning
step 1) go through and really assess whats in each room (what kind of stuff have we got here…. can you identify instantly stuff that should leave? if so, grab it now and put it in the donate or trash bin)
2) hit each room with five receptacles (labeled: Keep in Here; Keep … elsewhere in the house; TRASH; Recycle; Donate/Give/Sell/. Whenever possible, identify things that you really don’t need, won’t use, haven’t used etc…. and put them in the Donate or Trash box. Be as ruthless as you can. At a minimum, to through everything that is not in it’s proper place.
Put everything that both gets to stay in your home AND live in that room, in the Keep in this room box, and leave the box behind … proceed to the next room, grabbing a keep here box/bag en route. This keeps you focused on clearing out, and keeps you from being mired in putting away on the first round. It also keeps you in one room (so you’re not dashing off to put x away in the other room, and then getting distracted while there).
Repeat this step w/ each room. (when trash bag full, put out w/ trash, and get a new one; ditto the recycle).
When the Keep – somewhere else box gets full… sort it into “this floor” “the other floor” elsewhere”. Take the “this floor” box and go put the stuff that’s in it into the “Keep” box in each room.
3) When done…. rejoice in the trash that’s gone.
rejoice in the recycling.
If you already know you’re donating the other stuff. TAKE IT OUT … If not, put it somewhere to sort as to which is donated and which is to sell. Do that sorting as soon as you can. If you aren’t really going to sell it… donate it.
Then…
4) o back to those Keep boxes, and find places for everything in them.
To really de-clutter, you need to go through with a person who is inclined to pitch things, and have them be your conscious. Ask yourself (or have that person ask you) “Do you REALLY need this? When was the last time you wore/used/read this? How soon do you really think you’re likely to wear/use it next?
For iffy items… make a box .. put the iffy item in it. Put the date one it. Stuff it in the storage area. If you don’t need anything in the box for a year (or 6 months?) after you’ve stuffed em in there… donate the box to the Canadian equivalent of Goodwill.
Note: DO NOT try to do it all at once!!!
Do a room. appreciate the lack of clutter. Vow to keep that room okay. GO knit.
Do another room either hours later or the next day.
Recognize that some rooms will take several days.
Admit that you’ll have to do it again…. for the whole house. In fact. Plan on round two about a month after round one is over.
Notice which things are perpetually not returning to their “homes”. Consider that perhaps their homes are in a bad place, and find better homes for them.
And if you can find a friend to play with you — it’s MUCH more fun that way. I’ll help you w/ your house if you’ll help me with mine…..
My husband is recovering from 2 broken heels (don’t ask!) and had to be off both feet for 3 months! An office rolling chair is a huge help in the house. If Joe has to be on crutches for any length of time you might look into renting a knee scooter or knee walker – you can google it to see what they look like. We were able to rent one and it was a life saver – my husband found it much easier than crutches and it gave him a place to sit when he had to go long distances – and get a handicapped parking tag as soon as possible – they are invaluable at a time like this. You will also need an enormous amount of good humor and patience – I have used every scrap of my good humor or I would you send some. Good luck!
Whole-house decluttering. Now that’s a fun chore. My husband and I are at the tail end of one. We had hoped to finish before the birth of our baby, but the little bugger showed up 27 days early. So the two weeks post-baby while my husband was on leave from work, we sorted and cleaned and purged. My best advice is to be relentless and unsentimental. Of course, don’t get rid of any priceless items, but think hard about whether or not you’ll really use the items you want to keep.
Oh lovely sweater and the colors of the yarn you spun – just stunning. I am hoping to get started knitting in a few months. It is just facinating to see how the color of the roving translates into the yarn.
Oh, on the decluttering – good luck with that – speaking for myself I just never seem to get it completed and am left with yet more piles to deal with (or not)!
I’m probably the 300th person to say it, but Fly Lady is great. I’m actually a pretty organized person, but 35 years of stuff and too many hobbies in a studio apartment requires advanced organization!
House cleaning – the folks at Apartment Therapy call it Deep Cleaning but it’s just old fashioned spring cleaning and here’s my method.
Every year my husband begins to loose his mind around, oh February. This generally comes a head in May or June. Having learned from this he always books a holiday during that time – fishing in the Queen Charlottes or, this year, on Antigua. Now I’ve got him out of the house I can begin. Do a room – the one that drives you the craziest, the one you need to be perfect the most – I always do the bedroom since it means I will sleep really well during this work out. Do another room. And so on. When my kids were still at home I took that attitude that their rooms were their rooms and kept the doors shut. Now they are gone it means more rooms – the boys’ room is a guest room and the girl’s room is my office. How to stay married doing this – don’t ever, ever, ever throw away anything that belongs to your husband. When he comes home in two weeks he will have to deal with the three cardboard boxes full of stuff in the bottom of his closet – or not, his choice but at least I don’t have to look at his stuff spread all over the house.
It is just so much easier to be a whirling dervish through the house with no one else around – put something loud on the stereo, eat your favourite food when you take a lunch break, you won’t be getting strange looks from your family members. And, in my case, when I’m tossing things into a box for the heck and sand store (what my neice calls second hand stores) my husband isn’t there saying “Why are you getting rid of that?” or “Maybe one of the kids will want that.”
Having just had a minor flood in the basement taught me a few things, mostly it’s not always worth saving. So now (this weeks) strategy is to look at the stuff and choose based on whether you would still keep it if it was wet and smelly. The teddy bear they dragged around, definately, the random toy you picked up at a yard sale, never.
Here’s hoping that will work for a while…still working on Univerity’s kids sweater
I moved from a much larger house into the smaller house I now live in. Possessions were not reduced during the move, so it was necessary to reduce after the move. Boxes were piled everywhere. My poor son couldn’t even get to his closet.
I went with the “3 bag rule,” as others have noted above. But I started by completely clearing a room. It doesn’t matter where you start. Any room will do. Once the room is completely clear, it’s a breeze to clean it really well. Then you start to put things back in again – and this is where the sorting comes in: Keep, give away, throw away. If any one person thinks an object is a keeper, then it goes in the keep pile. Keeps go back into the cleared room, but the room must remain uncluttered and everything in it must be neat, tidy, and put away.
Given these rules, if something that’s a keep no longer fits into the old room, it’s up to the person who wanted to keep it to designate a different room as it’s intended home. But that means that it needs to fit into the new room in a neat, tidy, put-away way. If it can’t then it has to go in the give away or throw away piles. No exceptions.
It can be tough. But if you make an agreement to stick to the rules without exception, it really makes you look at your stuff and decide what’s important and what’s not as important. And because you clear each room first, you can’t have any items that are in hiding. You have to deal with it all. And because anyone can designate a thing a “keeper” – as long as they can find a home for it – then there’s no need for family arguments about what’s really a thing to keep and what’s not.
I doubt that you’ll get down this far in your comments, but it worked really well for me.
It only took me 3 years to finish. 🙂 (I was a little distracted now and then.)
my first post,it is a must. although i’m a reader of yours (couple of books etc.) and fan..i just recently discovered your site. thank you for being here. i’m a sort of newbie knitter. last time was 25yrs.ago and have just decided i ‘need’ it in my life,so here i go again with baby steps.
adore the yarn you’ve shown us..i want it,must have it actually even if it sits in a basket by my chair till i’m ‘good’ enough to do it justice,i must own it.
regarding the decluttering: good book in this regard is “it’s all too much”by p.walsh. as for myself i use the method that’s easiest for me,and works fairly well. stuff that has no sentimental value (which i ALWAYS keep),or use,or hasn’t fit in a kazillion yrs. goes to a good women’s chairty. if it’s guy stuff then it goes to goodwill,or something of that nature. now other items such as housewares,lamps,tools,lawn chairs etc. go out in the front as in a garage sale,(let the kids work it)and whatever doesn’t sell goes to whatever charity in your hood. the cool thing is i can actually walk into my walk in closet afterwards..imagine that! the feeling you receive from this will feel like walking on the beach at sunset,with the win in your hair,and cash in your pockets..freedom!…or something similar. take care of that tibia~ouch.
much admiration from the pacific northwest. rj
You poor, poor thing. I went through all the same with my husband 3 years ago. It stunk. People had to help us out and my clutter was totally exposed! All I can say is get a walker for the house…it is much easier for him to navigate narrow hallways with, and you will stop wincing every time you see him teeter on those crutches. Hope all goes well on Tuesday. At least you have plenty of (beautiful) knitting for the waiting room!
“we save things because we love them (that’s mostly the kids)” — I think that since you love the kids, you should definitely continue to save them!
I don’t know…..maybe leave the door open and hope for burglars? 🙂
A cursory glance indicates people have already brought up Freecycle. I looked, and there is a Toronto group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleTO/). I don’t have a real plan for decluttering, basically, I go room by room, thinking “If I were moving, would I pack this or get rid of it?” If the answer is the latter, if it is something worth selling I do that; if it is good, but not worth selling, I freecycle it; if it is recycleable trash, it gets hauled to the recycler; otherwise, into the garbage it goes.
So, you think the clutter question stuck a nerve? My sister recommended a book by fly lady called sink reflections. I’m not going to suggest you read it-you have stuff to do! But the one thing that struck me was a line where she asked herself: Does this ________ bless me? Fill in the blank with whatever you are looking at while you do your declutter.
Honestly, I think of how other people on this earth live and I am ashamed at how I am owned by this stuff.
I went back to school this semester. Never believe anyone who tells you online classes are easy and a way to save time. It’s almost over (final tomorrow!), but it’s a toss-up between DCFS removing the children from my care or the EPA placing my house on a toxic-waste list.
I hoping either for a black hole appearing in the field next to us, or a small internal explosion.
THE BIG CLEAN – 3 boxes like this
1. trash/recycling
2. give away
3. broken stuff to fix, things to read, items to put in a scrapbook or stuff that needs cleaning
GOOD LUCK getting the first two boxes out of the house speedy quick
Carolyn in NC
A couple things…thanks everybody for the emails helping with my socks. *gives a big hug* they were all helpful…all 10 of them! Also…I checked out flylady and guess what? My bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen (My personal assigned-to-me-by-my-mother zones) are all clean now! And yes…the sink is shiny. When I first shined it my mom looked at it and just said, “Wow. That’s…shiny.” Then she turned to me and looked me in the eye. “Harmony?” she said “Are you on…drugs?”
lolz! So thanks everybody for the tips! (even if the Flylady ones weren’t for me…oh well.)
-Harmony
You probably know this, but please don’t forget to preshrink the zipper before you sew it in. Those babies change when they hit the water, too.
Love the colors of the fiber. Good luck to you and Joe.
For a plan… I suggest starting with small, easy to digest pieces. Otherwise it is way too big and too scary.
(Now if only someone would remind me of that when *I* need to clean and declutter.)
My suggestion for the declutter project is, get this book from the library and look it over:
Material World: A Global Family Portrait
http://tinyurl.com/4u72q3
It’s a photo essay, you can peruse it without spending much time. (Except that it will captivate you.)
I find it the absolutely most inspiring thing to help me create an image of what I want my “stuff” to look like, which is good to have in mind as you sort.
Just wanted to visit as I saw some quotes from you in the knitting journal my kids bought voluntarily( were pressured and persuaded) for my Mother’s day pressie. Love the blue jumper.
Decluttering tip. start in one room, and work your way to others. totally finish in one room before moving on-very important. designate areas for coralling- garage for junk to go, another room for stuff to donate, give away, and so forth. i approached our office this way, used color coded tags for- destroy, remove and store, etc., and it went really well. i even had a “yard sale” for stuff that was still useful but had been abandoned. i was amazed at what people too, however, they were not allowed to return- bon chance!
As I have my landlord and the hyrdo guy showing up in 10 minutes, I shall say this even though it’s probably been said before and I am too lazy to read all the comments:
Less clutter in the house means more room for your stash.
Just sayin’.
My top-to-bottom cleaning and decluttering events are usually around moving. The question always is: would I move this? If not, it is either given away or thrown away. Keep in mind that movers charge by the pound.
Once you’ve filled up your bags of things to donate, put them into the trunk of your car. Seriously. Then, the next time you are near the thrift shop/Sally Ann/clothing donation box, you can simply pull over and drop the stuff off. That’s the only way anything gets out of my house.
I agree with everyone who has said that it’s best to clean storage areas out first, so you’ll have a place to put the stuff you want to keep.
As for yarn, I decorate with large baskets and knitting bags of it around my living room. If it’s part of the general landscape, my husband doesn’t see it (the dear man doesn’t see dust either, but then again he did give me a swift and a ball winder!) and therefore has no idea how much yarn I actually have.
I know it’s already been mentioned (not sure how many times…wow, you get a lot of comments) but I agree with the suggestion of Flylady. I have used her emergency plan and it really works. And my 3 kiddos are 7, 5, and 2, so if I can do it, I’m sure you can do it, too. It’s pretty straight forward, and the best part is, you start to see results right away! The only downside is that you might get sucked into the vortex that is her site and then you’ll lose a lot of cleaning/decluttering time reading about, yes–you guessed it–cleaning/decluttering. You can do it and you’ll feel so much better!
Ps. In my experience, surfing her site does not produce results. I have to actually get off my laptop and DO the suggested actions to get a cleaner house. Ah, well.
I am reading a book call “How Not to be a Messie”, the author has a method of cleaning where she takes 3 boxes and labels them, Keep, Throw away, and Give Away. She starts at her doorway and works her way inward sorting stuff into each box. She says it’s vital to go through every cupboard and draw, even ones you’re scared of.(I’m sure this does not apply to stash, it would be a deadly sin.)
Also, DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING OUT OF THE GIVE AWAY OR THROW AWAY BOXES ONCE IT’S IN THERE.
She also said it took her 3.5 months to do this thoroughly to her house, but that life is sooo much easier.
Being a messi myself this is a great relief to me, 3.5 mos isn’t necessary yet but keeping 4.5 rooms consistently clean with 3 kids under 8 is a huge victory for me, working on the other 3 is going more slowly.
Alas this has required sacrificing my precious knitting time, but soon I will be able to knit without guilt hanging over me in the form of laundry and two day old dishes. Good Luck! Please extend my best wishes to him and said leg, perhaps he can fold laundry for you during your cleaning spell,LOL.
We know all about the waiting for calcification thing. Still, you win for husband with more severe injury. Lotsa luck on the de-clutter extravaganza. Being both sentimental and frugal, I’m afraid I haven’t much for advice on that matter.
I just thought I should add the following motivation: I don’t know exactly when they’re starting the pay-as-you-go garbage system on your side of town, but it’s always good to have a deadline. Imagine how much harder it will be to throw crap out when you have to PAY to do it. (I don’t know about you but a good chunk of the crap in my house would not pass goodwill or recycle but go directly to the curb.) I tell ya, it’s motivating me.
Also – the “burn to the ground” idea? I lie awake at night fantasizing about that. Perhaps one day when I get home from work my dreams will have come true…
A really good process for de-cluttering the house is Paula Morganstern’s book Organizing From The Inside Out. She walks you thru a step-by-step process that makes it (relatively) easy. The book is well-written and quite practical, but if you don’t have time to read it, call me and I’ll describe the process to you. I have found it very effective. Constance 360-331-7106.
Good luck!
We did a house declutter this past fall, and one thing we found VERY helpful, was renting a dumpster, so we could throw things right out as we sorted, and not worry about dump runs, garbage pickups and all those kinds of things… made it easy once something was designated as “get rid of” to just get it out and gone.
Hoping your grip is firm… and you Joe is healing;)
much love and knitted best wishes— ts
Hoping your grip is firm… and your Joe is healing;)
much love and knitted best wishes— ts
Wow, spinning? On Tuesday?! What a novel idea. You go girl!
my best declutterings come as a result of moving, which we do a lot because we’re young renters. for someone in a permanent residence, my tips are thus (apologies for typos as I type 1-handed while nursing):
*get rid of anything that’s obviously garbage first.
*get everything off the floor (even if that’s just to the bed/couch/chairs) & vacuum/sweep/mop, then sort stuff from the non-floor spots to their rightful places.
*one room at a time, one shelf at a time. don’t try to do it all at once, make your focus narrow.
*Joe can help by going through files, shredding out-of-date papers, sorting stuff into bins, folding clean laundry, etc. Anything that can be done by someone in a wheelchair, he can do.
*have a basket for each room; as you sort through stuff in the other rooms, put out-of place stuff in the appropriate baskets, then move the baskets to their rooms when you’re done working the current room.
*be heartless. if you haven’t unpacked a box since the last time you moved, you’re never going to – toss it.
*take a tip from “clean sweep”: only allow yourself one hour for the sort – no nostalgia, no reminiscing. keep, toss, or donate, decide now, no waffling. make the keep pile no m ore than 1/2 of the stuff. then take another hour & reduce it by half again.
I’m probably echoing the other 350 people here, but I too am in the midst of decluttering — my home, two friends’ homes and a parent’s. Here are the rules I’ve learned:
1. One step at a time — do one closet, one room or at most (if you’re a masochist) one floor at a time.
2. Keep it only if 1) you’ve used/worn it in the last year, 2) you can see an actual use for it (as opposed to I might someday need one), or 3) it’s something so rare that you’ll never see one again (this rule does not apply to anything less than an antigue or some totally bizarre book).
3. If you’re keeping it, put it back. If you’re selling it (craigslist, ebay) or donating it, put it neatly in a pile. If you’re tossing it, immediately put it in a garbade bag.
4. Use a sticky and mark where it’s being sold/donated. This saves you going crazy trying to remember what you meant to do with it.
5. When you finish, dump something nasty into the garbage bag. This prevents last minute panic-driven ‘wait, I just thought of . . .’
6. When you finish that step, reward yourself with a nice big glass of something.
You won’t get it done in a day. Or a week. It’s taken most of a month for me to do an apartment, and storage area!
See you on Sunday, we hope!
Sorry to hear that Joe is hurt. Glad it wasn’t worse. Feel better soon.
Love the top. Sorry about Joe.
If you have a bunch of paper clutter, one thing that works for me is this: My husband sits me down with the pile in front of him and holds up one thing at a time. “Do you need this?” Usually the answer is no. Joe can do that for you, even with his leg (ouch!). And vice versa, of course.
This might work for other piles of similar stuff, but paper is my particular downfall.
Decluttering (now we are cluttering up your comments, so you have to waste valuable decluttering time reading all this clutter. The irony).
1. I have emigrated from UK to Canada, Canada to New Zealand, and back to Canada. It gives you a very zen idea of what you really need, when there’s a price on every pound or square inch. To NZ, we took a cubic metre of stuff. This was the exact dimensions of a family heirloom oak table. So we “filled up the table” – literally – turned it upside down and piled stuff we could not live without (we thought) inside.
2. This does not mean, for you, (though it did for us) “then get rid of everything you own that is not inside the table”. It means, here is the stuff you will die without. Photos etc. Out of print, never-gettable ever again books. Things belonging to/ given by family. The teapot you love more than, say, your own child. One cubic metre. Maybe one for you and one for the kids. It gives you perspective. There`s no reason to get rid of everything else, but it sure tells you what’s important. For us, of course, we would be buying stuff once we were emigrated – bikes, bed, saucepans – I mean, don’t throw that stuff out. That would just be nuts. But do you need so many saucepans you cannot close the cupboard, and when you get one out they all fall on your head? Ahaaaa…All those books that you love having on the shelf but haven’t opened in quite a few years? Could you, if the mood took you one day, go get it out of the library or buy it again if you really, really, really, suddenly absolutely needed to read that book and had got rid of it?
3. Then, decisions. Everyone else has talked about that, so I won’t reiterate. My main point is “filling the table”. It’s an eye-opener.
4. Incidentally, when we came back, we brought WAY less than a cubic metre. Turns out some of the stuff you thought you couldn’t live without? Really, you can. (Oh, but the teapot still made it back.)
i work at my lys…lucky, lucky me….and had not yet been seduced by “seduce”. However, seeing the pic on your blog inspired me to make/ start work on it…putting aside my other 3 projects. I chose the tan/aqua combo….love to read your blog..you have a wicked sense of humour…
Hi Steph, I have to go help my daughter with a school project and didn’t have time to read all the comments, so someone else may have already suggested flylady.net. It’s an awesome site for getting your home organized, and yep, decluttering is key. Here’s a suggestion adapted from Flylady: set a timer and do housework for 15 minutes, then set it again and knit for 15 minutes. Do this throughout the day. You will be surprised at how much of both cleaning and knitting you get done.
Don Aslett’s book, “Not for Packrats Only”. The declutterer’s gospel; I wouldn’t lie about something like that. It actually makes you want to get the job done.
So sorry about Joe. My husband once had two broken legs at one time so I know what’s happeing to you. Don’t declutter now–it will still be there next week, or month, or year. And don’t start with your stash or you’ll end up like me with all your needles full of projects! Clean one space a day. By space, I mean one drawer. one shelf etc. If it took years to get in that shape it can take years to correct it without getting in a panic. Hang in there, Steph–we need you.
So sorry about Joe’s leg! He should definitely keep wiggling the toes, and move the leg/foot in general as much as he has permission to – this not only keeps the swelling down but also helps prevent reflex sympathetic dystrophy (a kind of nasty delayed nerve damage.) He should also avoid NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, etc.) as much as he can since these slow down the calcification of the healing bone. Good luck!
want to declutter your house? Check into Flylady.net
Lots of good advice about decluttering here, so I’ll only add a little bit…keep your eyes on the prize, and think about how lovely it will feel when it’s all done. It doesn’t make the pain of ripping your house apart less, but it might give you the will to live through it ;D
On the Big Purge, you have to get out of yourself. You have to put yourself in the mind of a stranger (preferably a slightly rude one) and ask why you are holding onto something. In other words, come at it like a person not attached to your stuff. As for not being able to afford a replacement, you’ll find that you may not need to replace the thing. Our vacuum cleaner is about to die and earlier this year, I got rid of our last carpet. So I’m thinking why bother when a Swiffer mop would do the same thing. It goes like that. Good luck. It’s good to get rid of extraneous stuff so that you can concentrate on what’s important to the family.
Ah, the big clean up. We’ve been engaged in that for over a year now. Ok, we weren’t in the “Must go on Oprah to show how lost we are” category, but if they are a 10 we probably were a 7. Public areas, cluttered, but able to be cleaned within a couple hours for company. Basement, garage, study couldn’t walk across. Kids’ rooms, our room, messy, but not impossible.
I kicked it off, started with one pile of boxes in the basement. Took me all day to go through 4 boxes. I couldn’t get used to getting rid of stuff. Now, these boxes hadn’t been opened since we moved into this house 20 years ago. Sigh. Finished those, swept the space, returned the next day. Took me only a few hours to do four boxes that time. Finished by sweeping the space for both piles. Repeat all through the basement, then garage, then study, we’re working on the second pass on the basement and the rest of the house. Here are things that worked for us:
* Four box system, cited by many. Really helped. My extra box was “Recycling.” There are many things we can recycle locally that aren’t curbside pick up. I can’t tell you how great it felt with every trip to recycling. I got to know the guys there by name. Yes, I was there a lot.
* Single bin per family member. If it doesn’t fit, something goes.
* Specific bins for some things that are just too distracting to the process. Pictures are a great example. We have tons of pictures that were scattered everywhere. I just made a box. If it’s a picture, it goes in. The organizing, sorting out, throwing away is a separate task for later. Another example is paper that needs shredding. Shredding is a “later” job, the shredder is slow & a single box of paper is a “sit down” job for later.
* Focus. If I looked at the big picture, I would have quit. Instead, I set a time or space limit. Sometimes it was an hour, sometimes a box. Whatever worked at the time.
Things that really helped me were thinking about the value to someone else of a donated item or recycling instead of throwing away. It didn’t feel so wasteful. And practice, practice, practice. I wasn’t naturally good at removing things from my life.
Good luck.
Clutter and chaos ARE FABULOUS MONEY SAVERS. One time a security firm tried to sell us an alarm system. They showed us pics of a house that had been burgled and it looked just like our kids bedrooms. We thought we would leave everything as it was and if a burglar looked in our window they would think we had already been done. Just think of it as a free security system – we saved thousands of dollars!
Just remember, when you are as far behind as I am, everything you do is productive.
It’s a goofy looking web site but that flylady.net really, really works without driving you completely crazy and leaving you burned out. It is an excellent long term solution. 15 minutes a day with a few other little habits that take a few minutes more a day and you can get back to knitting and feel good about it.
Hope your husband is better soon!
Dear girl if it is a fracture in the tibia it will be a while before he’s up and at em – my hubby is one to NEVER sit – broke his fibula on Mar 13 while walking on a deck ready to ski his first run of the day.never got there! He was allowed to put weight on it for the first time this week. It did require surgery (a titanium plate and 10 screws). I didn’t kill mine YET – but I have been knitting like a crazy woman and found stashes of yarn I didn’t know I owned while home with him. So..Good luck – my advise invest in a cheap wheelchair and multiple ice packs that wrap – they’re a blessing – the $100 was worth his weight in gold – the crutches weren’t easy after a few weeks.
I have never left a comment before…but felt required to do so because I am the “Queen” of declutter. I looooove to declutter. Four years ago I began….went one room at a time….had a HUGE garage sale…gave a truck load away. Kept 8 knifes, forks, spoons….8 plates…7 pairs of underware…you get the picture. I figured…I don’t need any more than that….and I can always go back to the Goodwill and buy it back if I need it (much cheaper than paying for a storage unit…which I would NEVER do). So…one room at a time…every drawer…cabinet….counter top, etc. I have nice clean surfaces now….the floor has no clutter….my house is easy to clean and looks great. I keep a set of shelves in my garage and everytime I bring something new in…I take out the old and set it on the shelves. Every three months or so…we load it up and give it to Goodwill. Of course…I still have a stash of yarn (but I have plenty of space to hide it 🙂
P.S. I enjoyed seeing you at the Seattle book signing…I am the one who traveled from Carson City, NV just to see you…you called me a “stalker” and made my day!!
So, here is one more vote for the Fly Lady. It is definitely an interesting system and the best thing, I think, is that she says, “you don’t have to be perfect. Just jump in where ever you are.” Good luck with it all.
I’m throwing 2cents in along with all the other FlyLady fans. Follow her suggestions and there is not only more time for knitting, but the knitting is guilt-free, because 1) You can walk through rooms on any given day (my idea of a clean house HA)
2) You know what’s for dinner
3) The laundry is done
4) The bills are probably paid
5) Everyone else in the house isn’t asking you “where’s the ____”, leading to fewer interruptions and .. you guessed it, more time for knitting!
Have a happy day and my best to Joe for a quick recovery.
hahaha, i was TOUCHING that very same ‘seduce’ tank today while waiting in the long, long, long line at the webs tent sale today! that stuff was just gorgeous.
i did not buy any. 🙁
Ooh, ooh, ooh, I know an answer! What a bone scan does is show areas of new growth, so they had to wait for there to BE new growth in order to see it.
I know this because I had one years ago, trying to figure out why my wrist was still hurting months after an accident. There’s a funny part to that too: as you probably know by now, they inject the patient with a radioactive substance, then wait a bit for it to disperse, then do the scan to see where it’s settled. I had to wait 4 hours for mine to settle, and I happened to live about a block from the hospital, so I just went home during that time. When I got home, I turned on the radio, and no lie, the song playing was The Firm’s “Radioactive”. Heh.
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Please don’t print this but —
holy crap —
don’t say “I’m coming to Chicago” when you are really going to the suburbs. the far suburbs at that. because they are really really different.