First day of fall. Moving. Quitting your job. Starting a new
job. A Tuesday. These are all excellent reasons to clear out your crap. Because
let’s be honest, you probably have too much. I bet I could go through your
house and take at least 50 items that you wouldn’t know were missing for at
least a year, if not ever. Hey, there’s no judging here. I’m the same way. Now
that Pumpkin Spice Latte season is here (and that’s super awesome), I figured
it was a good time to clear out my crap. I have too much crap as well.
So, how do I start? One room at a time.
Beginning
with the Kitchen.
Now my dear and wonderful husband bought me a beautiful
Kitchenaid mixer (in Raspberry Ice) for my birthday a few years ago. It’s
pretty much the most amazing tool in my kitchen. For real. Go buy one. Just do
it. Charge that shit and pay it off if you have to. Totally worth every penny.
Anyway, I kept my old mixer that I got in college because “What
if I needed two mixers for all my Christmas baking?” Really, past Jessie? No. I
haven’t used it once since I got the real deal. It’s been sitting there taking
up space in my cabinet. Same thing with my old blender. Hubby got me the matching
Kitchenaid bender too. (Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.) I even called my mother to
verbalize my reasoning for getting rid of the old blender. I asked her if she
could possibly think of a situation in which I would need to keep two blenders.
Her: “Well, if you have a party and want to make Margaritas,
it would be nice to have another blender.”
Me: “My friends drink wine and hard alcohol.”Her: “Oh.”
Me: “Yeah, I should get rid of this.”
When in doubt, call your mother or another friend/relative and talk it out. You’ll most likely hear how ridiculous you sound. Or maybe the other person will. It will help in your decision making.
I tried to use the “If I haven’t used it in the past 12 months, it goes” Rule. Worked pretty well. I mean, what the hell am I doing with a fondue set? I hate fondue. I don’t even make fondue.
I went through the guest bedrooms and all the closets next. For
some reason, I collected Victoria Secret bags because they are pink and pretty.
But I never found a use for them. Recycle. My craft drawers had like twenty
mostly-empty bottles of paint. Trash. There was a collection of old Dollar Tree
picture frames from my wedding six years ago. Donate. Those sweaters that make me look like I’m 90? Donate. That
dress that makes me look like I’m 12? Donate. That stained and ripped t-shirt?
Trash. It's a good time to be honest with yourself. If it doesn't look good, doesn't fit, or you simply don't like it then get rid of it. Its more useful to someone else who would use it than it is cluttering your home.
Really, once I got going, it was hard to stop.
Probably the most challenging thing was organizing all the
baby stuff. MamaRoo, breast pump, stuffed animals, Bumbo and tray, bouncer,
pregnancy books, toys, more stuffed animals, Bobby pillow, outgrown baby
clothes … it just didn’t end.
As I stand in this immediate moment, I’m really
thinking Mason might be an only child. But nothing is set in stone and I just
can’t get rid of all that expensive baby stuff, so I boxed what I could. Either
way, we’re not having another one any time soon, so I took all infant stuff,
boxed it, labeled it and put it in the garage. I kept another box inside the
house for toddler toys (ones that he doesn’t necessarily need at the moment,
but can use in the near(ish) future).
I’m not going to lie … organizing the house makes a mess of
the house.
Shit.
Was.
Everywhere.
I used the dining room as my donation headquarters, dividing
everything into four piles: Goodwill, the local Women’s Shelter, the local Library and a box to ship to out-of-town family members. Hubby had a few really
nice work shirts that I bought that he hated, so those go to my brother. My old
CD’s from 1999 go to mom. She’s old school.
But now that the house is cleaned out, it’s onto the garage.
Wish me luck!
Till next time …
xoxo
Jessie
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