Decluttering update – January ‘10

With my effort to declutter the house, I decided to keep a list of items I have removed.  One item a day doesn’t seem much, but I would hope that seeing lots of items would help keep me motivated (there isn’t one for each day because I have grouped some items as I worked on piles of stuff).

1. purchased birthday cards.  Now that I make my own, I can’t give away store-bought cards.  They’ve just been sitting around since we moved.
2. magazines – old and some that just arrived; some will be recycled, some I might try and sell. Current total is at 19.
3. books. I don’t read as much as I used to and find that I keep coming back to the same books.  So I’m determined to go through my entire book stash this year and weed out into: keep, review again (unsure – trying to keep this pile small), and sell/donate.  I’ve already sent several books out on PaperBackSwap; others are in a tote downstairs.  Current total for books:  41.
4. Christmas decorations including: 2’ tall St. Nick, plaque, 3 boxes of grapevine lights, a box full of ornaments, another box of fancy glass ornaments to sell, 2 stockings, old mini tree, candle lights for windows.  Organized and reduced so now there are 3 empty totes!!
5. Christmas wrapping: sorted and condensed into two boxes – one for paper, one for bags and boxes. One tote was broken, so I ended up tossing some boxes/bags because they smelled musty (I think that happened in our old house).
6. two gift wrap “stations”; never used either.
7. cookie cutters – found quite a few duplicates and a box of 100 “generic” cutters.  Pulled out the ones I really wanted and the rest will go…
8. an entire bag of recycled craft items – things like food cans, 2 liter bottles, old CDs, paper towel rolls, etc.  I never got around to making the crafts I had them saved for; donated to a woman who has craft classes for kids.
9. pens and pencils.  Cleaned out one drawer-full and kept the ones we really like; tossed those that don’t work; donated the rest.
10. nothing was removed, but I managed to clean and organize our silverware drawer (some items were moved to where they belonged!)
11. linens – couple of pillowcases, throw pillow; old towels – some from house, some from now-defunct business.  Dave took these to the Humane Society.
12. crafts: floral foam (used one piece in set of 4), small shadowbox
13. miscellany: a wicker basket, felt puzzle keeper, old shoes.

Things I’ve learned:  in addition to the fact that we have too much stuff?!? Well, I’d have to say that decluttering is refreshing, weight-lifting, and can be a lot of fun!  I’ve run everything by Dave before it’s left the house, but usually he is more will to ditch items than I am (although he did take back a couple of ornaments I had slated to go). 

Moving Forward…

I still have a long way to go.  There are boxes of papers that need to be filed, tossed, scanned, etc.  The books I have slated to leave are just a small fraction of the ones that need to be decided-upon.

Just like my other resolution, this one had some unexpected outcomes.  Cleaning!  I love FlyLady’s idea of eliminating CHAOS – Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. I had heard about FlyLady before, and I think I might have even signed up for the emails at one time, but never followed through.  Warning: they send a LOT of emails, but you just go at your own pace. The Flight Plans give you a daily reminder of what to do each day.  Each day there are mini-tasks (e.g. swish & swipe in the bathroom); each week you get a “zone” to concentrate on (this week was the Living Room); and there is a monthly assignment (January is Shine Your Sink!).  There are some great tips about setting a timer for just 15 min to see what you can get done, taking baby steps so you don’t get overwhelmed, etc.  Already our house is looking better!  In fact, I’m going to change the “About Me” note that says call before coming over… just come over!

Health Resolution – January ‘10

So how did I do in the first month? 

Week 1

I skipped my workout on Wed because I felt I was getting a cold; also needed to prep for someone’s 50th birthday dinner.  I didn’t do the scheduled workout on Saturday.  Instead, I spent several hours taking down Christmas decorations, sorting, purging, organizing.  I’m not sure how much “cardio” I got in that day, but I was a bit stiff on Sunday from the lifting, bending, etc.

One unexpected bonus that I didn’t expect is my very limited consumption of Pepsi. Let me tell you, I used to be addicted!  A “friend” on SP mentioned that she only allows soda once her daily quota of water is met.  By the time I consume 6-8 cups of water, I am either no longer in the mood for Pepsi – or it’s past 9pm, so I can’t drink it (would keep me awake).  I think it’s also helped to say that I can have it, but there are restrictions – instead of trying to quit cold-turkey.  Instead of the two, sometimes three, cans PER DAY, I had two all week!

Week 2

Mondays are always my low-energy, low-mood days.  Usually I get home from work and plop on the couch.  Forget about cleaning, laundry, etc … I’m too tired.  This Monday I came home, changed clothes, and immediately charged into my workout routine.  After dinner, I was still “pumped” enough that I did a major burst of sorting through papers! (sitting down, but I wasn’t on the computer or crocheting as much).  Rest of the week was so-so on the exercising, but I’m continuing my push for water consumption; that seems to be the easiest part of all of this.

Week 3

Slacking off a bit.  I didn’t do much exercising on the weekend and skipped on Tues.  I always thought Mondays would be the day that would be tough to keep up the routine, but it turns out the Tues and weekends are my down-fall.  It also seems to correspond partly to the amount of sleep I get.  The last two weeks I’ve had rough nights on Mondays, so I wake up tired and sluggish – and it lasts all day.  I may just have to go to bed earlier…

Week 4

Exercise? Pffft. This was the worst week yet.  I can see why they say morning exercise is the best – because then it’s done!  The problem is that I am not and never have been a morning person!  I had a couple of days that were busy enough I really couldn’t have exercised until 9pm… which seems too late / too close to bedtime.  There were also hormones interfering, cleaning to be done, this excuse, that excuse, etc.  Charlie and I had a good walk last Sunday – despite the wet weather.  We did the “short” walk (1 mile) – it was plenty long enough that day. And it seems the same for Charlie – he was fine walking, but his leg really stiffened up that night.

Moving forward…

Even though I felt I didn’t keep up with the 5-7 days routine, I am exercising more than before, I’m also moving more in general.  The really good news is that I might have sparked Dave into starting to walk again.  He’s only done a couple of days this week – but if he gets going, I’m sure he’ll be committed more than me.  He was doing really great last fall until a change in his schedule goofed up his routine and he dropped it.

The amazing part has been the switch to water.  Not only do I feel more hydrated, it means less liquid calories per day, plus I’m saving money!  At work alone I was doing 2-3 sodas per day x 5 days @ $.65 per soda.  That’s $6-10 per week!  And that didn’t include what I was drinking at home.  In Dec, we were going through a 12-pack every week or two.  Dave drinks mostly coffee in the winter, so guess who was drinking all that?!  Now, I really notice when I haven’t gotten my 6-8 cups of water in each day.

I spent a lot of time at the beginning of this month reading articles, tracking goals, and communicating with people on SparkPeople.com.  I noticed that as the month went on and I did less on SP, I seemed less motivated – so I really need to push to spend more time on SP (and less on other sites).

Quote of the day 1/12

I don't bother getting even. I just get odd.