De-cluttered! April 19, 2007

Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s all done…but a lot is! Sunday I took a CARLOAD (subaru outback full) of stuff to Value Village (one of my fave thrift stores, always good finds!). It took me and the guy 20 mins to unload. WOW. I felt 100lbs lighter. I felt like I purged so much from my life.

The weekend before Ryan and I had been pretty ruthless in clearing our closets. I stopped counting when we’d each hit 100. I took 7 bags of clothes, each having approximately 50 items in them. The bag of baby stuff had to have more, but I rounded it all up to 350. I also put a bag of about 40 items aside for another mama I know who’s little girl is smaller than Ruby. Whew. Amazing. I also dropped off 20 books. Books I’ve read more than once, and need to share. Books I probably won’t read again honestly. Truly, it felt fantastic to get rid of it all. My parents had stopped by, as they drove from Seattle to Eugene, and my dad helped me load up the car while Ryan worked in the garden. My mom asked if there was anything left in our closets. Sadly… they are still full, but they are much more representative of who we are and what we really wear.

Today, after morning nap, Ruby and I went back to the thrift store, as I was looking for a clothesline and some clothespins (I forgot to look for them… I got sidetracked in baby clothes) and a wooden push toy for Ruby. I ended up leaving VV with 3 dresses for Ruby and a pair of Hanna Pants for someone else – or a future baby (sz 60) for less than $10. Several of these dresses she won’t wear till fall or winter, but great buys! I then went to Village merchants, another amazing local thrift shop. There I found a box of wooden blocks (just like the ones I had growing up!) for $6 and a wooden xylophone (doesn’t make much noise, but that’s ok by me!) and suction bowl for Ruby’s self feeding. Again, spent less than $10, and had so much fun. I just love thrifting. Everything seems like a treasure when its got a red dot sticker with a hand written price tag.

Ryan came home from work a little early, took Ruby to the coffee shop and left me alone for 90 mins to work on my treasure map. I had cut out most of it while Ruby napped on my back this morning (that will give you a sore back, I tell ya!). As soon as they were out the door, I put on my favorite music mix and got to work. Within an hour, I had a good portion of it laid out and glued. It went so fast, and random pictures and words fit so well. I did my TM with the Feng Shui Bagua, the structure helped, as I’m too tired these days to really be super creative. I left space for affirmations, and will think through this in the next day or so. Sigh.. it feels good!

I’ve also had a few minutes here and there to craft! Knit mostly while Ruby naps on my chest in the wrap… but it’s dinner time, so I’ll tell you all about that later.

Shopping culture April 8, 2007

Just returned from a trip to Key Largo, FL. My first time in FL, and it was enjoyable. It’s hard to spend 10 days on vacation with family. Very hard. I’ll leave it at that…
One thing that compacting has done for me, is made me really aware of how others shop/spend. My desires when I go on vacation center around having a good time, and experiencing the things around me. I want to eat the local food, see the sights and explore the area. I don’t enjoy going SHOPPING. I just don’t enjoy going to a new place just to buy stuff. I’d rather SEE the butterfly conservatory than spend money in it’s gift shop. I’d rather play on the beach and in the water than wander through the shopping district. I’d rather eat at the amazing local restaurants than buy a glass/mug commemorating it. The only memento I try to purchase when on vacation is a christmas ornament. Every year as we decorate the tree, we talk about each ornament, and where it came from and how much fun, etc. So buying the ornament is really contributing to wonderful family time, and that is never a bad thing.
At one point on our trip, someone was buying a t-shirt or a mug or something, and Ryan mentioned wanting one. I had to put the kibash on it. What are we going to do with ONE MORE MUG? i asked him.The only commemorative mugs that I really love are from the B&B we went to on our wedding night, and on our anniversary for 8 years (until they sold it!). I really don’t need more crap… really I don’t.
And the people in my life don’t need it either. I had figured if i came across something that seemed appropriate for our house sitters as a thank you, I’d get it (and I did, Key Lime pie mix… yum!) but I didn’t want to purposely SHOP for stuff. It’s just me, right? Apparently not.

Well, anyway, we spent money on our trip… we rented a boat one day and went snorkeling. It was worth every penny. I saw a school of barracuda (um scary) and a school of parrot fish (awesome) and a school of baby squid (a pre-school?hahahaha). We spent money eating at great restaurants, eating amazing food and laughing together.

Way better than a mug, eh?

April, already? April 8, 2007

Dang. How did I miss March? Um maybe because I either travelling, preparing for travel or recovering from it… Never the less, March has come and gone, and what did I do?

1. did some great thrifting. (see prev post)
2. did some decluttering – 10 bras, 20 pairs of underware, at least 20 pairs of socks and 30 clothes items.
3. decluttered and organized the craft room. OMG did that feel good. I got rid of 75 (yes Seventy-FIVE!) items, and one huge bag of fabric/yarn. One of the overall goals I have for this year is to find more time (and space) to craft, and re-organizing my craft/guest room is key to that. Since I got it mostly done, I bought a used storage unit (rubermaid with drawers! for $20) and need to clear some space in the closet for it, and fill it up with all of the stuff that has no place to be. I could easily spend an entire weekend working in there, and I should… but alas, we got home from vacation and I have a little (albeit icky) cold. So I will not be shuffling through craft supplies.
4. I had some FUN in March, a trip to SF/Sac, a trip to Eugene to see my parents and a trip to Florida. But man I ‘m tired of travel. And, I’m done with it for a while, thank g-d.

So… over all – march goals – decluttered 155/500 items. Not bad. None of these items have actually made it OUT of the house though… that’s the goal between now and the 17th.
What’s happening on the 17th you ask? why it’s TREASURE MAP TIME!

This is my first year doing a treasure map but not my first experience with the concept. Basically it’s a good time astrologically and energetically to ask the universe for what you want in your life for the next year. For 3 days you put together your ‘map’… some people do a collage, some just write words, some paint, etc… The energies shift in just the right day during those three days… you just need to be clear and put it out there. Part of getting clear, is clearing your clutter… physically, mentally, energetically, etc. So… i’ve got some work to do.

The physical clutter is mostly in the basement. I box things up, and somehow, some one (RYAN) shoves it all in the basement. He has agreed to help me get it (as much as we can) out of there.

The mental and energetic clutter, well, that’s in my basement too, and Ryan isn’t the one who shoves it in there. I’ll take the blame on that one, Bob… and I know it’s hard to NOT do that also. I am really good at taking my feelings out every once in a while and looking at them… then I just shove it back down there. I have trouble actually getting RID of the clutter. I’m not a grudge holder by any means. Actually, just the opposite with most people in my life. Most of the time, when I’m hurt or annoyed, I talk about it (either to the person, or with my confidants) and get over it. There have been a few times where someone hurt me (or annoyed me) one too many times and I just kicked them to the curb. Not really holding a grudge, but getting rid of their presence in my life. (Clearing the friendship clutter, no?) No I don’t hold a grudge against other people, just myself.
Right now the biggest piece of clutter in my heart is recovering from the trauma of Ruby’s birth. I’m not going to write about it here, as I have a private journal that I keep all my deeper, more personal thoughts in and that is a more appropriate place to put those things. I don’t have any illusions of working through all of it before the 17th, but I’m trying to clear some of it out and forgive myself for what I view as my own failure (when my logical mind knows it wasn’t). TOday is the day that Ruby has been OUT of me longer than she was IN. It’s a big day. And it’s high time I looked at my grief and guilt around how she came into this world. I also carry the emotional clutter of infertility. Since that hasn’t cleared out even WITH the arrival of miss Ruby, I know that there is some work to do around that too.

So… lots of clutter clearing to come. This morning Ryan went through all of his drawers and closet, and I got half way through my closet before someone needed milk and a nap. And currently she’ll only nap ON someone, so she’s asleep on my chest, and quite frankly, I love it.