I will CONQUER the paper, one box at a time

WOW --- I'm so excited that I'm not alone in this "fight" against junk! Well, I'm not excited that you all have junk to get rid of, but I'm excited that I'm not alone and that we are all supporting each other. The job is so large that we all need each other's support. Until your brain can reach the tipping point where you are committed to making it happen, we need the help of others to get there. 

Once there, we need the drive to keep going. In the past, I've been bad at this, as you know from the condition of the room. I'd get excited -- "I can TIDY up today," and I'd pull out way too much stuff to deal with at any given time. The one box a day seems to be working for me. I get excited to see what's in that box - I'm literally grabbing stuff and shoving it in the box without looking at it. And then I get excited to see the tabletop slowly reappearing. 

It's overwhelming, to say the least, and I think of all the small jobs that need to be done around the house. And then I STOP and think, this has to happen slowly -- the mess was created gradually, so don't try to do it overnight. 

It was getting late again last night when I tackled the day's box. I briefly thought about leaving it, but I told myself that it wouldn't take long, so one more box of stuff was gone. I think it's getting easier to let it go! The recycling box is getting used a lot, the stack of recycled paper for the printer is getting higher, and I did add a few things to the box I need to sort through in greater detail, but not by much. 

I don't have a picture of the tabletop this morning, but suffice to say that there's more exposed surface. Speaking of exposed surfaces, here's a dilemma that one person mentioned. She is tidying up as well; however, when a surface gets exposed, her DH decides to put his crap on it. Hmm -- that sounds like an intervention is necessary. Sometimes, a mere discussion might work to let him know exactly what is going on, and perhaps he'd like to participate in the cleaning up. Not likely, but it's worth a try. If my DH did that, we'd have a discussion to be sure. However, I alone am to blame for most of the stuff in our house. Thankfully, he's somewhat of a minimalist. Notice, I send SOMEWHAT. 

As I was tidying up, I came across several sayings that I had saved from those page-a-day calendars. I took pictures of them because they are still relevant, and I'll post them when the time is right. But how fun is this one. And this describes the quilting process for me! I wouldn't be the quilter I am today if I hadn't dealt with other people's quilt issues! 

I had a few more ripples on another one. 

A few ripples on the border of a quilt

But once it's quilted, you wouldn't know. 

Ripples mostly gone

And so another customer quilt is done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Here's the quilt I did yesterday and my goal this week is one a day. I won't clear the backlog before I go away, but I should be able to do that when I get home as I have more quilts to do starting in July.  

Customer quilt - DONE

The next one is loaded and ready to go later today. Between the quilting, trimming quilts, and cleaning up the office, I don't seem to be getting much sewing done, but I only have two hands, and I can't do everything. I am dreaming of all the "free" time I will have once everything is organized. 

When I'm done with the office, I plan to start at the top of the house and do one more clean sweep. However, since everything will have a home by then, and a lot will have permanently disappeared, and I'll have a much better mindset about getting rid of stuff, I suspect it will not take long to do that clean sweep. And I'll keep doing that until we have nothing left! 

Here's some advice for ANY person -- think twice before you buy ANYTHING. Ask yourself if it has a home in your house, does it have a purpose, will you use it, and when and how will you manage that item. If you don't have good answers to any of those questions, DO NOT BUY it. I'm not trying to be anti-consumer, but we need to tell the marketing departments that we REFUSE to be pulled in by their glossy messages. We MUST fight back (by not buying what THEY want us to purchase), so we don't lose our life dealing with stuff we didn't want or need in the first place. 

Let's go back to the table of crap. Not only is there paper on there (not a whole lot of paper left), but there are things on the table. I also dealt with these yesterday. 

Four wallhangings

I went through a phase where I had to buy ANYTHING with a bicycle on it. These four wallhangings have been languishing on that table for years! 

I found a spot for them (we do NOT have much hanging on our walls) and got out my trusty Command hooks. OK -- so I fail at these things, as I know how to put them up, but it wasn't good news when we were at someone else's house and hung something on the wall. I took the hooks down, OOOPS, as I pulled a bit of drywall off. I had to fess up to the owner, who was quite kind about it and politely suggested that "In future, that I not hang things on the wall!". So when it's time to take these off the wall, I'll call Shelly. 

Command hooks

One of the wallhangings needs a nail as the Command hook won't fit into the back, and I'll do that today. So not only are we getting rid of paper, but things as well. I can now enjoy these, which I should have enjoyed for years. 

It was a pleasure to go into the closet where the tools are kept and find a NEATLY organized basket of picture-hanging supplies. That organization happened a couple of years ago, and it never made the blog. But being organized really is fantastic, and I wish I had been smarter so many years ago. 

Neatly organized picture-hanging supplies

OH -- I found a picture from the weekend hike. This shows some of the rocky terrain where I walked, and actually, this is quite tame to some of the other areas. I wasn't stopping much to take pictures because of those darn mosquitos. I'm still slathering on the Afterbite and keeping most of the itching at bay. But - well, let's just say that they did an excellent job on me; even if I didn't expose myself to them, I have a "few" bites on my butt. 

A rocky path

There was no time for the gazebo yesterday, but I snapped this the day before. I love that wind chime! It's soothing to be out there and listening to the water and the windchime and napping! 

The windchime in the gazebo

And then we have this. 

Big dog - big stick

This is Murphy with a big branch she pulled in from the forest. Yes -- through the fence. OK -- so I did help her a little bit. HEY -- if it keeps her quiet and entertained, I'm all for it. She'll chew through it and have fun doing so. 

So while things are quiet in the back, this is what happened in the front yesterday. YES -- that is a bin arriving on our doorstep. And well, the front looks a bit different this morning. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what's happening. I swear every second house on our street (OK -- that's a bit of an exaggeration) has had a bin this year. 

A bin arrives at the house

It's raining today, so I don't think much work will get done, and then I can catch you up on the progress. 

Well, there's loads to do again today. I need to go shopping for some fabric (all of it is required), and I have quilts to pack and ship, another box of paper to deal with, and a quilt to quilt. Even on the "quiet" days, there's no danger of running out of things to do. Thank goodness I'm motivated to make it happen. Actually, I can't wait to empty that box to see how much more tabletop I can expose. If I can make a game out of it, I'm good. If I can't, well -- that's a different story. 

Good grief -- I went outside to take a picture for tomorrow's blog. As I mentioned, it's raining outside, and the deck is wet; I slipped and went down and was instantly soaked from the rain on the deck. Sigh! But I'm OK -- only my ego is bruised. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!