Get ruthless!

Despite the fact that I had that Facebook Live yesterday and things had to get organized for that, I took time to clean out a drawer in the filing cabinet. OK, so I didn't finish, but I made a good effort. 

I was only going to pull a few files and then decided to take them all out. 

The empty drawer

There are four drawers, and I picked one. The files got scattered onto the kitchen table. 

The kitchen table as the sorting station

I went through them one by one. OH!!! I know there are folders for some of the same stuff in another drawer. That's the problem with my filing system. I've got the space, I've got the hanging things, and I've got folders, but the actual filing could have been better. 

I started sorting them by creating piles on the kitchen counter. Having space to work makes this process a whole lot easier. Even if I had the space in the office, it's so dark here. I really must think about repainting the walls in a MUCH lighter color! 

The sorting station

And I got rid of manuals for things we no longer own and haven't for a long time! I got rid of bills and other paper crap that just accumulated. I was running out of time, so I had to put the stuff back in the drawer, but it's a lot lighter than it was. 

Some of the crap back in the drawer

While it doesn't look like I took a lot out, there are about 3 inches at the front where there was only a little space before. A significant section is filled with EMPTY file hangers, and I didn't get a chance to go through the messy part in the front. 

Then, the folders will need to be relabeled and organized by category. Yes, I know it should have been done before, but it wasn't. I'm dealing with it now. Once those four drawers are done, I have two huge containers of filing to do. But as mentioned, I bet that most of that filing can be tossed. 

Some of our bills are now 100% online, but a few still come in the mail, so I must convert those to online only. Then, I must go through what's left and throw out all the utility bills. I mean, one doesn't really need to keep them. The only thing of interest is to see how little you were paying 20 years ago, but seriously? I can live without knowing that! 

I think I still have some maintenance bills for my old car. I certainly do not need those, so I have more work to do, but I made a start. And if that cabinet could be cleaned out and the filing dealt with, that would clear up some visual clutter in this room. Hmm—I'm going away for a couple of days, but I hope I'm still motivated when I get back. I NEED to be motivated. 

Now, I need to find a good site with suggestions about what paperwork to keep and what to toss. 

Good grief—I found the bill for our current TV. We bought it in 2008—it's a 46" TV. Can you believe how much we paid for it? 

We are keeping the TV, not the bill or the manual. Gone!! I know DH would like a new one, but this one is just fine for the time he watches. 

But we had an issue—we had a house sitter last week, and they messed up the cables on the TV. I called our provider to see what the problem was. OH—we are missing a cable on the receiver, but which cable? So we sort of got that sorted out, but it's still not working. I called the provider a second time to get some help. All I needed was someone to confirm which slots the cables went into—a simple request. 

The "support" person on the other end spent so long trying to confirm my account, and then she tried to go through a diagnosis. NO- we did an online and already had a ticket opened, but she couldn't grasp what we were saying to her. She had to be brand new and was following a script, but OH MY GOSH -- this was the worst support person ever. She finally got frustrated and hung up on us after about 40 minutes on the call still trying to confirm and diagnose when we just wanted a simple answer. 

I walked to the TV, checked the back of the receiver and the router, and switched one thing, and it worked. I guess I should have done that first, but I'm not into TV things—I have no idea what does what as far as cables go. 

Anyway, it's fixed, and DH is happy. He asked for a credit because of the crazy support person, and they gave us one month free and told her to listen to the recorded call to see that this girl did not listen to what we were telling her—not one bit! And I thought we were EXTREMELY patient under the circumstances!

The Facebook Live went well -- I forgot to show a couple of my samples! I ran out of time, so it's good I didn't make a ton more samples! But this was my set-up when I was done. I'll post the link when it becomes available. 

The aftermath of the Zoom call

Michael's has many online classes you can watch live or recordings afterward. Be sure to check that out; you'll find way more on the US site than you do on the Canadian site. 

Here's one of the spots on the forest path that were fixed yesterday. Let's see how well this holds up. I don't think they ever did all of those low-lying spots, so this should help whenever it rains. 

Repairs on the forest path

I unpacked my suitcase from my last trip, and there are my Studio B mascots. They were peeking at me in the background on the call! Those sneaky dogs!

Studio B mascots

Well, I'm packed for the retreat, but I don't feel ready. There's been too much going on, so I may end up at the retreat and do absolutely nothing today. I'll see how it goes!!

I will remind you daily to find some area of your house to tidy up! Grab a drawer - maybe the kitchen junk drawer, a bathroom drawer, or a filing cabinet. It could be a dresser drawer, but pick a drawer and be RUTHLESS. 

On that note, I'm out of here!!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!