Party at the top of the glass!

I finished the book. I won't go into details if someone is going to read it. While I found it depressing, it was a depressing time with the war, the Halifax explosion, and the Spanish flu! So I get it, and I'm glad I read the book to the end. 

However, as I said, the next book would be funny! Oh my!!! It's called Nobody Wants Your Sh*t by Messie Condo. Oh my --- there is a LOT of swearing in the book, particularly the F-bomb, but if you look past that, this author touches on EVERY excuse in the world that you have for accumulating junk, keeping junk, and procrastinating on getting rid of that junk. 

Do you get the take on the author's name? It's not her real name and reminds me of another decluttering author! These two authors are totally on opposite ends of the world. One is sweet, and one is ruthless. I'll take the ruthless any day. 

The book is a quick read, and I might try to find a copy, as there are great checklists in it. She has authored several other books under Messie Condo and also under her real name, which I believe is Dana K. White. I did a quick search this morning, and if that is incorrect, my apologies to everyone! 

I wasn't the least offended by what she wrote, the language, or the fact that she called most of us lazy about our junk. Part of that is that I've been on this adventure for 10 years or more, so I know exactly where she's coming from. There were many spots where I felt I could have written the book; however, I'm not sure I would have been so blunt! 

However, if you are looking for a good wake-up call, this is it! She calls it DEATH cleaning and is really focused on what becomes of our junk when we die! It's a bit of an eye-opener, even for me! I am tempted to give my mother a copy—all those collections!!! As I have mentioned numerous times, you must stop buying and do NOT need a storage locker of ANY size!

The other thing she mentioned, and I burst out laughing, is to start with something small, like a drawer. How many times have I mentioned that? MANY!!! I hope all your drawers are sparkling clean. Now that you've cleaned those drawers, you can move on to other things. And you will learn—yep—this book exactly follows my journey!! 

As I've said before (and Messie confirmed it), decluttering is a life-long task. It's IRRESPONSIBLE to leave it to anyone else to clean. I concur 10000 percent. You made the mess; you are RESPONSIBLE for cleaning it up—NOW. And as Messie would say, get yourself off the couch and do it now, although she wouldn't be so polite! 

Anyway, if you have a thick skin about your hoarding habits (and we all have them—let's be realistic), borrow this book from the library. It's a three-hour audiobook! 

Then DH and I talked at dinner last night about this very topic. I could KILL him. He NEVER, and I mean NEVER, says -- wow -- you've been doing a great job. The house looks so much better. Nope --- his comment -- "You have a lot of stuff; what are you going to do with it." Even after I reminded him of what I've done over the last ten years and have made HUGE progress, he didn't HEAR A DAMN WORD I said and repeated his question. If looks could kill, I'd be a widow this morning! 

It's frustrating and extremely annoying when people do NOT celebrate the successes in our lives but continue to look at what isn't done versus what is done! Those glass half-empty people will suck the life out of us if we let them. BUT -- we will NOT let them. We'll let them wallow in the bottom half of the glass while we party at the top! 

When M lived at home, we had a map. She doesn't live here anymore, but we still have the map. We each had a dot color, and whenever we went somewhere, the map got updated. I noticed the other day that it's been eons since the map was updated! Get those dots out, and let's go!! 

It's a bit hard to see, but DH has blue dots, and there are blue dots in many places around the world, which is why he has permanent status with the airline. I'm MANY miles from getting permanent status, and unless I start traveling many miles in a year, that's not going to happen. 

Our travel map

This is the section of the map that is most traveled - North America, which makes sense since it's where we live. I have made it to all ten provinces and two of the three territories. I've visited many states along the eastern and western coasts, but only a few in the middle. But I need to get the dots out and update because I can check off Hawaii, Spain, other European countries, and many more states. Hmm, it is time to make some travel plans for next year!! Where will I go? Let's look at the map and find a spot! 

Our travel destination map

Angie and I had a very successful class at The Hobby Horse. I have to say that it's fun when I'm not the one who does all the talking and we had some great topics to share! If you're interested in some in-person quick demos or discussions, let us know as we plan to continue this next year. 

Look at that glorious wall of blenders!!! I needed some—you'll see why later this week—and I picked up what I needed—all at an EXCELLENT price. 

The blender section at The Hobby Horse

I haven't been fabric shopping in a while, and this has followed me home. I fell in love with the dots!!! Don't worry; some of it got cut up last night. 

Fabric acquisition

I also picked up three rolls of batting, which I tossed downstairs rather than carrying them. So much easier! 

Three new rolls of batting for customer quilts

And I worked on my UFO. I got the three columns complete. Seriously???? Look at how close they are in length without me fussing or measuring one bit! I just get lucky this way. NO—I trust my gut and just go for it, and I have no regrets!!!

Part of the backing for my T-shirt quilt

The UFO slide presentations are together, and I look forward to seeing everyone later this morning! It's so curious how people's minds work. Some are totally chaotic. They send me messages that don't make sense, and I must interpret them. Then others are so precise—I did this, and I will do this. Why can't everyone be like that? My job would be so much easier!!! 

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!