THE BURNING HOUSE

So here is that dream I mentioned in my last post.

A few weeks ago I dreamt that the house was on fire. I am not sure if it was my house or not, clearly did NOT look at all like my house I am in right now, plus it was on a different continent. My stuff was in the house. That's for sure. It's been a few weeks so some of the details are foggy. Here is what I clearly remember.

The house was built on a hill. So the basement was going out level to the ground on one side of the house. We were in the basement. Some teenagers where upstairs and a fire started in a bedroom on the ground floor. We were in the process of packing stuff into boxes when we heard about  the fire. If I remember correctly we where about to move. So we ran out and I was thinking:"All my stuff will burn. Oh no!" My next thought was:"Maybe it is for the better. Let the ballast burn and start over."
When we got outside the fire department was there. As it was just a tiny fire, they decided to wait and see if it would go out by itself. We then decided that as long as there is just a tiny fire we could just as well go back in and get our stuff. We almost had it all out when I thought:"Too bad. Now I am stuck with it all." 
The fire department was right and the fire went out by itself. I was "stuck with my stuff" and when I woke I wasn't sure what to make of that dream. If I had any active readers I would open this for discussion, but I guess I'll have to interpret it on my own!  

WHY YOU WANT TO DECLUTTER

I know that quite a few times we tend to ask:"why I should I do this?" Well here is why. You remember one of my favorite clutter spots? That space of floor between my bed and the window? It attracks clutter like a pile of s*** attracts flies. It usually starts with a ppiece of clothing thatI took off right before going to bed. Then you never now, a quick emeergency clean up somewhere else a baskedt of stuff to be there "just for the afternoon" and before you know it. Voila. Mt Clutter. I'Ve watched it grow over thelast few days, maybe more like 2 weeks and foudn excuses every day why it can wait one more day. I finally decluttered it. okay. Shifted some, but cleared the whole areay, got rid of quite a bit, dusted vacuumed and was quite proud of myself. Wouldn't you know it 36 hours later with Ella sleeping in my bed, THIS happenend.

5:30 am she needed to go to the bath room. Swings her feet out of MY bed (poor me ran off to the couch in one of the kid's rooms. IT is quite comfy I must admit) somehow, even thought the sunis up already and she should be able to see, swings right into my tall reading lamp. Of course the reading lamp falls over. James's is mostly metal, mine has a nice milky glass lamp shade. OR should I say had? Well,it falls, hits the marble window sill and explodes into 1 million little fragments. I think I was standing upright onthe couch from that crash. Sank back decided I am too tored and wanteed to sleep. Fortunately my subcvoncious managed to get through to my concious brain and told it that the soudn came from my room, that it was GLASS, that there ar kids sleepingin there and that I had to ACT NOW! Miss Sleepy Head just stared at me. Glass on the floor, the window sill, the bed. EVERYWHERE! VEry fun to clean that up at 5:30 am, but if this had happend just 2 days early I would have had glass shards all over clothes and 2 baskets full of hoard with the promise of cutting my fingers any time I touched any of that. 

So keep in mind, things will happen. You'll break something. Spill something. And curseyourself for getting it all over your hoard. I think it took less than 5 min to clean it all up. And admist feeling sorry for losing that lamp and for myself for not being in bed anymore I was just happy the area was cleared and things were simple. 

Do ask me next week if I got rid of the lamp...

THE TOWERS OF DOOM

Oh my. What did I get myself into? It stall started with a call from my sister. She was worried about my Grandmothers furniture. Mind you, my Grandmother has passed a way a few years ago. She lived in a really small apartment and there was no room for her furniture. She was always very proud of them and and took good care of them for decades.Coming from a family of people who keep just about anything it was hard to believe that my Dad was willing to just give them up. Especially as he had kept all her other furniture. Well. Guess what. My Dad preferred to throw out his Mom's sturdy wardrobes because he wanted to keep 2 wobbly ones that he built himself about 30 years ago and that I think will fall apart soon enough. Granted they are in the basement and rarely ever get opened but still. 

So my sister and I started plotting. I was going to tell my parents that I wanted them, but unfortunately wasn't able to pick them up right away. As they needed to be moved out of the apartment ASAP they should store them for me in the basement until I was able to pick them up. We figured once the furniture was there, it would be incorporated with the rest of the basement hoard and I could just leave it there for eternity. Yup. That's how hoarding works. Well guess what. My Dad, who always whines about how far it is to my house and who can't be convinced to show up here more than once a year, packed up my Grandma's bedroom furniture and was at my house less than 20 hours after finding out that I wanted it. 2 wardrobes, 2 nightstands and half a bed. Yes. Half a bed. It was one of those really old beds, that can work as 2 single beds. Somehow the second half "went missing". James and I really considered using it for ourselves, but I was not willing to mix and match again. As there was only one bed I wasn't willing to do it.

The bed and nightstands went into the attic, the wardrobes into the garage. Well. After blocking 40% of my garage for months lying on their side as they were to high to fit in standing, they almost had disappeared under stuff I had piled on top of them. James and I finally decided to put them into our new guest room in the basement once it was finished. This room was far from done. So as a physical reminder to keep working on it, and to have them out of his garage, James put them in the corner of the living room. Right were Jack & Jill's dressers had been parked. 

What am I to tell you. They are still there. Threatening as ever.

DAY 2 - 1 ROOM DOWN

The end of day 2 finds my busy and exhausted. The repairman called early this morning to ask if he could come in the morning instead of the afternoon. First I was worried, that this would mess up my whole day. After thinking about it for a moment I realized it could be to my advantage.I had planned to be running errands in the morning and to clean up in the afternoon. I know myself well enough that I would have been too tired, and probably had skipped cleaning up all together.

So I cleaned up in the morning. I was kind of frantic as I had hoped to have the laundry room clean by the time the guy showed up. I more or less managed to do just that. I evacuated the hoard, a total of 4 boxes and baskets. After that I cleaned the kitchen and the hall.

I finally managed to check off my first room. Quite the achievement, isn't it. Ah well. On the other hand, maybe not. It is only the little room behind the front door. It has one little white chest in it. It contains sweaters, gloves and scarfs. Everything was still in perfect order. 

Funny thing is that when I took the picture I realized there was still a pencil under the chest! So I got it out. I am not sure if I can consider myself on track as I have been all over the place so far, but crossing even this tiny room off is a start. 

I think the reason for my not being able to focus is that I am simply scared of having a real life. That I am not sure what I would do with myself if I really got a grip on things after all these years. I guess I could always go back to hoarding if a real life doesn't suit me! 

Surface of the day:top of the freezer and the dryer

7 a day: box of kid's clothes

14 DAY CHALLENGE

Here it is. I had this absolutely crazy idea. I was thinking about whether to tackle the attic or the rest of the house after Easter and finally decided I should go for the house. The attic is just too scary a challenge. I love to plan and I am usually a thorough planer but this time all I did was write down the names of the rooms I wanted to take care of and an estimate of how much time I will need in them. Total number is 13. And I want to do it in 14 days. Crazy. I know but I just feel so ready for this and I think I can actually do it. If been thinking about it for a few days and I really want to do it. I want to start next Monday, but figured getting a feel for what's really out there for me won't hurt. 

So I got started today. I started in no less than 4 different room. And got a little upset with me for doing it. In the end it is okay because every project I started actually did get finished but I don't have a room I can check of but 4 rooms that I got started on. Tomorrow I will get a grip on things and focus on one room. I have 2 that are really easy. I will tackle those, so I can cross 2 off the list before the challenge even starts officially!  

surface of the day: a drawer in my hall

7 a day: 2 candles (very hard for me), various pieces of clothing

CAKE MANIA

I think I baked 20 cakes in the last 5 days. I know, I know. Crazy. I was practising for a wedding cake and you can't really bake cake for a whole week without ever feeding any to the kids. Well. I have learned one thing. A stacked wedding cake is more than I can handle. Oh. And I learned something else. If you spent all week baking the only thing you will get rid of is floor, sugar, butter and eggs. Lots of eggs. So many eggs you will constantly have to buy new ones.

5 a day was forgotten. The surface of the day was forgotten. Unless you let me count the counter top. I have 5 days ahead of me at my parents house. Object of the game is to track down everything I own that is still in their house and get rid of it. Once and for all!

5 A DAY

Supposedly 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day are key to a helathy nutrition. 

Recent independent studies (in my household) have shown that trowing 5 things out every day establishes healthy slim cabinets and well fed happy trash cans. It also makes it easier to part with things. It becomes a habbit. 

So if you want to put your hoard on a diet, join me now. I keep track by putting an x on my calender every day I managed to throw away 5 things. Wheter in passing or as an organinzed effort doesn't matter.

If 5 sounds to much, start with 3 or even 1. Once you managed to do so for a whole week straight you bump your number up by 2. Obvious trash counts, as long as it was lying around. 

If you get behind you can catch up the next day, but you can't work ahead as the goal is to establish a habbit. Of course you can throw out more than 5 things, but they don't count for days yet to come. 

I am putting my hoard on a diet. NOW!

THE RAINBOW CLOUD

On the way home one day, I saw one of the prettiest things up in the sky. It was a big cloud. It was bright an colorful. I am not sure how to describe it, but the cloud was like a fluffy piece of rainbow. I showed it to the kids but they were rather unimpressed by it. Sometimes it looked as if it was fading, then the colors came back stronger again. Once home, I pulled James out of the house to show him. "So what," he said. "But isn't it pretty?" I couldn't understand why I was the only one who simply fell in love with that cloud. I ran to get a camera.  James shrugged his shoulders and was about to go back inside. I took my sunglasses of. AH! Too late. Rainbow cloud gone! Then it hit me. I put the glasses back on. I passed them on to James. Suddenly he understood. It was pretty. Very pretty. The rainbow cloud was only visible with the filter of the sunglasses. Once you took the glasses of it looked liked any other old cloud.

I guess it is the same with the hoard. Some filter makes us see rainbows where others see clouds.

PICK YOUR BATTLES WISELY

It will be Christmas in a week. I have put all sorting on hold. I still have a sick kid at home and I really want to have a nice Christmas. I will do what it takes to have it. If that means filling empty laundry baskets to have a clean living room that is what I will do. If it means I can't play games online ...oh..wait. No I won't go that far. hahaha No seriously. Entirely different topic. One for a different post ;)

I have chosen to stop sorting, because I know I won't be done before Christmas. I will feel overwhelmed and sad and I'll feel I  have once more not reached my goal. So instead I will focus on creating an atmosphere were my family can relax and enjoy each other for Christmas. There will be room to play to enjoy the new things. We will have good food and the place will be clean so I can sit down without thinking:"I better clean up this and that."

I can fight the hoard after Christmas. I know it will still be there.

SPOILER ALERT

Okay. This will make you slap your forehead. Hard. So if you want to avoid a headache, stop reading.

A few weeks ago I made the mistake of offering to take a truck load of books off someone. All in the hopes of making a couple of bucks online. I realized a few days later that it most likely wasn't worth it and I would be stuck with even more stuff that I don't want. When the girl didn't call me I felt relief.

6 weeks later, she called. Asked me if I was sure I wanted the books. Stupid me said yes. She said it was about 300 books. It feels more like 3000. I made 30 bucks with the first shipment. I am afraid it's not worth it. On the other hand it is free money. Money I make while watching TV. Will I ever learn? I will curse myself when it's time to get rid of the ones that don't sell.