My Tireless Retirement - Week 35

 

Hello my friends!  I had printed out my 30 day decluttering checklist with the intention of working on it after the holidays, however, why let a good checklist just sit there and collect dust?  I got started upstairs in my bedroom and in two days I made some amazing progress, especially in the sentimental and photos arena.  That can be really tough but this time around I hit it like a champ and I'm super proud of myself.  It has taken me a good while but I've thinned down the boxes of photos and the many albums to the point that all of my albums fit into one of the small banker boxes and I only have a small pile of photos left that need to go into albums.  For me, that is a HUGE accomplishment.

 

HUGE project completed!

While I was at it I went through all of my papers, did a good bit of shredding and have all of the important stuff nicely organized and stored in one place.  I went through things I've been procrastinating on for years, made some tough decisions and added several more items to the donate pile while filling up a white kitchen size trash bag to go out to the curb.  Then I tackled all of my childhood and high school memorabilia as well as that of my children.  Boy, did that ever tap the emotions.  Oh my goodness.  I watched Pride & Predjudice while I worked on this project and it helped a lot.  Thank you Mr. Darcy!

 

I have now gone through every nook and cranny of the upstairs bedrooms so they have been completely decluttered.  It feels really good to be making progress once again, especially knowing that now the "procrastination piles" no longer exist.  They have finally been dealt with, the tough decisions have been made and it feels like a huge load lifted off of my mind and my shoulders.  I am so happy to have that behind me.

 

I have emptied all of these containers so far
The set of drawers will be going and I have plans for the rest of the bins

On Wednesday I went to Target and picked up four large storage bins with the snap top lids that latch with the handles.  I also picked up a similar container in a smaller size to store all of the sentimental items I had after that decluttering project was completed on Tuesday.  I spent a good day and a half sorting, purging and organizing all of my vintage collectible dolls and the rehab supplies.  That worked so well I ended up going back to Target on Thursday and picking up four more of the large bins to use for some other decluttering and organizing projects I'm getting ready to work on next.  I already used one of the new bins to put all of my girl's childhood dolls and doll clothes into.  They only kept a few so they don't take up much space.

 

Loads of paper got shredded

To jump off my holiday baking I made a nice batch of EnglishToffee.  It turned out perfect, I think it is my best batch to date.  I also did the final preparations to get my Christmas cards ready to go out in the mail today.  This is definitely a year people need to get a card in the mail, I think.  Don't you?

 

The start of donation bag #3

I continued going through all the rooms upstairs sorting, decluttering and reorganizing.  I am amazed with how much stuff I have been able to get rid of because I flat just do not need it.  I started working on some spaces downstairs as well and will continue working my way through everything this week and on into the next.

 

I hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy, enjoying the holiday preparations and that you are happy.  Let me know what you've been up to lately.  How are your Christmas plans going?  I would love to hear about it.