Good day

Sunday turned out to be a pretty good day. I hadn’t realized how good until I was writing in my journal last night.

Since Saturday had been one of those days where I couldn’t seem to make a decision, I’d left all the items I’d pulled out from the cabinet lying around the kitchen floor. I hemmed & hawed over the fondue pot and some bowls and platters. I finally made the decision to let go of them, and had even moved them over to the give-away pile.

I was much more clear-headed on Sunday. I took the few things I wanted to keep and put them back in the cabinet. Holy cow! I had tons of room left over. So what did I do? I retrieved the fondue pot and dishes. I’m sure the professional organizers are cringing, but I’m ok with the decision for now. I did realize I need to move the crock pot into this cabinet, and that will take up a bit more room, but I think I’ll still have room for everything to be organized and easy to get to.

I think part of what scared me on Saturday is the sheer amount of stuff in the give-away pile. And it’s only going to continue to grow. I’m a bit worried about getting everything into the car, since I live on the top floor of a walk-up condo. But if I take down 2 or 3 loads a week, I should be able to keep up without having too many boxes lying around.

Oh, and I didn’t procrastinate about changing the bed linens, I finished my loads of laundry, including folding and putting away.  (Well, except for the towels that are still in the dryer.  But they’re dry and they’ll be easy to fold and put away tonight.)  Like I said, it was a good day.

Decisions, decisions

I didn’t do my kitchen chores last night when I came home from work. I was ready to, but the problem is I’ve gotten into the habit of giving the cats a treat when I get home. (It’s a long story about how that got started.) If I make any kind of noise, the girls get skittish and run off. Then the guy eats their treats. So I got on the computer and just never got up to do the kitchen. (Oh! I did stop for some groceries on the way home from work, so the evening wasn’t totally wasted.)

I decided if I did two rounds of kitchen work today, I’d give myself credit for yesterday. So this morning I finished cleaning out the cupboard/pantry, throwing away enough expired food to feed a small army. But I can now see all the items that remain, so hopefully I’ll be inspired to use them up before they go bad.

I just now finished going through the 2nd cabinet with food prep equipment. I debated whether to go through the cupboard with the dishes or the cabinet. But just by looking at the dishes, I knew I was going to have difficulties making decisions about them, so I picked the cabinet.

It’s larger than the other cabinet, and more difficult to get into. Consequently, it had more stuff in it and took longer to clear out. Now everything is out on the kitchen floor. And I’m really having trouble deciding what to keep & what to give/throw away. I already have about 4 bags of trash to go out tomorrow, and the thought of adding more is very daunting.

I there were a few things I’d forgotten I had, like the fondue pot I’d given my mother for Christmas one year. We used it every year at Christmas (Christmas Eve fondue after church became one of our traditions). But I haven’t used in many years, if ever. And there are some platters and serving bowls that I could use, but haven’t.  I’m afraid that if I give them away, I’ll need them sometime. Perhaps if I sleep on it, I’ll realize they need to go.

Getting back on track

I just posted at Stream of Conscience about how I’ve been escaping from real life. That includes my decluttering plan.

The problem with the kitchen is that, in addition to decluttering, I need to do maintenance work every day. But I really slacked off this week. While I accomplished some good work last Saturday (Mar 1), I wasted much of Sunday, only getting to the kitchen late in the day. I wasn’t in the mood to tackle a cupboard or cabinet, so I cleaned out the drawer that holds my basic utensils. I didn’t throw away very much, but there were a few odds and ends that made it to the trash can. One item that probably should have gone out was an old fashioned punch-type can opener. You know, the triangular type that we used to use to open soda cans. (And, it turns out, we still need for items such as condensed milk.) I don’t use it anymore because it’s very old and rusty, but it has sentimental value. Maybe I’ll put it in a place of honor, even though it’s really ugly. Or maybe I’ll realize I don’t need an inanimate object to save my memories.

The drawer had some dividers I’d had for over 20 years. I was going to clean them and put them back, even though one was cracked, mainly because I hadn’t thought far ahead enough to buy some new ones. But the dividers were pretty grungy and even after a nice soaking, they were still icky. So out they went. Now I’ve put the utensils back in the drawer in an orderly fashion, but I really do need to buy some new dividers. I wonder if I can find some at the grocery store tonight when I stop this evening for the all important cat food.

After Sunday, I didn’t get back to the decluttering until yesterday. Although, to be fair, I did do some good kitchen maintenance cleaning during the week. I figure that counts for something, since I did clean up some large items that were cluttering the counter.

Last night I decided to tackle one of the cupboards. I didn’t get to all 3 shelves, but I did get 2 cleared out. Now they’re very empty, since a great deal of the food was far beyond its expiration date. I still need to check the salad dressings. They don’t look particuarly bad, but they do need a closer inspection. Maybe I’ll try to finish up that cupboard tonight. Then tomorrow I can tackle one of the other cabinets.

… Go!

And so it begins. I began my decuttering agenda today with the kitchen cabinet that holds the pots and pans. I pulled everything out and sorted it into various categories: what to keep, what to give away, what to throw away. I also had an undecided pile where I put those things that I wasn’t sure I’d keep or not, depending on what else I found in the cabinet.

The most difficult decision I has was with the muffing tins. I had 2 regular muffin tins (bought at different times, but still they nest) and 2 mini-muffin tins. (Which I have no idea why I bought.) I couldn’t decide whether to keep 1 tin or both. So I checked a cookbook to see what an average muffin recipe yield is. Turns out it’s either 12 or 30. Well good grief! Even if I kept both muffin tins, I still wouldn’t be able to bake a 30-muffin recipe all at once. And since being able to bake everything in just one cycle instead of 2 or 3 is more important for me, I decided to keep both regular tins and one of the mini-tins (which I figure can be used for the left-over batter of those big recipes).

I suppose that decision might go against the standard declutter mantra, but I’m happy with it. If it turns out I don’t need the extra tins, I’ll give them away. At least now I can see them when I open the cabinet door.

The other “no-no” I did was pull a set of silverware out of one of the give-away boxes. Part of the reason is the box is big and the silverware is heavy.  Then I looked at the pattern and thought I might keep it after all.  I’ve been thinking about changing out my silverware (the set I have I’ve had since my college days), and while it’s not exactly the pattern I want, it’s Reed & Barton, and very nice.

I was surprised at how easy the day went.  But later I realized I’d been planning to take care of this particular cabinet for awhile—like every time I’d try to put a pan back in and everything would tumble out.  When it comes to some of the other cabinets, cupboards and drawers, I’m sure it won’t be as easy.

Ready, set…

Tomorrow is the big day! The day I (re)start my New Year’s Resolution to declutter the home room by room. I’ve managed to get my motivation up from what it was in my last post; so much so that I actually did a little tidying up yesterday. The time was mainly spent loading the dishwasher. What really surprised was that when I’d finished my 5 minutes, the counters were cleared off and clean!

What I’ve learned in the past 2 months is that the kitchen needs attention every day. I’m going to have to change my plan just a bit. Since such things as cleaning up and putting dishes away require additional time, I’ll spend 5 minutes with standard kitchen maintenance (unless it actually takes less time) and 5 minutes decluttering.

The good news is that the kitchen table has remained relatively clutter free since I first cleared it off in early January, before I broke my foot. What I like about having the table cleared off is that I can sit down at it, plan meals, make grocery lists and the like. It functions very nicely as a kitchen “desk.” And also as a breakfast nook.

Time to get crackin’

Well, my “amnesty” period is almost up. This past Saturday was my first day not using the boot for my broken foot at all. But I’ve been on my feet a lot the past two days, and it’s quite sore this evening. When I got home from work, I put the boot back on for the evening. And I need to take some more motrin.

March 1 is fast approaching. The problem is, I don’t have that “New Year’s drive” I had in January. And right now I’m exhausted. The other “roadblock” is that I don’t have my Christmas presents mailed. I have them wrapped and in some cases packed, but I haven’t gotten them off to the post office or UPS yet.

I can’t let the lack of progress in one area interfere with my plans to move ahead in another. That kind of thinking is “all or nothing” or even “perfectionism,” which can be a terrible detriment to progress. I don’t want to fall into that trap again. It does me absolutely no good.

I guess I better use the next few days to psyche myself up for the big challenge. I might even hire a professional organizer to help push me through my inertia. I’ll see how the first week or so goes. Or, maybe I’ll call someone tomorrow. After all, I don’t want to have everything charted out. While having a plan is good, sometimes you just need to fly by the seat of your pants.

The “official” progress report for Jan 08

In order to get rid of old habits, you have to get rid of old thinking.

I was doing quite well with my revised January schedule. However, after the progress reported in my last post, I took Wednesday off. And that led to taking Thursday off. So I didn’t get all my packages wrapped and none of them mailed.

Last weekend I was on the verge of getting my bills paid up to date. I’d even tallied up all the credit card expenses. But I guess because I time to spare, I didn’t finish. And now I’m behind the due date for the credit card bill—not by much, but probably enough to warrant an interest fee.

And I’d made great progress with the laundry. Except that I didn’t get the get the last load out to dry. And now I have to do them all over again because they stink.

What held me back? I was out of my comfort zone. I’m not used to making progress, or being on time, or being successful. So I stopped because it didn’t feel “right.”

So now, instead of moving on to the next big task at hand, I have to play catch-up. Hopefully at some point making progress won’t feel so foreign to me and I won’t “feel the need” to backslide.

January progress report

Well, after my very late start, I’m on track to finish my new and improved necessary January goals. I’ve finished wrapping the presents for nibbling #3 (numbered by age), which includes nibbling, nibbling-in-law and great-nibbling. Now I just have to find a box to mail them. Or, I suppose I could take them to the UPS store and let them do the work.

I have only 3 other presents to wrap, but I do need to get a good address for nibbling #2 and send him his gift and a gift card.

Keep it up, kiddo!

Rewards

One of FlyLady’s techniques I learned is to put a sticker on a calendar every day you do your “routine.” Who would’ve thought I’d enjoy doing something so silly? But they really make the calendar come alive; and more importantly they motivate me to do “just a little bit more.”

Once I have 3-4 weeks of 4 or more stickers per week, I can reward myself with something a bit more tangible, such as getting a pedicure, buying a set of DVDs. The idea behind a 4-sticker minimum is that I don’t have to be perfect, just reasonably consistent. Of course, January has been a bit of a crap shoot, what with the broken foot. I certainly wasn’t able to clear out the kitchen like I’d planned. But every day I do something a little extra, like fold and put away the laundry, empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, I give myself a sticker. So far the calendar’s lookin’ good.

One of the “longer range” goals I’d had was to buy a nice garbage can for the kitchen once I got the kitchen finished. I was then going to use the kitchen can for cat litter waste.  But the litter got so out of control while I was on crutches, I decided I deserved to give myself the reward sooner.

I love the new waste can set up. The kitchen can is bigger & much easier to use, and the litter can is much more efficient—and clean.

The key point is that this is new thinking. I don’t have to be absolutely perfect to reward myself. I just need to push myself a little bit further than I used to. And what does it do? It spurs me on to continue to do “just a little bit more,” thereby keeping the house in much better order; and thus, making me feel better about myself and my home.

Roadblock resync

With my broken foot, I have to rethink my overall clean-up plan. I had thought that I’d be able to pick up where I left off once I got off the crutches and into a boot. The good news is I do have a boot now and can walk around the house crutches-free. However, the boot isn’t quite as convenient as I thought it’d be.

The biggest problem is the stairs. I live on the top floor of a garden-style condo building with no elevator. There are 36 steps I have to negotiate every day. It turns out the boot is bigger than the step, and I have to go down sideways. I also have to hold onto the railing and really concentrate on where I plant my foot.

That means I’m unable to carry a box of give-aways to the car. I wouldn’t be able to use the handrail, nor would I be able to see where my feet are. I can carry plastic bags down, but those would never stand up to small kitchen appliances like a blender.

Obviously, I need to rethink my schedule. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around stopping with the kitchen and starting elsewhere, but that’s one of the options I have. This might be a good opportunity to go through all the papers I have to file (mostly medical and investment related).

Another option is to continue with the kitchen, setting the give-away boxes aside to take down once I’m able. Or I could even ask for help (not something I’m very good at).

I think a great goal for the rest of January is to wrap & pack all the Christmas presents I still have to send. At first I thought I couldn’t do it until I cleared off the dining room table, since that’s my preferred wrapping location. But I realized I have cleared off the kitchen table. So really, I have no excuses.