Yesterday and today.

Let's start with yesterday:

A skimmer (we have a metal one), a plate lifter (as useless as it is to me, Mark has another one. The compromises we make...). Also, a carving fork. I found two more this morning. Mark needs to approve getting rid of one of the remaining two.

Today, I rummaged through the kitchen drawer again and found the following:

Eight. Eight bottle openers (and variations), and we don't even drink beer at home!!! We wound up turfing the following:

The bottle openers (and corkscrews, and can openers) that we wound up keeping served more than one function, and were easy-ish to store.

Yes, we were breaking the principle of having more than one item, but hopefully we will rid of more in the future. Baby steps!

Drawer clean up and the daily

I work a lot. I work so much that even though I have three weeks of vacation a year, and I took time off for my wedding last year, and took time off for my cousins wedding this year, and went for a week long bachelorette in Mexico for her, I still have 19 days of vacation for this year. My company is officially changing the policy on being able to accumulate vacation time after this year, so I have until the end of next year to use up almost six weeks of vacation. It probably will not happen...but I am taking time off here and there to make sure the vacation days I do miss out on isn't so high - for example, I am taking Friday off, and will be taking some time off during Christmas and New Years. 

Whenever I have time for a quick clean up during the week, I'll be be completing small tasks that need attending to periodically. Case in point, the bathroom drawer, shown below in its "before" glory.

We all have these drawers or areas in our home. They become a sinkhole for items that do not fit anywhere else, or a quick place to stash (or become a "forever home") items when we are clearing off a surface. 

Since the drawer is fairly small, and it holds a lot of daily essentials, it was easy enough to empty out the drawer on to the bathroom counter to pick through everything, and also vacuum the drawer. There was a LOT of small debris (like makeup sharpenings that had fallen out of a sharpener) and hair that had fallen off of hairbrushes. It was a little gross how much had accumulated.

I also took the time to soak my brushes in a little bit of shampoo dissolved in warm water. I need to do this more often.

Finally, I evaluated each item before moving it to another area, recycling it, throwing it away, or deciding to donate it:

- moved: a number of wayward band aids, a lone zip tie, and hair and beauty samples (more of this later, I pick up freebie samples of anything like I get paid for it!)

- recycled: paper tags, an outdated calendar used for tracking how often I change my contacts (I did not know this was in the drawer, obviously I do not use it!), I amalgamated a set of extra contact lenses, and recycled the box.

- trashed: old makeup

- donated: a lip balm that I do not use, and an eyepencil that we used for Halloween one year

The displaced items allowed for me to reorganize everything that I really needed (that may be debatable, as I know there are no less than four eyeshadow palettes - palettes, not singles!) and again, since the drawer is small, I can see an item that I need without rummaging long. 

Here is an after picture below:

Ahhhh, organized. I know this is boring stuff but as small as it is, this is (in a sad way) rewarding. 

Three items of the day ( that is actually four):

- I know the magazine is cheating a little, and there are more to come. It is going to be a bit of a go because there are certain recipes that interest me, and if I do not try them out in the next couple of weeks, they are getting donated as well.

- set out four soupspoons we bought at daiso. They are ugly, do not match our other utensils, and are awkward to use. They are destined for the free box.

- Acura tire locks. My car accident was over a year ago, and ICBC gave me money for my car. I don't know why I thought I could get money for these from Craigslist, but there were no biters last time I tried. Oh well. There are many Acura owners at work, perhaps they will use them.

- cheese apron... I got this as a gift from someone after they came back from a trip from Europe. Never used and going into the donation bag at the front door for the next charity that comes knocking.

I am taking Friday off from work, so hopefully I get some larger scale cleaning and purging done!

Day two.

The "three a day" mission has become a little bit of an obsession. I scour drawers, rooms, nooks and crannies for items that may be looking for a one way ticket out of our apartment. Some items are simply asking for it - they are wonky, damaged, or are broken. Others are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time...

Today's contenders include:

- a Fresh Juice magazine that I receive because Superstore likes sending me free stuff. They are marketing their grand and products through the magazine, and although the marketing isn't as aggressive as Krafts magazines and recipes books from the 80s and 90s, it is still a little unnecessary...and really, who relies on stoic recipe books still? Yes, I still have my favourite books but I would say that 98% of my cooking is a result of my own invention! or from blogs and other online sources. I forecast that I will most likely be ridding of a lot of magazines period in the next bit...I cannot believe that it has taken this long.

- a garlic press that has been replaced by a newer, sturdier version

- a cherry pitter that I got from a garage sale (yes, my hoarding extends to picking up other peoples' garbage). I thought the item was unique and different, however I have come to realize that it is just ugly and useless. Really. I have probably had the thing for over three years, and have never used it.

All items went into the "free" box at work. 

Woohoo! Here's to ridding the home of useless clutter, and making room for living, breathing, and new ideas!

Let's start out small...

Let's start out small!

The first items to leave this abode while on this quest are the items pictured above:

- a mug that M has had forever

- a bottle opener that we acquired as a favour while attending an event

- foot scrub, unopened, that was part of a larger toiletries set I bought on sale at Costco

- a tube of BB cream that I received as a gift

We do not need these items, and they do not fit with the items we do have. The BB cream, although I tried to make work for me, is for someone with fairer and / or grayer skin than me, the foot scrub has never been used, and we have another one of the same bottle openers from the same event, since we each received one at the event. I guess, in our twisted logic, (or solely mine) I thought we both required one to remember the event, even though we rarely drink beer at home.

We also have other bottle openers (I am 99% sure, even though I cannot think of where it would be right now). We are just hoarders at heart! And since the bottle opener was new and shiny I suppose we just had to keep it.

These items are going into the "free box" at work, minus the mug which will be utilized in the lunchroom.

I have to say that the clutter at home has been bothering me for ... Forever. And I am committed to rectifying that.

Fresh Start

It's a brand new blog!

Here I am, yet again, this time with the mission of decluttering ... My home. My work desk. The craft room. The kitchen drawer. My life.

For reasons that are obvious, I have always been a hoarder. My mother was and still is. My grandparents were and still are. My husband is also a hoarder. For reasons that shall go unspecified, I have grown to be a more habitual hoarder in the last couple of years and, on this sleepless night before a workweek, I have chosen to start this blog to document the mission and progress of decluttering my life. I accept that this will be a hardship, but a stress reliever at the same time. Perhaps by letting go of some of my baggage and documenting it, I will be able to move onwards. I hope to gain more clarity on my attachment to objects and possessions, and to learn more about how I can recharge more effectively in my surroundings.

I hope to start small. I want to rid of three objects a day, either by donating, selling, recycling, repurposing, or trashing...this will obviously be an ongoing project. I also want to loosely practice the notion of getting rid of something every time I bring something new in to the home. 

It has been a long time since I have journaled or blogged. It has shown in a sad way. I am conscious that I need the time to introspect and reflect on my thoughts.

We will see how this goes, wish me luck!