July's Summer Cleaning

So, I deleted my last post because it's being published! It's a book of stories for the homeschool heart.

Now for what I've been up to lately...

PURGING!

In case you don't know it, we have four children. They are 7, 5, 3, and 1. We all live in a two bedroom apartment. No garage, no storage unit, lots of stuff! David and I are quickly attaching to a monastery-like attitude of NO STUFF! So... we purge!

At first, the apartment just got messier and I was claustrophobic. At first, I was overwhelmed and a total grump! (just ask the kids) But, as Flylady says, 15 minutes a day of decluttering is a good starting point, and I can do anything for 15 minutes... even if I hate it!

David opened my eyes to something also. He said that a keepsake is pointless if it is just stored away somewhere... USE IT! He's absolutely right. I do not remember my great grandmother's handiwork on the doll she made me if it is stored away and I only see it every couple of years. So my goal, was to let go of things that were not really valuable, and to get OUT things that were.

So, here is a list of quirky things I had that I got rid of:

1. some kind of academic medal... no idea when it was from or what it was for
2. yearbooks. If I went to high school with you, do not be offended. We do not talk often, and if we do, I don't need a yearbook to K.I.T. (I saved Senior Year, but the rest is out)
3. Magenta sequined wrist and headbands from my days in YMCA Hip Hop... thank goodness the spandex unitard is already gone!
4. Retreat books. Journals I saved so I could go back and read how great other people thought I was... I was forever changed by the retreats I was involved in, and the youth ministry gave me a group of friends I will never loose (Thanks to Patrick Erskine & everyone else he suckered into helping him) :D BUT, I think I had a mini-forest of cut-down trees in all of those journals so they are gone!
5. brownie socks. (not the kind you eat, but the kind from scouts
6. Girl Scout sash - apparently I did not go far because I did not have much on it and I do not know what to do with it, so it is also gone.

and lastly...

7. Coloring books. Completed coloring books with dates (and sometimes times) on the pages I completed. This is not a joke, I hoarded my own coloring books. I did not share, I only colored the pages in order, I dated them when I finished. I never claimed to NOT be weird.

Of course, there are a billion other things we tossed, but those are the most fun :)

Some neat things I found:

$2 bills, a Michael Jordan Baseball Card, a needlepoint pillowcase my grandmother made, and cabbage patch dolls. The girls get to have the cabbage patch dolls, and the pillowcase is out to be used on my bed.

I can breathe easier in my apartment and I can keep up with 15 minutes a day! I think I will forever be trying to figure out how to KEEP my house uncluttered, but I am ok with baby steps and I am empowered to keep it up!

Our next project is to build a breakfast nook storage bench. Our kitchen is not a 90 degree angle, but like a 90 degree angle with the angle sliced off... I'll post pics later. We are going to build free-standing storage benches all around so that we can buy an oval kitchen table, put it in at an angle and save space! Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for this next fun project! After that, comes the apartment paint! :)

Thanks for listening to my rant, whomever you are, I hope you declutter 15 minutes a day as well and I hope you have peace in your home!

St. Martha, pray for us!