aelfie | Entries tagged with purge

Is still ongoing, but slower.

I'm puttering around the office. I brought home from 3 weeks of school a large canvas bag of books. And a glockenspiel. And a couple of candles. But anyway...

I have NO room to put any of these books away anywhere. My to read shelf is already full. Time to clean out some books.

I pulled some out that could immediately be just given away, I've pulled others that need to be sold. The books, although not exceedingly valuable, are in demand as used books, and hey, I could use the money. I found out that there's a Waldorf Book I own two copies of that is out of print and is in demand on Amazon and the starting prices on the book are currently over $140.00. I definitely want to sell that one, but I'll probably want to just sell it for a little more than what I got for it. Also found out that one of the kids comic books is going used for over $100...may try to convince child to try and sell it so he can buy more comic books.

Anyway. I want a book truck to do this properly, but I don't have one, so I can't. My plan is to start pulling out a shelf at a time and weeding it.

Man I have a LOT of books. I wish a good Anthroposophical library was closer then I wouldn't need to buy so many.

I also have a shelf double stacked of Kid Vid DVDs. Definitely need to go through that shelf and sell off what we don't watch anymore or frankly don't want my kids watching anymore.

In all, its going.

Puttering.

I'm on the injured list. I tweaked my ankle a couple of weeks back while on the treadmill. And it wasn't like I fell over and broke something. I just went. "oh, my ankle hurts a bit". And its been getting worse, and worse. Monday, when I woke up, I found my ankle swelled up severely.

Right! Time to see the Doc. Got an appointment at 4:10. Doc stuck her head in the door at 5 and without even looking at my ankle, she said. "Okay, lets get you an ankle brace, and some x-rays. No more treadmill until the pain is gone. I'm calling in a Rx for motrin. I'll call you when I get the x-ray results." and walked back out. Seriously? Why do I bother? (oh, probably 'cause I can't order x-rays on my own.) But really? Couldn't you even look at it? It hurts a lot now, and doesn't like it when I stand for too long.

So I've been puttering.

Yesterday I got all the yarn re-organized in the yarn closet. Yes, I said yarn closet. I have an entire bedroom closet (small) dedicated to yarn. I found a very dangerous store up in Seattle that is essentially Big Lots for Yarn. So I buy yarn by the bag. I also share this yarn out with my other set of hands in Maine. (I give her yarn and patterns, she knits it up for me) It's very hard to say no, to high end yarns sold at 50-90% off. Its good stuff, I'll knit something out of it someday. I've got four kids...that's a lot of sweaters! (Hence the other set of hands in Maine). (Oh, and currently 5 out of the 6 of us knit. Gray is too young. We go through a LOT of yarn.) I moved all the doll making, wool embroidery, and wet/dry felting supplies to the top part of the closet. I got all the fabric, sewing, and quilting project put in one large plastic bin. I also found room in there for all the felted sweaters I have. (At least the ones not currently in a little person's dresser) I pulled out the older three's memory boxes, and started to sort things into them that have been scattered for the last few years. Then I decided to go sit down for awhile. Cleaned off my desk as I could do that sitting down. Later in the afternoon we dropped off 9 bags of stuff at Goodwill.

This morning, I finished the memory boxes (poor Gray! There's almost nothing in his little box! Nobody sent us cards at his arrival, nobody came to his first birthday party, and we didn't have him baptized. And I can't find his birth announcement.). Then I realized I forgot to go through the bottom shelf in my closet, so I went through that. Recycled and tossed a bunch of stuff, donated a bunch more stuff. My aim is to go through the two cabinets that are attached to the changing table and see what's in there. I'm hoping to find room for my portable sewing machine.

I'll continue to putter as I can. I want to hit the office

Master Bedroom Day 3(?)

Today Joe decided to purge his closet and dresser. He went through all his clothes and filled 2 garbage bags of clothes for Goodwill. Go Joe! He still needs to rediscover the top of his dresser and the shelf in his closet. We might get to one or both of those tonight. I'm hoping to pull the dressers away from the walls and sweep the floor. I'm sure there are huge clans of the Vorpal Dustbunnies hiding under there.

I also had him pull all the stuff of the shelf in my closet. I filled a bag and a half of stuff to go to Goodwill. Go Me! I am now done with my stuff in the master bedroom. Unfortunately, a lot of stuff ended up in the spare room. We've decided to keep it as a spare room for the moment. We like having a room with an extra bed (and a lock) for guests, friends...whatever. But that means we need to purchase another dresser for the Boys room. The dresser that's in there now is small and barely big enough to hold all of Ike's clothes. If I want to get Gray's clothes out of the spare room (so I can use that antique for storage of my art/craft stash) we need a place to put his clothes. So we are either going to buy another small dresser (cheap) or buy one big dresser (costs more). There's room for either another small dresser or we can rearrange it to get more wall space to put in a bigger one. I'm leaning towards another small one, so the boys don't have to share.

One of the things I love about the spare room is the built in counter and shelves. That room was once used as a craft room by a former owner. It was a big selling point for me, as it's currently a perfect set up as a changing table. As the counter is tall enough for Joe and me not to kill our backs while changing children. Once we get Gray potty trained (and school starts in the fall) a lot of the diapers, wipes and various baby things can continue to move out and the shelving will be available for art/craft supplies. Eliminating the need for more furniture in that room so we can keep it as a spare room (Whew!).

Last night Joe and I had a date. (Whee!) Our church had it's annual auction last night. We ended up with a pair of San Jose Opera tickets for Die Fledermouse (I've never seen an opera live before and have always wanted to go), two tickets to Great America at about 60% off, and a couple of dinners with other members. We offered up a couple of movie nights that we are going to end up hosting in our house. Since less than 10 people signed up for both, our living room will hold that easily. Its a very silly night with lots of commentary from the crowd. We are too broke to hire a real auctioneer, so two members took turns. They had this very silly hat they passed back and forth between the two of them, and at one change, Joe and I yelled out "Griffyndor!" which made the house laugh. The other big laugh I got for the night was when the auctioneer apologized for spelling Joe's name as Jo for the entire booklet. I yelled out "It's no big deal, it just means I'm a lesbian now". All in all it was a good night and we had a great time.

My dresser now

What you don't see is the basket and box with all the items that need repair. I'm going to tackle some of those tonight as its handwork. The box contains items I need to sit down at the sewing machine to repair. I also got through those little drawers on top. LOTS of stuff, stuffed in there. I even went through the items within the drawers. I eventually had a nice sized pile of broken gold jewelry. I'll take that to the mall next time I go and sell it. I didn't manage to move the dresser to get all the dirt and crap underneath. I'm too tired and out of spoons. The only thing I have left in that room is the upper shelf in my closet. I need Joe's help for all of that, so I MAY get to it this weekend...then again. I may not. Busy weekend ahead.

The basket to the right of the dresser is a pile of wool sweaters that: 1 need washing (so I need to get a sweater dryer) and 2 need a home. My sweater drawers are full.

I don't feel like I got as much done today as I have the previous days. But I think that's due to the fact that I'm actually having to find homes for things. When I started, I could just throw things in the general area where they belong. I'm running out of that generic space and have to find homes for things. I am not looking forward to the spare room. There's an incredible amount of stuff in there. It ended up being a dumping ground. And I have to have it cleaned up by the 1st.

Elli and Gwen get back late Monday Night. I've made arrangements for them and Gray to attend camp at school starting tuesday. I can distract one child from what Ike is doing. I can't distract 3. This also gives me a week to either purge more...or rest.

The monster that is my closet...

I didn't get through the closet today. I still have the upper shelf to take everything down and go through. But I took all my clothes out and only put back in the ones that fit and that were flattering. Too many clothes went to the goodwill bag...they fit...but they looked terrible on me. I no longer have many clothes. Good news is that my ball gown still fits and still looks wonderful! I bought that thing almost 10 years ago to go to a Black Tie Wedding and I was pregnant with Ike. I got to wear it again while pregnant with Gray. I'm hoping to wear it to Gaskells soon. Maybe the October dance. My parents (its still very cool to say that!) promised me a weekend away (two nights!). I haven't been in years and Joe's never been so we want to attend the dance workshop in the afternoon. A bunch of clothes were put aside to be brought back out after I lose some more weight.

Anyway, closet cleaning. I found 7 lonely shoes in my closet. Gray went spelunking under my bed looking for them. He recovered a single shoe and discovered another clan of the Vorpal Dustbunnies. Again we waged a long battle over the Bunnies and eventually they were vanquished. I still fear their return, I saw several proto-bunnies this afternoon while I was finishing up. So six shoes went to the garbage. Three pairs are singled out for selling if I don't wear them anytime soon. They are good shoes and very expensive ones too.

I went through the craft half of my closet. I pulled several kits out of the shelves and decided I'm never going to make them, so I'm putting them in the sell corner (several of these kits are worth $100-300). The ones not worth selling, I just put in the goodwill bag. I went through the hand-painted needlepoint canvases. Decided most of the not worth the trouble of trying to sell, and got put in the goodwill bag. I broke several kits apart and put the various bits away. I need to decide if I want to keep my beading supplies.

I have a raging allergy attack due to all the dust. Tomorrow, before I start, I will take extra antihistime and Sudafed. I will also clean the air purifier and turn that thing on. I'm just miserable and my nose is all red. I'll take a shower and wash my hair before I go to bed in an effort to get the dust off my body. Hopefully that will help me sleep tonight.

After Ike was done with therapy today (which he is doing quite well) he wanted to go shoe shopping. I asked him why does he need another pair of shoes when he has a pair of summer sandals and flip flops...what else could he possibily need? Closed toe shoes so he can mow the lawn. Good enough! Shoe shopping we went! We also stopped at the candy store. They liked that.

Good day, I'm not loving the incessant sneezing and sniffling though.

I miss the girls a whole lot!

I'm thinking of taking Gray to KidsPark in the morning and rest. I'm expending a lot of energy cleaning and I could use a couple of hours to just sit and stitch or knit. I can do more cleaning in the afternoon while he naps.

Day 1 of the Master Bedroom

Got all the craft supplies moved from in the corner to the nursery/spare room/craft room. I swept about 60 percent of the floor and I vanquished a large clan of vorpal dustbunnies. I fear, however, that I didn't get the entire clan and the remainder are happily reproducing still under my bed. Lots of stuff just tossed, some recycled.

Went through the nightstand, and found a 19 year old Sony CD player. Still functional! I'm debating on keeping that or donating it. Found lots of expired prophylactics. Tossed those. Condensed the adult items in the lower drawers. Tossed the broken items. Put all the messy items (massage oil, etc) into a small plastic container to protect the wood drawers. Actually picked up and MOVED the nightstand to get all the garbage under it.

Moved onto the bookcase. Got all the shelves wiped down, books weeded. I need to have Joe weed the Playboys. Got all the candles condensed into a basket. Got all the blackboard wipes folded and neatly put in a wooden box. Got the medicines/supplements on the top shelf put into a basket. (Can you tell I like baskets? It keeps things together.)

Washed 3 loads of laundry and got them all folded. Ike still needs to put his clothes away, but Gray is sleeping in their room.

Tomorrow? My closet and dresser. Although I think that's optimistic, my closet is stuff with stuff and its going to take awhile to get through it all. And the dresser is just as bad. I'm not looking forward to the spare room. A lot of stuff is getting put in there and I have to find a home for all of it.

Got through the girls room. Tossed an entire bag of garbage, 3 trips to the recycling bin, half a box of books, and one big kitchen garbage bag for Goodwill.

It was so bad, I had to clean a spot so I could sort and then clean. I got through the bookcase, every drawer in the dresser (no longer fitting clothes into box for a friend with a younger daughter, winter clothes to top of closet), cleaned the closet, re-organized their clothes and shoes, and went through the toys. I pulled the dresser away from the wall and got out all the crap that was stuck under it. I not only swept, I mopped! (Hardwood floors through the house). I may even go in there and put the rug back down. What a concept!

Makes me want to paint the room. Its still the same color it was when we moved in. Its a pretty green, but fresh walls would look so nice!

I then went back to my bedroom. I started with the pile in front of my side of the bed. Shoes to the closet, children's clothes to their room, garbage in the garbage can. I have 3 piles of clothes on my bed: someone else's room, repair, and put away.

I also managed to get back into my bathroom and do a second pass on the shower walls. Improved. Needs a third pass. There's still an amazing amount of soap scum on the walls. Door is now clean!

I also figured out how to convert .pdf to .epub format for my Nook. I did that so I could make notes on the things I'm reading. Problem is the formatting is just awful. I may just give up and take it back. Most of the books I yanked from the Online Waldorf Library I have in paperback. Some of them I don't have in dead tree copy, and I probably won't want to make notes so the .pdf formatting is just fine (its just so wrong that the .pdf is better than .epub). I'm just not sure I'm sold on this whole ereader thingy. It is nice to be able to take a whole pile of books with me in one little reader thingy. But I like taking notes and bad formatting is driving me nuts. I'm going to try and upload more of the converted files and see how bad it is.

I started a colorful gnome project. After a year of handwork I ended up with a basket of little balls of yarn...too small for the kids to use. So I'm going to knit a gnome for the kindergarten out off all those odd bits.

Babysitter should be here any minute now and I'm heading out to go visit

labelleizzy and paint!

I miss my girls. I've talked to them twice today and its quiet here without them.

Yea, yea. Vacation. Relax. Yea right!

One of my goals for the summer is to purge the house of stuff.

Ike is doing in-house therapy for the next two weeks. We can't leave the house and Elli and Gwen are across the country. Sounds like an opportunity for me!

I decided to start slow today. The Master Bath. I pulled everything off of shelves, opened drawers, tossed ten year old makeup, expired medicine and products that are just OLD. I even cleaned the drawers and shelves themselves. Everything in that bathroom is reorganized and has a beautiful mise en place. I was even able to move the first aid supplies from the bookcase in the bedroom (with the adult reading collection) to one of the medicine cabinets.

Then I washed the entire bathroom down. Woot! Go me!

I wanted to start small. A small room that I could go over with Gray in tow. I then folded a couple of loads of laundry. Logic would dictate that I do the Master Bedroom next, but since the girls aren't here...I'm going to go do their room next. It will go a whole lot faster with them gone.

Currently Gray is napping and Ike is working with the therapist. I need to figure out what to do for dinner. But next? Another load of laundry I think.

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aelfie

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Jen's Mental Scribblings

Officially "Too Twisted for Color T.V."

Entries tagged with purge

Purge 2012

Purge 2012: Day 7 and 8

Purge 2012: Day 6

Purge 2012: Day 5

Purge 2012: Day 4

Purge 2012: Day 3

Purge 2012: Day 2

Purge 2012 Day 1: The Master Bath