The last post before I return to the kitchen next week/year.
As the new year comes and the old one goes it is time to let go of what was not done in the past year. Forget about tasks never done - let your negative thoughts from the past go. The new year coming is a clean slate - remember your new notebooks the first day of school, clean and waiting to be written in? The change of the year is the same thing.
Several years ago I made a resolution for the new year and I have kept it ever since - I resolved not to make any more resolutions. A resolution is a good intention which is generally too vague to be kept. Once resolutions are made and then broken one feels bad and shortly into the new year one is again thinking negative thoughts, when positive thoughts are much healthier and better to help one do what needs to be done.
Instead of resolving to be more organized, get rid of clutter, etc. pick a task to start doing - it does not have to be a large one, just something that you feel you can actually do. Perhaps to deal with the mail as it comes in. Perhaps to always do the dishes before going to bed. To put your clothes out to wear the next day before you go to bed. Pick something that you feel you can do which is a single step towards dealing with your clutter and disorganization. Even getting and keeping a calendar - paper or online (one which can be synced with your cell phone is even better) is a step. We try to do too many things at once. One step at a time is a good idea. Plan what you will do to deal with your choice during the year. Any positive change is good. In the same way we walk one step at a time, one can deal with their clutter and disorganization problems one step at a time.
For years, for example, I wanted a blog. I would start one, post once, and then never post again. When I decided to start this blog, I prewrote four posts, this way I would avoid the problem of never writing a second one. I have a recurring entry in my computer/cell calendar to ring and remind me on Tuesday nights to write new posts (right now I am going week to week, but hope to go back to writing in advance) and another to remind me weekly to post overnight Wednesday to Thursday. I have managed to post weekly for 3 months now and will continue to do so.
So pick something and do it in the coming year. Once you are comfortable with the one change you can pick another one.
Oh, and remember perfection is not required. I still have, on December 29, Christmas decorations to finish putting out. If I was a perfect person I would have gone crazy when I was not finished by Christmas Eve, but I am not. As long as I see the decorations out during the holiday season, it is fine with me (and my husband).
Happy New Year to all.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS (DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 3)
Last week we planned to spend 4 evenings helping (with our reenactment group) interpret a house from the 1700's at a candlelight night event at a restoration village. So there was to be little progress on the Christmas decorating those nights, especially since between getting ready, going and coming home, and being there we will spend about 7 and a half hours on the event each day. However, the first night we were rained out (after we dressed in period clothes, drove there and started setting up the house) so some work was done that night. The next night was fine. The third night I was terribly ill and did not go the event nor did I work on the decorations. The fourth night I was too exhausted to work on anything.
So on Monday the 21st I finally started on decorating the main tree and (simultaneously) the tree in our studio which has only ornaments we have made. They are worked on together as some of the ornaments, which are multiples, fit both categories and I split them between the two trees. Tuesday night I worked on the two trees again and I progressed to the point where all of the “good” decorations were on. This left balls - fancy and not, assorted small ornaments that I fit in small spaces which are left, and plastic icicles for the main tree. Some of the balls and small ornaments are handmade and also will go on both trees. I finished the balls tonight and was too exhausted to go on. So there will be more tree finishing tomorrow. I also realized that I forgot it was Wednesday - laundry night and ran down and threw a load in.
There are also other handmade ornaments to go on the studio tree as well as bit of ribbon. I have a very fancy gift box (velvet and ribbon) which someone gave us a gift in once. I put this under the main tree as trees look empty without a gift. I have a white box I intend to glue ribbon on and then use for same.
I started carrying the empty boxes downstairs and I am putting them in and on the tree box for temporary storage. We will find a spot for the new tree either in the living room or the dining room and decorate it - it should go fairly quickly as there are only about 25-30 ornaments to put on it. At some point - maybe even Christmas Day or later, I will get to the teddy village for upstairs.
Oh, I keep forgetting, I still have to wrap the gifts - for husband and his nieces and I can’t wait until after Christmas to do that - can I?
Well we can only do so much in the time we have and I won’t get sick over what is done late. Have you gotten all of your decorating, shopping, and wrapping done?
I hope all who celebrate Christmas have a great one! There will be one more post before the year is over.
So on Monday the 21st I finally started on decorating the main tree and (simultaneously) the tree in our studio which has only ornaments we have made. They are worked on together as some of the ornaments, which are multiples, fit both categories and I split them between the two trees. Tuesday night I worked on the two trees again and I progressed to the point where all of the “good” decorations were on. This left balls - fancy and not, assorted small ornaments that I fit in small spaces which are left, and plastic icicles for the main tree. Some of the balls and small ornaments are handmade and also will go on both trees. I finished the balls tonight and was too exhausted to go on. So there will be more tree finishing tomorrow. I also realized that I forgot it was Wednesday - laundry night and ran down and threw a load in.
There are also other handmade ornaments to go on the studio tree as well as bit of ribbon. I have a very fancy gift box (velvet and ribbon) which someone gave us a gift in once. I put this under the main tree as trees look empty without a gift. I have a white box I intend to glue ribbon on and then use for same.
I started carrying the empty boxes downstairs and I am putting them in and on the tree box for temporary storage. We will find a spot for the new tree either in the living room or the dining room and decorate it - it should go fairly quickly as there are only about 25-30 ornaments to put on it. At some point - maybe even Christmas Day or later, I will get to the teddy village for upstairs.
Oh, I keep forgetting, I still have to wrap the gifts - for husband and his nieces and I can’t wait until after Christmas to do that - can I?
Well we can only do so much in the time we have and I won’t get sick over what is done late. Have you gotten all of your decorating, shopping, and wrapping done?
I hope all who celebrate Christmas have a great one! There will be one more post before the year is over.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 2
Well in the last week I have managed to put out most of the Christmas decorations that go inside the house. I have learned over the years the order that the decorations have to be placed in - as well as the order they have to come down for storage. The decorations, their storage, placement, etc. need to be organized almost more than the house in general does or it will take too much time to put out and put away. I also have a system for storing the empty boxes in the basement (where they are not stored during the year), but it all depends on everything being done in the right order - putting up the decorations and taking them down. The trees are put up last and taken down first.
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Thursday, December 10, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART I
Well it is the time of year for holiday decorating. Everyone has their own traditions - traditional Christmas, modern Christmas, minimal Christmas, Chanukah, the new traditions that have come with Kwanzaa, etc. I tend to over decorate. We don’t really get gifts, so the decorating is most of the non-religious part of the holiday for us and I get a bit carried away.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
DURING THE HOLIDAYS WATCH WHAT AND HOW MUCH YOU BUY - PREVENT FUTURE CLUTTER
While out shopping this weekend I had some thoughts about preventing some clutter before it happens. Less stuff into the house, less to get out.
This first part is important all year long - and you cannot believe how important it is - Most people walk into stores which have carts and automatically take one as they enter. I don’t. The carts are placed at the entrance to entice you to take one as the stores know you will buy more if you are pushing a cart than if you have to hold what you are buying. Unless I am specifically buying something that I know will be too heavy, too bulky or too many things to carry, I do not take a cart. You can always get one later if you need one. I thought of this walking into Costco last Sunday. If one does not take a cart than you can only buy what you can carry. You have to think about what you are buying once the purchases reach the point where you cannot carry them. If you are pushing a cart it is easy for you to keep putting items into it with little thought and buy more than you need or can easily pay for. And don’t forget the children or spouse who adds to the cart while you are looking or not.
I do this all the time - sometimes the stack I carry in the supermarket will drive my husband crazy as I pile up needed groceries in my arms and then hand him some rather than take a cart or basket. Trust me, this helps a great deal. When you go into the store to buy one or two items - or just look - you are limited in what you can buy if you do not have a cart. See a great deal on a TV - that you don’t need, but it is such a good deal - if you can’t carry it and have to go get a cart you get a jolt to think about whether or not you should buy the item. Every unneeded item not bought is an item less to deal with and money not spent.
When we are in Costco - a store which people complain that they cannot leave without spending at least $300 each time - we do not take a cart when we walk in. Generally we go there on a Sunday and have lunch at the food court first. I sit and look at the people with overloaded carts eating there. I cannot understand how in the heat of the summer someone will fill their wagon with meats, dairy items, and frozen things and then instead of going straight home with them to keep them from the heat - they sit down and eat first. I also have to wonder how much of what they have bought they planned to buy or needed or even thought about before tossing it in their cart. We then go into the store to walk around - if we have items we NEED we plan to buy them. Buying a replacement bag of pretzels for the one about to run out and lettuce - no cart needed. Oh, this DVD is a favorite movie and we decide to buy it while in the store - still no cart needed. We need toilet paper and it is on sale - go out and get a cart and then watch closely what else might be added. Most weeks we are there we buy nothing other than the lunch we ate. Other weeks we buy 1 or 2 items that are needed or are like the DVD. Some weeks we have a list when we walk in and buy a number of items - but we do not take a cart unless we know we will need it.
This works just as well in Walmart or Target or the supermarket or Home Depot or whatever other store you visit. DO NOT TAKE A CART UNLESS YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL NEED IT DO TO THE SIZE, WEIGHT, OR NUMBER OF ITEMS YOU PLAN TO BUY.
The second part is - think about what you buy. When you are buying gifts for people - don’t go overboard - they don’t need clutter either. Don’t buy things for yourself - you are there to buy gifts not clutter for you. If you buy Aunt Jennie a blouse - don’t buy 3 for yourself. If you buy your son a video game cartridge - don’t buy him three of them - buy the one he has asked for most. Less clutter and you will teach him to limit what he has and help him to learn to avoid clutter in his future. Oh, and while you are buying it for him - you see the new Iphone. Do you really need a new Iphone? Won’t the old one do the job? I was at a board meeting for an organization I belong to. The 4 of us sat down - the other 3 took out their Ipads. I took out my paper pad and pencil. I took notes just as well and did not have a problem with the notes turning sideways every time I picked up “mypad”. Understand I am not a luddite, I just use technology for what I need it for, not the latest fad. I use it to help me, not to be fashionable. I learned to program computers on a mainframe before the Internet existed. (I hate to say it, but I also learned probably before many of you were born.)
I know someone who has a variety of computer tablets in their house. He bought an Android phone to solve his problem in getting online to check email for work. It did not help as the screen was small and the on screen keyboard was too tiny to use. He then bought a Galaxy 5" tablet as it was going to solve his problems. No, still too small and the screen keyboard unusable. He then bought a larger tablet computer - same problem and when he picks it up the screen turns sideways. Last Christmas he bought a laptop - problems solved. If he had bought the laptop he needed and thought about when he started he would not have 2 devices sitting around taking up space (he still uses the Android phone for phone quick Internet) and would not have paid over and over for what he thought he needed because it was the hot thing. And he is now looking to replace the phone as it has gotten so slow as to be unusable. (And no, I do not use a flip phone, I have a 3 year old Blackberry which does what is needed- good keyboard - and does not cause the screaming such as this person using his Android does.)
I am writing this on a laptop so old that the latest copyright on the labels on it is 2004 and it is running XP. It is slow and drives my husband crazy - occasionally I can be a line ahead in my typing compared to where it is - but it works and does the job. My husband keeps pushing me to get a new one, but I have no problem with it (I do have a newer smaller one, about 8 years old, which I use for work, this is my kitchen computer). My desktop is still running Windows 7 - it was built for me by my husband with more memory, speed, and storage than I need and will last some time - I don’t need to deal with the problems of Windows 8 or 10 and everything I need to do is done - and the computer is not out making more electronic garbage or taking up room in my basement and I have not spent more money which was not needed just to buy a new unneeded computer - because “they” say it is needed.
When you see something and think that you must have it - or Aunt Jenny or little Bill must have it as a gift - stop and think. Do you really need it? Do they? Where will it be kept? How much will it cost you in - not just the price marked on it - but in interest on your credit card for the purchase, in annoyance at buying something which takes up space and is in the way, in the fact that once it is home you realize it was foolish to buy it, and the fact that you now need to deal with something else in your house that you don’t really want and need to figure out what to do with when you start going through the clutter in your house.
Be careful in shopping and you will stop, or at least slow down, clutter from entering your home. Watch that shopping!
This first part is important all year long - and you cannot believe how important it is - Most people walk into stores which have carts and automatically take one as they enter. I don’t. The carts are placed at the entrance to entice you to take one as the stores know you will buy more if you are pushing a cart than if you have to hold what you are buying. Unless I am specifically buying something that I know will be too heavy, too bulky or too many things to carry, I do not take a cart. You can always get one later if you need one. I thought of this walking into Costco last Sunday. If one does not take a cart than you can only buy what you can carry. You have to think about what you are buying once the purchases reach the point where you cannot carry them. If you are pushing a cart it is easy for you to keep putting items into it with little thought and buy more than you need or can easily pay for. And don’t forget the children or spouse who adds to the cart while you are looking or not.
I do this all the time - sometimes the stack I carry in the supermarket will drive my husband crazy as I pile up needed groceries in my arms and then hand him some rather than take a cart or basket. Trust me, this helps a great deal. When you go into the store to buy one or two items - or just look - you are limited in what you can buy if you do not have a cart. See a great deal on a TV - that you don’t need, but it is such a good deal - if you can’t carry it and have to go get a cart you get a jolt to think about whether or not you should buy the item. Every unneeded item not bought is an item less to deal with and money not spent.
When we are in Costco - a store which people complain that they cannot leave without spending at least $300 each time - we do not take a cart when we walk in. Generally we go there on a Sunday and have lunch at the food court first. I sit and look at the people with overloaded carts eating there. I cannot understand how in the heat of the summer someone will fill their wagon with meats, dairy items, and frozen things and then instead of going straight home with them to keep them from the heat - they sit down and eat first. I also have to wonder how much of what they have bought they planned to buy or needed or even thought about before tossing it in their cart. We then go into the store to walk around - if we have items we NEED we plan to buy them. Buying a replacement bag of pretzels for the one about to run out and lettuce - no cart needed. Oh, this DVD is a favorite movie and we decide to buy it while in the store - still no cart needed. We need toilet paper and it is on sale - go out and get a cart and then watch closely what else might be added. Most weeks we are there we buy nothing other than the lunch we ate. Other weeks we buy 1 or 2 items that are needed or are like the DVD. Some weeks we have a list when we walk in and buy a number of items - but we do not take a cart unless we know we will need it.
This works just as well in Walmart or Target or the supermarket or Home Depot or whatever other store you visit. DO NOT TAKE A CART UNLESS YOU KNOW THAT YOU WILL NEED IT DO TO THE SIZE, WEIGHT, OR NUMBER OF ITEMS YOU PLAN TO BUY.
The second part is - think about what you buy. When you are buying gifts for people - don’t go overboard - they don’t need clutter either. Don’t buy things for yourself - you are there to buy gifts not clutter for you. If you buy Aunt Jennie a blouse - don’t buy 3 for yourself. If you buy your son a video game cartridge - don’t buy him three of them - buy the one he has asked for most. Less clutter and you will teach him to limit what he has and help him to learn to avoid clutter in his future. Oh, and while you are buying it for him - you see the new Iphone. Do you really need a new Iphone? Won’t the old one do the job? I was at a board meeting for an organization I belong to. The 4 of us sat down - the other 3 took out their Ipads. I took out my paper pad and pencil. I took notes just as well and did not have a problem with the notes turning sideways every time I picked up “mypad”. Understand I am not a luddite, I just use technology for what I need it for, not the latest fad. I use it to help me, not to be fashionable. I learned to program computers on a mainframe before the Internet existed. (I hate to say it, but I also learned probably before many of you were born.)
I know someone who has a variety of computer tablets in their house. He bought an Android phone to solve his problem in getting online to check email for work. It did not help as the screen was small and the on screen keyboard was too tiny to use. He then bought a Galaxy 5" tablet as it was going to solve his problems. No, still too small and the screen keyboard unusable. He then bought a larger tablet computer - same problem and when he picks it up the screen turns sideways. Last Christmas he bought a laptop - problems solved. If he had bought the laptop he needed and thought about when he started he would not have 2 devices sitting around taking up space (he still uses the Android phone for phone quick Internet) and would not have paid over and over for what he thought he needed because it was the hot thing. And he is now looking to replace the phone as it has gotten so slow as to be unusable. (And no, I do not use a flip phone, I have a 3 year old Blackberry which does what is needed- good keyboard - and does not cause the screaming such as this person using his Android does.)
I am writing this on a laptop so old that the latest copyright on the labels on it is 2004 and it is running XP. It is slow and drives my husband crazy - occasionally I can be a line ahead in my typing compared to where it is - but it works and does the job. My husband keeps pushing me to get a new one, but I have no problem with it (I do have a newer smaller one, about 8 years old, which I use for work, this is my kitchen computer). My desktop is still running Windows 7 - it was built for me by my husband with more memory, speed, and storage than I need and will last some time - I don’t need to deal with the problems of Windows 8 or 10 and everything I need to do is done - and the computer is not out making more electronic garbage or taking up room in my basement and I have not spent more money which was not needed just to buy a new unneeded computer - because “they” say it is needed.
When you see something and think that you must have it - or Aunt Jenny or little Bill must have it as a gift - stop and think. Do you really need it? Do they? Where will it be kept? How much will it cost you in - not just the price marked on it - but in interest on your credit card for the purchase, in annoyance at buying something which takes up space and is in the way, in the fact that once it is home you realize it was foolish to buy it, and the fact that you now need to deal with something else in your house that you don’t really want and need to figure out what to do with when you start going through the clutter in your house.
Be careful in shopping and you will stop, or at least slow down, clutter from entering your home. Watch that shopping!
Thursday, November 26, 2015
THANKSGIVING AND OTHER HOLIDAYS
A step aside from the kitchen, well, a little bit. With (American) Thanksgiving coming this week I thought I would talk about holidays and organizing. While I am talking about Thanksgiving, it applies to all large family (or even company) dinners.
I used to make Thanksgiving dinner for our families. Since I am Jewish and my husband is Roman Catholic most family type holidays are different for our two families. Thanksgiving being an American holiday which crosses religions and ethnic backgrounds was the only holiday for which both our families wanted us for dinner at the same time. For years we waffled at what to do and generally ended up going out to dinner with his family. Then one year his sister was married just before Thanksgiving. Dinner with just his parents and grandmother seemed too small. I suggested we make Thanksgiving dinner in our little apartment and invite both families. He took some convincing that we could and that we could fit everyone in our apartment. So for 25 years we did. The year we moved from our apartment to our house - in October - we still had Thanksgiving dinner here in November - on the good china and cooked by us. Depending on the year we had 10-14 people, ranging in age- at various times from 2 months old (my niece - when her brother first came he was 3 months old) to my grandfather in his mid 90's.
In the apartment we would have to move stuff into the bathtub and close the curtain and into the trunks of our cars to make enough clear space for the dinner, especially when we were running a crafts business in the apartment (finished goods to the car trunks...). We would take my small electric clothes dryer put it in the corner of the living room and put a table cloth on it and use it for server for cheese and crackers and soda - so it was not in the way and we had the top to use. The small washer had to be shoved in the corner of the kitchen to be out of the way.
My mom would make family dinners for holidays and I learned to organize the meal from her. We cheated and had the turkey cooked by a local deli (and later their not so local related deli when the one near us closed). My sister and her family were nice enough to pick it up for us on their way here - it was a hot pickup on Thanksgiving in midafternoon. This left our efforts and oven available for other foods.
Due to our different background our families had different foods for Thanksgiving. When people have been interviewed about what they have for Thanksgiving the answer is generally “turkey and all the trimmings”. It was only when people were questioned about “trimmings” that it came out that each area of the country, each ethnic group, and each family has a different idea of trimmings. His family, being Italian, had manicotti as a course before the turkey. My family sometimes had dinner at kosher deli, as a relative we had Thanksgiving with was kosher, and my sisters and I would order corned beef sandwiches as mom made turkey sometimes for dinner and corned beef sandwiches were much rarer to us. (The deli staff was shocked at the idea, but they were offering their full menu.) To combine our families we went with traditional American. I made Pennsylvania Dutch beef vegetable soup, mashed potatoes, Colonial Williamsburg’s recipe for sweet potatoes (no marshmallows of course), “pop open can” rolls, canned cranberry sauce, canned gravy (plus the gravy that we got with the turkey), boxed stuffing, canned pumpkin pie (the pumpkin was canned, the pie was baked by us), apple pie (crumb topping as I prefer same, also baked by me), brownies (from a mix) and vegetables. As we went along I added venetians (rainbow cookies) and the vegetables varied including green bean- wax bean-carrot mix a couple of years, and one year I made succotash as my niece had a line in the Thanksgiving performance at school “Please pass the succotash” and I thought she should know what it was.
I tried to split the shopping into 2 trips, one, the second week of the month and the other, the third week of the month. (Of course there were still midnight Wednesday night runs to the 24 hour supermarket the first few years.) Cooking started in advance. If I was making the venetians it started on Tuesday as it was a 2 day process, if not, on Wednesday when I made the soup - most of the day it was on the stove - and we baked the pies and brownies and set up the sweet potatoes to bake the next day. I knew after awhile that on Thanksgiving the white potatoes went into boil first - they were baked later and by doing them first the stove was available and they could get cold as they would be heated in the oven later. The rest followed. I preplanned which pots and baking dishes, as well as which serving bowls and pieces were to be used for each dish. I kept each year’s meal in a spiral notebook with notes for the following years. In the first few years I listed what each dish would be cooked in and served in, as the years passed I knew what I had used before and it became instinct.
Not everything went well. One early year we were making chestnut stuffing from scratch. The chestnuts had to be cooked and then shelled and peeled. Peeled? We did not know that chestnuts had a skin to be peeled inside the shell. It took hours and hours and then we just dumped them in with the skin. At one point a drinking glass fell out of the closet and broke - not only did the glass need to be cleaned up, but the chestnuts which were out at that point had to be discarded! I was near tears, but we muddled thorough and never made chestnut stuffing again - although I did think about it this year. Another year towards the beginning I decided to bake a Colonial Williamsburg recipe bread. I tried it in advanced and it came out great. The day before Thanksgiving while I was making the soup and baking, I mixed up the bread mix and put it on the back burner of the stove to let it rise “in a warm place” as I had done previously. This day the kitchen and stove were much warmer and the dough rose much more - much, much more. It rose out of the bowl and onto and into the stove! The bread ended up coming out great, but I had to stop and clean up a huge mess in mid baking/cooking. I made rolls from scratch in a later year - again the trial run was fine, but this time I had done something wrong and they did not rise. The corn muffins one year did not want to leave the muffin pans (and they would have been such cute little teddy bears too). Believe it or not with all these baking problems I am a blue ribbon winning baker at the county fair. I learned not to make anything with a cream sauce which had to be made at the last minute - too much to do in the rush of the day.
We also had one year where my niece (then in high school) had gone to a dance near us the night before Thanksgiving and we picked her up for her parents and she stayed overnight for Thanksgiving so she helped with the baking, setup and cooking. One year we were watching one of husband’s nieces, preschool age at the time, the day before Thanksgiving and I had her help me set the table.
One thing I did to make it easier was to clean as I went, yes, everyone suggests this, but it works. I had figured out back in my mom’s house when we had dinner with extended family that if we stopped leaving everything to wash after dinner was over and filled the dishwasher and ran it when full, there was much less to do after everyone else left. In our apartment and after my house dishwasher died (and I have not replaced it yet) it meant to wash when I got a sink of stuff to wash and set it aside to air dry; when I had a dishwasher I would load it as I went and start it when full - unload it when dry to have it ready to reuse.
Generally I did not get around to setting the table until late Wednesday night or on Thanksgiving day. When we first started we used 2 folding tables the length of our apartment living room. For a while when we were first in the house we had to assemble the top we made which clamped on to our kitchen table to hold everyone - eventually we got a dining room table that when open almost filled our dining room, but we could squeeze in at one end and one my sisters and a child or two children, could fit at the other end. I have been gradually clearing away items which were sitting on the dining room table and putting them where they belonged (many in our tiny RV as they came in after the last trip to be emptied and never went back out.)
Today (Wednesday) I cleared the dining room of items which needed to go the basement and we had not brought down and of additional, larger items which needed to go out to the RV. The table is open and the table cloth, napkins and the table pad are waiting for the table to be set tomorrow for the two of us. Tonight I baked a pumpkin pie (low sugar) and assembled the sweet potatoes (also made with low sugar) in a casserole for tomorrow. I am trying new instructions for the turkey which involved some preparation tonight and it is done.
Each Thanksgiving night (or any other dinner I made/make) ALL of the dishes, pots, etc. (unless a pot really needed to soak) were washed that night - not necessarily put away or dried, but washed. Pots were done last. I would use extra towels to put items on to air dry as needed. In our house I also took the tablecloth outside the house and shook it out of crumbs and it and the napkins were washed in the washer and drying in the dryer before I went to bed. In the apartment it would be shaken out and all would be in the laundry bag for the next time I did laundry. I would put everything away starting Friday and have it mostly done by Sunday (some items still being used for the leftovers).
Leftovers from the main course were put into plastic containers or zipper plastic bags immediately after the main course. Family members, including children - especially children - are wonderful for helping with this, as well as clearing the table. (Children love to help, they think they are being treated special as grownups.) Leftovers from dessert and the soup were put away after the guests left. (The leftover soup needed to cool before being put back into the refrigerator.) The garbage went out Thanksgiving night.
We all have that collection of plastic containers that accumulate. Some we bought, some came filled with something and were too good to throw away, some just appeared, but they do accumulate. Since I used more of them after Thanksgiving dinner for leftovers than at any other time during the year, in the days after Thanksgiving I would look at what was left and after making sure I had a good size assortment, I would get rid of the spares which had come filled with food (ones not paid for) and passed along any excess other ones (the ones we paid for) that were not needed. By using this time of year I knew I had plenty of plastic storage containers to use during the year and more would accumulate by the following Thanksgiving.
Recently I was discussing on an online group that Thanksgiving is the unique American holiday that is celebrated across all lines. Someone posted back that it is only those with a deity who have someone to give thanks to. I pointed out that thanks may be given to mother earth, providence, the universe, one’s family, one’s friends, one’s luck, one’s self, etc. A Happy Thanksgiving to those here in the USA. Please remember that what is for sale on “Black Friday”, “Small Business Saturday”, “Cyber Monday” or any other day is just stuff and most of us have too much of it. Remember more stuff for you or those you gift it to, is more stuff to organize and deal with and the sales are not really as great as they seem.
I used to make Thanksgiving dinner for our families. Since I am Jewish and my husband is Roman Catholic most family type holidays are different for our two families. Thanksgiving being an American holiday which crosses religions and ethnic backgrounds was the only holiday for which both our families wanted us for dinner at the same time. For years we waffled at what to do and generally ended up going out to dinner with his family. Then one year his sister was married just before Thanksgiving. Dinner with just his parents and grandmother seemed too small. I suggested we make Thanksgiving dinner in our little apartment and invite both families. He took some convincing that we could and that we could fit everyone in our apartment. So for 25 years we did. The year we moved from our apartment to our house - in October - we still had Thanksgiving dinner here in November - on the good china and cooked by us. Depending on the year we had 10-14 people, ranging in age- at various times from 2 months old (my niece - when her brother first came he was 3 months old) to my grandfather in his mid 90's.
In the apartment we would have to move stuff into the bathtub and close the curtain and into the trunks of our cars to make enough clear space for the dinner, especially when we were running a crafts business in the apartment (finished goods to the car trunks...). We would take my small electric clothes dryer put it in the corner of the living room and put a table cloth on it and use it for server for cheese and crackers and soda - so it was not in the way and we had the top to use. The small washer had to be shoved in the corner of the kitchen to be out of the way.
My mom would make family dinners for holidays and I learned to organize the meal from her. We cheated and had the turkey cooked by a local deli (and later their not so local related deli when the one near us closed). My sister and her family were nice enough to pick it up for us on their way here - it was a hot pickup on Thanksgiving in midafternoon. This left our efforts and oven available for other foods.
Due to our different background our families had different foods for Thanksgiving. When people have been interviewed about what they have for Thanksgiving the answer is generally “turkey and all the trimmings”. It was only when people were questioned about “trimmings” that it came out that each area of the country, each ethnic group, and each family has a different idea of trimmings. His family, being Italian, had manicotti as a course before the turkey. My family sometimes had dinner at kosher deli, as a relative we had Thanksgiving with was kosher, and my sisters and I would order corned beef sandwiches as mom made turkey sometimes for dinner and corned beef sandwiches were much rarer to us. (The deli staff was shocked at the idea, but they were offering their full menu.) To combine our families we went with traditional American. I made Pennsylvania Dutch beef vegetable soup, mashed potatoes, Colonial Williamsburg’s recipe for sweet potatoes (no marshmallows of course), “pop open can” rolls, canned cranberry sauce, canned gravy (plus the gravy that we got with the turkey), boxed stuffing, canned pumpkin pie (the pumpkin was canned, the pie was baked by us), apple pie (crumb topping as I prefer same, also baked by me), brownies (from a mix) and vegetables. As we went along I added venetians (rainbow cookies) and the vegetables varied including green bean- wax bean-carrot mix a couple of years, and one year I made succotash as my niece had a line in the Thanksgiving performance at school “Please pass the succotash” and I thought she should know what it was.
I tried to split the shopping into 2 trips, one, the second week of the month and the other, the third week of the month. (Of course there were still midnight Wednesday night runs to the 24 hour supermarket the first few years.) Cooking started in advance. If I was making the venetians it started on Tuesday as it was a 2 day process, if not, on Wednesday when I made the soup - most of the day it was on the stove - and we baked the pies and brownies and set up the sweet potatoes to bake the next day. I knew after awhile that on Thanksgiving the white potatoes went into boil first - they were baked later and by doing them first the stove was available and they could get cold as they would be heated in the oven later. The rest followed. I preplanned which pots and baking dishes, as well as which serving bowls and pieces were to be used for each dish. I kept each year’s meal in a spiral notebook with notes for the following years. In the first few years I listed what each dish would be cooked in and served in, as the years passed I knew what I had used before and it became instinct.
Not everything went well. One early year we were making chestnut stuffing from scratch. The chestnuts had to be cooked and then shelled and peeled. Peeled? We did not know that chestnuts had a skin to be peeled inside the shell. It took hours and hours and then we just dumped them in with the skin. At one point a drinking glass fell out of the closet and broke - not only did the glass need to be cleaned up, but the chestnuts which were out at that point had to be discarded! I was near tears, but we muddled thorough and never made chestnut stuffing again - although I did think about it this year. Another year towards the beginning I decided to bake a Colonial Williamsburg recipe bread. I tried it in advanced and it came out great. The day before Thanksgiving while I was making the soup and baking, I mixed up the bread mix and put it on the back burner of the stove to let it rise “in a warm place” as I had done previously. This day the kitchen and stove were much warmer and the dough rose much more - much, much more. It rose out of the bowl and onto and into the stove! The bread ended up coming out great, but I had to stop and clean up a huge mess in mid baking/cooking. I made rolls from scratch in a later year - again the trial run was fine, but this time I had done something wrong and they did not rise. The corn muffins one year did not want to leave the muffin pans (and they would have been such cute little teddy bears too). Believe it or not with all these baking problems I am a blue ribbon winning baker at the county fair. I learned not to make anything with a cream sauce which had to be made at the last minute - too much to do in the rush of the day.
We also had one year where my niece (then in high school) had gone to a dance near us the night before Thanksgiving and we picked her up for her parents and she stayed overnight for Thanksgiving so she helped with the baking, setup and cooking. One year we were watching one of husband’s nieces, preschool age at the time, the day before Thanksgiving and I had her help me set the table.
One thing I did to make it easier was to clean as I went, yes, everyone suggests this, but it works. I had figured out back in my mom’s house when we had dinner with extended family that if we stopped leaving everything to wash after dinner was over and filled the dishwasher and ran it when full, there was much less to do after everyone else left. In our apartment and after my house dishwasher died (and I have not replaced it yet) it meant to wash when I got a sink of stuff to wash and set it aside to air dry; when I had a dishwasher I would load it as I went and start it when full - unload it when dry to have it ready to reuse.
Generally I did not get around to setting the table until late Wednesday night or on Thanksgiving day. When we first started we used 2 folding tables the length of our apartment living room. For a while when we were first in the house we had to assemble the top we made which clamped on to our kitchen table to hold everyone - eventually we got a dining room table that when open almost filled our dining room, but we could squeeze in at one end and one my sisters and a child or two children, could fit at the other end. I have been gradually clearing away items which were sitting on the dining room table and putting them where they belonged (many in our tiny RV as they came in after the last trip to be emptied and never went back out.)
Today (Wednesday) I cleared the dining room of items which needed to go the basement and we had not brought down and of additional, larger items which needed to go out to the RV. The table is open and the table cloth, napkins and the table pad are waiting for the table to be set tomorrow for the two of us. Tonight I baked a pumpkin pie (low sugar) and assembled the sweet potatoes (also made with low sugar) in a casserole for tomorrow. I am trying new instructions for the turkey which involved some preparation tonight and it is done.
Each Thanksgiving night (or any other dinner I made/make) ALL of the dishes, pots, etc. (unless a pot really needed to soak) were washed that night - not necessarily put away or dried, but washed. Pots were done last. I would use extra towels to put items on to air dry as needed. In our house I also took the tablecloth outside the house and shook it out of crumbs and it and the napkins were washed in the washer and drying in the dryer before I went to bed. In the apartment it would be shaken out and all would be in the laundry bag for the next time I did laundry. I would put everything away starting Friday and have it mostly done by Sunday (some items still being used for the leftovers).
Leftovers from the main course were put into plastic containers or zipper plastic bags immediately after the main course. Family members, including children - especially children - are wonderful for helping with this, as well as clearing the table. (Children love to help, they think they are being treated special as grownups.) Leftovers from dessert and the soup were put away after the guests left. (The leftover soup needed to cool before being put back into the refrigerator.) The garbage went out Thanksgiving night.
We all have that collection of plastic containers that accumulate. Some we bought, some came filled with something and were too good to throw away, some just appeared, but they do accumulate. Since I used more of them after Thanksgiving dinner for leftovers than at any other time during the year, in the days after Thanksgiving I would look at what was left and after making sure I had a good size assortment, I would get rid of the spares which had come filled with food (ones not paid for) and passed along any excess other ones (the ones we paid for) that were not needed. By using this time of year I knew I had plenty of plastic storage containers to use during the year and more would accumulate by the following Thanksgiving.
Recently I was discussing on an online group that Thanksgiving is the unique American holiday that is celebrated across all lines. Someone posted back that it is only those with a deity who have someone to give thanks to. I pointed out that thanks may be given to mother earth, providence, the universe, one’s family, one’s friends, one’s luck, one’s self, etc. A Happy Thanksgiving to those here in the USA. Please remember that what is for sale on “Black Friday”, “Small Business Saturday”, “Cyber Monday” or any other day is just stuff and most of us have too much of it. Remember more stuff for you or those you gift it to, is more stuff to organize and deal with and the sales are not really as great as they seem.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
KITCHEN CABINETS -START
I said that this week I would tell you what I have in my kitchen to use - or at least start. Obviously the amount and assortment of plates, etc. that you need will vary by what you use them for, how many of you there are, and what you need. I wanted to tell you what we have, why we have it and where I keep it and how I organize it to help you decide what you might need.
In the wall cabinet over my dishwasher I have a set of everyday dishes for 8. Why 8? This was the standard set for dishes when we were married. We also never thought that we would stay a family of 2. We have dinner dishes, bowls for soup or cereal, small plates (for cake or side dish), cups, and saucers. Do we need them all, not really, but we do not want to break up the set and if we break some - oh, that’s right. I actually have 15 bowls, 2 of which have small chips. I broke a bowl - okay, I have broken several bowls, but the others were replaced. When I went to replace the latest broken and the 2 chipped bowls I found out that the company had completely changed the shape of the bowls and complained. They sent me 8 bowls in the new shape - free. I am used to the old shape and will need to break a few more before I switch to the new ones. So the old ones are with my dishes and the new ones are in the other wall cabinet with my glasses. (Since I use ceramic dishes the chipped bowls are good for use around the house where an electric connection has to be made, say with an extension cord, that would be sitting on carpet and could be a fire hazard. I use the chipped bowls to hold the connections and help to prevent a possible fire.
I do not keep the set together - a stack of dinner plates, a stack of small plates, a stack of bowls... I used to. I realized that it was inefficient to keep it all like that. I am on the short side and can only reach the bottom 2 shelves of my wall cabinets (and only the front of the 2nd shelf ). So I decided that it was silly to keep things together just because “one does”. I put what I use most often where I can reach it without a step and the rest above where I need a step to reach it.
So on the bottom shelf of the cabinet I have 2 dinner size dishes from the set in a stack with 4 other dinner size dishes. 2 of these others are “Corelle”. I use these for working on as well as in the microwave. (My ceramics can go in the microwave or the oven, but I prefer not to put them in the microwave.) I also use these for cutting up food on. The other 2 are heavy weight plastic plates. They were inexpensive and are used under food in the refrigerator - such as for meats which might leak.
Next to the dinner size plates I have 6 of the 8 small plates, mixed with 2 of the saucers and 2 “Corelle” small plates. We do not actually use the cups and these saucers are used under gravy servers and such. The “Corelle” plates are used for the same purposes as the larger ones. Why 6 of the 8? That is what fits in the space with the other 4 plates.
Between the two stacks of plates I keep the bottles of our medications. They stay dry and are convenient for filling our weekly pill boxes on Saturday nights.
I have a wire rack which sits over all of the above so I can put more items on this same shelf - remember I can’t reach too far above it without climbing up. On the wire rack I have 4 stacks of bowls - the 7 soup bowls to my dishes, 3 of the 7 (broke one of these also) small bowls that match my dishes, 2 small serving bowls (same company as my dishes, different pattern), and 2 “Corelle” small serving (or large soup) bowls. I think what most of these bowls are used for is obvious. The “Corelle” bowls are used for the microwave as are the plates.
Boy, all that on one shelf. This is probably about 90% of the dishes we use for dinner. I can reach what I need and put it away easily. Storage this way is easy for me.
Between the wire rack and cabinet wall, standing up is a trivet and our small collection of rarely used takeout menus.
Do you store your dishes as sets or as you need to use them?
“Corelle” is a trademark name of items made by Corning Glass. I am not endorsing in any way the plates, merely mentioning that I use these unique plates/bowls in this manner.
In the wall cabinet over my dishwasher I have a set of everyday dishes for 8. Why 8? This was the standard set for dishes when we were married. We also never thought that we would stay a family of 2. We have dinner dishes, bowls for soup or cereal, small plates (for cake or side dish), cups, and saucers. Do we need them all, not really, but we do not want to break up the set and if we break some - oh, that’s right. I actually have 15 bowls, 2 of which have small chips. I broke a bowl - okay, I have broken several bowls, but the others were replaced. When I went to replace the latest broken and the 2 chipped bowls I found out that the company had completely changed the shape of the bowls and complained. They sent me 8 bowls in the new shape - free. I am used to the old shape and will need to break a few more before I switch to the new ones. So the old ones are with my dishes and the new ones are in the other wall cabinet with my glasses. (Since I use ceramic dishes the chipped bowls are good for use around the house where an electric connection has to be made, say with an extension cord, that would be sitting on carpet and could be a fire hazard. I use the chipped bowls to hold the connections and help to prevent a possible fire.
I do not keep the set together - a stack of dinner plates, a stack of small plates, a stack of bowls... I used to. I realized that it was inefficient to keep it all like that. I am on the short side and can only reach the bottom 2 shelves of my wall cabinets (and only the front of the 2nd shelf ). So I decided that it was silly to keep things together just because “one does”. I put what I use most often where I can reach it without a step and the rest above where I need a step to reach it.
So on the bottom shelf of the cabinet I have 2 dinner size dishes from the set in a stack with 4 other dinner size dishes. 2 of these others are “Corelle”. I use these for working on as well as in the microwave. (My ceramics can go in the microwave or the oven, but I prefer not to put them in the microwave.) I also use these for cutting up food on. The other 2 are heavy weight plastic plates. They were inexpensive and are used under food in the refrigerator - such as for meats which might leak.
Next to the dinner size plates I have 6 of the 8 small plates, mixed with 2 of the saucers and 2 “Corelle” small plates. We do not actually use the cups and these saucers are used under gravy servers and such. The “Corelle” plates are used for the same purposes as the larger ones. Why 6 of the 8? That is what fits in the space with the other 4 plates.
Between the two stacks of plates I keep the bottles of our medications. They stay dry and are convenient for filling our weekly pill boxes on Saturday nights.
I have a wire rack which sits over all of the above so I can put more items on this same shelf - remember I can’t reach too far above it without climbing up. On the wire rack I have 4 stacks of bowls - the 7 soup bowls to my dishes, 3 of the 7 (broke one of these also) small bowls that match my dishes, 2 small serving bowls (same company as my dishes, different pattern), and 2 “Corelle” small serving (or large soup) bowls. I think what most of these bowls are used for is obvious. The “Corelle” bowls are used for the microwave as are the plates.
Boy, all that on one shelf. This is probably about 90% of the dishes we use for dinner. I can reach what I need and put it away easily. Storage this way is easy for me.
Between the wire rack and cabinet wall, standing up is a trivet and our small collection of rarely used takeout menus.
Do you store your dishes as sets or as you need to use them?
“Corelle” is a trademark name of items made by Corning Glass. I am not endorsing in any way the plates, merely mentioning that I use these unique plates/bowls in this manner.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
LET'S START WITH MY LITTLE KITCHEN
The kitchen - everyone’s kitchen and it’s uses are different. When reading books I am told that I must make work areas. I have no room for work areas do you?
Our kitchen is allegedly an eat in kitchen. We have a small table that fits the 2 of us, possibly a guest if we sit very close. Our kitchen is what is called a galley kitchen. This means that the work area of the kitchen consists of 2 sides of an aisle, similar to what might exist in a boat, hence the term.
I have a sink in the middle of the counter on one side of the aisle, with the only window in the kitchen above the sink. There is a non-working dishwasher under a counter top on one side of the sink and a counter top on the other side. Total length of the this counter is maybe 5 ft. There is the usual cabinet under the sink, 2 small and one “bread” drawer and small cabinet under the end of the counter without the dishwasher. Above the counter there is a wall cabinet on each end with 4 shelves in it which goes to the ceiling. Across the aisle from this is a range (freestanding stove and oven) with a wall cabinet over it, a free standing floor cabinet with a drawer, a thin wall cabinet over it and the refrigerator.
I also have a small pantry closet with shelves which supplements the above for kitchen storage. It is located beyond the kitchen table, across the bathroom. Yes, I have a bathroom which is basically in part of my kitchen. When we sit at the table we are looking at the outside wall of the bathroom and the entrance faces the pantry closet. I have to turn on the light in my bathroom to see what is in my pantry closet!
The kitchen also serves as our main entry to the house. We have what used to be a den that we use as a studio, attached to the back of the house, behind the kitchen, so we walk through the kitchen to reach it. The kitchen also connects through the dining room - opposite the entry to our studio - to the rest of the house. I have never heard of a kitchen like this in any organizing book I have read.
I do suggest, as others do, going through your kitchen stuff and getting rid of items which you don’t use. I have no hard and fast rule about time - no one year limit. I am about to get rid of, for example, a set that is suppose to keep your eggs round when fried (in rings) and your bacon flat (a weight). I have never used them. We don’t eat breakfast. I don’t cook bacon. When cook eggs we do so for dinner and I make omelets. We had received decades ago a “fold in half, nonstick” omelet pan as gift. It sat around unused and was long ago donated to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. The egg set will soon be following it. On the other hand, I have a very large stockpot and lid which I used to use to make soup for Thanksgiving dinner and other meals I made for the extended family. We no longer have the family (or anyone) for dinner in the house (the story behind this will be written much later in time). Organizing books would say I should get rid of this pot. I hope to one day have dinners here in the house again and I would never be able to replace this pot with one I would be happy with, so I keep it. It is stored, though, not in my kitchen but in a very small closet in my basement. So my rule is that if I reasonably might use the item again, I keep it. If it gives me hope, I keep it. If I have never used it, it goes.
What do items do I have in my kitchen for use? Tune in next week. I have turned on the feature which lets you follow me - feel free to use it.
Our kitchen is allegedly an eat in kitchen. We have a small table that fits the 2 of us, possibly a guest if we sit very close. Our kitchen is what is called a galley kitchen. This means that the work area of the kitchen consists of 2 sides of an aisle, similar to what might exist in a boat, hence the term.
I have a sink in the middle of the counter on one side of the aisle, with the only window in the kitchen above the sink. There is a non-working dishwasher under a counter top on one side of the sink and a counter top on the other side. Total length of the this counter is maybe 5 ft. There is the usual cabinet under the sink, 2 small and one “bread” drawer and small cabinet under the end of the counter without the dishwasher. Above the counter there is a wall cabinet on each end with 4 shelves in it which goes to the ceiling. Across the aisle from this is a range (freestanding stove and oven) with a wall cabinet over it, a free standing floor cabinet with a drawer, a thin wall cabinet over it and the refrigerator.
I also have a small pantry closet with shelves which supplements the above for kitchen storage. It is located beyond the kitchen table, across the bathroom. Yes, I have a bathroom which is basically in part of my kitchen. When we sit at the table we are looking at the outside wall of the bathroom and the entrance faces the pantry closet. I have to turn on the light in my bathroom to see what is in my pantry closet!
The kitchen also serves as our main entry to the house. We have what used to be a den that we use as a studio, attached to the back of the house, behind the kitchen, so we walk through the kitchen to reach it. The kitchen also connects through the dining room - opposite the entry to our studio - to the rest of the house. I have never heard of a kitchen like this in any organizing book I have read.
I do suggest, as others do, going through your kitchen stuff and getting rid of items which you don’t use. I have no hard and fast rule about time - no one year limit. I am about to get rid of, for example, a set that is suppose to keep your eggs round when fried (in rings) and your bacon flat (a weight). I have never used them. We don’t eat breakfast. I don’t cook bacon. When cook eggs we do so for dinner and I make omelets. We had received decades ago a “fold in half, nonstick” omelet pan as gift. It sat around unused and was long ago donated to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. The egg set will soon be following it. On the other hand, I have a very large stockpot and lid which I used to use to make soup for Thanksgiving dinner and other meals I made for the extended family. We no longer have the family (or anyone) for dinner in the house (the story behind this will be written much later in time). Organizing books would say I should get rid of this pot. I hope to one day have dinners here in the house again and I would never be able to replace this pot with one I would be happy with, so I keep it. It is stored, though, not in my kitchen but in a very small closet in my basement. So my rule is that if I reasonably might use the item again, I keep it. If it gives me hope, I keep it. If I have never used it, it goes.
What do items do I have in my kitchen for use? Tune in next week. I have turned on the feature which lets you follow me - feel free to use it.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
MANAGING MY TIME
While I can judge time fairly well when I am attentive to time passing, I tend to lose track of time when involved in something, as well as being a procrastinator. (Are you?) I have figured out ways to deal with this over the years.
I check my email once a day in the late afternoon. The exception to this rule is when I am expecting an email and it is not there or if I send out an email - new or as a reply - and expect an answer. I have several email accounts. Most of them start with my initials and then have something special to the reason for the account. I have a main account for my family and my accounting clients and my friends. I have one for each organization I belong to. I have one that I use for accounting for the various government notices I need to get. (Have I mentioned that I am an accountant, but not a CPA?) I have one that I use for my husband so we can send each other things. I have one for the crafts business my husband and I have. I also have one that is without one of my initials which can confuse people by sound, so I use this one if I have to give my email by telephone so there is no confusion. I also have an email for my online groups and such and one which I give to and contact stores and such with to keep same from my other email. Separately, as they are not technically my emails - I have one for a client who does not use a computer and has things which need to be done online that I do for her, and one each for 2 organizations I am involved in for the organizations themselves which I check for the group. Yes, that is a lot of emails. I use a software program which will check all of them at once. Any junk mail is deleted at once when I check my email. If I am traveling I will check email by going to the website of my email provider and I will only check the ones I need to check . Similarly using this system, if I have limited time I can just check the relevant email addresses and save time or just recheck the email addresses I am looking for an email from. So email time is fairly limited and organized.
I don’t have Facebook (which I have almost no presence on) or yahoo groups or other social media emailed to me. I go to the sites at my chosen times and check the sites then. This way I don’t find the entire afternoon was used up following something when I should have been doing something else. I like cartoons, for example, and read several strips online. I go Monday night and read the strips at their websites rather than receiving them daily which would waste needed time. Of course sometimes Monday is Tuesday if something is happening on Monday and I don’t have time or sometimes they continue into Tuesday, occasionally even Wednesday, if I run slow on reading them. But I choose the time I will spend online on all of this and when I will spend that time so that I do not lose my focus to do other things.
When I am working at tasks, such as my afternoons working on the computer, I often forget to check the time - yes, it is right in front of me on the computer, but I still forget. I also forget to do little things like make needed phone calls, take out chopped turkey to defrost for dinner as well as stuff I don’t want to do - the laundry, the garbage, etc. I use my computer and my cell phone to help me with this. I have a calendar program which syncs with my cell phone (more or less, but I will wax ecstatic over my software and how I juggle things to make it sync in some later post). I set reminders to remind me when it is time to do something. I have a reminder which goes off at 6:45 pm to remind me to start getting ready to shut down and go make dinner. I then back up what I have been working on and my calendar and sync my calendar with my cell, at least in theory. In real life, I usually reset the alarm for 7pm and then possibly even 7:15 pm. I have an alarm set to go off weekly on the day we usually have burgers for dinner to remind me to defrost the meat for same. I have a weekly reminder to do the laundry, one to take the garbage out, one to change the towels, one to change the bedding, etc. No, I don’t have alarms go off for everything just things which are time sensitive during the day. Something like “Laundry” it is enough it is listed for the day as I will see it and remember. One of my reminders, set for daily, is “Check blogsite” to see if any of you have left me comments which need to be moderated and, hopefully, posted (I really would like some more of these - feel free to comment), as well as one to remind me to post. Does everything get done because it is scheduled to be done - of course not. Sometimes it is done on a different day, sometimes I just delete the reminder as I have a reason for not doing whatever it is which is scheduled.
It is not a perfect system, but it helps remind me of what I have to do and prod me to do it. What do you do to keep on schedule and stop procrastinating?
I check my email once a day in the late afternoon. The exception to this rule is when I am expecting an email and it is not there or if I send out an email - new or as a reply - and expect an answer. I have several email accounts. Most of them start with my initials and then have something special to the reason for the account. I have a main account for my family and my accounting clients and my friends. I have one for each organization I belong to. I have one that I use for accounting for the various government notices I need to get. (Have I mentioned that I am an accountant, but not a CPA?) I have one that I use for my husband so we can send each other things. I have one for the crafts business my husband and I have. I also have one that is without one of my initials which can confuse people by sound, so I use this one if I have to give my email by telephone so there is no confusion. I also have an email for my online groups and such and one which I give to and contact stores and such with to keep same from my other email. Separately, as they are not technically my emails - I have one for a client who does not use a computer and has things which need to be done online that I do for her, and one each for 2 organizations I am involved in for the organizations themselves which I check for the group. Yes, that is a lot of emails. I use a software program which will check all of them at once. Any junk mail is deleted at once when I check my email. If I am traveling I will check email by going to the website of my email provider and I will only check the ones I need to check . Similarly using this system, if I have limited time I can just check the relevant email addresses and save time or just recheck the email addresses I am looking for an email from. So email time is fairly limited and organized.
I don’t have Facebook (which I have almost no presence on) or yahoo groups or other social media emailed to me. I go to the sites at my chosen times and check the sites then. This way I don’t find the entire afternoon was used up following something when I should have been doing something else. I like cartoons, for example, and read several strips online. I go Monday night and read the strips at their websites rather than receiving them daily which would waste needed time. Of course sometimes Monday is Tuesday if something is happening on Monday and I don’t have time or sometimes they continue into Tuesday, occasionally even Wednesday, if I run slow on reading them. But I choose the time I will spend online on all of this and when I will spend that time so that I do not lose my focus to do other things.
When I am working at tasks, such as my afternoons working on the computer, I often forget to check the time - yes, it is right in front of me on the computer, but I still forget. I also forget to do little things like make needed phone calls, take out chopped turkey to defrost for dinner as well as stuff I don’t want to do - the laundry, the garbage, etc. I use my computer and my cell phone to help me with this. I have a calendar program which syncs with my cell phone (more or less, but I will wax ecstatic over my software and how I juggle things to make it sync in some later post). I set reminders to remind me when it is time to do something. I have a reminder which goes off at 6:45 pm to remind me to start getting ready to shut down and go make dinner. I then back up what I have been working on and my calendar and sync my calendar with my cell, at least in theory. In real life, I usually reset the alarm for 7pm and then possibly even 7:15 pm. I have an alarm set to go off weekly on the day we usually have burgers for dinner to remind me to defrost the meat for same. I have a weekly reminder to do the laundry, one to take the garbage out, one to change the towels, one to change the bedding, etc. No, I don’t have alarms go off for everything just things which are time sensitive during the day. Something like “Laundry” it is enough it is listed for the day as I will see it and remember. One of my reminders, set for daily, is “Check blogsite” to see if any of you have left me comments which need to be moderated and, hopefully, posted (I really would like some more of these - feel free to comment), as well as one to remind me to post. Does everything get done because it is scheduled to be done - of course not. Sometimes it is done on a different day, sometimes I just delete the reminder as I have a reason for not doing whatever it is which is scheduled.
It is not a perfect system, but it helps remind me of what I have to do and prod me to do it. What do you do to keep on schedule and stop procrastinating?
Friday, October 30, 2015
MY EARLY ATTEMPTS AT ORGANIZING
When did you start to try to organize - your home, your stuff, your life, your office?
When I was a child I was not organized. A true family joke is that I lost the first report card I got. I was in first grade. I folded it up - in half, in quarters, in eighths - and stuck it in my pocket. Somewhere between school and home - it disappeared. It was not fear of my grades that it made it disappear. It just did. Into thin air. It was there and then it was gone.
When I was 5 my parents had my sister and they bought a house. A post WWII suburban tract house that was built for them. A room of my own! (I shared a bedroom with my parents until just before my sister was born and then I slept in the living room. It was a small 3 room apartment.) I now had space for my stuff in my room and in the basement too! Wonderful.
In short order my bedroom was a mess. Stuff out all over the floor and the furniture. As this went along my mother would periodically tell me that it was time to (let’s hear it from all of you) - “Clean up your room”. Generally this was when company was expected and they might come upstairs to the bathroom and see my room across the hall. It had to be neat in case anyone saw it.
Now, no one ever thought to tell me how to clean up my room. Most people need a little help getting started in this area. My version of cleaning up my room was to throw out a few things, attempt to find a home for the others, and then toss everything onto the closet floor and shut the door. This served the purpose of making the room presentable for anyone looking in. It was only a case of hiding the mess.
After a while mom figured out what I was doing and had a new instruction for me - “Time to clean out your closet”. I would take everything off the closet floor - clothing was hung in it by mom, so it was not a problem and the only place I could reach was the floor, so that was all I could mess up and all I could clean. I would look through what was there and, again, toss a couple of things, and then put the rest back trying to make it look neater. I remember that around May or June I would come across my Trick or Treat bag with most of the candy still in it, on the floor of my closet and toss it.
Of course no actual cleaning up was done in any of this, just stuff moved around, rearranged, and hidden. My family tended to have a clean, fairly neat house, but there were areas of disorganization and messiness just from day to day living and lack of time to put stuff away.
Then I got a little older - in junior high school. I started reading teen girls magazines. One of them had an article on organizing your clothes. It told me that I should sort my clothes by type and color. The clothes should all face the same way. I did so. I should explain that I am short and - ahem - chunky, so clothes that fit me are hard to find so I don’t have lots and lots of clothes and keep what I have as long as it stays wearable. I have been the same height since 5th grade. (I had a jumper which I know I had in 6th grade. When I got married 15 years later, the jumper came with me. My husband politely pointed out that it was not something someone of my age should wear and it finally was donated.)
I started following the rules for my hanging clothes. Blouses together, sorted by color, pants, skirts, dresses - ditto. I still do this. It is one of those areas of my life and house which are organized. I have added some categories and rearranged where the categories hang, but they are the same. My husband thinks it odd for each clothing item to have an “assigned” space in my closet, when I have a stack of clean clothing to be put into drawers on one side of my dresser, and a stack of clothes worn, but waiting to be worn again on the other, but I do. When I take a blouse or other piece of clothing out of the closet the hanger goes back where it was and is waiting for the item to return “home”. (Blouse is a polite term - most of what I wear is tee shirts.)
This does not mean, however, that from junior high on my closet was organized. Noooo! Just my hanging clothes were. The floor was as bad as ever and by now I could reach the top shelf, which was also a mess.
How about you? When did you first get the idea that things needed to be organized better? What did you try?
When did you start to try to organize - your home, your stuff, your life, your office?
When I was a child I was not organized. A true family joke is that I lost the first report card I got. I was in first grade. I folded it up - in half, in quarters, in eighths - and stuck it in my pocket. Somewhere between school and home - it disappeared. It was not fear of my grades that it made it disappear. It just did. Into thin air. It was there and then it was gone.
When I was 5 my parents had my sister and they bought a house. A post WWII suburban tract house that was built for them. A room of my own! (I shared a bedroom with my parents until just before my sister was born and then I slept in the living room. It was a small 3 room apartment.) I now had space for my stuff in my room and in the basement too! Wonderful.
In short order my bedroom was a mess. Stuff out all over the floor and the furniture. As this went along my mother would periodically tell me that it was time to (let’s hear it from all of you) - “Clean up your room”. Generally this was when company was expected and they might come upstairs to the bathroom and see my room across the hall. It had to be neat in case anyone saw it.
Now, no one ever thought to tell me how to clean up my room. Most people need a little help getting started in this area. My version of cleaning up my room was to throw out a few things, attempt to find a home for the others, and then toss everything onto the closet floor and shut the door. This served the purpose of making the room presentable for anyone looking in. It was only a case of hiding the mess.
After a while mom figured out what I was doing and had a new instruction for me - “Time to clean out your closet”. I would take everything off the closet floor - clothing was hung in it by mom, so it was not a problem and the only place I could reach was the floor, so that was all I could mess up and all I could clean. I would look through what was there and, again, toss a couple of things, and then put the rest back trying to make it look neater. I remember that around May or June I would come across my Trick or Treat bag with most of the candy still in it, on the floor of my closet and toss it.
Of course no actual cleaning up was done in any of this, just stuff moved around, rearranged, and hidden. My family tended to have a clean, fairly neat house, but there were areas of disorganization and messiness just from day to day living and lack of time to put stuff away.
Then I got a little older - in junior high school. I started reading teen girls magazines. One of them had an article on organizing your clothes. It told me that I should sort my clothes by type and color. The clothes should all face the same way. I did so. I should explain that I am short and - ahem - chunky, so clothes that fit me are hard to find so I don’t have lots and lots of clothes and keep what I have as long as it stays wearable. I have been the same height since 5th grade. (I had a jumper which I know I had in 6th grade. When I got married 15 years later, the jumper came with me. My husband politely pointed out that it was not something someone of my age should wear and it finally was donated.)
I started following the rules for my hanging clothes. Blouses together, sorted by color, pants, skirts, dresses - ditto. I still do this. It is one of those areas of my life and house which are organized. I have added some categories and rearranged where the categories hang, but they are the same. My husband thinks it odd for each clothing item to have an “assigned” space in my closet, when I have a stack of clean clothing to be put into drawers on one side of my dresser, and a stack of clothes worn, but waiting to be worn again on the other, but I do. When I take a blouse or other piece of clothing out of the closet the hanger goes back where it was and is waiting for the item to return “home”. (Blouse is a polite term - most of what I wear is tee shirts.)
This does not mean, however, that from junior high on my closet was organized. Noooo! Just my hanging clothes were. The floor was as bad as ever and by now I could reach the top shelf, which was also a mess.
How about you? When did you first get the idea that things needed to be organized better? What did you try?
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Organizing books don't work for me.
How about a bit on organizing books and how I have found they don’t relate to me? Do you find this to be true?
I have read my way through all sorts of books on organizing, decluttering, etc. I have found that none of them really seem to apply to me and my situation. I am guessing this is true for many people.
My house must be the smallest one there is. For example, my bathroom is, according to several organizing books, smaller than the average closet. It has no counter, one small drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, no room for permanent storage to be added to the bathroom. It has a cabinet and sink so small, that when we went to replace them to the current ones we have, we had a choice of almost no sinks or vanities. The ones on display in various stores did not fit into our bathroom. And this is our larger bathroom! This is far from the extensive bathrooms described in books.
Front entrance hall? Another example. Just about every organizing book I have read has an extensive section on the front entrance hall of the house. The latest book I have read talked about what needs to be in the front entrance hall. Maybe it would all fit in Downton Abbey’s entrance hall, but not in my front entrance hall. There is a small closet. There is a small mirror on one side of the front door and the door bell mechanism on the other side. There is no room for a shelf or piece of furniture. With either one will not be able to walk through this tiny space. Even more unlike the description of this room in books, we do not come into the house through it. Our kitchen door is immediately adjacent to our driveway and much more convenient so that is what is used. There is no mud room or other room when one enters through the kitchen. When one walks in, one is between the stove and the counter. No place for items waiting to go out (unless they are hung on the door knob), keys, shelves, storage etc.
Alternate ideas had to be found and they were found more by logic than by suggestions from books - this is an important idea one must use logic in organizing.
Next week, I will tell you how I got started trying to get organized and my early efforts.
How about a bit on organizing books and how I have found they don’t relate to me? Do you find this to be true?
I have read my way through all sorts of books on organizing, decluttering, etc. I have found that none of them really seem to apply to me and my situation. I am guessing this is true for many people.
My house must be the smallest one there is. For example, my bathroom is, according to several organizing books, smaller than the average closet. It has no counter, one small drawer at the bottom of the cabinet, no room for permanent storage to be added to the bathroom. It has a cabinet and sink so small, that when we went to replace them to the current ones we have, we had a choice of almost no sinks or vanities. The ones on display in various stores did not fit into our bathroom. And this is our larger bathroom! This is far from the extensive bathrooms described in books.
Front entrance hall? Another example. Just about every organizing book I have read has an extensive section on the front entrance hall of the house. The latest book I have read talked about what needs to be in the front entrance hall. Maybe it would all fit in Downton Abbey’s entrance hall, but not in my front entrance hall. There is a small closet. There is a small mirror on one side of the front door and the door bell mechanism on the other side. There is no room for a shelf or piece of furniture. With either one will not be able to walk through this tiny space. Even more unlike the description of this room in books, we do not come into the house through it. Our kitchen door is immediately adjacent to our driveway and much more convenient so that is what is used. There is no mud room or other room when one enters through the kitchen. When one walks in, one is between the stove and the counter. No place for items waiting to go out (unless they are hung on the door knob), keys, shelves, storage etc.
Alternate ideas had to be found and they were found more by logic than by suggestions from books - this is an important idea one must use logic in organizing.
Next week, I will tell you how I got started trying to get organized and my early efforts.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Getting Started
I know, you look around and think that you can never get rid of the clutter and get organized. So much all over and no time to work on it.
Here’s an idea - stop adding to it all. Don’t try to start with the past stuff (by the way I use the word stuff to describe everything in your house, much as George Carlin did, I was questioned on this by someone) which overwhelms you, start with what is coming into the house TODAY. By not letting anything else accumulate you limit what you need to deal with. I will explain this using the mail, but it works with anything coming into the house.
When you bring in the mail today, look through it, don’t just drop it somewhere. Look through the mail. If it is junk mail get rid of it now. I personally shred any mail which has our information on it, but if you don’t have a shredder, for now just rip up the identifying info into teeny tiny pieces. If you recycle, decide where you will be putting your recycling from now on and put the mail - without the identifying info - there. I am lucky enough to have an enclosed entrance outside the kitchen door and I stack the recycling to the side of the door on an old work table we put there. (On Monday night, it goes out to be picked up for recycling day on Tuesday.)
Sort what is left - magazines in one stack, bills in another, invitations and event notices in another, and so on. Then deal with each as far as it is possible to do so now. Mark the date and amount due on the outside of any bills, sort by date order (the ones due first on top), any invitations or events sort by date of RSVP or the event. Add in any prior ones you have around. Put a rubber band around each type. Put the magazines where you read them. Unless it is a type of magazine you need to keep for an extended time, recycle the last issue if you have finished it (if not, why not?). If you can or need to deal with any now - do it now! One less thing to deal with in the future. Put the rest of the bills and such in a box labeled as TO DO and put it in a place you will remember - on your desk if you have one.
Tomorrow do the same. While you may not be clearing away what has accumulated, you will stop adding to it. Tomorrow add the bills, invitations, etc. to the ones from today, also dated and in the same manner and combine them into yesterday’s stacks. Check the ones at the top of the pile and deal with what you can or must do.
Afterwards, pick up some mail from before - sort through it and deal with it in the same manner - then you will have 2 days of mail semi organized and as well as some mail from before.
If you continue you do this, your incoming mail will be dealt with on a regular basis and you will start getting rid of your older mail. You will not clear all of the older mail out in one swoop, but it will start diminishing and you will not add to it. (There will be more about mail as we go along.)
In the same way, if you buy something, put it away (such as you can if there is a lack of space for same) right away. If you have no place for it, make a temporary one. If you get into the habit of doing this then you will start to get organized and reduce your clutter.
I know, you look around and think that you can never get rid of the clutter and get organized. So much all over and no time to work on it.
Here’s an idea - stop adding to it all. Don’t try to start with the past stuff (by the way I use the word stuff to describe everything in your house, much as George Carlin did, I was questioned on this by someone) which overwhelms you, start with what is coming into the house TODAY. By not letting anything else accumulate you limit what you need to deal with. I will explain this using the mail, but it works with anything coming into the house.
When you bring in the mail today, look through it, don’t just drop it somewhere. Look through the mail. If it is junk mail get rid of it now. I personally shred any mail which has our information on it, but if you don’t have a shredder, for now just rip up the identifying info into teeny tiny pieces. If you recycle, decide where you will be putting your recycling from now on and put the mail - without the identifying info - there. I am lucky enough to have an enclosed entrance outside the kitchen door and I stack the recycling to the side of the door on an old work table we put there. (On Monday night, it goes out to be picked up for recycling day on Tuesday.)
Sort what is left - magazines in one stack, bills in another, invitations and event notices in another, and so on. Then deal with each as far as it is possible to do so now. Mark the date and amount due on the outside of any bills, sort by date order (the ones due first on top), any invitations or events sort by date of RSVP or the event. Add in any prior ones you have around. Put a rubber band around each type. Put the magazines where you read them. Unless it is a type of magazine you need to keep for an extended time, recycle the last issue if you have finished it (if not, why not?). If you can or need to deal with any now - do it now! One less thing to deal with in the future. Put the rest of the bills and such in a box labeled as TO DO and put it in a place you will remember - on your desk if you have one.
Tomorrow do the same. While you may not be clearing away what has accumulated, you will stop adding to it. Tomorrow add the bills, invitations, etc. to the ones from today, also dated and in the same manner and combine them into yesterday’s stacks. Check the ones at the top of the pile and deal with what you can or must do.
Afterwards, pick up some mail from before - sort through it and deal with it in the same manner - then you will have 2 days of mail semi organized and as well as some mail from before.
If you continue you do this, your incoming mail will be dealt with on a regular basis and you will start getting rid of your older mail. You will not clear all of the older mail out in one swoop, but it will start diminishing and you will not add to it. (There will be more about mail as we go along.)
In the same way, if you buy something, put it away (such as you can if there is a lack of space for same) right away. If you have no place for it, make a temporary one. If you get into the habit of doing this then you will start to get organized and reduce your clutter.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
To Start - A bit about me and disorganization
To start this conversation, I wanted to tell you a little about me and my disorganization.
As a child I lived with my parents in a 3 room apartment. The entrance door to the apartment led to a long hall which ran the length of the adjacent apartment. It was lined with metal shelving units which held all sorts of items including books and my toys. Towards the end of when we lived in the apartment, there was too much stuff and it would fall off the shelves constantly. I have been dealing with too much stuff ever since.
Our house holds what we have accumulated over the decades. We both work from home and also have some hobbies - more about this as we go along - which add to what is in the house.
While to anyone’s eye (even mine) the house looks terribly disorganized, there are areas of really organized stuff, areas of organization in progress, areas that look totally disorganized, but I can find most stuff. I believe that a house does not have to look like a designer magazine. It needs to meet one’s needs, be clean, one must be able to find stuff, and it must serve the purpose you need.
I will share ideas which have worked for me, ideas which have not, and what I am doing as I go forward. I hope to hear from you also about problems and questions you have and what has worked for you.
As a child I lived with my parents in a 3 room apartment. The entrance door to the apartment led to a long hall which ran the length of the adjacent apartment. It was lined with metal shelving units which held all sorts of items including books and my toys. Towards the end of when we lived in the apartment, there was too much stuff and it would fall off the shelves constantly. I have been dealing with too much stuff ever since.
Our house holds what we have accumulated over the decades. We both work from home and also have some hobbies - more about this as we go along - which add to what is in the house.
While to anyone’s eye (even mine) the house looks terribly disorganized, there are areas of really organized stuff, areas of organization in progress, areas that look totally disorganized, but I can find most stuff. I believe that a house does not have to look like a designer magazine. It needs to meet one’s needs, be clean, one must be able to find stuff, and it must serve the purpose you need.
I will share ideas which have worked for me, ideas which have not, and what I am doing as I go forward. I hope to hear from you also about problems and questions you have and what has worked for you.
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