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<p>Thumper, if they’re silk or wool I’ll take them off your hands. :)</p>
<p>I’m attacking the shoe closet this week. Lil D has already filled a bag with clothes this week. We got a postcard from a local charity with a pick up date and I called to put our name on the list. It helps to have a deadline!</p>
<p>Reporting in to say that I made real progress this weekend, and I actually thought of this thread while I was doing it! I woke up in one of “those” moods yesterday and decided to put it to use. I spent the entire day cleaning, and am sad to say I never ran out of things to do. I probably threw out at least a bag of dust and dirt (of the shame of it) There were a few things that should have been put in the donation pile that I couldn’t part with only because we spent money on them and never used them. Not once. I’ll get over it, but yesterday it only added to my mood. </p>
<p>I think the house is finally back in shape after the holidays but I still have a long way to go before I would call it organized. But, there is definitely less stuff!</p>
<p>Thanks for the support.</p>
<p>rummaged through the closet and tossed 10 tops I use to wear often and have not in at least 3 years.</p>
<p>Well, didn’t throw away a lot BUT I consolidated half filled boxed and threw away 3!</p>
<p>Went through the pantry, the laundry room closet (detergent I don’t like but saved in case of nuke war etc), got rid of a bunch of old tupperware/lids etc. One box to goodwill, much more to trash.</p>
<p>“In case of nuke war etc.” --Right there with ya’ ! :)</p>
<p>It’s a hard mind set to remember that almost nothing you throw out can’t be replaced.</p>
<p>When we moved from our old house in October of 2012, we had a bag of kitty litter in the basement.</p>
<p>We last owned a cat in 1996. :eek:</p>
<p>Purged the wrapping paper and ribbon. Found 12 rolls of scotch tape.
Threw away some cardboard. Have no idea why it was saved.
Found 3 books off the bookshelf.
I think I am heading towards the table linen drawer next.</p>
<p>Dh and I felt a little sick over the amount of expired food we tossed out this weekend. I’ve done several quick tidying jobs on the refrigerator in the last year, but apparently missed a few things that I didn’t realize were out of date. The pantry was worse, in part because I can only reach about half the shelves. I’ve tried to tell dh that when Publix has a BOGO special he can buy just one item for half price, he doesn’t have to buy two. Now he may remember after filling two bags with food well past its prime.</p>
<p>I also got rid of two boxes of toiletries, which may not count since most of the items were in the house for less than 48 hours. Right after getting deliveries of several online bulk purchases of shampoo, liquid soap and wet wipes, I read some articles about allergic contact dermatitis caused by methylchloroisothiazolinone and/or methylisothiazolinone and had a light bulb moment. I feel pretty certain that the skin reactions I’ve experienced could be explained by over exposure to MCI/MI leading to the cracked skin and rashes I developed. Just wish I’d learned about it a week earlier.</p>
<p>I’m still cracking up over the kitty litter! Only because I did that too! (not THAT long, but plenty long enough!)</p>
<p>Publix–BOGO–you have to get two (same price–sometimes people donate the second bag).
OR it’s buy 2 at x price–you can buy one and get it half off.
Worth keeping track of.</p>
<p>I could have used that kitty litter!</p>
<p>Next up for me…because I need a change of venue…the mudroom closet. It’s a mess. Too many pairs of boots, unworn shoes, etc.</p>
<p>Also houses baseballs and mitts (no one here plays baseball…if my husband insists on saving these, I am sending them to be bronzed). Lots of stuff to get rid of…I think!</p>
<p>Silat…please start a thread about that rash and your toiletries. I have a rash that is mighty resistent to treatment…wondering if I should heed your warning. What ARE you using?</p>
<p>One large garbage bag and two small garbage bags filled with stuff stored in the basement-- old jackets and clothing with grocery receipts in the pockets from 2005. I’m looking forward to dropping them all off at Goodwill tomorrow!</p>
<p>I’m wierdly obsessive about out of date food (and yes, I know, those dates are conservative) but I was at my BF’s who is a “saver” (ahem) and pulled three random items off the shelf dated: 2015, 2010 and…dadada…2003! (It was fawncy mustard and I could tell by the color that it was done).</p>
<p>I’m very proud of my DH. He filled four garbage bags of clothing over the weekend and I took them to GW today. Four! His closet looks great!</p>
<p>I’ve been sitting here wondering how I’ll ever manage to get through all the teachers papers I’ve saved, all the books I’ve got, all the lessons that I loved. I’m wondering how I’ll get through it all. There is SO MUCH! I get into these crazy mindsets, thinking that “some day I’ll use them again”. Somehow I’m not nearly as attached to clothes or small gadgets, but I’m having a lot of trouble saying good-bye to the papers that represented those days when I really felt alive, when I was teaching.</p>
<p>Lima- my mom was a teacher too. Probably a third of her hoarded stuff is from her teaching days. Back before her strokes and descent into hoarding, she kept tubs and tubs of books, lesson plans, construction paper, craft ideas, room decorations by month, and on and on. She used some things teaching Sunday school, but then just accumulated (another third of her papers) more for that interest. Do you think you can start by giving away 10% or 25% of your books/plans/materials? Sadly, mom’s stuff is now so musty I can’t give it to anyone- it’s all dust and bug infested and will go in a future dumpster load.</p>
<p>lima–just remember that just about any lesson plan, book, project idea etc that you may have collected is more readily retrievable on the internet these days than any of your boxes.</p>