monday confessions...

Ya I know it's not Monday, but I don't have time to blog tomorrow, I have too much to do, so it's now!!
What have I been up to now?
 Besides all the endless laundry, I, well actually we have been spring cleaning our house!! It's more like a deep spring cleaning! What is deep spring cleaning? Well, for us it's been getting rid of stuff, and lots of it too! Like the closets! eeee scary stuff...I am amazed at how much stuff we have accumulated over the course of our marriage and the kiddos that we have been blessed with along the way. Some of the stuff is just that. I was once told by one of my sisters that if you don't love it, use it, like it, want it, why keep it, or something like that. Another good one is if you haven't used it, worn it in 6 months to a year, get rid of it! So we have made four piles of the stuff, keep, sell, toss, and we added a burn pile too! Actually I am not interested in selling anything I have so we give it to Good Will. Let me just rant here for a minute. I don't want to have a yard sale. That means I would have to save and store all the stuff I want to get rid of until the sale, then I need to drag my carcass somewhere where there is actually traffic on the road, advertise, unload it, set it up, price it, and hope it sells, and if it doesn't sell I need to pack it up and take it to Good Will, or throw it, just seems like a lot of work. I don't have the time... err rather the desire to do any of that. Now I know that some people have great success with them and I think that is great. I do from time to time stop at a yard sale and look to see if there is anything I want/need and I have found some good stuff before, also at Good Will, kinda hit or miss I think. But we live in a small space and with 6 people living here, I don't want to store it any longer. I could take it to my moms... just kidding Mom!! hahaha!!!! It feels wonderful to fall in bed at night and know that things are leaving and not coming back, and we are decluttering our lives in the process. I see all the bags, that are currently piled up in my living room, to leave and am just giddy! One stop and it's gone! And then on trash day even more will be gone! The trash men will just love us!! hahaha
 Last year I hoed out my kitchen cabinets. I couldn't believe what I found pushed way in the back.Things I've never used, and some still in the package! I threw everything I didn't want. Not because it was broken but because I wasn't going to town the next day, and it was trash day the next day and that just made it so much easier. In a matter of a couple hours and then the next morning it was gone! All of it. I kept obviously the things I use all the time.
Another thing, what about the proverbial "junk drawer." I hate that term. What is the point of that anyways? Shouldn't the term junk be a clue? Why keep junk? Me? I'm not a fan of doing that. I have a drawer that I keep some of my kitchen tools in, like measuring cups, rolling pin, knives, bag clips, and the like. But I don't call it a junk drawer I use everything that is in the drawer, maybe not everyday, but it's used on a regular basis. It's not really organized, how can you organize some of that stuff anyways, and it won't fit anywhere else. If I don't use it I get rid of it, if it doesn't work for me I get rid of it. Kinda like the pineapple cutter I bought, can't get my pineapple cut with it, so I got rid of it. It was quicker to use a knife.
 I think as Americans we have too much stuff. The baby section is overwhelming to go through at the store. All the new wonderful "must haves"! I mention that because I went to a baby shower on Saturday, and had to go into that section. Aaahhhhh!! All that stuff! I found some of the most basic things were what I wanted/needed for my babies. I didn't need all the latest must haves, some of them were nice, but a lot was just unnecessary stuff.
In case you haven't noticed I'm not the most sentimental gal in town. I do keep some stuff, but only if it really means something to me. Like the tea set cups my grandmother gave me. They were her mothers. Tea cups were my great grandmothers "thing" she liked to have. I have them saved, all wrapped up and will give them to my kiddos. I can't put them out, they would get broken at this point in my life! So I keep 'em safe. Then my kiddos can have something that was their great, great grandmothers! I think that is kinda cool. They never got to meet her, and I have limited memories of her, but I cherish them, and can share them with them. For the most part I don't keep much. It's more the memories and pictures that I have that I will keep. Besides, those can't be taken away from me. Yes I love to scrap book! It's the stories of our lives, and part of our children's heritage, that is why I do it!
Have a great day all!