Misti, I know from where you speak!! I have ADD, so getting focused is a daily struggle at our business and at home. I make lists, even if it's not something that will be accomplished for weeks. If you see things as one task at a time and not the whole picture I find it easier not to get overwhelmed. If you'd like to learn to sew I can certainly help you out even long distance. My first suggestion is to pickup a sewing book Readers Digest has one that's my all time fav! or Simplicity has a great one I don't recall it's name but it's spiral bound, that's the one I used when I was teaching beginner's. If there is a Joann Fabrics (their patterns ate always 50% off) in your area check out the pattern books for patterns for nifty pillows. Kate's right you two have been working hard. Kick back for a bit. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day! I've still got boxes that need to be unpacked and I moved here 4 years ago. Don't sweat the small stuff. If I can help further with sewing advice email me @ marion@chromehorseperformance.com. I'd love to help! Marion

I think cardboard and or newspaper, then peastraw, then bark mulch like pine it naturally suppresses weeds, also this mainly suppresses the old weeds, some will naturally pop up in the mulch as it breaks down from any seeds or new running weeds from lawns or fence lines etc. I'm creating a brand new cutting flower bed in our orchard, trying to spray the woody weeds (different ones here in our country) and then a general spray possibly a few times a few weeks apart, then layering cardboard on the stubborn areas, thick newspaper on the others, then using some cut up branches from tree pruning, then peastraw, then compost, then rinsed off fresh kelp seaweed from our local beach, then bark mulch, leave it to break down over our mostly wet winter here. Then come spring after the last frost I'll begin planting out seedling started in trays. I'll have to maintain the weeding as we get a lot of wind, may try spot treatment dab on weed killers but see how we go. Because of our compacted clay soil the lasagne gardening style seems to work well. One think I found was running weeds tried to creep into the mulch so wil try to cut out large gutters and weed spray these. Then mostly I just dig blood and bone into the planting holes. Using leaf mulch around plant bases can work too. Lots of different methods I think it can depend on what you need. I found the weed suppressant mat wasn't permeable enough for water, in a heavy rain the mulch washed off areas since the water wasn't absorbed fast enough into the soil, and then weeds actually grew on top of it anyway from seed so a waste of money in my opinion. Try libraries for newspaper, and maybe a big white ware or electronics store for cardboard.

Keep going Talley. Stuff like the hot rollers? Yes, donate if they still work. Full puzzles. yes, yes. I buy puzzles to use the pieces for crafts for my kids. Doesn't matter if they are all there or not. Needed curlers one year for a Halloween costume. I can see someone buying the rollers to paint and create some fun garden art. You have to stop thinking that people buy the stuff for the original purpose. They don't. I'm always looking for wool skirts that someone put in the wash and shrunk. I make braided wool rugs and those skirts are perfect. If clothing is really too worn out, I always cut the buttons off. A jar of buttons is great stuff for crafts. Then I cut the clothing up and use it for rags. Much better than throwing it out and then grabbing a paper towel. We keep a stash in the garge for things like wiping up oil and other things where I won't want to wash the rag. Just throw it away then. To me, books are consumables. I buy them at the thrift store, read and re-donate. Our library takes donations and then has a huge sale twice a year. I'm a long time quilter and I do some sewing (but more of a wanna be with that one). I got rid of my fabric stash several years ago. I think this fabric hoarding is awful. I've been a quilt appraiser for several years and am amazed at how much money people spend for stuff to just sit on the selves for years. Let's live our lives, not store them. I know you are in the city, so it's different than me just putting a bag in the van for the next time I'm out, but just fill a grocery bag every day and drop it off. Don't wait for a big load to go. Gloria

Old bills! Yes, I had almost 25 years of boxes of old bills in the attic. Come tax time I was usually so tired (winter) that I would just bundle them up and put them in a grocery bag or box. Even though 2 years ago I finally got a shredder, it just seemed overwhelming to deal with all that paper. As identity theft gets more and more publicity, I realized that I needed to go through all of it and shred anything that might have a cc number on it. So I brought it all down into the dining room. I hated looking at the boxes. It has taken me a year to do it it spurts, but now I am down to just one laundry basket filled with old checks. I have an old artist cutting board (you know the one with the big knife slicer on the side)and have used it to cut off the necessary parts of bills and bank statements thereby lessoning the amount of paper that needed to go in the shredder. My once Darkroom in the basement has become a storage room for my figure skating memorabilia collection as well as other items. I finally trashed over 800 VCR tapes. I really never relooked at them and there is no market for them, and the young people today want only DVD or YouTube. My skating boot man taught me a valuable lesson - you've had something for x number of years regardless of whether you did something with the item or not. Time to just cut your losses and let it go. So a few years ago I sold my Steinway upright piano - for the same price I paid for it in 1976. Time to let it go! And it freed up valuable space in my dining room. Lastly, since my best friend had to declutter the houses of 3 family members, and knowing the toll it took on her, I vowed I would not subject her to the same mess in my house. She is my executrix and I am single and 61. Something could happen at any time to anyone - injury, illness, or death. I don't want to be a burden to her alive or dead. When I declutter at the times I get a 'spurt' I give myself permission to spend x number of minutes and then can stop without feeling guilty. I also say to myself, if I had to suddenly move or if the house caught fire, what would mean the most to me....could I live without certain items? I know most of you are married and/or have kids adding to your burden, but just wanted you to know that single people also have cluttering problems and at times it seems even worse as the incentive to clear is hampered by 'who will know anyway' attitude. Just thought I too would share......