This will be easy for me now that two of three kids have moved out. I have been purging, decluttering, and organizing for about 13 months. Not non stop Or I'd actually be on top of the stuff already. I'm asking myself when I'm purging, Will I ever use this again? do I need more than one or two of this item? If I get rid of it will I have to get a replacement within 18 months? Where can I put it- that is as close as possible to the place it's to be used. And if I'm stumped and not sure whether to keep something emotional, I'll ask myself if my family would enjoy it once I pass away. If I think they wouldn't care eitherway, it goes, because I'm not taking anything with me. My biggest battle isn't letting go of stuff but what to do with the items. I live in the country, so no free on the curb drop off. I am on a few facebook "items for sale" sites, craigslist, Amazon and Ebay. That all takes time though, so things wait till I get to them. Most all the clothes go to a local charity but I just can't toss perfectly good items. Old, well used, dysfunctional item, yes those go into the trash but the ficus tree is still in the basement with hopes someone will love it again one day. Ok, that will be one of my 15 items out of the house this week. I'd like to do this with you too.

I'm falling a bit behind the count of "Out The Door", BUT... I did manage to clear off a wire shelving rack this weekend and had some small empty boxes and plastic baskets for a sorting station. All tape measures go in one box (I've found 5 so far - remember, DH was a cabinetmaker - there was at least one everywhere so he could find one) All rechargeable batteries are in a box (with the charger(s) - woohoo!) Rulers (12", 18", yardsticks, architectural scales, engineering scales, metric rulers, calipers, and the list goes on). Scissors!!! I found 6!!!!! (And why is it a pair of scissors - never mind, it's probably the same logic as a pair of pants.) And why is it I can never find "them" when I really need one aka a pair. Tape (Scotch tape, masking tape, duct tape, double stick tape, carpet tape, 12 colors of electrical tape, 6 colors of surveyor's tape, etc.) 9,000 paper clips. (Well, 10,000 were free from the office supply store when I bought X amount 20 years ago. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) And 195,000+ staples (normal staples, staple gun staples, staples for the OTHER type of staple gun, staples for the OTHER, OTHER staple gun that I have yet to find that I know is here somewhere, staples for the saddle stitcher, etc.) Really. At least they are all together...please don't breed like rabbits.

I started in the kitchen because I knew I wouldn't have much sentimental attachment to that stuff! Pantry cabinet before and after. Discarded a bunch of out of date products and discovered we have 8 cans of baked beans! The whole top shelf is now empty. I also went through the cabinet above the pantry where I have cookbooks and misc. stuff stored. Threw away a lot of recipes clipped from magazines that I never used and discovered a box of powdered banana daquari mix from 1994. And I cleaned out the drawer under the oven and trashed or donated items from it. Now it is nearly empty. Here is my car loaded with stuff that is good enough to donate. I guess I forgot to pack my discarded cookbooks. Marcia

I did pretty well last week (Week 5 - I never know whether to post on that one or this new one). Cleaned out the linen closet and took a huge box of towels and sheets to my vet's office Saturday. Plus a few self-warming cat/dog blankets. Those are great, as they reflect the animal's body heat - snuggly warm with no electricity required. Took one pickup truck load of old electronics to recycling. Have another load ready to go - maybe later this week, I'll get a friend with a truck to help me load up and git it gone. Decided the porch umbrella was waaaay past repair, so it's in the trash for pickup. Sent my lawn tractor and Gator off to be serviced. Now that I have a temporarily empty spot in the shed for two weeks until the equipment comes back, I set up some tables on sawhorses, and started sorting DH's tools. A friend lost everything in a house fire the day after DH died (he, his wife, and two kids got out with their pajamas and literally nothing else - even their cars melted in the garage). He would love some of the extra tools and I'd like to be able to find the ones I have! Plus some other kitchen things for their new house when that is rebuilt. Won't be for a while, but that's OK, I'll box them up for him. Still a long way to go, but a little bit every week helps a lot. It's not so overwhelming :-)