Got the week off. Whatever shall I do?

7 years ago

Clean house. That's what I'm doing. As a matter of fact, I'm cleaning my oven as I speak. Gotta love self clean ovens. I'll just have to wipe it out tomorrow when it's completely cool. And the dishes are washed. I'll empty the dishwasher soon. :) I wish bathrooms self cleaned.........

I want to go through EVERYTHING and get rid of a lot of stuff we don't need or use. I just have too much 'stuff'. Not "hoarders" stuff just stuff. It clutters up the house and makes it feels smaller than it is. My house is tiny: 1000 sq ft. I'm tired of the nick-nacks and ornaments and dishes, pans, utensils I don't use or need. More clothes than fit in my dresser. I'm going through them and giving the stuff I don't wear to a second hand store. Most is like brand new as I bought an entire new wardrobe when I lost 50 pounds. Some things have only been worn once. Waste of $$. My craft room/office will be emptied into the hallway. I'll put things back one by one, after I decide "do I really need it anymore?"

I want to deep clean.

When I was single, my house was always spotless. I grew up in a spotless house. Dusting and vacuuming was a Saturday morning routine. I kept that up when I left home at 17. We are empty nesters and don't need half of what we've accumulated. I see magazine pictures of home where there is very little on shelves. And they look so clean and tidy and I miss that. It's hard to keep a house spotless when you have too much "stuff".

Tomorrow, the tv is staying off until I get at least one room done. I think I'll put my headphones on, put Spotify on my iPhone and listen to some good old classic rock and roll. Good music helps me clean house good. :)

So, while I'm taking the week off from work, I'm still working.

I did, however pick up a passport application for my husband: we want to go to Cuba! It will be the first real vacation we've taken. Just have to decide when. Probably in the fall. :)

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bpath

7 years ago

Debby, I'll join you in cleaning. My husband will be gone 3 days and nights next week. I plan to try KonMari on...something. My clothes, maybe, since I'm sure I can make the project last 3 days.

I do wish bathrooms self-cleaned. Back when I was a student, we all noticed that when a paper due date was coming up, suddenly the bathroom couldn't wait another day to be cleaned. Oh well, I think we got the brain juices flowing by doing something else, because we always got the paper done, AND the bathroom cleaned.

Enjoy Cuba! We missed our opportunity when it was a little easier for US to go, but I always liked my in-laws' postcards from there. It also amused us that they went down there with US dollars to spend.

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Comments (11)

sprtphntc7a
7 years ago
honestly that's a great week off. if u don't travel, then 'clean out the clutter'!!!

i always feel better when i unload.... just got rid of clothes and some electronics that are out of date and were replaced with up to date ones!

its amazing how things just accumulate !

i applaud your efforts and enjoy the trip to Cuba!!
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User
7 years ago
I think a lot of women tend to do what you are doing because the mess, though controlled, drives us nutty. It’s just kind of sucky that our vacation time is the only time available to do it and do it right. That was the self imposed trap I was stuck in for years. It may feel great to get it done, but after a while, I started to really resent that that’s all I had to look forward to. Now, if I’m going to spend my vacation cleaning cr*p out, I make sure there is at least a day or two in there where I can go get pampered too. It’s smart that you have a trip planned to look forward to and I bet it will be a really interesting destination to experience.
mamapinky0
7 years ago
Bpath, a few years ago I ran across how to fold boys tee's the KonMari way. The boys had too many tee's clogging up their closet yet not enough dresser space. This turned out to be a real space saver. Unbelievable how many shirts I can fit in one dresser drawer just folding them this way. I can still see part of the emblem so I know if I'm pulling out Batman or Pokemon.

Debby, great that you have a week off..I'm sure you deserve it. As for working at home at least you can sit and put your legs up IF you want to while cleaning. I'm trying to work up the energy to declutter. I have too much ...stuff. I like to declutter around this time of the year and get ready to do deep cleaning in March. This way once the great spring weather hits the inside is just like I like it and I can concentrate on outdoor deep cleaning. Actually my son came across a lot of in excellent condition lumber free on Craigs list so he took a day to get it all. My patio isn't very big so with all this free lumber he's building me a patio...its supposed to be 30x55 once he's done. For us that will be huge. Also adds more space for me to clean. LOL.
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Anglophilia
7 years ago
Last winter, I spent Jan-Mar with my yard man every Wed. He was here for about 4 hours and we went through every closet/cupboard/drawer in this house, plus the basement. There were 3 piles: Goodwill, keep and dumpster. He took all the Goodwill stuff there, and the dumpster stuff he put in his car and took to the dumpster at the hospital where he works in housekeeping - apparently this is "allowed". It was wonderful!

We're going to start the same thing in a week or so - still some leaves to get up outside. I'm sure I'll find more things I can bear to part with this year.
functionthenlook
7 years ago
That is why I never took a vacation and not go somewhere. I found out I worked twice as hard if I stayed home for the week than if I was at work. I heard from many Canadians when were were in St Maartens that Cuba was a nice place to vacation. Some day I hope the US lets anyone vacation in Cuba.
Ava
7 years ago
Doing it now beats doing it later when the weather is nicer.
Annie Deighnaugh
7 years ago
functionthenlook...I've had a few friends vacay in Cuba...I think so long as you are part of a "tour" you can go...in one friend's case, she went with another few friends and hired a "tour director" who took them around. She said it was great fun.
bpath
7 years ago
Mamapinkyo, I see lots of pictures of shirts stored that way, but the drawer is full. When, after several days of wearing shirts, the drawer is only half-full, do the shirts still stand up?
functionthenlook
7 years ago
Annie I will have to look into it. I haven't looked into it lately, but last time I looked you have to have a reason to go to Cuba besides a vacation. Educational, humanitarian, etc. I retired 2017 as an employee of Uncle Sam. As an employee there was certain places we were not permitted to travel for our own protection.
bpath
7 years ago
Debby, how is the week coming along?

I'm on Day 3 of the great closet cleaning. DH's closet is blocked by my folding work table piled with clothes. I have 2 bags by the garage door to drop off at a church when I go to choir practice this afternoon, and I hope to have more by then.

I can't go total KonMari because I would drown lol so I'm doing categories. Did dresses, pants, skirts, hanging shirts, jackets, and cardigans. Today is purses and shoes, then I will move on to pull-over shirts/sweaters and pajamas from the dresser drawers. I think I'll do the socks and underwear tomorrow, or maybe tonight while I watch a movie.

I kind of follow FlyLady (well, I used to till I, um, got out of the habit) but one of her rules is "don't take out more than you can put away in an hour". That works sometimes, but this here is putting one of her SuperFlingBoogie on steroids lol.

Last night I chanced on AGT on the little tv in the kitchen, so I cleaned out the spice cabinet while I watched. I get a lot done in little pockets of time like that. I figured 2018 expirations wouldn't kill us, just not be as flavorful, so they are back on the shelf, but I still am tossing over half the spices. I'm going to go where I can buy them by the teaspoon! Oh, and I was also in two text conversations with two very different friends about two very different subjects--one conversation was in fact about spice and pantry organization--so I was having a grand time!

Well, my lunch break is over, back to the project. What are you up to today?

Got the week off. Whatever shall I do?

bpath

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sprtphntc7a

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