starting the "declutter!"

Ok, yesterday was my first big day tackling my sewing room. I started with that one because it's the worst spot in the house and we have to walk through it to get to the freezer and the laundry!! I made a goal of 1 hour per day this week. Here are the tools I used:

The empty box lid is for me to put things in that need to be put away somewhere else. I wanted something small so that when it's full, I'll actually go put it away, or if I need something I can find it. A big basket is too overwhelming later! The empty plastic bag is for my friend! She makes the coolest stuff out of "junk" she finds here and there. Anything I think she might like, goes in the bag. The garbage can, for garbage. I use a small one so it fills up faster and I feel like I've accomplished more! Using a great big one (unless you are doing a really large project) can take forever to fill and you feel like you are not making progress! The paper sack is to put over my head when I go out in public after posting my "before" picture of the room for paper and cardboard recycles. Not shown is a popcorn tin I use to put anything else that is recyclable that will need to be sorted later (glass, plastic, metals, etc). We usually end up recycling way more than we throw away, which is a good thing! Another thing not shown is a good size box for fabric scraps (nothing smaller than 2" squares) which get donated to a group that teaches beginning scrap quilting. Ok, well, here it is. The before pictures. I must warn you, it's not a pretty sight! It's the result of about 10 attempts at starting to clean/declutter! Plus it is a dumping ground for a ton of different stuff (working on changing that!) deep breath.. here we go...

Crazy, right!!? After an hour, here's what I had accomplished:

And another hour later (I was on a roll and decided to keep going, besides, with only 3 kids in the house for the day, what better chance to actually get work done!)

Yes, the pictures are in the right order. Yes, I know it looks like I took a step backwards (went from a clean table to one that's cluttered again!) but look at the floor under the table! Once I cleaned off the table I started putting things on the table to sort them out. Being 6 months pregnant, it's getting hard for me to crawl around on the floor. It doesn't help that my feet are more swollen than my belly! I forgot to take a picture, but my "somewhere else" box is full, my garbage is full, my recycle bag is full, my scrap fabric box is almost full, and my "friend" bag is half full. Not bad for day 1!!

Amen!

Ok, so I'm on a quest to declutter and organize my house, while hoping (and praying) to build a new house (quickly!!)  God is really trying to teach me patience here!  Things are moving slower than a snail, while I want to zip along like a jaguar!  (if anyone knows of anyone who does construction and needs an immediate job, let me know!  apparently everyone we have contacted must have plenty of work to do, because they say they will get back to us in 3-4 days and we are lucky if we hear in 3-4 weeks - and that is after hounding them!!)

So, I decide while I'm impatiently waiting, I might as well try to control the clutter we already have so I don't move it into a new home.  Just because it's bigger doesn't mean it has to be cluttered in the least bit!  Well, I'm having trouble sorting through stuff.  Mainly because as soon as I throw something out, there is someone who needs it for something!

Well, today's gospel hit me between the eyes!  In Mark he talks about how Jesus asked his apostles to take their walking stick and go forth!  He didn't even allow them to take a change of clothes!  Why is that?  because we are supposed to rely on God to supply us with what we need!!  So hard to do, I know!!

My goal for this week is to spend 1 hour each day in my sewing room decluttering.  I choose this room because it is the messiest, and you have to walk through it to get to the freezer and laundry.  Hmm, I should take a picture in the morning before I start and then take another one at the end of the week.  Or, maybe I could take one a day to show how much progress I make each day!  I'm going to try to do all the laundry tonight after 10pm because I just got a high price alert for the electricity tomorrow.  I try not to run the dishwasher or laundry if the price is over 3 cents/kwh and tomorrow afternoon it's going to be 14!  WOW!