Bags, Bags and Yep More Bags!

I have spent most of the week in the garage. I should just camp out in there, it would likely be cooler (we have no A/C). This week I have almost finished cleaning out the garage, I have about an hour remaining...it's always the last phase of a project that kills you. That last pile of things that don't have a home so they should just go, but they don't have a home and you know you don't really want to get rid of them. It's a vicious cycle I tell you! Story of my life...it's these random things that don't have homes that cause us all types of clutter and organizational challenges. I've been there and those random piles take forever to clean up. I've realized this week just how many containers I have purchased for those random things to be corralled, it's ridiculous. I have the most amazing containers to sell. No wonder Container Store stays in business!! We have too much stuff. One thing I promised myself is that I would organize C's toys so that some day she could pass them on to her kiddos if she wants to. I did learn some things from my mom, nothing was organized. I want to live a more organized life. It's been great to clean up and be able to put categories of toys into see through bins, organized and tidy to be held on to. Paul is very sentimental like me and there was just a few things that we couldn't part with. Those things have been packaged up and organized in matching totes for future memories. I hope someday C will thank me for all my hard work, in the meantime we have had to deal with some tears about pics she has found on the computer with items I've listed for sale. It hasn't been pretty. I need to remember to clean up my computer activity! I have stuffed about 35 IKEA blue bags (yep, you know what I'm talking about) full of things to sell at the garage sale. If I thought cleaning the garage out was going to take awhile, hello pricing! Nightmare city!! It's going to take me literally hours and I don't see a great way of doing it. The thought of a Goodwill run has popped into my head a few times, but I can't justify just giving these things away when I do have some vacation plans that require some money to make them happen. So today, I carted all those bags back from the new garage back to the old garage to get ready to price later this week. Why did I have to move them? It's tricky really. I had to get them out of the old garage as I was cleaning so I could actually move around. The new garage was the only open receptacle to keep them safe. Then when I finished the old garage clean out, the new garage was packed with stuff (all of our furniture is in there!!). So...we couldn't hardly access the other garage and with contractors coming this week I could see Paul being a bit concerned. So...I had to move ALL those bags back to the old garage now that it is clean and has room to store stuff. Ugg...I will have no problem parting with this stuff now!! I came across my Wonder Horse as we were cleaning. I had put it up for sale at the last garage sale that was to be my last EVER...ha! I had a moment of panic when someone wanted to purchase it. I had it listed for $15 or best offer, he offered me $5...I was offended and hurt. However, the buyer wasn't at fault, I didn't realize how much my memories were still attached to it. Paul said, it's not for sale when he saw the look on my face. I decided I could part with it this go around. Paul said no way, we are keeping it. We decided to make it part of our decor in the new house. I do want to weave some pieces from the past into my decor so I think this will be a fun piece to have on display. I realized this week, we can hide behind stuff. Our stuff defines us, our stuff fills a need for us, our stuff keeps us from healing. Too much stuff can cause problems. I'm in that category. Purging stuff and the baggage of life should be a process that happens continuously. Not just once every decade. I know I wasn't ready to do it, I know you have to be ready to face it. I'm ready to face it. I'm ready to work on being more organized and living a life that is free of clutter both in my surroundings and mentally. Clutter pulls us back, it doesn't allow us to reach our full potential or our goals. It's a roadblock. I don't want to have to detour any more, I've had enough of that this summer in real life and figuratively. Here's to reaching our goals this week!!

Cleaning Up...Mentally & Literally

As many of you know I'm on a journey this year of mental and physical wellness. One of my MAJOR projects is cleaning out a 3 car garage that was full of stuff. Stuff that I had acquired from a variety of reasons, but a project I wasn't ready or able to deal with until now. This summer I decided it was time to deal with it. We are preparing to move and this project needs to be dealt with. It's a huge one. I like to be able to tackle something from start to finish, in about 15 minutes. This is not a 15 minute project, this isn't even a 15 hour project...it's likely a 15 month project, don't laugh...I'm not kidding. This project has taught me a lot about myself. I don't like things dragging on, but this is a project that is going to drag on. It's multi-faceted, it can't be wrapped up quickly. It needs to be completed in phases. I'm learning to be at peace with this. I'm in phase 1. Clean out/sort/purge/sell....I can't do it in the ideal way of taking everything out of the garage and putting it back in. Some of the things in the garage are needed for the new house and we aren't ready to move. It will all happen, I just need to realize that it's going to take time and be okay with that. Every step is a step forward. Do you ever find yourself overburdened by all you have to do? I'm sure, we all do. However, always remember you are moving forward. Yesterday I got the rare opportunity to have Paul help me with a project I'm heading up. He is usually MIA during those times. He's told me he doesn't want to help with this, I honored that. Yesterday, it was so refreshing to have him jump in and help...I seriously saved several hours of work thanks to him! It also allowed me to quickly deal with a few emotional areas that I didn't want to touch. Having someone help you with these items is huge. I had 2 large toy sets that I had kept from child hood that I needed to send to other families. I had a HUGE vintage fisher price set of over 200 pieces that needed to go. It has a rich story of being passed from families and I wanted it to go to a family I knew. It was time to give it up, clear it out and move on. I get to keep the memories, that's what matters. A sweet little girl will be so surprised this year when she receives the pieces for her birthday and Christmas. I hope she will have fond memories just like I did! Part of me was able to let these things go because due to the proceeds of this clean out we are planning a Disneyland trip next year. This trip has great meaning to me. It will be a fun trip full of memories and it will be paid for because I was able to deal with past goods that need new homes! Knowing I could trade past stuff for some future memories made the transition easier. I'm working on a cool wall montage that will include antlers. Yesterday, we sorted through and organized my dad's antlers. On one of the antlers was a deer tag still intact. It was cool to hold it and see my dad's hobby first hand. His signature on the tag brought back fond memories, my dad had amazing handwriting, beautiful even! I will make this tag part of my memory wall. I cried as Paul cut the tag off the antler. I miss my dad so very much. Moments like these stir up the emotions held in your soul. I get to see my dad everyday when I look at my daughter. She has his fire, his passion, his intellect, his voice! My dad had an amazing singing voice...church will never ever be the same. His voice carried across most spaces. I could just see them singing together. She's quite the hunter in training too. She can shoot a rifle and has earned the nickname Annie Oakley from a relative. I love that I can pass stories of my dad onto her. Just because he isn't here doesn't mean we can't keep his memory alive. It felt good to cry. Yesterday was a good day. I have lots, LOTS of work left, but I'm making progress, moving forward and that's all we can do everyday. We can always strive to do our best. Always.