Weekly Car Clear-out

I clear out my car about once a week. With two kids, and lots of errands, stuff builds up. I don't stress about it day-to-day though.

It's easy to do. I grab a garbage can, a laundry basket and my Handi-Vac. Garbage goes in the garbage, recycling and everything else into the laundry basket. Then, I vacuum up the crumbs, bits of leaves and twigs, and general crud.

Next step is the crucial one and this is where hoarders and clutterers can slip. You must, must, clear out the laundry basket immediately. Right away. Within 24 hours if you can't right away. I'm serious! Otherwise, it turns into a stash & dash. And then, it becomes and archeological dig.

I cleared out my car last night. I did not fully empty the laundry basket, because it was so late. But it'll be done before I go to sleep tonight.

Out of the back yard...

and to the recycling centre. Helped the husband load close to 1000 lbs of concrete into his truck. It's now at the recycling center where they'll chop it up or some such. I'm just thrilled that the detritus of a retaining wall project is out of my backyard, making it safer for the kids.

More donations

Dropped off two more bags of donations.

Donations

Dropped off two bags of donations at St. Vincent de Paul yesterday. Two more are ready to go.

Frozen Clutter

I defrosted my upright freezer yesterday. It took from 10 a.m. until 3 a.m. Yes, I was up until 3 a.m. defrosting my freezer. That's either crazy...or it's crazy. By 2, I resorted to pouring hot water on the inches of frost. Worked great!

I've reclaimed an entire shelf in the freezer. And, I tossed two sacks of ancient food items that will never be eaten by anyone except bacteria in the giant municipal compost heap. There's plenty of space now, so like is with like--meat all together in the bottom, convenience dinner items together, etc.

Roomba a Roomba

I know, I know, you're tired of my evangelizing the Roomba. Well, I vacuumed our master bedroom today and it was a snap. I have so few things on the floor that it took about a minute to put them on the bed. In fact, I turned on the Roomba and then picked up the room, it's so spare now. I love it!

And now, the room is nice and clean with little effort on my part. I want the whole house to be that way. And it can be, it really can. I just need to push a bit more, get rid of more clutter and convince the children to pick up all their crapola.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Tidying the Stash-n-Dash

My little one knows that there are stash & dash bins in the garage. She asked last night if she could "get some Barbies". It took me a moment to understand that she meant dig them out of the various stash & dash bins in the garage. I told her she could, but she'd need to find as many toys to give away as she wanted garage items. She immediately went and grabbed ten things. Wow!

So, I had to keep my word.

I just finished two hours of stash & dash sorting. I filled three bags of recycling and three of donations. I donated things I don't like in the house, as well as items the kids have definately outgrown. I consolidated the bins, eliminating two of them through the donations, trash and recycling. It's still not done, but it's much better and tidy enough that the little one can pick a few things to bring back into the house.

Having a garage is good for me, because it allows me to let things age. I was able to give away items I'd kept in an earlier round of decluttering, because there is enough emotional distance now. It's what works for me. And each time, it gets easier.