confessions of a clutterer

A month ago I got to reading more about a bunch of different ideas all centered around living better.  Everything from doing more yoga, eating whole, real foods and living a little more frugally.  It all started with all natural insect repellant (that I haven't tried yet).  I found that recipe and from there found another blog and another blog and another blog and so on.  It's been enlightening, to say the least.  Some are a little over the top for me.  A little too focused on religion or too strict or I get that underlying sense of judgement, but lots of bloggers out there are all about doing what you can and they'll help you get to wherever that may be.

The library has also been a great resource.  I've looked into raising chickens, soap making, green cleaning, whole food cooking & canning.  While I do love finding info online I also like having that book in my hand so I can quickly flip through while I'm in the process.  It's not quite the same 'flipping' through my iPad to find what I need.  There's lots of reviews on every book I've looked into and some people love them and some hate them so instead of spending hundreds of dollars on books that end up not being what I want I've been checking them out from the library when I can find them and then today I bought a couple that I really loved.

One of them is Green Clean by Linda Mason Hunter & Mikki Halpin It's a great little guide to cleaning.  Sounds simple enough, and it is, but I think it's fantastic.  The book itself is waterproof & stain resistant which means I can have it nearby while I'm spraying or mopping and not worry about ruining the book.  Inside you'll find a short explanation as to why we should try to use less chemicals and what's really in the brand name cleaning products we use without really thinking about it.

Then, they systematically go room by room with a scheduled check list for daily, weekly & monthly chores.  Here and there they've peppered the book with helpful tidbits on how to clean keep your dishwasher clean, houseplants that will purify your air quality the best, and what you can and can't recycle.

I don't mind cleaning.  In fact, I kind of enjoy it.  It's one of those things that you can immediately see the results.  There's an great feeling of accomplishment when you've gotten your house clean.  The thing that's difficult for me is that no matter how much cleaning I do, it seems like it's neverending.  I know there's always going to be dirty dishes and dirty clothes, but I'm talking about how there's just everything everywhere.  I can't keep up with it.

I guess the step that I missed was the 'getting rid of the clutter' step.

Now, I come from a long line of clutter collectors.  I wouldn't necessarily call us 'hoarders', but it's close.  We're sentimental and we all have collections of stuff.  Ticket stubs, t-shirts, baby toys, figurines, etc.  When Ray and I got married I had a lot of junk.  As the years have gone by I've whittled most of it down.  My parents dropped off crates of baby clothes, school work, yearbooks, toys and blankets a couple of years ago.  At one time they had the intention of buying us each a footlocker and keeping our mementos in there.  Of course, it spread to a few crates in addition to that footlocker.

After making sure my parents didn't care what I did with everything I got rid of most of it and only kept what could fit in the footlocker.  I have my mementos from bar crawling, Vegas trips, ticket stubs and stuff from when Ray and I were dating in a small box about double the size of a shoebox.  I have a book (School Years Memory Keeper) that I got at Costco that I keep a few things from each year of school for Emma and a birthday memory book where her birthday party memories go in.  So not too bad.

Of course, that's not it.  I have a crate of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV, not movie) and I have bookshelves cluttered with not only books, but Twilight junk, figurines and Legos.  So it's not completely under control!

But after reading Green Clean I'm determined to get everything under control.  I'd like to get rid of at least 75% of my clutter.  I feel like if I can do that across the board, linens, kitchen gear, paperwork, toys, clothes, etc. then cleaning will become a much more satisfying chore.

My plan for the next couple of weeks (although I'm hoping it takes only a week *fingers crossed*) is to get our house under control.  If I can get that done then I can focus on getting our meal plans done and get rid of the processed foods and move onto my other projects.....and work on convincing Ray we need to raise a couple of chickens.

All the advice says to start and finish one room - or section - at a time.  Here's my to-do list:

• Kitchen/Dining Room
1. My desk
2. Dining room table & kitchen island
3. Kitchen cabinets
4. Refrigerators - inside & top
5. Kitchen shelves

• Living Room
1. Baby's toys
2. Bookshelves/cabinets

• Hallway
1. Linen closet
2. Bookshelf
3. Coat closet

• Master Bedroom
1. Night stand
2. 6' Bookshelves
3. Short bookshelf
4. Closet
5. Dresser

• Master Bathroom
1. Sink Cabinet
2. Above the toilet cabinet
3. Shower

• Guest Bathroom
1. Sink Cabinet
2. Above the toilet cabinet

• Emma's Room
1. Closet
2. Bookshelf
3. Toy Bins
4. Dresser

• Olivia's Room
1. Bookshelf
2. Wardrobe
3. Crib drawer
4. Changing table
5. Closet

It sounds like a lot now that I've typed it all up.  Ugh.  Some it's not going to be take too long.  I can probably do both bathrooms & the hallway closets in an hour.  And Emma's room has been de-cluttered so I just have to make sure we haven't gotten out of control there again.  Olivia's closet is going to be somewhat of a nightmare because it's basically full of stuff of mine.  Olivia's room used to be my office and when we cleaned out her room I never got to the closet.  *sigh*

I've taken 'before' pictures and I'll post them as I finish.  It's pretty embarrassing, but I'm going to show you anyway!  I worked on my desk today, but I'll post about that tomorrow since this has turned into a 70 page post already!

Here we go!

fray

fray
joss whedon/karl moline/andy owens
graphic novel/supernatural
dark horse comics
published 2003

Hundreds of years in the future, Manhattan has become a deadly slum, run by mutant crime lords and disinterested cops.  Stuck in the middle is a young girl who thought she had no future until she learns she has a great destiny.  In a world so poisoned that it doesn't notice the monsters on its streets, how can a street kid like Fray unite a fallen city against a demonic plot to consume mankind?

ohmygodjosswhedonneverceasestoamazemeheisthebestwriterintheworlduniverse

I picked this up just because it was written by Joss Whedon.  My standard m.o.  Got a couple of pages into it and realized this was the most amazing thing ever!  He followed up the Slayer story a hundred years after Buffy!  With flying cars!  And crime bosses who live in fishtanks!  Brilliant!

Melaka Fray is what I imagine Faith could have been.  She's daring, reckless, grumpy and good.  But it's not your standard slayer story.  She doesn't have the memories, the dreams of all the slayers before her.  She doesn't have the drive because she doesn't have her history.  She's just a girl who can fight pretty good.  But there's a reason and it was surprising, but it made perfect sense.

Of course, I wish this was a series.  At the same time, I'm glad it's not.  It was a good complete story with a bit of mystery at the end that leaves you alone with your own imagination to fill in the blanks. 

Loved it.

Why Joss Whedon is So Rad

Anyone who knows me knows that I ♥ Buffy Summers.  She is my all time favorite ass-kicking heroine.  I have multitudes of Buffy paraphernalia including (but not limited to) The Chosen Collection DVD box set of the complete series, many, many BTVS comic books, the trading cards, and of course, these bad girls:

Aren’t they so fabulous?

So here’s a Quote Day dedicated to Buffy.

'Does looking at guns make you want to have sex?'
'I'm 17.  Looking at linoleum makes me want to have sex.'
-Cordelia & Xander

'I have my pride.  Okay.  I don't have a lot of my pride, but I have enough so that I can't do this.'
-Xander

'You're looking at my neck!'
'What?'
'You were checking out my neck!  I saw that!'
'No, I wasn't.'
'Just keep your distance pal.'
'I wasn't checking out your neck.'
'I told you to eat before we left.'
-Xander & Angel

'Passion.  It lies in all of us.  Sleeping, waiting and though unwanted, unbidden it will stir, open its jaws and howl.'
-Angel

'A vampire in love with a slayer.  It's rather poetic.'
-Giles

'Ooh gang, did you hear that?  A bonus day of class plus Cordelia.  Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!
-Xander

'I've had it!  Spike is going down!  You can attack me, you can send assassins after me, that's fine, but nobody messes with my boyfriend.'
-Buffy

'A black eye heals, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life.'
-Xander

'There are some things I can just smell.  It's like a sixth sense.'
'No, actually that would be one of the five.'
-Principal Snyder & Giles

'Well, every school has them.  See, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids.'
-Xander

'So are we going Bronzing tonight?  Or, of course, we could take a hammer and pound our enemies into talcum powder, but darn it, we did that last night!'
-Xander

'I don't like vampires.  I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good.'
-Xander

'I think I speak for everyone when I say, huh?'
-Buffy

'We saved the world.  I say we have a party.'
-Buffy

'It's like this dream I had about Xander except that it wasn't about Xander, it was about someone else and it wasn't even me, it was a friend of mine and ... she doesn't remember it!'
-Willow

'It must have been wonderful.  To put on some fantabulous gown and go to a ball like a princess.  And have horses and servants and yet more gowns!'
-Buffy

'We're right behind you, only further back.'
-Xander

'I knew it!  Not in the sense that I had the slightest idea what was going on, but I knew there was something I didn't know!'
-Willow

'What are you doing here?  Five words or less.'
'Out. For. A. Walk. ... Bitch.'
-Buffy & Spike

'Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals on legs.'
-Spike

OK.  That's enough for now.  I guess I'll save the rest for another day!