Decluttering...Continued

March 18, 2010 – Day 77

Until I cleaned and decluttered it last night, this drawer was stuffed full of dish cloths, tea towels, aprons, oven mitts, etc. (the wrap and bags were in a separate drawer). I realize now that it’s going to take quite a while to declutter every square inch of my house but the results are rewarding enough to keep me going! Less is more!

Ashley's Birthday Invitations

March 17, 2010 – Day 76

I designed chocolate bar wrapper birthday invitations for my granddaughter Ashley this year. I sent the electronic version for Christine and Ashley to review and I was thrilled when Ashley phoned to tell me she loved them! The chocolate bar wrapper was one of Christine’s creative ideas – it’s part of an entire chocolate themed birthday party she is going to throw for Ashley’s sweet sixteenth birthday next month.

On The Horizon

March 16, 2010 – Day 75

From my work station today, I noticed that the Epcor building is peeking up a wee bit above the Sutton Place hotel. Our offices are scheduled to move into that new building in the later part of 2011.

Bathroom #1 Decluttered

March 15, 2010 – Day 74

The main bathroom upstairs is completely decluttered and cleaned, including everything inside the cupboard under the sink and the cabinet above the toilet. We plan to keep it this way by giving the toilet a quick once-a-day swish and the shower/tub, the sink and tap a quick wipe down after each use. I’ll also give those items an official weekly cleaning, even if they still look clean.

Rubba Scrubba Brush

March 14, 2010 – Day 73

Ken brushed Little Bear with the Flylady Rubba Scrubba for the first time today. Little Bear really seemed to enjoy it and that’s saying a lot because he doesn’t normally like to be brushed.

My Kitchen

March 13, 2010 – Day 72

My new coffee pot is quite a bit narrower than the old one so it just didn’t look right in the same spot. I started moving things around on my countertops to try to find the “right” place for it and that led to a kitchen-cleaning marathon that lasted several hours. I decluttered and thoroughly cleaned some of my upper cupboards and one drawer but it was too much to do all of them in one day.

I love antiques and it has taken me years to find all the things I have displayed on the top of my kitchen cupboards. I know it’s junk to some. I also know it’s clutter but it’s clutter that I love and I don’t know if I’m ready to part with it. My friend Jen and granddaughter Ashley vote “NO WAY” when I’ve mentioned to them that I may get rid of it.

I also like a bit of clutter on my countertops. I wonder what Flylady would have to say about that. lol

New Coffee Pot

March 12, 2010 – Day 71

Out with the old (on the right) and in with the new.

I’ve been looking for a new coffee pot for a while but the ones I’ve seen that I liked were around $100 so I haven’t bought one; however, I saw one today at Costco that I liked and it was only $38 and change so I bought it.

Stuff from Flylady!

March 11, 2010 – Day 70

I ordered the Flylady duster and Rubba Scrubba on February 23rd and they arrived on Tuesday! This is THE softest, fluffiest duster I’ve had in my life! Besides trying a new (healthy) recipe and getting more decluttering done, guess what I’ll be having fun doing this weekend?! :-)

I love the little sticker included with my order – but isn’t that “clutter”? :-)

Pretty Flowers

March 10, 2010 – Day 69

At work this afternoon, my coworker/friend, Apryl, brought her adorable little baby for a visit. I was busy and didn’t get much of a chance to visit while Apryl was in the office but when she was ready to leave, I was just getting off work and she generously offered me a ride home. As we walked to Apryl’s car, we passed Artworks, a unique flower shop downtown – and they had these pretty flowers displayed outside. We were surprised to see the flowers outdoors because it’s still a little chilly out.

We have been fortunate to have had unseasonably warm weather the last few weeks though and seeing these flowers made it feel like spring is right around the corner!

After I took my photos, Apryl and I continued on our way and had a nice visit on our way home.

I Won!

March 9, 2010 – Day 68

At work this morning, James bought me a “Tim’s” coffee - and I won a free coffee! (I started to tear the rim off before I thought to take the picture) It’s so much fun winning things!

A Nice Visit

March 8, 2010 – Day 67

My cousins Valerie and Lauretta had an appointment in the city today and I had the pleasure of having them over for supper and a very nice visit this evening.

Went to Church

March 7, 2010 – Day 66

I used to attend church regularly but haven’t been to a service for many years. However, my son Adam wants to start attending church so I went with him this morning. We went to North Pointe, a church that’s not more than a five-minute drive from my house. It felt so good to be in church again; I came out of the service feeling “clean” and refreshed.

The church is quite large, there are two morning services and a lot of people attend. There are 2 large parking lots for people who attend but between services the traffic is crazy-busy. So busy that they have a traffic cop directing the traffic coming out of the church lot and onto 167th Ave.

Alligator Meat

March 6, 2010 - Day 65

Ken went snowboarding today and Adam drove me to a few places I wanted to shop that are outside my driving comfort zone. We went to Spinelli’s (an Italian grocery store my friend Jen introduced me to a few years ago), Tree Stone Bakery (a bread bakery I discovered online recently when looking for rustic/artesian breads in Edmonton), the Strathcona Farmer’s Market, Buffalo Valley (a meat shop one of the lawyers at work recommended to me on Thursday) and Sun Bake Pita (close to home but I wanted to pick up some things for our movie/snack night tonight). We also stopped at Canadian Tire on the way home and I bought some storage containers that I need as I continue to declutter and organize my house.

Adam and I had fun shopping at these unique places. Buffalo Valley was the most unusual meat shop I’ve ever been to. I bought some buffalo jerky, buffalo salami and ground buffalo meat. I also bought an elk roast to try one day when I’m feeling adventurous. Besides these types of meat, the store also sold cuts of: rabbit, wild boar, llama, ostrich, kangaroo, musk-ox, alligator – and even horse meat!

Workin' Man Boots

March 4, 2010 – Day 63

Ken has been part of the sheet metal union for almost 25 years. Every few years, as with most trades, he gets laid off when things get slow at work. We’re used to the lay offs by now and thankfully, for the most part, he’s not laid off for more than a couple of months max.

Although a week before Christmas isn’t the ideal time for one of those layoffs to happen, that’s what happened in December – Ken was laid off on December 18, 2009. He was out of work for just over two months but started a new job, at a new sheet metal union shop, on Monday. This was the last day of his first week there.

Ken was going to get new work boots before he started the new job on Monday but didn’t get around to it. I imagine he’ll go out and buy new boots this weekend but I love the look of these old, worn, workin’ man boots and wanted a picture before they get tossed.
I didn’t “pose” Ken’s boots – this is exactly how he left them when he took them off at the end of the day.

Closing a File Party

March 4, 2010 – Day 63

At work today, to celebrate a file that has recently been complete (after ten years), our senior paralegal (Brenda) brought in homemade cupcakes and one of the lawyers brought in Tim Horton’s coffee for everyone. It was so thoughtful of Brenda to make the cupcakes for us – and they looked delicious – but I love the feeling of getting healthier (down 23 pounds now!) so I chose not to indulge.

These are the few cupcakes that were left after our little “party” this afternoon.

Decluttering...Continued

March 3, 2010 – Day 62

I spent a 15-minute (with my timer) decluttering session in my computer room today. In that amount of time I was able to empty 5 binders of materials (printed previews of almost every scrapbook kit I ever purchased, printed scrapbook layouts I liked and planned to scraplift someday, outdated photoshop materials, etc.) that I decided are not important enough to keep, especially considering the amount of space they take up. I also took apart 2 factums that I did for class assignments when I was taking legal training about 12 years ago. I’ll sell the empty binders in the garage sale we’re going to have in the summer and I’ll recycle this stack of papers. Decluttering feels great!

Mom's Perfume

March 2, 2010 – Day 61

I bought this bottle of Alfred Sung perfume for a birthday or Christmas gift for mom many years ago; she loved it and wore it often. Shortly after mom died, just over 7 ½ years ago, Ross let me take this nearly empty bottle of perfume and it’s been sitting on my bedroom dresser ever since. I never use it – but because mom loved it, I didn’t have the heart to throw it away. I have a lot of things that mom either gave me while she was alive or I was given by Ross after she was gone, yet none of those things are as precious or as important as the time I spent with her and the memories I have of her.

A few months before mom died, she did a huge decluttering of her house. She said if something happened to her, she didn’t want anyone to have to go through “all this junk”. I don’t think I’m going “anywhere” just yet but I think mom would be pleased that I’m decluttering now. If I could tell her that I’ve been keeping this old, almost empty bottle of perfume just because it once was hers, I’m sure she’d just chuckle and say, “Go ahead Julie Ann, you throw it away”.

Now that I have this picture and bit of journaling to go along with it, I feel like I can keep this memory alive without having to keep the nearly empty bottle of perfume and it’s liberating to have the freedom to be able to actually throw it away.

One Room Decluttered

March 1, 2010 – Day 60

Other than a lamp or an ornament for the magazine rack beside the big chair, my living room is completely decluttered and redecorated! I’m anticipating that it’s going to be much quicker and easier to clean considering how much “stuff” (small ornaments, framed pictures (I'll scrapbook them) and junk out of the coffee table and end table drawers) I packed up to get rid of. I was going to donate everything to the Cerebral Palsy Association (CPAA) on Friday but Ken suggested we have a garage sale this summer and make some of our money back that we’ve spent on all this stuff over the years – so that’s what we’ve decided to do. I donated a garbage bag full of clothes to CPAA but we kept the boxes of stuff to sell. Including some decluttering I’ve done in other rooms as well, I have a total of six boxes filled to put towards a garage sale and I'll have many more by the time I'm done going through the rest of my house.

I’m not following flylady’s zone-cleaning schedule yet but I’ve totally been inspired by her philosophy of getting rid of the clutter - without having to get it all done in one day! Flylady recommends working in 15-minute blocks of time, take breaks, keep your kitchen sink clean and shiny, and give the bathroom a daily 5-minute “swish and swipe” to keep it company-clean at all times. I’ve been doing those things for the most part. I have one bathroom completely decluttered, swish and swipe ready but I still have 2 more bathrooms to declutter before they're ready for the 5-minute daily swish and swipe. But I'm beginning to feel like I’m on top of the housework – and I love that feeling!

Cleaning house like this reminds me of my aunt Joan. She has always kept a spotless house – I think “flying” just comes natural to her. :-)

First BBQ and Way to go Canada!!

February 28, 2010 – Day 59

Our weather has been incredibly warm and spring like for the past week or two. There’s nothing quite like a bar-b-que to celebrate the arrival of spring (I’m hopeful) so Ken and I decided to have our first BBQ of the season tonight.

Ken had just finished watching the Canadian men’s hockey team win the Olympic gold medal game before he barbequed the burgers. I think he was feeling proud and patriotic because he ran upstairs to get a Canadian flag to hold for this picture.

Chicken Dinner

February 27, 2010 – Day 58

For supper tonight, I cooked chicken number two (of five) that I bought from the Hutterites earlier this month. Ken and I both love the new rice/pine nut/raisin stuffing recipe I tried for the first time the last time I roasted a chicken so I made it again.

Ballerinas

February 26, 2010 – Day 57

When I was ten years old I wanted to be a ballerina or a figure skater when I grew up. I didn’t become either :-) – but there’s something about ballet and figure skating that still strike a cord with my soul. So I absolutely fell in love with this artistic rendering of ballerinas the moment I saw it while out shopping today. I wish I could say that I bought it, but I was only looking for a few new, easy-to-dust things to replace all the stuff I’m getting rid of in my decluttering process (buying stuff to replace stuff!) and I simply don’t have a place in my home where this painting would fit in so I left it in the store.

Basement Renos Update

February 25, 2010 – Day 56

Ken has to buy light fixtures to finish up the lights in the basement but he painted the basement floor today. The paint was still wet when I took this picture so I had to take it from the bottom step and I wasn’t able to get much of the room in the view.

We plan to use the basement in part for storage, in part as a space to do our hobbies – and especially for extra sleeping space when my out-of-town children and grandchildren come to visit. For now we plan to buy a couple large area carpets but no extra furniture (we have air mattresses); however, it’ll be interesting to see how the space evolves over time. If I continue to declutter and get rid of enough of my “stuff”, perhaps this space could one day be a TV room and/or a play area as well as extra sleeping space.

Basement Renos Update

February 24, 2010 – Day 55

Ken has been working away steadily on the basement. He put as many of the ceiling tiles in as he could today (he had the framing for the ceiling done before today). The spaces that are not enclosed yet are where he has to do some work with lighting and vents. I am very excited to see the work coming along so well!

Saying my Goodbyes

February 23, 2010 – Day 54

My sister Darlene bought me this ornament for Christmas many, many years ago. I was probably in my early to mid twenties when she bought it and at first I didn’t particularly care for it. Eventually however, this woman and her dog grew on me – and ultimately became one of my favourite things. I cared for the woman so much that even when she fell and broke her arm right off, I couldn’t bear to part with her. I’m pretty sure it was Ken who did the repairs (the best he could, considering the severity of the break) and the woman and her dog stuck with me for many more years.

But now that I’m doing some serious decluttering of my house, I would like to lay the woman and her dog to rest. They’ve been with me for so long that my heart is torn but it is exactly this sentimental attachment to things that keeps me hanging on to too much for too long - and unless my sister wants the ornament back, I’m going to sever my heart strings and let it go. And now I have this picture to help me remember the woman and her dog forever.

8 Days Old

February 22, 2010 – Day 53

I walked over and had a wonderful visit with my coworker/friend Apryl this afternoon – and had the privilege of meeting her new baby! Little Helayna was born on Valentine’s Day. She is so cute, so tiny, so soft and so precious.

Apryl doesn’t live far from me so I walked over for my exercise today – 19 minutes one way but on my way home I detoured to Save On and it probably took about 10 minutes longer. The walk was refreshing and it was so pretty outside with the hoarfrost on the trees.