What a crazy ride this year has been already. I haven't even scratched the surface of everything that is going on. There are some hard emotional issues in the mix. On top of that, my mother is in Hospice care, and Trey's father is in Hospice care. We just made a whirlwind trip down to Texas, so we could all say goodbye to him. It's heartbreaking, and I find myself on the verge of tears almost always. Sometimes I start to fall into the self-pity trap. Well, you don't have to do this today. You have a lot on your plate. Blah, blah, blah. That might work for some people, but I can't stop. If I stop, I will just fall into old habits and continue to be miserable. Change is my self-care. I need self-care. It felt really good to walk into my clean and decluttered house last night after a very long and, at times, scary (thank you snow storm) road trip. Is my house fully decluttered and super clean? No. But it is clean, and I have done a lot of decluttering. It just made me want to continue on.
Last month, I had the goal of clearing out the storage space. We were spending $223 a month on that stupid space. Friday I finished. Woo hoo. I had to pay $250 to have someone haul away the old piano, so we are saving no money in February, but we will starting in March. I'm glad to not have to worry about it anymore.
Before our trip to Texas, I decided to tackle something that I had to think about first. I have a tea cup collection. I have really enjoyed it. It started to just feel like too much though. I have this awesome glass cabinet that my husband got me. We haven't been able to find the keys to it since we had to move out because of our flood. Last week, we found them! I had far too many tea cups for the cabinet though. I didn't want to just pile them back in the way they had been before. It was surprisingly easy to sit down and pick out my favorites and give the rest to the thrift store. Some of them were old and collectible that I gave away. Some of them that I kept are mass produced from the 70s. It doesn't really matter though. I kept the ones that meant something or that really gave me joy. I gave most of them away. When I put them in my cabinet, I had room for three things of my grandmother's that I have as well as a tea pot and a few other things. I love that cabinet now. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and clean the glass, but I took a picture anyway. Now, when I look at that cabinet I don't think, "Gosh - if the kids bump that, everything is going to break." Now, I think, "I love this!" That is a pretty cool feeling.
Last month, I had the goal of clearing out the storage space. I achieved that goal! This month, I have the goal of clearing out the garage. I was really upset today, and I just wanted to curl up in a corner. I walked into the garage and instantly felt completely overwhelmed. I wanted to sit on the floor and cry. Instead, I said to myself, "Five things. Five things. Five things." So, I found five things to toss easily. Then I walked back in. I decided that I wasn't going to do a thorough cleaning and decluttering. I would just start with a quick once over. I realized that with the emotional state that I was in, I could not make a lot of decisions. So, pretty much anything that I had to think about got put in a pile for later. It was a good decision because here's what I trashed:
I would say that is not bad for a "once over." I also found some things to give away. Most of the following picture came out of the garage. I have started keeping a bag by the front door for giveaway things. It's handy. I still feel like there is so much to do, but I keep reminding myself that it's baby steps. I'll get there or go crazy trying. Some days I am not sure which.
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