Out with the old and in with the new

Underwear with holes in them.
Half used bottles of hair products that don't work.
Boxes of rice and canned goods in the pantry that will never get eaten.
Toy cars missing a wheel.
Pens with dried up ink and missing lids.
Traditional Home magazine issues from 1999 (seriously, 1999!)

What do all these things have in common? They are all items I have happily purged from my life in the past week. I recycled the magazines and took the food to the food bank, but the rest went straight to the trash. I'm not sure what inspired me - Dayven threatening to nominate me for the show "Hoarders" or just being tired of shuffling stuff from closet to closet, trying to make more room - but I finally decided enough is enough. I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH CRAP!!

If we haven't used it, played with it, eaten it or worn in the past couple of months, it's outta here. Two years ago, we lived in a house with no basement and now our basement storage rooms are full. Bursting to capacity FULL. How does this happen? I knew it was time to make a change, but didn't have a clue where to start. The thought of cleaning out my stuff is completely overwhelming to me. I decided it is best to just tackle it one junk drawer and closet at a time...

I started out cleaning out the clothing closets - the kids and my own. Why is it that we form at attachment to our crap? What's worse is you start second guessing your decision to get rid of it. "oh! I forgot about this. Hey...it's really cute. hmmm.... maybe I will wear it. I better put it back". or "I paid a lot of money for this! There's no way I'm selling it at consignment". The truth is, if you haven't worn it in the last year or two, you're probably not going to. I loaded it all up and dropped it at our local consignment shop. Whatever doesn't sell is getting donated. It is NOT under any circumstances coming back into this house. Stay strong, Chelsea.

For only having two kids (one who would rather play with a spec of sweater lint), we have an insane amount of toys. My attitude is -- If it isn't being played with on a regular basis, it's just one more thing for me to trip over and/or clean up at night. After just a quick sweep of the house, I was able to load up about 3 boxes of toys. Unfortunately, Wyatt woke up from his nap and caught me boxing up his stuff. He started having the same feelings of remorse when he saw I was getting rid of his junk and started rifling through the boxes. "Oh! My truck!" he exclaimed excitedly. Never mind that it's been sitting on a shelf in the toy room forming a layer of dust because no one plays with it. Somehow the thought of getting rid of it made it more appealing. I had to move the boxes into the guest room (out of sight out of mind) and keep loading them up, then hauled them to the car while he was sleeping. The next day, I dropped them at Once upon a Child and made some quick cash. I promptly spent about half of it on some new outfits for the kids, but whatever. I paid for my shopping trip so it's really just creative recycling!

It is sure freeing to dump your junk. I'm on such a kick shaping this place up, I even cashed in the first of my cleaning visits Santa brought me and had the Green Clean Squad come for a scrub down. I'm quite tidy (I always make sure things are put away in their place), but sadly, I'll admit I'm not very clean (I put off scrubbing the bathrooms until Dayven we can no longer stand them). I was frantically scurrying around the house the night before, putting things away. I was even tempted to actually clean up a little, before Dayven asked "If you're going to clean the house before the cleaning lady comes, what is the point of the cleaning lady!?" True. The next day, I apologized profusely as I showed Geri and her assistant around the house. "We aren't normally this dirty" I explained. She said "No worries, that's what we're here for!" with a smile, which I took to mean whatever. All my clients say that, but I know the truth, you filthy pigs. The house was gleaming two hours later when they left.

Lest I leave you thinking we are complete slobs, I feel the need to explain that we're really not as bad as I make us sound (although there's always room for improvement), but it's easy to fill the space when you have it and we just have way too much. Like most people, our life could use a little simplifying. It is beyond freeing to eliminate the unwanted clutter from your life. I felt the weight on my shoulders getting lighter and lighter with each bag/box I hauled out to the car. Try it. You won't believe how good it feels. It's time to clean up. Simplify. Declutter. Donate, sell, recycle, pitch. The less crap you have, the more time you can spend with your family and friends, doing things you enjoy.