Tag: downsizing

Breaking My Hiatus from Blogging

Hey, sorry it’s been two months since I last posted. My last post asked some hard questions, and I will answer them here:

How will I downsize? I downsized from a 3-bedroom/2-bath house of 1,600 s.f. to a 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment of 897 s.f. As you may know, with my problem with papers, I had a hard time getting through them. My husband said, “Just take what you will need and leave the rest.” That’s not an easy thing to do. The “hoarder” in me said I needed to touch every piece of paper. I wanted to just pack them all up to deal them later, but nooo, he wouldn’t let me do it.

What should I do with my things? A couple of friends want to make money so they can attend an international convention next year, so what better way to help them than to donate my things to their garage sale?

How will my son stay behind to finish the fall and spring semesters? My son has to finish his schooling in Fort Worth, so he stayed behind. It’s a long story, but he is staying in two places, one is a trailer near the school, and the other is an RV that he stays in on the weekends.

What about Lucy, my golden retriever? For weeks I tried to get her rehomed through the Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas. But being 14 years old, and arthritic, it came down to that she was in pain, and her quality of life wasn’t good anymore. I made the painful decision to have her put to sleep. An upcoming post will celebrate my life with Lucy.

Can I handle the cold weather of Ohio? Let’s be real: it’s cold in Ohio. I haven’t worn stockings since 1987. But I got a set of thermal underwear and a pair of rubber boots, so I’m good to go.

So there you have all the answers you were dying to know for the last two months!

Fall 2018 Moving Challenge

This post started off as “Fall 2018 Cleaning Challenge Week 4” to talk about decluttering my office, but I have some big news:

WE ARE MOVING TO COLUMBUS, OHIO!!!

Now, decluttering the office has changed to downsizing our possessions by 1,000 square feet. We have two weeks to pack and then make the 16-hour drive in a car and U-Haul to move into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment that is within walking distance of work.

It’s been a difficult process going through our stuff. I’m a glass collector, so I have glass vases and paperweights from the 80’s. I have photo albums and pictures, craft paper, and stickers.

I also have stationery and letters. I have practically every letter, wedding invitation, birth announcement, and graduation card I have ever received, so my hanging folder box weighs 10.8 pounds and I cannot fit one more card into it. When I hoisted it up to show my husband, he did his best imitation of Sheriff Brody from Jaws and said, “You’re gonna need a bigger box.”

My husband has computer books and Bible notes he took where he wrote in microscopic-size lettering. I offered to scan them, but he said no.

My son has put many possessions on Letgo. He has sold a number of items such as a motorcycle jacket and LEGO. He is willing to let go of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid set and LEGO books.

He wanted to sell our Yeti cooler, but my husband said, “No way! Mom and I are going to use that when we go on all of our camping excursions.”

Crickets chirping…that would be a hard NO.

We’ve gotten rid of childhood books, magazines, a coffee table and two side tables. But no one seems to want DVD’s anymore.

I’ve discovered I have an obscene number of notebooks, papers, and pens. It’s not completely my fault. Every time my husband went to a vendor event, he came home with them. Then there’s all the notebooks the teachers required we get for our kid for the school year. You have to buy one for each subject. After a number of years, I stomped my foot and said, “NO, I will not buy any more of these notebooks!” Or #2 wood pencils. All the kids started using mechanical pencils, so what was the point of buying them?

Notebooks and papers and pens, oh my!

The house is in a mess. Our Akita, Kumo managed to sneak into my bedroom and gnaw on some of my jewelry boxes. I think this week he has been in my room more times than in the last 9 months. Fortunately, he didn’t swallow any jewelry. Imagine me for the next two weeks, walking behind him every time he did his business, to find my emerald ring….

I still count the number of things I discard. Why? It increases the likelihood of succeeding.

“Measurement itself creates improvement.”

“Track a specific outcome makes it more likely to improve.”

Here’s my results:

  • Total things gotten rid of: 670
  • 10 lbs. of papers
  • Packed 5 boxes

The downsizing has been hard, both physically and emotionally, but in the end, I believe it will be beneficial.