August 13, 2014August 13, 2014 by clumpaday

Pumpkins and Penance

Clump #207: Clear out kids’ activities container; take basement clump to Goodwill.

I saw this roadside display today!! Not. At. All. Ready.

Here’s one payoff for confronting clumps of long forgotten stuff. I looked into the box below, and — lo and behold — alongside pumpkin-decorating materials, there was the Santana “Supernatural” CD we’ve been missing for years! Hooray! The contents of the box dated from the time I was in charge of kids’ activities for our Quaker Meeting’s Fall Festival. Santana and Rob Thomas’s song “Smooth” was my choice for a cake walk song no one could resist moving to. “Man, it’s a hot one…”

This magazine photo (Martha Stewart Living?) had been my pumpkin decorating inspiration:

I loaded up the car again for another trip to the Goodwill. Along with the non-yard-waste contents of the box were three cleaning devices I had bought in hopes that they’d charm our house into spotlessness. Like Cinderella’s coach after midnight, they ended up, not pumpkins, but more clutter in our house.

I felt so much lighter after depositing this stuff at the Goodwill. It reminded me of my Catholic upbringing and the way I’d feel after going to confession, even though I usually made up my sin list (is that in itself a sin?). “Take these, brother, for I have over-bought. It has been two months since my last donation.”

The grace I seek now is forgiveness of myself … with God’s help.

August 12, 2014August 13, 2014 by clumpaday

Record Setting

Clump #206: Sort basement clumps and take vinyl records to Goodwill.

Today was a day my younger daughter and I switched parent and child roles a few times. Recently she heroically dove into the vast, dark abyss of our basement storage area and sorted out piles. Now my husband and I have to make the tough decisions about what to keep, throw away, or give away. Too hard! She wouldn’t let me off the hook, no matter how many lame reasons I might have had to run back upstairs. We got the vinyl albums sorted and a whole bunch into the car to bring to Goodwill. (Sorry Perry, you didn’t make the cut.)

No matter how bad we might feel about our cluttered basement, this article from The New York Times, about a Brazilian man driven to own all the vinyl records in the world, is proof that it could be much, much, worse. It’s all a matter of perspective.

As I was marveling at the spirit and drive of my daughter, it dawned on me that she might have been avoiding a few important items she needed to cross off her own to-do list to get ready for a year studying abroad. My turn to crack the whip. The Art of Procrastination by John Perry spells out this phenomenon whereby “The procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely, and important tasks … as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.” He calls it “Structured Procrastination.”

As loyal readers know, I often include photos of what I’ve called “the goose of Strasburg, PA,” which I see on the way to visits with my mom. I’m now wondering whether she is actually a duck … a very dapper duck. The most recent of her snappy ensembles was this green and white check, with matching sunglasses. Tucked into her collar was a postcard (has she been on vacation?) from Long Island, with a photo of The Big Duck in Flanders, NY.

Happy tails … er… trails!

August 11, 2014August 11, 2014 by clumpaday

Coming Back to My Senses and a New Challenge

Clump #205: De-clump ironing pile. Again.

Oh dear! I thought I was back over a month ago. Turns out, the hazy, lazy days of summer made it irresistible to take a blogging break. Can I claim busyness and laziness as excuses? The resulting build-up of clutter in areas I had previously vanquished is now annoying and discouraging, not to mention downright embarrassing. Oh, and I forgot: I was really going to try to be more accepting of myself.

It occurred to me this morning that I should start another 30-day challenge. Two of my husband’s sisters will be visiting in September, which is a wonderful thing. I blithely thought, “I’ll just start the challenge a month before their arrival date.” Then I realized … uhhh … that would be TODAY. Nothing like a deadline to snap me out of this rudderless-boat-in-the-middle-of-a-bank-of-fog world I’ve been inhabiting. I’ve had a particularly bad time with calendars ever since my surgery. I’m afraid the surgeon mistakenly took the calendar-awareness part of my brain out by mistake.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

I had meant to jot down an appointment, and instead this, above, actually happened. We wouldn’t want to forget that it’s June 11th on June 11th! (Help me!)

For those very precious longtime readers of the blog, you might remember a certain struggle with a very large clump of ironing in days of yore. Well … laundry mountain rose once again:

To get myself moving, I watched a favorite ironing movie while I worked, “Sense and Sensibility,” starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Nothing like a Jane Austen story to sooth the raging clump devouring our chair, clothing, and peace of mind. Something was wrong with the movie player/television (????) (technophobe alert!), and for some reason I could only get it to play in black and white. I ended up really enjoying it, though. The images of Regency England costumes and countryside were elegant in two colors.

“Judy, dearest, how long has it truly been since you put iron to cloth?”

I’m always tickled by the look of despair on the faces of this family upon first sight of the house that represents their reduced circumstances:

Such a terrible pity! Such a hovel! The inhumanity!

At least they could still employ two servants…

who, presumably, did their ironing.

April 28, 2014 by clumpaday

Cleaning Product Intervention

Clump #203: Confront cleaning products; sort and disperse.

Recently we had to move our cleaning supplies from under the sink due to a leak, and since then they’ve been schlepped to the dining room, down to the basement, and, finally, of course, now to the study…the overflow room.

I reduced the products to two bins. The items on the left were all I’ve really needed in the past months. On the right, more cleaning products than I really need, but I will store them below the sink again, nonetheless.

These ones I’ll store in the basement, as back-ups to the ones above which, again, is more than I need.

Under the sink, amidst a number of dried-out tea bags that had missed the trash can, I found this Honest Tea bottle cap:

I hereby vow to change one thing: No More Buying of Cleaning Products until I use up all of these. I will remember that buying a cleaning product is not the measure of a good housekeeper. It’s putting them to use.

April 27, 2014May 3, 2014 by clumpaday

A Broken Record

Uncategorized
Decluttering, Flowers, Life, Nostalgia, Photos, Simon and Garfunkel, SNL Shorts
2 Comments

Clump #202: Deposit son’s coins; glue catch-all; keep emotions in check.

I was on the verge of tears several times today. I could blame it on the weeping cherry tree, clinging onto its last flowers today, that grows beside our Quaker Meeting.

Next, I saw an old photo featuring our son when he played a wise man many years ago in the Christmas Nativity (a poor photo of a poor photo). Ahh, with the little impish grin, he bears the gift of sharp nostalgia.

I watched a recording of SNL Shorts, short films aired on Saturday Night Live through the years. The show ended with scenes of people meeting each other at an airport, set to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound.” Cue the waterworks. (The only place I could find it was on “BUCKNACKT’S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG. Not sordid or tawdry at all!)

Today’s clump was depositing coins in our son’s bank account … over thirteen dollars!

They were stored in a broken, molded vinyl record he had been using as a catch-all. I thought I’d have to throw it out …

but I got some krazy glue and put it together. The last little piece almost had me in tears … and my fingers have a gluey coating now, but I finally succeeded.

Not perfect, but still useable.

Two dear friends generously gifted us with lovely cut daffodils. The ones below resemble clusters of yellow butterflies. In the corner, looking on, are the remnants of the other, earlier gift.

I know I have a bit of a problem holding on to things, but you have to admit they do possess a different kind of beauty.

My broken record message is: life is fleeting! Told vividly by kids, trees, flowers, even money.

Soak it up while it’s here.

April 26, 2014 by clumpaday

The Gift of Less

Clump #201: What’s in this basket?

Below, a basket of stuff clogging up the study … another instance of the old dash-and-stash before company is about to arrive. It’s the root of clutter-evil for me! In the case of this basket, much of the contents are Christmas (!) (I know) presents that weren’t quite right, needing to be exchanged or returned.

At first it was a case of “out of sight, out of mind,” then eventually, when it did enter my mind, I had the aversion response: “Oh, I’ve left them too long, it’s probably not possible to return them now… bad me!” which, ironically, leads to more procrastination.

So today I dug in. I called TOM’S, where I purchased the “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” tee shirt. I spoke to a very nice young man, and when I mentioned how small the sizing was, he explained they are “California sizes.” “Everyone is smaller in California.” I had never heard that one before! He mentioned that there, he has to buy a 3XL, and so he really can’t find any clothing. Huh! Good experience number one.

Next I returned a pair of slippers for our younger daughter, who had kindly told me she does not wear slippers. Yet another chapter in my life-long quest to get her to put on something warm and her life-long quest to make me understand that she is not cold. When will I learn?

I had bought them at Lands’ End, so I took them to the L.E. department in our local Sears. Piece of cake. No time limits, no problem.

Approaching basket clearness!

April 25, 2014 by clumpaday

Two Hundred Clumps and Two Quotes

Clump #200: Sort out small bag of toys; take a big batch of stuff to the Goodwill.

I didn’t really see this coming, but — hey — 200 clumps! I always feel as though there should be a balloon drop at times like this, but I’ll settle for a leaf drop with rain drops, seasonally appropriate or not.

I sent the photo below to our son, who said all he wanted to keep of the “games, etc.” pile was the kite and the Knot Tying kit. I packed the rest up with a bunch of other items designated “give-away,” and gave them away.

I stumbled across this quote today and it seemed highly appropriate to the challenge:

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” –Confucius

It’s been a learning experience trying to anticipate what will be kept (knot tying kit?). The things we keep tell a story about ourselves. Going through our son’s books told a story of a musician with very deep thoughts and an appreciation of humor. I hadn’t remembered the book pictured below.

I flipped through its pages and this quote stopped me in my tracks:

Sending the power of love to you.

April 24, 2014 by clumpaday

Study Purge, Take Three

Uncategorized
Decluttering, Earth Day, Flowers, Life, Photos
2 Comments

Clump #199: Clear out accumulation of clutter in study; throw out Christmas flowers. (Yes, that’s Christmas flowers … stay with me.)

The study … you know, the subject of several previous clearings and relapses? This week it was the receptacle for sorted piles from our son’s room. Oops … I did it again.

Three non-family members visited today, two repairmen and a friend. Wouldn’t you know both visits required time in this cluttered study, the least picked-up room in the house? Groan! I decided to rid the room — again — of all the piles.

First up: the exploded bag of shredded paper. Ugh.

The day before yesterday was Earth Day and I’d picked up this hand-decorated bag at a local grocery store. Good tips!

It heroically contained the mealworm-like paper shreds and saved both the corner of the study and my temper.

Funny how the presence of outsiders makes you see things you can’t believe you’ve let go. Case in point: a pot of paperwhite bulbs given to us at Christmastime. I guess I was so grateful for their promise of spring, fragrance, and life, even when dried out. Out they go. The pot is soaking in water with white vinegar, which will clean it right up.

Also going out, the poinsettia. I’m tired of the dropping leaves, even as beautiful and shell-like as they are. (Photo taken on the top of the stove.)

It’s daffodil and tulip time now, after all.

April 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Facing Technology Fears

Clump #198: Sort through bag of gadgets in the 30-day, 30-post Bedroom Blast Challenge: clear out son’s room before he returns … soon!

Not that anyone would necessarily notice, but I’m clearing out the pile labeled “Technology 2” before “Technology 1.” Why? Well this was the less scary of the two technology piles — scary, in this case, referring to my anxiety while facing an array of gadgets I can barely identify:

I noticed that the Easter hen was positioned as if watching the sorting process (“keep” on right, “recycle” on left). She, with all her eggs gone, was an apt symbol for my bereft state, recovering from the final exodus of our holiday guests. From this lonely place, out of the blue, came a phone call from our son, who was ready to help with another clump. The perfect antidote!

What followed was a technophobic mother trying to describe different gadgets and gizmos to a techno-savvy son: “Well, it’s a black cord.” “Is it a guitar cord?” “What does a guitar cord look like?” … Good grief! It was like the blind leading the sighted. But we got through it.

This was the sky tonight on my way home from doing an errand:

Light in the darkness.

April 21, 2014 by clumpaday

Now You See It…

Clump #196: Sort son’s shoe collection; day 21 of the 30-day, 30-post Bedroom Blast Challenge.

Simple, straightforward and swift was this clump. Our son was able to eliminate three pairs from the remaining shoes in his room. I put up his shoe holder and placed the keepers there.

Done.

The beautiful eggs I documented in the last few posts are now just a memory. I took this photo right before clearing and cleaning the plate.

It brought to mind Buddhist sand art. While googling the images below, I found this description on Wikipedia:

“The Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand. A sand mandala is ritualistically destroyed once it has been completed and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished to symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.”

This, in turn, brought to mind some flowers I’d photographed at the dentist’s a few weeks ago…

One blossom looking finished, the next in transition:

Enjoy me now!

Clump A Day

postcards from the clogosphere

Tag / Decluttering