Monday, January 27, 2014
The Antiques Road Show is Coming....
It's finally happening. A few years too late for me in some ways, but still, it's exciting. If you have possibly valuable furniture, you can contact PBS' appraisal road show and maybe hear the cha-ching sound when some expert tells you what it's worth. Or you can just enter the drawing for tickets and enjoy all the old stuff from Texas homes. And from what I have seen, Texans have got some pretty interesting old stuff laying around. To see the 2014 tour locations, check out the show's site and then apply for tickets--for Austin, the deadline is in April. (I might send in some photos of some items, but I'd be happy to just attend.) This truly is one of the happier ways you could declutter.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Garage Returns, and Happiness in 2014
I haven't written here in a while...
I have some tiny bits of info. Shred day got rained out so I now have two boxes of papers sitting in my trunk...I think the next free shred day is in March. I'm stubborn and frugal enough to hold out because shredding service seem to run about $40 for small jobs here. Maybe the desperation to be rid of boxes will get me to cough up one day, but geesh!
Tonight I grabbed a few small boxes from the garage and was amused and dismayed (as usual) to find:
Pretty typical! The garage is much easier to tackle in cooler weather, so I should consider a weekly visit and sorting in there this winter.
Traveling in an airport last year, I bought Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, where each month she tries out common self-help habits to see if they really make here life happier. It became a bestseller, and I confess I only read a few chapters so far, but she does tackle the "organize your home" habit. She mentions that not many studies have been done relating decluttering to happiness, but the common knowledge out there is that cleaning up will lead to less stress. Hmm. If anything, I'd say having a to-do list hanging over your head--as in, get rid of a bunch of stuff--does cause stress, and as I slowly but surely unload things, I do feel some triumph and like I'm moving on with life. The more time goes on, the more I want just my own stuff--not the stuff of relatives--hanging around my home. And aesthetically, I am tired of seeing the stuff. I am still surprised (but not) by the little random items I find--and as amusing as it can be, here's hoping I can part with many of these things in 2014.
I have some tiny bits of info. Shred day got rained out so I now have two boxes of papers sitting in my trunk...I think the next free shred day is in March. I'm stubborn and frugal enough to hold out because shredding service seem to run about $40 for small jobs here. Maybe the desperation to be rid of boxes will get me to cough up one day, but geesh!
Tonight I grabbed a few small boxes from the garage and was amused and dismayed (as usual) to find:
- A box of my great-grandmother's letters, postcards, and Christmas cards, the Christmas cards mostly from 1967--when stamps were four or five cents. I wish there was a market for canceled stamps, but I haven't really found much info saying it's worth finding buyers. I will say the retro Christmas cards are kinda cool--and many are the size and shape of a business envelope. Sadly, I doubt the thrift store will take used cards. I'm sure some art student would like them, but...it's a lot of trouble to find said art student.
- A box of quail and duck shells from 1985.
- Hand grip exercisers. (Ouch! Never could use those.)
- Walnut grabber pick thingies--what are they called?
- A dusty turtle and frog figurine.
- A relative's paperwork from 2002.
- A cool retro metallic but beat up measuring tape.
Pretty typical! The garage is much easier to tackle in cooler weather, so I should consider a weekly visit and sorting in there this winter.
Traveling in an airport last year, I bought Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, where each month she tries out common self-help habits to see if they really make here life happier. It became a bestseller, and I confess I only read a few chapters so far, but she does tackle the "organize your home" habit. She mentions that not many studies have been done relating decluttering to happiness, but the common knowledge out there is that cleaning up will lead to less stress. Hmm. If anything, I'd say having a to-do list hanging over your head--as in, get rid of a bunch of stuff--does cause stress, and as I slowly but surely unload things, I do feel some triumph and like I'm moving on with life. The more time goes on, the more I want just my own stuff--not the stuff of relatives--hanging around my home. And aesthetically, I am tired of seeing the stuff. I am still surprised (but not) by the little random items I find--and as amusing as it can be, here's hoping I can part with many of these things in 2014.
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