So Austin's city recycling cannot recycle keys, but today I found a scrap metal business that does. I'll be visiting them next week. I have inherited many keys to God knows where, so I am glad to find out they're recyclable and will perhaps go toward buying me a Frappaccino or ice cream. I'll try out Southside Recycling on S. Congress Ave. And now I know to take them my random nails and screws that I keep finding everywhere.
Good local recycling link I found today: findgreen411.com; http://www.findgreen411.com/austin-recycle-building-materials.html
Chore for today: Visit Hazardous Waste Disposal to drop off batteries and fluids.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Avoiding Burnout...What am I Feeling? What am I Needing?
I am tired, folks. Maybe I should not be writing about decluttering! Tomorrow will be a Hil Life Administration Day where I take care of my stuff only and steer clear of dealing w/ relatives' clutter. Yay!
Certain clutter is just harder to get through. Today I tackled letters from the 1960s and photos from the 1990s...earlier this week I was on letters from the 1940s and photos from the 60s and 70s. Don't call me a hippie, but I think these personal objects carry more "psychic energy" than old buckets and tools in the garage. It's hard to face others' mementos and decide what is worthy enough to be part of my treasure trove...What do I personally want to remember about this person? What am I willing to pack up and move somewhere else?
It's pretty amazing how many pieces of paper go into the bin...some family members might cringe at that, but honestly, my relatives seemingly never culled their own stuff, so this sweep has to be brutal. And because these are such personal items, this work is extra draining. It's an opportunity for good self-care. The popular questions are "What am I feeling? What am I needing?" I feel excited that I have time to get to the nitty-gritty personal items, but I need to back off some for a few days and rest. Yes, I have a-ways to go, but if I don't avoid burnout, it will take me that much longer to get back on the decluttering horse. (Ugh, is that an awful metaphor? I must be too tired.)
To give you an idea of what I'm looking at, here's a list:
Most photographed in grandfather's photo envelopes:
1. Family reunions
2. Cattle in pastures (If only I could make money off cow photos!)
3. Hunting excursions and dead animals
4. Landscapes
Most photographed in grandmother's photo envelopes:
1. Travel landscapes and landmarks
2. People traveling
And then of course there are the general family photo albums with regular family photos throughout. As you would suspect, the cattle, landscape, and landmark pics are easy to toss. The ones with people are tougher to judge.
What am I needing? To get off the computer and do something relaxing. See ya!
Action tips for any declutterer:
1, If you have photos or letters you don't love or need, consider lightening your load. It is a gift to your family to declutter these items!
2. If you are tired, listen to your mind and body! Back off.
Certain clutter is just harder to get through. Today I tackled letters from the 1960s and photos from the 1990s...earlier this week I was on letters from the 1940s and photos from the 60s and 70s. Don't call me a hippie, but I think these personal objects carry more "psychic energy" than old buckets and tools in the garage. It's hard to face others' mementos and decide what is worthy enough to be part of my treasure trove...What do I personally want to remember about this person? What am I willing to pack up and move somewhere else?
It's pretty amazing how many pieces of paper go into the bin...some family members might cringe at that, but honestly, my relatives seemingly never culled their own stuff, so this sweep has to be brutal. And because these are such personal items, this work is extra draining. It's an opportunity for good self-care. The popular questions are "What am I feeling? What am I needing?" I feel excited that I have time to get to the nitty-gritty personal items, but I need to back off some for a few days and rest. Yes, I have a-ways to go, but if I don't avoid burnout, it will take me that much longer to get back on the decluttering horse. (Ugh, is that an awful metaphor? I must be too tired.)
To give you an idea of what I'm looking at, here's a list:
Most photographed in grandfather's photo envelopes:
1. Family reunions
2. Cattle in pastures (If only I could make money off cow photos!)
3. Hunting excursions and dead animals
4. Landscapes
Most photographed in grandmother's photo envelopes:
1. Travel landscapes and landmarks
2. People traveling
And then of course there are the general family photo albums with regular family photos throughout. As you would suspect, the cattle, landscape, and landmark pics are easy to toss. The ones with people are tougher to judge.
What am I needing? To get off the computer and do something relaxing. See ya!
Action tips for any declutterer:
1, If you have photos or letters you don't love or need, consider lightening your load. It is a gift to your family to declutter these items!
2. If you are tired, listen to your mind and body! Back off.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Pandering to Cat Lovers
So a friend said he'd be more likely to read my blog if it had cute pictures of cats on it. He has zero interest in decluttering. Assuming those who like cats and those who read about decluttering can overlap, here are some photos of my assistant supervisor. He likes to keep an eye on me from the couch. And I am aware that pages with cats get a lot of traffic, so here's my shameless use of his cuteness.
I have read that animals are very sensitive to changes in their environments, and sometimes I wonder if my cat would prefer a simplified environment. Cats are supposedly very clean and fastidious animals. If only he could tell me his feng shui preferences! Hopefully my efforts somehow lower his stress levels too.
 |
He's a fan of the belly rub when we take breaks from decluttering. |
 |
| An artistic shot. |
I have read that animals are very sensitive to changes in their environments, and sometimes I wonder if my cat would prefer a simplified environment. Cats are supposedly very clean and fastidious animals. If only he could tell me his feng shui preferences! Hopefully my efforts somehow lower his stress levels too.
You Can Throw Photos Away?
Yes, more obscure finds in the garage.
I gave Goodwill a slide projector that had a delivery date of 1968 on the box. Mm hmm. And guess what? I still have Kodak slide projector that I am holding onto because I am left with many slide carousels of photos--I don't know if I plan to have a quick slide show marathon to see what's on them, but I have the green guilt about just pitching slides. And what if there're some super cute photos of my relatives? But wait, they already left me tons of paper photos...
You can see how quickly I sound cluttery like them.
My grandparents did some international traveling together, so I assume I'd see slides of them running around Spain and whatnot. However, my grandmother was a bit famous for traveling without my grandfather sometimes. She'd find some friends or a group and go wherever--China, Japan, Russia, you name it, she went there. As evidenced by the gobs of travel brochures, tickets, maps, and knickknacks she accumulated. I love that Grandma was a world traveler and just couldn't get enough. What a free spirit! But I can also see that Grandma used things to hold onto her memories--many things! And she left many photos and slides. I've gone through two or three large boxes of souvenirs and pitched most of the paper stuff. Thank heavens my city has an awesome recycling program! But her photos and slides are just sitting in boxes, taking up space. And I don't plan to move them for the rest of my life, so...
I was raised never seeing anyone throw out photos or slides. There usually isn't a need to do so--but seriously, who needs hundreds of travel photos when they aren't your own? I hadn't considered throwing out photos until I had a professional organizer over a couple times. She confidently told me I don't have to keep pictures. Really?! Awesome, I thought. But it still feels...wrong. Almost disloyal or sacrilegious. But she's right. I have to pitch stuff. These aren't my memories, whatever false guilt tells me. I can keep "enough" ancestors' photos and still have plenty for the trash. While I've recycled the souvenirs, I am still psyching myself up for a serious trash attack on the photos. It's gonna be vicious, people. (Note: My city cannot recycle photos due to the chemicals used. Photos must go in the trash. The other option is to donate them to a community art school.)
I'm not just being mean to Grandma in this discussion. This purge makes me consider my own mementos--I have traveled to several countries and have a good amount of photos and paper stuff, mostly from my late-teens and early-twenties. If I don't streamline what's really important, who's going to want to go through my European museum brochures and souvenir postcards? I've done some sorting in the past, but I don't want to be a hypocrite. The difference is, I get the impression my grandparents never sorted, whereas I've done some here and there. Perhaps it's because I didn't grow up during the Great Depression and I also went through a phase of watching Clean Sweep and Hoarders. Thank you TV and the age of prosperity. You keep me in line.
Final obscure find:
I went to the Salvation Army and gave away some kind of fishing net with an anchor. When I told the man collecting donations to be careful because it was heavy, he said, "Oh, it's a seine." I had to ask him to repeat it and and sure enough, I got home and looked it up and yes, he was right. I've had a seine in my garage and didn't know it all these years. Here's Merriam-Webster's definition:
I gave Goodwill a slide projector that had a delivery date of 1968 on the box. Mm hmm. And guess what? I still have Kodak slide projector that I am holding onto because I am left with many slide carousels of photos--I don't know if I plan to have a quick slide show marathon to see what's on them, but I have the green guilt about just pitching slides. And what if there're some super cute photos of my relatives? But wait, they already left me tons of paper photos...
You can see how quickly I sound cluttery like them.
My grandparents did some international traveling together, so I assume I'd see slides of them running around Spain and whatnot. However, my grandmother was a bit famous for traveling without my grandfather sometimes. She'd find some friends or a group and go wherever--China, Japan, Russia, you name it, she went there. As evidenced by the gobs of travel brochures, tickets, maps, and knickknacks she accumulated. I love that Grandma was a world traveler and just couldn't get enough. What a free spirit! But I can also see that Grandma used things to hold onto her memories--many things! And she left many photos and slides. I've gone through two or three large boxes of souvenirs and pitched most of the paper stuff. Thank heavens my city has an awesome recycling program! But her photos and slides are just sitting in boxes, taking up space. And I don't plan to move them for the rest of my life, so...
I was raised never seeing anyone throw out photos or slides. There usually isn't a need to do so--but seriously, who needs hundreds of travel photos when they aren't your own? I hadn't considered throwing out photos until I had a professional organizer over a couple times. She confidently told me I don't have to keep pictures. Really?! Awesome, I thought. But it still feels...wrong. Almost disloyal or sacrilegious. But she's right. I have to pitch stuff. These aren't my memories, whatever false guilt tells me. I can keep "enough" ancestors' photos and still have plenty for the trash. While I've recycled the souvenirs, I am still psyching myself up for a serious trash attack on the photos. It's gonna be vicious, people. (Note: My city cannot recycle photos due to the chemicals used. Photos must go in the trash. The other option is to donate them to a community art school.)
I'm not just being mean to Grandma in this discussion. This purge makes me consider my own mementos--I have traveled to several countries and have a good amount of photos and paper stuff, mostly from my late-teens and early-twenties. If I don't streamline what's really important, who's going to want to go through my European museum brochures and souvenir postcards? I've done some sorting in the past, but I don't want to be a hypocrite. The difference is, I get the impression my grandparents never sorted, whereas I've done some here and there. Perhaps it's because I didn't grow up during the Great Depression and I also went through a phase of watching Clean Sweep and Hoarders. Thank you TV and the age of prosperity. You keep me in line.
Final obscure find:
I went to the Salvation Army and gave away some kind of fishing net with an anchor. When I told the man collecting donations to be careful because it was heavy, he said, "Oh, it's a seine." I had to ask him to repeat it and and sure enough, I got home and looked it up and yes, he was right. I've had a seine in my garage and didn't know it all these years. Here's Merriam-Webster's definition:
Definition of SEINE
:
a large net with sinkers on one edge and floats on the other that hangs
vertically in the water and is used to enclose and catch fish when its
ends are pulled together or are drawn ashore
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seine?show=0&t=1339336692
Friday, June 8, 2012
Adventures in My Relatives' Garage...Still
Decluttering this house doesn't cease to amaze or at least amuse me when I find things hiding in my garage. At this moment I have three weed wackers in my garage--I had four last week, but a friend took one off my hands. I had three Coleman camping stoves without knowing it--I gave the oldest one away last month, and today I found a secret one hiding in a wooden chest that I had never peeked in. (Tribbles?!) It's another one to give away while I keep the newest and prettiest one. That's the thing when you end up inheriting the belongings of three or four relatives--the buck stops with you, and you end up with duplicates, especially if folks were somewhere on the hoarding spectrum. Yikes!
The secret third stove hiding in a wood chest.
The new and pretty stove I'm keeping.
If they had only kept a current inventory of what was lurking in our garage, perhaps these relatives would not have kept buying stuff they didn't know the already had...Well, maybe the less hoarding relatives could have purged duplicates. Or not. Even though my dad could declutter masses of stuff, I do recall him famously saying that "a man can never have enough coolers." Au contraire, Father. We had some bitter words years ago as I counted about nine coolers in the garage. Last week I parted with two of them with satisfaction and relish--I'm now down to a reasonable three ice chests--gotta have one set aside for fishing and those dead fishies.
I know separate households need their own items, but purging duplicates is a good idea while you're living. Otherwise some poor relative ends up unearthing three or four (or six!) space heaters, buckets, trash cans, tents, what have you. I could have the garage sale to end all garage sales, but yuck, that's a lot of sorting and pricing. (I'll keep on with my slow and steady donating and occasional selling, but perhaps a sale is in my future.) The lesson: if you're breathing, get rid of duplicates now, please. Otherwise you're creating a seemingly never-ending adventure for the living when you're gone.
What the heck is a Coleman Catalytic Heater? Check out the fashion on those happy warm people!
My three weed wackers, plus a cattle prod in the background.
And did I tell you about the two boxes of STAMP COLLECTIONS I found in a file cabinet in there? Do 4 cent US stamps have value today? Do I really want to labor to find this out? Sigh. At least we have the internet to research these things.
If you have any hot donating or selling tips, or you're a stamp expert, feel free to share.
If they had only kept a current inventory of what was lurking in our garage, perhaps these relatives would not have kept buying stuff they didn't know the already had...Well, maybe the less hoarding relatives could have purged duplicates. Or not. Even though my dad could declutter masses of stuff, I do recall him famously saying that "a man can never have enough coolers." Au contraire, Father. We had some bitter words years ago as I counted about nine coolers in the garage. Last week I parted with two of them with satisfaction and relish--I'm now down to a reasonable three ice chests--gotta have one set aside for fishing and those dead fishies.
I know separate households need their own items, but purging duplicates is a good idea while you're living. Otherwise some poor relative ends up unearthing three or four (or six!) space heaters, buckets, trash cans, tents, what have you. I could have the garage sale to end all garage sales, but yuck, that's a lot of sorting and pricing. (I'll keep on with my slow and steady donating and occasional selling, but perhaps a sale is in my future.) The lesson: if you're breathing, get rid of duplicates now, please. Otherwise you're creating a seemingly never-ending adventure for the living when you're gone.
And did I tell you about the two boxes of STAMP COLLECTIONS I found in a file cabinet in there? Do 4 cent US stamps have value today? Do I really want to labor to find this out? Sigh. At least we have the internet to research these things.
If you have any hot donating or selling tips, or you're a stamp expert, feel free to share.
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