Projects

It's spring and the flowers are blooming. After mom passed away we helped Dad replace the old broken blinds on a couple of windows. The old broken blinds could not be opened so you couldn't see into the backyard. With the new blinds, Dad could open the blinds and see the beautiful and colorful flowers he planted in the backyard. It is refreshing to the soul.

These last few weeks Dad has been organizing the house quite a bit. I think it has been therapeutic for him. The house is nearly all organized now, and it is as he likes it. I brought a bunch of mom's clothes and costume jewelry home for keepsake.

Which leads me to grandiose organizing plans for myself. If my stuff were ever organized all at once, I might faint! From all the stuff I have, you can tell I live a full life. There's sporting goods, old school books and notes, cards and keepsakes from everyone important in my life, photographs, negatives, all my hobby things (knitting, soapmaking, jewelry making, scrapbooking, just to name a few). I just read an article in Real Simple magazine that keeping too much clutter in your house is like having emotional baggage. You should only surround yourself with stuff you love.

My Ambitious Organizing Plans:

1. My desk in the home office.
2. My bookshelves in the home office.
3. My CD collection. There's music that I never listen to anymore. I should either have a garage sale, sell them on eBay, or give them away
4. My photography stuff: cameras, tripods, flash memory cards, batteries, product manuals. ALL my photographs, photo books, negatives, etc.
5. My books: how-to's, cookbooks, writing books, knitting books
6. Magazines. Ugh, so many to throw away. Ever try to throw away magazines, only to be lured in by the headlines and before you know it, you think you need to keep every useful article in them, "just in case you visit the Florida Keys some day", or "just in case you want to visit that restaurant later"? UGH!
7. Media supplies: envelopes, folders, notebooks, hanging file folders, printer paper, vellum, printer photo papers, etc. Wow.
8. Toys & Games: you'd think adults with no children don't have much games, but we do.
9. Clothes in the "other" closets.
10. Extra pillows and bedding. Guests can only use so much. Pillows and bedding take up a LOT of space!
11. All my sundries. I'm a sucker for nice-smelling lotions, body butters, sprays, etc.
12. Gift-wrap papers, gift bags, gift tags, gift boxes.
13. Scrapbooking stuff. I converted to digital scrapbooking about a year ago. I still have tons of paper scrapping supplies. They're nice to look at and to make cards with, but I doubt I'll ever use it all.
14. Soapmaking supplies: pot, stirrer, scents, oils...
15. Knitting & crocheting supplies: yarns, needles, yarns yarns and more yarns. Project books. Finished scarves, hats, other projects.
16. Drawing supplies, finished drawings, pencils, charcoal, huge clipboard, coloring pencils, crayons, coloring books. I love them all but they take up room.
17. Beads, string, clamps, etc for jewelry making.
18. Cross stitching stuff: floss, fabric, designs.
19. Stuffed animals.
20. My purses. Don't ask.
21. Candles. I used to love them and people kept giving me candles for every occasion as gifts. Now I have too many.

There's more, but this list is enough. Why do I have so much stuff you ask? Because I have many hobbies. But also because they're all symbols of "possibilities". That's what makes me happy and give me hope. I COULD play with all this stuff and create something beautiful and useful. It's like the joy of window-shopping too. You can imagine the possibilities of what you want to buy, and get joy out of it without actually buying it.

Listgirl is tired from making this massive list. She's off to take a nap now...

But, before I go, I'll share with you this layout that I had started last June before my mom got sick... I finally finished it this week.