Environmentally responsible things to do when decluttering

Environmentally responsible things to do when decluttering

• Practice Swedish Death Cleaning

• Only keep things that work for you in the present

• Recycle things that can go in recycle bin

• Freecycle

• Sell items online

• Gift items

• Donate to charity

• Donate to fundraisers for causes that you support

• Have a yard sale

• Sell to a reseller

What else do you do?

"How does house cleaning reduce stress and anxiety?"

I gave a Quora response to, "How does house cleaning reduce stress and anxiety?"

Ok, here goes.

Look at your living room, kitchen, bathroom right now.

There's a knock on the door. Your best friend has decided to throw a surprise party for you. She's brought everything for the party, food, supplies, guests, including your boss and coworkers!

You open the door. Heck, you haven't even had a cup of coffee or combed your hair.

Do you slam the door or welcome them?

If the house is clean, you're golden, no stress, no worries.

However, if the kitchen had not been cleaned since dinner last night, wet towels from the shower are on the floor, books and snack debris is in the living room, well, do you want your friends and coworkers to think you live like this all the time?

By widespread consensus, social opinion has determined that whether or not a home is clean and neat is a reflection on the female in the home. Married or partner, it's a reflection on the lady of the house. But guys, it's your home too! How many times has the woman in your life "nagged" you to pick up, to help?

If the home is clean, you've made the bed, and no one has marked their territory by leaving items around holding their "space," then you and your household are better prepared to meet life's little surprises.

Trigger warning, passive aggression contained!

And ladies, if the guys won't help, cleaning the house all by yourself, is a great stress reliever. After all, you are channeling your suppressed anger for an inconsiderate, lazy, non-caring, do-nothing household member(s) into cleaning the house!

Excuse me, please, I've, um, got to do a quick sweep of the house before I become the triggering family member.

Why we hold onto things--see if you figured it out

Jenna's Quilt,  by Carolyn Overcash for a writing class

Jenna folded the quilt and placed it carefully into her grandmother's trunk, wiping away a tear as she thought about what she would say to Milton in the morning. Milton hadn't wanted Jenna to come to her grandmother's funeral, much less clear out the home to rent or sell.

The quilt is the last item to be packed away; it is tangible proof of her grandmother's love. Jenna was seven-years-old when she and grandmother started making the crazy quilt. It took them three years to finish it. They used clothing from when she was a baby and toddler, some of her mom and dad's, and some of grandma and grandpa's clothes. As they sewed, grandmother talked to her about her mom and dad growing up as next-door neighbors. She learned how they grew close while doing church activities; how they fell in love and married. Grandmother helped her connect with her parents as they sewed the quilt. The chest was the hope chest grandmother had as a child; it had been her mother's, too; now, it is hers.

As she stroked the stitches on the quilt, Jenna thought about her relationship with Milton. Milton's demands have been increasing in the past few months. He is pressing her to let him move in with her.

This past month, away from him, has solidified her resistance to cohabitating with Milton. He's calling her two or three times a day, wanting to know when she'll be back. He's angry that she is not there to play hostess to dinner meetings for his employer’s partners in her townhouse. He has told her that her home is perfect for entertaining the partners. Milton berates her telling her that she is selfish by staying away.

Staying in her last childhood home has Jenna reevaluating what she wants in her life. She is meeting old friends, enjoying working with her Christian friends on various community projects, and finding joy in singing once again.

Jenna is thankful that her grandmother kept her and raised her when her grandfather and parents died in a head-on collision. They never had a chance when that drunk driver crossed the road and met their car as they were coming home from the airport. Grandmother and Jenna were alive because Jenna stayed home to get ready for the church cantata in which she and grandmother were both singing.

Jenna was upset and angry when her parents and grandpa were not in the church sanctuary, where they usually sat before the cantata. Grandmother helped her deal with her regret and survivor's guilt after the sheriff came to the church to let her and grandma know what happened. Jenna found peace and acceptance with God's plan as they sewed the quilt.

Jenna sobs as she strokes various pieces of clothing, her mom's wedding dress, dad's wedding tux, part of the christening gown her little brother would have worn if he hadn't died in the crash too, never having a chance to be born. She pulls the quilt back out of the trunk and wraps it around her, wraps the memories and love that it represents around her. Her fingers touch the fancy embroidery that outlines the pieces. Here is the first piece Jenna added to the quilt. The stitches are uneven with her childish first attempts. The elegant piece of material next to it is her grandmother's work, where she encompassed Jenna's piecing and made Jenn's first attempts at sewing appear part of the quilt's design.

Jenna remembers what her grandmother said that day, as she combined the two pieces, "Baby, we must always do our best. Others will add to our efforts. The ending result will glorify God. All of us have a purpose in this old world. We'll never know when something small we do touches someones' life for His glory. This piece is lovely, child, sewn with love, the very best sewing you could do. As you learn more and add more scraps, your stitching will get better, but even then, it will still be, just the best that you can do. And God will still use all of it for His Glory!"

Jenna gulps, sighs, wipes her eyes, blows her nose, and places the quilt to the side. She gets up and goes into the bathroom. After washing her hands and splashing her face, Jenna goes back to the trunk. She retrieves a scrap of cloth and adds it to the quilt, finishing the stitching around it with a lovely design in gold thread. Finally done, she pats the final piece, folds the quilt, and puts in back in the trunk.

Right before Jenna closes the lid, she once again touches the final piece, an angel made from a section of the hem of the dress grandma was going to wear to Jenna's wedding. Jenna wants to think of her grandma wearing that dress throughout eternity. Jenna sighs as she pinches her nose between her eyes then rubs the back of her neck at the base of her skull.

Jenna recalls Milton's objections to her coming back home. As her grandmother's only living relative, Jenna had to go home to clean and pack things up. Milton wanted her to skip the funeral and pay someone to pack up the house. That just wasn't right. Tomorrow Jenna meets with Lawyer Davis for the reading of the will. She has been using the upcoming meeting as an excuse to hold off on going back to the city immediately.

Her lips press together in a firm line as she walks determinedly out of the room. She'll talk to Milton in the morning. He won't like what she has to say. She cannot deal with him right now. He and she are through; he just doesn't know it yet!

Brainstorming Your Room's Purpose 101-a different worksheet

Brainstorming Your Room’s Purpose 101

¨  Get physically and mentally prepared

¨  Comfortable chair

¨  Something to drink

¨  Pen and Paper

¨  No distractions

¨  Dedicated time frame

¨  Close your eyes and create a mental picture for each of the questions. Then write the answers down.

¨  Best room in the house

¨  What you like

¨  What you don’t like

¨  Do you like the way the room is used?

¨  Yes, why?

¨  No, why not?

¨  Consider how you want the room to be used.

¨  Worst room in the house

¨  What you like

¨  What you don’t like

¨  Do you like the way the room is used?

¨  Yes, why?

¨  No, why not?

¨  Consider how you want the room to be used.

¨  Creating changes to meet your vision for one room

¨  Decide on a room’s purpose

¨  List what you will change in each room

¨  What you will add

¨  What you will change

¨  What you will take away

¨  Physical room characteristics

¨  Paint

·         Change or Leave the same

¨  Window Covering

·         Change or Leave the same

¨  Floor covering

·         Change or Leave the same

¨  Fixtures

·         Change or Leave the same

¨  Time Line for changes

¨  Scheduling

¨  Hire help or do it yourself

¨  Done

¨  Stuck?  Need help? Contact someone you trust!

Send an email to   creatingyourforeverhome@yahoo.com for your free eBook.

Finding solutions when the "me time" is diminished.

I am cooking a lot.

With the stay at home orders, I find that I am cooking a lot. However, it really isn't the cooking that I mind, it's the cleanup. When I was only cooking once or twice a day, I had help with the cleanup. Now it is a challenge to get the dishwasher rolled to and from the hookup area. Hubby has more muscle mass, and it is easier for him to move the washer.

I solve the problem by starting to handwash more, thus alleviating the need for the dishwasher at all. It is still here, I am not using it. Unfortunately, this creates a different problem. I use bleach in my dishwashing water. I have now ruined about six blouses with bleach water splash. To solve the problem, I started wearing a commercial dishwashing apron. This works wonderfully.

Staying home with the same person or people all the time is sometimes challenging. Some habits must change for all the parties involved to live in harmony.

We have a hug and kiss moment for absolutely no reason, except we want to hug and kiss each other. Either one of us will state, "I need a hug;" then, we will stand, embrace, and give each other a kiss. Therefore, this staying at home edit has increased our together moments.

We help each other do the other's tasks more readily because it gives each of us something different to do.  Now, if I could just get hubby to quit tickling me because it is a fun thing for him to do.

Hubby gets on the computer for three to four hours before I get up and cook each morning. Sometimes I read, and sometimes I sleep. I am reading a lot of free ARC ebooks and writing book reviews. We have started doing maintenance chores around the house as the weather warms. Sometimes together and sometimes apart.

All of the above to say, our forced time together has strengthened our bonds with each other.

So, where do you spend your "me time?" What new thing are you doing with others?.

How to corral children's artwork

Ideas for Exploding Crayola Factory Artwork

Which one of these ideas will you try?

v  Use a Clothesline/thick fishing line and pegs/paper clips to hang pictures. 

§  You can zig-zag across an area or do straight lines, and hang pictures. 

v  Make a border around the top of a room using the artwork.

v  Or scan the pictures and do a slide show. 

§  Get the artist to autograph and date the pictures.

§  Take pictures of any 3-d art and add to slide show. 

§  Use one spot in each child's room to display the

¨      3-dimensional  art project. 

§  New art replaces existing art for display. 

§  The parts of the old project go into a bin for recycling.

¨      A container for outside the home pickup recycling

¨      A container for inside the home, for more in-home art projects.

v  Make a deep frame using a cereal box for each child, 

§  display the latest art at the front.  

v  Let the kids decorate the cereal boxes.

§  (You may even have some gift boxes that you can use.)

v  Put artwork under glass tabletop for display.

v  For a large bulletin board art display,  you will need push pins.

v  Affix flat art to roll up window shade.

§  The amount of art is limited to space on the shade's surface.

v  A folding room divider can hold art on both sides.

v  Display art on the inside of the bedroom closet doors. 

v  Limit art to art on a cardboard "science fair " display holder.

§  The most prized art is to be displayed center front.

v  Make a shadowbox frame for picture display. 

§  Use a document frame from Dollar Store for the glass that fits the box.

Which one will you try?