The Saturday Seven - #30
the "um, no, you're right, I did skip a week" edition
So this winter is kicking my butt. Kicking. My. Butt. I am sick for the third time since Christmas. Each time it starts with my boys and then My Old Man and I also get sick. It's all head cold/chest cold stuff, except the second time I ended up also getting bronchitis and sinusitis. Just as I was getting over it, my uncle died and I flew down for the funeral. A week after I got home, I was sick again.
Why am I whining and complaining about it here? Well, it just seems like all this sickness and stuff is throwing me off of getting any kind of momentum at all, with anything, including my Seven Things project. Last week, I only got rid of one thing, and didn't post about it. I was, however, proud about that one thing. It was my old digital camera, which I gave to my mother (who originally gave it to me for Christmas about five years ago). She had mentioned in passing that she sort of wanted one but wasn't sure she'd use it. This way, if she doesn't use it at least it wasn't a big purchase.
I thought I was going to score two big things gone in one week, starting with the camera. I listed this TV on craigslist and immediately got several bites.
Uh, yeah, I really did post taht picture on craigslist, advertising to the world how messy our bedroom is. This TV is seven years old and in excellent condition. I was asking $100 or best offer, knowing not to really expect $100. Of the numerous people who inquired, several seemed like serious inquiries, and one of them communicated with me a number of times. He was all set up to show up last Saturday at 2:00. We cleaned the bedroom. We didn't put the boys down for their nap at 2, thinking we'd wait until the guy was gone. We waited. We called him and left a message to see what was up. We waited. At about 7:00 that night, we finally decided maybe he wasn't coming. We never heard from him again.
Soooo aggravating. But the good news is - we got our bedroom cleaner than it's been in months.
I listed the TV again on Tuesday, $95 or best offer, got a few inquiries and no follow-ups. Why is it so much work to sell stuff? I know if I put it on freecycle it would be gone in an hour, but I really don't want to give it away. I feel like it's worth something and we could definitely use the money.
Anyway, I couldn't show up here after not posting for two weeks and only have gotten rid of one thing, nearly two weeks ago. So I pillaged my bookshelves and found five more books to part with and one unused shower radio. All of these will go to the church rummage sale. Looking through my bookshelves and my clothes closet, I really don't see how I will find any more books or clothes to get rid of. It is especially difficult for me to part with books of any kind.
Even though letting go of stuff continues to be a struggle, and even though I am completely off my game this winter, I do feel like I am making some deeper, maybe long-term changes regarding stuff. On an organizational level, I am finding a new energy to tackle the chaos that is my house. I have done major work in both the kitchen and the boys' room to try to deal better with the things I am keeping - to try to find a place for everything to live and to put those things back where they belong. My mother is so good at this - why did I not inherit the gene that make you put stuff back where it goes? (I also didn't inherit the gene that makes you establish a place for everything to go)
On a different level, I think I am actually becoming a little more judicious about purchases. Partly because I am trying to do better with how I handle our money (i.e., not spend so much of it!) and partly because this project is really making me see how much stuff I have, which makes me far less anxious to accumulate more. Before, I used to see some little inexpensive thing (like at the Target Dollar Spot!), and I would get it if I wanted it and not feel bad about it because it didn't cost much. Now I find myself thinking, "Where am I going to put this, and is it going to be one of my Seven Things some day?"
That's progress, right?
Total gone this week: 7.
Total gone so far: 240.
So this winter is kicking my butt. Kicking. My. Butt. I am sick for the third time since Christmas. Each time it starts with my boys and then My Old Man and I also get sick. It's all head cold/chest cold stuff, except the second time I ended up also getting bronchitis and sinusitis. Just as I was getting over it, my uncle died and I flew down for the funeral. A week after I got home, I was sick again.
Why am I whining and complaining about it here? Well, it just seems like all this sickness and stuff is throwing me off of getting any kind of momentum at all, with anything, including my Seven Things project. Last week, I only got rid of one thing, and didn't post about it. I was, however, proud about that one thing. It was my old digital camera, which I gave to my mother (who originally gave it to me for Christmas about five years ago). She had mentioned in passing that she sort of wanted one but wasn't sure she'd use it. This way, if she doesn't use it at least it wasn't a big purchase.
I thought I was going to score two big things gone in one week, starting with the camera. I listed this TV on craigslist and immediately got several bites.
Uh, yeah, I really did post taht picture on craigslist, advertising to the world how messy our bedroom is. This TV is seven years old and in excellent condition. I was asking $100 or best offer, knowing not to really expect $100. Of the numerous people who inquired, several seemed like serious inquiries, and one of them communicated with me a number of times. He was all set up to show up last Saturday at 2:00. We cleaned the bedroom. We didn't put the boys down for their nap at 2, thinking we'd wait until the guy was gone. We waited. We called him and left a message to see what was up. We waited. At about 7:00 that night, we finally decided maybe he wasn't coming. We never heard from him again.Soooo aggravating. But the good news is - we got our bedroom cleaner than it's been in months.
I listed the TV again on Tuesday, $95 or best offer, got a few inquiries and no follow-ups. Why is it so much work to sell stuff? I know if I put it on freecycle it would be gone in an hour, but I really don't want to give it away. I feel like it's worth something and we could definitely use the money.
Anyway, I couldn't show up here after not posting for two weeks and only have gotten rid of one thing, nearly two weeks ago. So I pillaged my bookshelves and found five more books to part with and one unused shower radio. All of these will go to the church rummage sale. Looking through my bookshelves and my clothes closet, I really don't see how I will find any more books or clothes to get rid of. It is especially difficult for me to part with books of any kind.
Even though letting go of stuff continues to be a struggle, and even though I am completely off my game this winter, I do feel like I am making some deeper, maybe long-term changes regarding stuff. On an organizational level, I am finding a new energy to tackle the chaos that is my house. I have done major work in both the kitchen and the boys' room to try to deal better with the things I am keeping - to try to find a place for everything to live and to put those things back where they belong. My mother is so good at this - why did I not inherit the gene that make you put stuff back where it goes? (I also didn't inherit the gene that makes you establish a place for everything to go)
On a different level, I think I am actually becoming a little more judicious about purchases. Partly because I am trying to do better with how I handle our money (i.e., not spend so much of it!) and partly because this project is really making me see how much stuff I have, which makes me far less anxious to accumulate more. Before, I used to see some little inexpensive thing (like at the Target Dollar Spot!), and I would get it if I wanted it and not feel bad about it because it didn't cost much. Now I find myself thinking, "Where am I going to put this, and is it going to be one of my Seven Things some day?"
That's progress, right?
Total gone this week: 7.
Total gone so far: 240.
posted by earthchick at 6:20 PM
2 Comments:
Hi!
Thank you so much for sharing your 'seven things' idea with the world.
My husband and I spent a very nerdy Saturday night in, child in bed by 8pm and then us on the couch with a DVD and your blog to read - right from the beginning :)
The very best thing about this - we have taken the seven things ideal on at our house. Starting today. We have already made a small dent in our supposedly essential-to-hold-on-to stuff.
I'm going to keep a log of our things gone on our blog: www.harveysathome.com so come and visit any time!
Thanks again :)
It's not that your room is messy, the TV was on and "Mission: Organization!" was playing (though I don't think there are nearly as many piles as that show requires)
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