Give Away Ten A Day - Day Twenty-Eight

Here we are on day 28 and I've made some incredible progress. I'm going to share two more days of Give Away Ten A Day progress and get to other, maybe more interesting aspects of life.

Today I finished the guest bedroom. It was a big job but when it was done, the payoff has been so much more than I ever could have expected. When I finished my work for the day, I was walking through our home feeling like it had more space. The hallways seemed bigger, the space felt (feels) lighter & brighter, and things just feel crystal clear! It's as if you are physically weighted down by the things you posses even when it's all stuffed under beds, in closets, and drawers. As much as I would like to go on and on about how good this feels, I simply can't articulate how wonderful it feels to let go of excess stuff.

The list is so much longer than 10 items, so I'm not going to make a formal list. Just scroll down and take a gander at what this room yielded in terms of getting the lead out! Happy Sunday!

Guest Room B&A Pictures

Guest room before - the "catch all" room.

In progress, it gets worse before it gets better!

Guest room after

After from the same view as the before - Nice, huh?

The crap that came out this room...round one. Crap out - round two! Ding! (Sorry Oprah!)

And finally, crap out, round three!

Closet Before

Left side of the closet after cleaning - all the Easter stuff was here before.

Closet after! Yay! Everything has a place!

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Twenty-Seven

I'm still working on the guest bedroom, just completed day two. The list is long and frankly, the more I do, the more I want to do. I'm not feeling any loss or sorrow about the stuff that I'm parting with. As a matter of fact, I'm feeling a new sense of, "Let's get this done and get to living with less." With that, here's today's very long list:

1. Melon colored suit I bought at a thrift store and never wore. Still has the price tag on it.
2. Sully costume Mason never wore.
3. Chore chart that was a gift with purchase.
4. Plastic cauldron.
5. Red basket I received as a gift.
6. Blue boa/scarf.
7. 80's CD.
8. Fairy statue
9. Christmas gift boxes
10. Big box of excess and unused make-up.5 tubes of used lip balm.
11. Rodeo coral w/bull and horses
12. No Diet and Exercise book
13. 15 picture frames
14. Mary Engelbreit print
15. 5 window panels
16. 3 pair REI pants
17. 1 pair Rockies jeans
18. 1 pair boys jeans
19. 1 mosquito net for over a bed
20. 2 Real Estate books
21. Misc. stuff filling the cauldron - a belt buckle, silk flowers, and more!
22. Oprah's Live Your Best Life book - Sorry Oprah!

I Confess

Dave was right, I have way more stuff than he does, or I did. At the rate I'm parting with my belongings, the tables will turn quickly. I don't think he has any intention of parting with his excess, but that's okay because what I have to live in and with will be much less.

I'm in the depths of the project right now and it feels worse than it did when I started. It must be because everything has been pulled out, sorted, piled, bagged or boxed and now needs to go...somewhere, anywhere, it just can't stay here.

Some good news is that there has not been a single thing that I've thought twice about, or been tempted to go back and save. Honestly, I can't remember much of what I've let go. What does that tell you? Exactly!

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Twenty-Six

The Purple Box. I pulled the purple box from the shelf in my closet and determined that yes, some of what was there, I wanted to keep. The idea surfaced again, that "it," whatever it is, needs a place.

The things I'm choosing to keep are several nice luggage tags, a collectible Disney mug, a pair of gloves, and several nice writing implements.

The rest of the junk, a sun glass case, several old hair ties, two Brighton tins, five postcards, an ear piece for a cell phone I don't have anymore, and three cassette tapes. These are the thing that make up today's list of things to give away. That's fourteen things that I say, "Bye-bye!" to.

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Twenty-Five

Today I started tackling the guest bedroom, which translates to, the-room-where-we-put-everything-we-don't-want-to-deal-with. We don't have guests very often, but next time we do, it will be ready to go!

This is a big job and I'm not even close to finished. I'll post a before and after pic when I'm done but for today, here's a picture of the stuff that came out of the the closet so far! I told you I had to do more than 10 each day or I'd be doing this forever! I'm really ready to be living a clutter-free, simple life. I'm one day closer!


Here's a partial list of all that went today:

1. 72 books
2. 2 Pairs of snow boots
3. 1 Scrap booking travel bag
4. 2 Rolls of Christmas cellophane
5. Oodles of glitter
6. 1 "learn to crochet" kit
7. Many squares of felt
8. 12 CD's
9. 1 Hoodie
10. 1 Russian-like fur hat with matching gloves
11. Additionally, 10 Mortgage Planning DVD's, 1 Learn the language of Exotic Dancing DVD - (I didn't), Many tubes of fabric paint, and a deck of cards of "52 fun things to do in San Francisco."

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Twenty-Four

It seems like I've done so much and I haven't made a dent in all I still have to do! How can this be? It seems like everywhere I look, there are piles of stuff. Stuff! Stuff! Stuff!

I have stuff that I need to give to specific people, so it sits on a table waiting for me to package and mail it. You might be wondering why I feel the need to give things to specific people instead of donating them to charity. It's not many things, but as an example, I dated a man for 5 years back in the late 80's-early 90's. He has a daughter who I'm still close to. When his grandmother died, I was given a lovely crystal serving dish. His daughter is now in her 20's and I want to give her this dish.

SO, I feel like I'm getting rid of stuff at breakneck speed, and I'm still surrounded by clutter! I'm not quitting! Today I bought some new t-shirts from Old Navy, seven of them to be exact. As soon as I got home, I went through my t-shirt drawer and got rid of 10 shirts! I'm already implementing my "bring one in, one has to go out" policy.

Today's list:

1. 3 shirts (didn't count the seven I exchanged)
2. 10 CD's
3. 4 magazines
4. Dinosaur toy
5. Mini soccer net
6. Extra car booster seat
7. Large box of Christmas flowers
8. Small picnic cooler
9. 3 Coffee mugs
10. Lg bottle of poor quality body lotion