How Much Longer Will You Be Doing This?

I'm planning to continue decluttering until I feel good about the space we live in. However long that takes. The good news for you is that I'll only keep up the log here at Intentional Winning until the end of the month. So you can see when I reach my goal, I'll do an update and a "I'm finished" entry. In the meantime, I'll toss in some interesting things that will help you win a few more in your day to day life. Things like this handy little resource:

Tired of not knowing how to reach a live person? Here's how to skip the guesswork, courtesy of http://www.gethuman.com/ as printed in Real Simple Magazine.

How to get a human on the line:

Amazon.com: 800-201-7575 Don't press or say anything.
American Express: 800-528-4800 Press 0 at prompts, ignore messages.
Apple: 800-275-2273 Press 0 at prompts, ignore messages.
Bank of America: 877-231-9372 This number goes directly to an operator.
Capital One: 800-548-4593 Press 0
Citibank: 800-756-7047 Press 0# at each prompt, ignore messages.
Dell Tech Support: 800-624-9896 Press 3, then say "agent" at each additional prompt, ignoring messages.
Dish Network: 800-333-3474 Press 0 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Equifax: 866-640-2273 Press 3 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
FedEx: 800-463-3339 Say "representative" at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Hewlett-Packard: 800-474-6836 Say "agent" at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Macy's Credit: 800-280-4356 Press 9, then press 0 at each prompt thereafter, ignoring messages.
Mastercard: 800-622-7747 Press 000 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Netflix: 888-638-3549 Press 0 at each prompt.
Nordstrom: 888-282-6060 This number goes directly to an operator.
Overstock.com: 800-843-2446 Press 0 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Petco: 888-824-7257 Don't press or say anything.
Target Online: 800-591-3869 Don't press or say anything. Ignore messages.
Visa: 800-847-2911 Press 0 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Wachovia: 800-922-4684 Press 00 at each prompt, ignoring messages.
Wal-Mart.com: 800-966-6546 Press 5 to speak to a customer service rep.
White House: 202-456-1414 This number goes directly to an operator.

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Sixteen

Magazines, magazines, and more magazines! I've stopped renewing my subscriptions because I just don't have time to read this many magazines. I also find that I feel guilty when they arrive, I know I've paid for them, and then I don't read them. This is why they stack up. When I do find time, I can buy current issues at a local hospice thrift store for .49 a copy.

Today, 10+ copies of house cluttering magazines!

Pictures From Saturday's Kitchen Blowout!

Left side drawer - Before
Left side drawer - After

Right side drawer - Before

Right side drawer - After

Sorry about this picture, blogger won't upload it properly. Utensil drawer - Before Utensil drawer - After

Pots and pans drawer - Before

Pots and pans drawer - After

Cabinet - After

Towel drawer - afterBottom drawer that had all the paper in it - After

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Fifteen

Dave's big box of memoribilia, chock full of stuff!
When he was done, these were the pictures from years gone by that were duplicates, poor quality, and envelopes they came in.

Today is Dave's day. He spend most of last night sorting through a VERY big box of old pictures. Not shoe box size, more like 12X12X16, pretty big for old pictures. He went through them one by one and down sized to less than a shoe box. Bravo Dave!

We're going to list the ten today by the years past that he sorted through, shared with me, reminisced about, and finally sorted to go into an album. It was really fun learning about him. Especially the pic of him and Lori Adam! Laughing! All this without any prompting from me!

I spend yesterday starting on the garage. I cleaned all four saddles that will be going in the coming weeks. For now, here are the years that we covered in Dave's stories of days gone by.

1. 1985
2. 1986
3. 1988
4. 1990
5. 1991
6. 1992
7. 1993
8. 1996
9. 2000
10. 2001

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Fourteen

So today would have been the end of the challenge if I were just sticking to the 14 days. Not so. I'm on a roll and have so much more to do! I'm going to keep it up until there is order in all my space!

I noticed something the other day that had slipped off my radar. When I noticed it again, a light bulb went off and reminded me how important the "action" step is when the law of attraction goes to work. A year ago I made a vision board. It hangs in my bedroom where I see it each day, multiple times. As I lay here a day or so ago, I noticed the big square in the right hand corner. It reads very simply. "Order in the House" and it was the very first thing I put on the board. I also remember Dave laughing when he saw that. He said, "Now that's a good one! Likely impossible, but a good one." I'm feeling like it's completely possible to declutter and maintain order. I can. I will!

Finally, let me say one more time how easy it's getting to let go. I can barley remember a handful of the things I've already parted with and I am feeling so much better having organization. Also, I've lost five pounds since I started this project! Julie may have been on to something with the letting go of stuff could have something to do with letting go of other weights and measures of who and what we are. These are just a few of my most profound realizations. There really have been light bulbs going off all around me as I simplify and declutter!

My list for today will be added after I take Mason to the Easter egg hunt this morning.

1. Plaid shirt
2. Plaid shirt
3. Plaid shirt
4. Plaid shirt
5. Hawaiian shirt
6. Dress pants
7. Jean shorts
8. Khaki shorts
9. Swim shorts
10. Swim shorts

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Thirteen

Today was Give Away Ten A Day in the kitchen blowout! Dave and I did some serious damage and cleared out a ton of stuff. I took before pics of the drawers but don't have after pics yet. One of the things I'm learning that makes this project so fun, is that after you purge a drawer, it becomes a blank canvas to create new, proper places for the things you do use regularly. Now that we know where we want what, we can pic up some simple drawer organizing tools to help keep things neat. Here's a few shots of us working today and a final shot of all the stuff that went out of the house! A special note to those who have given us generous and thoughtful gifts. If you see something you've given us, please don't be offended that we are not parting with it. We sincerely appreciate the thought, but really need to simplify our home and life. See below.

Give Away Ten A Day - Day Thirteen - Pictures

This is a perfect example of how your drawers fill up. I buy a pkg of pop-up turkey timers every year. They come in packs of two, but I only use one. I keep the next one for the following

year and then when Thanksgiving rolls around, I can't find it.

What do I do? Buy another pkg of two! I had an unopened pkg (2), this open pkg shown (2),

and three (3) loose timers floating around in this drawer.

Dave emptied all the cabinets so we could declutter and only put back what we use.
This is the contents of just one cabinet.

We thoroughly cleaned each drawer and cabinet, including the top of the refrigerator!

I did my fair share!

All this paper was in one drawer. Envelopes, magazines, and recipes. The left side is all that came out of the drawer and the labeled folder on the right is what I kept. Mostly handwritten recipes from family and friends.

This is the pile of everything that we are getting rid of. The bag of paper is not pictured.