Treading Water at Home

but kicking butt out in the workplace. I am about to commit, officially, to this side gig of managing estate/contents sales, and get myself some business cards, since I lost count of how many times at last weekend's sale I wished I had one to give out. I also got the domain name, but there's nothing happening there yet. My entrepreurial venture of helping other people get rid of THEIR stuff shall henceforth be known as

Second Impression Objects

Details to follow soon!

Back to my own house... well, I finally got the many, many, MANY toys up off the living room floor long enough today to vacuum the area rug.  That was kind of my big accomplishment for today. 

In recent days since my last post, I DID...

• get the garbage out to the curb in time for pickup today, but the bin was only about 2/3 full.  
• got nearly everything together to sell at the Moms' Club sale this month, and I picked up the tags, so I just need to price them, and clean off a few items. 
• went through a(nother) pile of papers and recycled what could go, put the rest in my to-file box.  
• packed up some extraneous (but occasionally necessary) blankets, sheets, etc. in one of those huge vacuum-seal bags.
• packed up the majority of my summer clothes in a suitcase.
• sold a few more books on Amazon (though I still have boxes all over my dining room waiting to be sent out to the warehouse.)

I'm sure there was more, but life has been so nuts that I can't remember.

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Yard Sale, Take Two

Did another yard sale yesterday, made a little money, got rid of some stuff, and brought all remaining sellable (but not worth selling on Amazon) books to the Goodwill donation afterward.  I am thisclose to being DONE with books!

Other than that, I don't have any huge-huge milestones to brag about.  Honestly, I feel like I have been so busy just keeping up with the house and family/daily grind that I haven't had any time to get PAST the regular stuff to the culling.  Due to a series of not-quite-comical mishaps this morning, my regular chores for the day extended through the afternoon.  The pile of books that is halfway ready to send to Amazon is sitting in the same spot it was a week ago, still half ready.  I DID clean and thoroughly mop the kitchen/laundry/hall/powder room area today, but again, that's just maintaining.  But it looks nice.

I have a few deadlines coming up:

October 12 - drop off consignment items that I will be selling in the Mom's Club Sale.  Yay for not having to ship things!  I have a bunch of stuff set aside already, but I want to get more.  I optimistically ordered 100 tags.  As if.

Week of Oct 22-26 - City of Milford's Fall Clean-Up Week, where you can put as much trash out to the curb as many days as you want to and they'll haul it away for free.  I REALLY want to take advantage of this.  I bought a 40-pack of Glad Forceflex Super Heavy Duty large trash bags specifically for this purpose.  I want to get started on this soon but I don't want a mountain of trash bags piled up on my front porch while I wait for the week to arrive.

Recently Outed

Source: spirituallythinking.blogspot.com via Holly on Pinterest

RECENTLY OUTED:

• Bin Garbage
• Bin Recycling
• Broken Crib - unfortunately, it broke when we disassembled it, but someone came along before the trash men this morning and picked it up, so maybe they'll do something neat with the pieces.  It is missing a vital piece so no worries that anyone would try to use it for a child.
• KitchenAid mixer - SOLD.  This thing was too heavy, valuable, and coveted by others to continue to let it just sit and take up room on my counter.  I've had it 6 years and probably used it as many times.  The girl I sold it to is SUPER THRILLED about it and can't wait to use it - I hope she makes many delicious things!
• 4 more Amazon sales
• 2 boxes to go out to Amazon warehouse today.
• 2 boxes of random stuff ready for yard sale

SOON TO GO:

• Set of Sango Nova Brown dishes with lots of extra pieces- will probably try to sell locally as they are heavy to ship...
• Culling of china cabinet, incl. glasware and table linens
• Clothes still needing to be listed

Ta-da!

Remember that mess behind my couch? I cleaned it ALL UP. And... I rearranged the couch so it is now against a wall - that nook just created a haven for stuff.

4 boxes ready for yard sale.

1box & 1 bag books donated today.

All garbage and recycling out to bin ahead of schedule.

Winter clothes binned & in storage.

To do:
Finish sending new shipment to amazon.

Shoot/list clothing.

Toss old food from fridge.

Pack up Husband's winter clothes.

Cull shoes - a lot of them don't fit anymore!

So. Much. Stuff.

It's Friday morning and I have the whole weekend ahead of me to work on this mess.  I have been busy all week with work, one component of which is handling someone else's stuff for an estate sale.  I think it's the last one I can manage until I am done handling all my own stuff.

I did get a few things out since my last post:

• More recycling
• 1 bag books & 1 bag clothes and toys to Goodwill donation
• Some expired/undesirable food from cabinets

My goals for the weekend:

• Fill trash can as full as I can for Tuesday morning pickup.
• Get some boxes going for future garage sale (exact date TBD)
• Get my butt in the gross, clutter-y basement during son's nap hours and get some garbage out.
• All recycling out to bin
• Wash guest bed linens and get ready to list/sell them.
• Clean (garbage, clothes, etc. out of) cars.

Check-In August 3, 2012

Out: 
1 big bag of trash
Kitchen Compost
1/2 trash bag my clothes ready to donate
1 box clothes folded/ready to list

Other Accomplishments
2 loads of dishes washed
4 loads of laundry washed (2 already folded)
1 small bag of trash culled from back hallway (where stuff wanders off to/laundry area)
Put away SO! MANY! CLOTHES!
90% of cold-weather clothes folded in bin w/cedar & lavender
Found part of my bedroom floor (It's a lovely oak hardwood; I'd forgotten)
Found part of the top of my dresser
Recycled some of my less-than-exciting jars (ie. spaghetti sauce, etc.)

Newly Up For Sale - Lots of books!  Check the links at the top right for some books I'm selling straight from me.  Bargains galore, and I will combine shipping to get you the best deal.  I also have a few more books ready to send off to Amazon and Etsy AND I HAVE HAD 4 SALES THIS WEEK ON AMAZON!

I have 5 items listed on eBay (see toolbar @ right) and they all have "watchers" with several days to go, and 2 of them have multiple bids!  Just little stuff, but that's ok b/c little stuff is easier to mail out.

I need to find some time to post more about the psychology of all this and what is going on in my head.  I have never felt so simultaneously bogged down and free.  Bogged down by so much left to go, but a little bit more free with every package/box/bag/etc. that goes out the door.  And... this is big... I haven't allowed myself to step foot in any thrift stores - only around the back to the donation door!

Out-Count for Tuesday, July 31

Out today:

• full trash bin (picked up/gone)
• 2 cloth shopping bags full of books donated to library (and if I ever want to read them again, I know where to find them!) PLUS we serendipitously arrived there just in time for children's story time.  :)
• 2 sales in my Amazon marketplace (used) shop!

I intended to do a lot more but, you know, life happens.  The beach left me exhausted (and Noah amped) yesterday, and today said son did not take more than a 45-minute nap.  Have a few more clothes getting ready to be listed, some craft books to list on Etsy, and then time to de-stash some craft supplies...

and just for another 1,000 words worth of story, here's a photo of the current state of my dining room/culling workshop.  Don't judge, just love.  And if you see anything you like, let me know!

Out - (Some) Clothes & Books

Out: 3 bags of clothes and an activity table that Noah has outgrown.

About a bag went to the re-sale/consignment shop, and the remainder went promptly over to the thrift store down the street from
the re-sale shop.

After I left the thrift store - without going inside, TYVM - I drove to the UPS store and sent off 2 large boxes of books and games to Amazon to sell in my Amazon Marketplace shop.  More books have been set aside to donate but I haven't made it over to the library yet.  I would say after they are gone, I will have gotten rid of at least 50% of our non-childrens books.

Tonight while I took a much-needed shower (damn this heat) my husband and son cleaned (organized) the fridge, something I've been trying to get to for days.  It still needs to be culled more and cleaned, but at least everything fits in it now!  They also not only took out the trash, but also REMEMBERED TO PUT A NEW BAG IN THE CAN.  A+ boys!

I gave myself a pat on the back for the stuff I've done, but in truth I feel SO OVERWHELMED.  Now, when I look at my stuff, I just see hindrances, things to go through.  Part of me wishes a tornado would just come and pick up the house and take it away.

I ignored the urge to re-read them...

To the recycle bin!

All these magazines went out unopened today (some never read at all).  Don't worry, there are more.

I also have 3 boxes of books sorted to sell, with one of the 3 boxes nearly ready to ship out to Amazon - tomorrow I will print out the barcodes and then I should be able to UPS them out tomorrow afternoon.  One of the more time-consuming ways to get rid of, but good in the fact that it gets them literally out of my way and into Amazon's storage right away before I even sell them.

The rule for keeping (non-childrens) books is that it has to be a rare print, an oft-used reference (that can't be easily replaced by internet, such as a few choice yoga books), or one of those favorite books that we like to be able to pick up and read over and over and over again, ex. Christopher Moore's Lamb, a few Neil Gaiman, etc.  The kids books are a whole other, well, box of books.

Have a box of dvd's ready to sell too, but there are a lot more "keepers" there, esp. in these days of no video stores!

Done today - some books listed, 2 bags of garbage out, magazines out.
Books - in progress
Next up - craft de-stash or clothing