One of the first areas I tackled last week was our coat closet. I have no idea how it gets as bad as it does but it is like a magnet for all things misc. Even if I had a before picture I would not share it with you all. lol! There were coats and jackets crammed in from wall to wall so the first thing I did was take them all out and really look at which ones were needed and which ones could go. I ended up saving a light jacket and a heavy coat for each person, that is all anyone really ever needs anyway. The rest I donated along with the extra pairs of hats, gloves and scarves that were filling the space. All the shoes, and bags and random misc got sorted through, donated and what was left I returned to their proper area of our home. Now all I have in the closet are the coats and jackets I decided to keep, my carpet vacuum and my little hard floor vacuum, a bag of pet items(leashes, doggy coats, water bottle, etc...), a basket of the hats, gloves and scarves and a package of lens cleaners.
Feeling satisfied with one closet I moved down the hall to another closet that was also turning into a black hole.
This linen closet has never been used for linens. For one, even though it is on the main floor and across from the main floor bathroom and bedrooms, we don't use the bedrooms on this level as bedrooms. We have never had that many bathroom items so what we do have fits just fine in the little bit of storage the bathroom offers itself. This linen closet because another catch all pretty much the day we moved in, if we were not sure where to put something we put it in this closet. I was surprised when I started cleaning it out how much was in there and it was obvious that various members of the family had been stashing randoms things in this closet over the past year. I threw away two grocery sacks of junk and the rest was able to donate or put where it belongs. Eventually what I ended up with was a top shelf filled with boards games we still like and then our box of geocaching supplies and our weather radio on the very bottom. I was so excited about THREE empty shelves! If we don't have to move before the baby is born however, I have plans for those three shelves....more on that later. :-)
In addition to cleaning out the two closets I managed to donate EIGHT bags of clothing to a few families in need and about SIX large boxes of random items to a benefit garage sale they were having down the road. I also sold a few electronics that we were no longer using, a bike that I have now accepted is too tall for my short legs and a bag of expensive construction toys that my kids are done with. I ended up making about $150 which ended up being just what we needed because hubby got invited to a job interview in our home state and we were required to pay for meals and rental car(they then reimburse) while they paid for the flight cost and such. If I hadn't sold those items we wouldn't have had enough money to pay these upfront cost and hubby could have missed out on a great opportunity.
Speaking of the interview, it went fabulous! I was super excited to hear the report from my husband when he called and told me how well it went however my excited was brief as I learned where we would have to live if he took the job. While it was much closer to family being a 5 hour drive instead of the 24 hour drive we have now, the area is very dangerous and the climate very harsh. Crime is rampant, health care is horrid and hubby would have a very long and fairly unsafe trip to work and back each day. It has become pretty clear that this will probably be an opportunity we should pass on which saddens me but at the same time we want our family to safe above all else.
One final comment about progress being made in our home this past week......I have finally reached the point in my pregnancy where my feet have completely disappeared! hahahaha! I hadn't notice until last week I was looking down to see if my shoes were free from mud that I had just walked through and realized I couldn't see my shoes at all. This made me laugh but also made me smile because it was sign that our little girl was growing and my due date is getting closer.
This week I plan to continue making progress although I have come to terms with the fact that it will be slow and that is ok so long as I am moving forward. My tentative plans for this week include.....
Going through homeschool stuff and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of
Going through books and narrowing down our collection
Starting a box of hand me down items I want to keep for the new baby
Going through craft supplies and pairing down
Getting the office cleared out as much as possible
Creating a home management binder...again
What are your goals this week?
