Box update: at work

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am moving from a spacious cube at work to a much smaller cube. I am supposed to self-move on Tuesday but am unclear as to whether my phone and LAN will be moved by then. Thursday was my last day in a job I'd held for 8 years and after cleaning out my new cube (of dirt, dust, and office detritus) I realized that I needed to do some more "shedding". So, I got to it and cleaned out several older boxes. When I left yesterday, there were 6 boxes (one of which has my computer stand and foot stand) and two large plants. I know there is one box that I still need to go through but I am still feeling good about the amount of stuff I let go. I feel like I can start fresh in my new job.

Monday I have no plans (well, that isn't entirely true - I have many things on my list but nothing I have to do). I am hoping to spend some of it refreshing my knowledge of Getting Things Done and 43 Folders. Getting a new job means I have a fresh start and I want to have a plan!!!

There is no "away"

What if you no longer had garbage? Think about it. We have a piece of garbage and we say, "I am going to throw this away." Where is away, exactly? There is no away. If you create garbage and throw it "away" it goes somewhere else on earth. And if it is toxic? Then it becomes someone else's problem. Portland, OR is rolling out (pun intended) new roll carts. One is for mixed recycling (paper, plastic and metal) and one is for yard debris. The idea is if they make it easier to recycle, we won't throw recycling in the garbage.

But what if you took a different tack entirely? What if your goal was zero waste? That is what the city of Vancouver, British Columbia is thinking about. Read the Worldchanging article here.

Another teeny box and a med sized box

I think I must be on a roll.

Teeny box

Last week I never got a chance to go through anything. Today I emptied a teeny box. I did give 4 bags of kids clothes away today but they weren't part of my original plan. (But I am still happy about it).

I am in a situation at work where I got a new job and will have to move from a fairly spacious cube to a very small cube. I am also going to a new job so I have the opportunity to shed a lot of the accumulation of 8 years in the same job. I have a feeling there will be a lot of clutter clearing in the next week or two.

The best part of clearing out clutter

$47 found! Cha-ching!

The worst part:

$130.00 in birthday checks from 1997. :(

Here is my weekly report. First, I went to clear out another of my small wicker file boxes and, ta da! It wasn't mine! So I put it on W's desk (he hates when I do that) and now it is one more box out of my office. I also looked through the files that were outstanding from last week. I got rid of a box (I still have a pile to shred and a pile to put away) and I got half way through another box. The pile dwindles...

In another room, I cleared off my dresser which hadn't seen the light of day in a while. That felt good but I still have a small drawer to go through.

Summer cleaning

As I recently wrote about, I made a weekly appointment with myself to go through one box and bag per week. This week I was not able to do this task on Wednesday at the scheduled time but instead worked on Thursday. I went through a small wicker file box which mostly contained bills and receipts dated circa 2002 to 2004. Sigh. I was left with 3 file folders to go through in depth, a pile of paper to recycle and a huge pile of paper to shred. I did this and ended up with three bags of shredded paper in addition to the pile of paper to recycle.
I still have to go through 3 files but I am pleased with the progress I made this week because...I also cleaned out our linen closet! And got W to work on it with me! And I made labels! Can you tell I am excited? It was long over due and is the kind of activity which makes you feel great.

Two boxes

Yesterday I had my first appointment with myself to go through a box and a bag. I set it during a time when I have a conference call where I only need to listen. I actually chose 2 small boxes to go through. One was a box of random stuff (I hate those) and the other box was the contents of some drawers for my old house. The majority of the stuff in the boxes went into two bags - shred and recycle. A small portion of things went to W and a few things got put away. It feels GREAT to clear out clutter and get organized.

How about you? Did you make an appointment with yourself?

p.s. I am doing this for two reasons: one is to make our home a nice place to live and the other is that I need some changes in my life. Clearing clutter is really good for that.

Made Box / Bag Appointment

One of the most effective ways for me to get things done is to set aside time to do something. I am happy to say that I made a recurring appointment with my self for the next 18 weeks. I set aside 30 minutes per week to empty one bag and box. I plan to report weekly on my progress.

What could you do in 30 minutes a week? Anyone want to do this with me? You don't have to do the same thing as me...just pick something! If you want to join me, just add a comment with what you are going to do. Then, you can comment on your progress when I blog about mine. (Hint: I set up my appointment for Wednesday afternoon).

Another box and two bags

Ok, I guess I am on a roll...I brought a big box o'books plus to bags to Goodwill today. More stuff out of the basement. Yay!

I did not make an appointment with myself as I mentioned in my previous post (mostly because I had technology problems). But I did send myself an email to schedule time to go through one box and one bag per week.

My favorite blogger has been working on a new website that will have local information for people with pre-schoolers. I guess it started as a site to find the right pre-school for you but is morphing into a link with local things to do. Sounds cool...but when will Portland be up and running?

One more box

We love when our family comes to visit. Not only because we love our family but also because it always spurs us into "high cleaning gear". This is good for our guests and good for us. Today, I emptied a very large moving box. It felt really good to clear some more floor space. I certainly have many more boxes to go (optimistically, I would estimate 16 plus 4 grocery bags) but it is getting better all the time. If I could go through 1 box and bag a week, I could be be through them all by the end of October. Now wouldn't that be great?

Ok - I am going to set a date with myself once a week for the next 16 weeks and get through it all. When I am done, I will hang the beautiful hanging picture frame in my office (because there will be room!) as a treat. Then, I think the next step will be the organization of all the remaining precious items and craft supplies. But really - one step at a time.

What could you do once a week for the next 16 weeks?

What's it called when a log jam breaks free?

I haven't blogged about "stuff" in quite a while. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking about it. In fact, up until a few weeks ago, a whole corner of my basement had been filled with baby items that were going to be sold at a huge 50 family rummage sale. The sale took place on the same weekend as Ladies Rock Camp and my mother graciously agreed to sell for me (bless her heart!). The sale got rid of about half the stuff. I went through the other half this weekend and saved a couple of items (which I think I can sell on Craig's List). I didn't count the rest of the bags but if I had to guess, I would say it totaled 16 bags plus two bulky items. Yesterday, I took that whole load to Goodwill. Whew! They didn't take one thing (a bed rail) which I still need to get rid of but basically I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. I still have some "clean up" to do from the sale. I had gathered a whole bunch of containers (mostly baskets and plastic boxes) for the sale and now I need to put everything back where it belongs. Once that is done, I can move some things in my office out of the way so that W can install an outlet and a heater. Just in time for summer. Sigh...at least I will be warm next winter!

The High Cost of Stuff

Last year I spent a lot of time trying to reduce the clutter in my home. I feel like I did pretty well - when we moved into my house, my office was filled top to bottom with boxes. Now, I have shelving up and my desk and I work there. I purged by selling things, giving things away, giving things to Goodwill. I have never had a storage unit, nor felt like I particularly needed one. After reading this article on Get Rich Slowly, I am glad I never got one.

Do you have a storage facility that you store stuff in and pay for each month? You may want to rethink that decision.

I still have a long way to go in my basement. In fact, I have a whole area filled with toys, clothes, and baby equipment that I am storing until the end of May to sell at a big sale. But little by little, we are getting things out of our house. Now if I can just stop the flow of stuff into the house (especially paper!)!

Top Baby Items for New Parents

As parents of three kids, W and I have opinions about what baby items are worthwhile. We have created lists of these items in the past and I thought it was about time to put the information on my blog. That way, I wouldn't have to search for the list every time a friend told me they were expecting!

Just so you know --- you don't really need more stuff in your house. IMHO, I think baby essentials are diapers, breasts and a safe place to sleep. All the rest just makes being a parent easier.

Here is a list of our top baby items. They are in no particular order:

1. Sling for carrying the baby. You may want to try a variety of slings since you don't know what will work for you and with your baby. Also, different slings and baby carriers work at different ages of the baby. Our favorite sling is from Kangaroo Korner and it is called the "adjustable fleece pouch." When your baby gets bigger, and you don't want to carry the weight on one shoulder any more, try the Ergo Carrier. I find this carrier extremely comfortable and my twins love it (one at a time of course).

2. Pure lanolin (brand name I used is Lansinoh) if you are going to nurse your baby. Buy the smallest tube available because it lasts forever! This product is wonderful at helping soothe the nursing mother.

3. Breast pump (again if you are going to nurse your baby - which I highly recommend). Don't get a hand pump - it is not worth the time or energy! Electric breast pumps are very efficient which as a mother you will appreciate. I used a Medela Pump-In-Style which worked great.

4. Fleece car seat insert to keep the baby warm without messing with blankets. We used a Bundle Me which we really liked.

5. Lots of blankets for swaddling the baby. Swaddling new babies helps them to feel secure (like the womb) and helps them not startle themselves awake. The ones we liked the best were waffle weave which are a little stretchier than flannel. You may also want to check out a book - The Happiest Baby on the Block which has great tips for settling a baby.

6. Hylands Colic Tablets - a homeopathic remedy for colicky babies. Nice to have on hand. The Hylands Teething Tablets and Gel are great for when babies start teething as well.

7. The Baby Book by Dr. Sears. This is a nice "how to" for new parents. It has simple information such as how to bathe your baby or monthly milestones. I really love this book.

8. A bouncer is a nice tool to have when you need to have your hands free (i.e. while cooking dinner). Some parents I know have one on each level of their home. I like the simpler bouncers the best. We used one similar to this. One of our children, in particular, was really soothed by the vibration mode.

9. 3-D Activity Gym - you put your baby on the floor under this and the baby looks at it and plays with it. We had a red, white and black one like this where the kids did their "tummy time." Remember, babies don't see colors at first - just contrasts so red, white and black are best.

10. Lactation consultant!!! If you are going to nurse, I cannot stress this one enough. Nursing is not innate (which is what I thought). It is a joint learning process between you and your child. A lactation consultant can really help set you up for a wonderful nursing experience. If possible, get a recommendation from a trusted friend.

11. Cod Liver Oil. Taking Cod Liver Oil when you are pregnant makes your baby smarter. We use this tasty one (no really) that is lemon flavored. For more information on this topic, check out W's blog post on the topic.

If you go here, you will find a list of W's dad recommendations which includes the post on Cod Liver Oil.

I am recommending these products and books because I have had good experiences with them and not because anyone paid me or otherwise coerced me to post.

Happy Birthday Creation Halt!

Year One

Today is my blog's birthday. Creation Halt is O-N-E. How do you celebrate the birthday of a blog? I created this blog around the holidays last year in order to come to terms with all the stuff in my life and stuff that was likely going to come into my life (and my kid's lives). During this past year, I have worked hard to get my "stuff" into some sort of reasonable order. I have given lots away to friends, given some away to Goodwill, recycled a lot of paper, and the list goes on. This blog has provided me with a "non-stuff creating" creative outlet, a place to bounce ideas off my readers and a way to keep me honest. It has also been a vehicle for me to learn a new skill (blogging) and to participate in NaBloPoMo.


A big thank you goes out to all my readers (all 3 or 4 of you). :)
A special thanks goes out to anyone who has ever posted a comment or linked to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Year Two
As I move into year two of this blog, I need to think about what my focus will be. I know I enjoy reading blogs that have a focus. Here is a question for all of you readers...what do you want to read about? I know that M has requested more "dooce-esque" type stories and I will try to capture those when they happen (but they don't happen every day). More sustainability? More novel writing? How about the novel editing process? What else? I'd love to hear from all of you. You can help guide this second year.

Thanks again!

Clutter Battles - Part 9 - The coat closet

The bad news is, we didn't take "before" photos. It would have made a much better story! But alas, you will just have to take my word for it that our coat closet was a terrible mess. It was filled with things that shouldn't have been in there (like a window fan, an entire bag of outgrown outerwear, ski bib, etc). Today was my lucky day. Today was the day when Beth Meridith of Living Spaces Design came to my house to help me organize the coat closet. Thanks again to Brooke and Bob for getting me this time with her for my birthday!

Below are after photos. They are different shots of our teeny, tiny coat closet. One of the most important differences from how it looked before is that we took the door off. That alone gives us more room which we desperately needed.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 1 = Looking into the teeny, tiny closet.

Figure 2 = Bottom of our coats plus our shoes. You can see a shoe sorter on ther right hand side which is where we keep hats, gloves, scarves.

Figure 3 = Top of our coats plus a little storage up above. We have some rain boots, summer hats and some tarps for the park.

Figure 4 = Left hand side of closet on bottom - just hooks for kids jackets. Basket on bottom holds twin's hats, gloves and rain pants.

Figure 5 = Left hand side of closet on top - hooks for cloth bags, diaper bag and W's backpack.

I really like the end result. But the real test is will be be able to keep it neat? I should take another set of photos in a week to compare. Fun stuff. After one day it is still looking good. Yay!

Clutter Battles - Part 5

I cannot believe I am on "Part 5" of this topic. It is more like being on "Part 5" of a long, long journey. Stuff has continued to fly out of our house at an amazing rate. This includes:

* 2 baby bouncy seats
* 1 bag of maternity clothes and supplies to a friend
* 1 Baby Bjorn baby carrier
* 2 boxes mailed to people (I should have mailed the stuff long ago (whew!))
* 7 bags of shredded paper (with no end of paper in sight)
* 11 (!) more bags to Goodwill plus a large wire shelf
* 4 handmade pottery bowls (made by myself and my guy) (two of these were promptly regifted to me on the very next day as a joke but then the jokester took them back). they were very nice bowls. :)
* 2 handmade pottery cups (made by myself and my guy)
* 1 handmade pottery vase (made by me)

I have two items out on Craig's List for sale but haven't gotten any bites yet.

In terms of a sheer amount of "stuff" out of the house, if I use grocery bags as a unit then I am up to a total of 43! Wow!

But it isn't all good news...the garage, which was off to such a great start, has gotten stalled and is now in a state of minor decline. We did such a good job "Sorting" but never got any further. I have been working more on the basement since, a) we are having company in a few weeks and our guest is staying in the basement and b) my office is also in the basement and I need to work down here. So now I am torn. Do I go back to the garage or do I stick with continuing on with cleaning out the basement? I see the garage as a shorter term project but the basement is a more immediate need. A final question...does it matter what I am working on if I am still making progress?

My favorite company

I recently read an article online that solidified why Patagonia is my favorite company. I mean, what other company has the quote "There is no business to be done on a dead planet" etched into its front door? The quotation is from David Brower of the Sierra Club. Honestly, Patagonia goes right along with my whole idea behind this blog. We don't need a lot of stuff. Yes, Patagonia makes stuff. But they make good stuff. They make stuff that lasts. And they stand behind their stuff and take it back if it doesn't work the way it should.

I read Yvon Chouinard's book, Let My People Go Surfing, with nothing less than astonishment. Chouinard has chosen to do business in a way that runs counter to most businesses. There is heart in Patagonia and it shows. Check out what some businesses do with some of their annual sales: 1% for the Planet.

Ok, enough hero worship for one day.

Minimalist Holiday

Here I am again, back in the same place I was last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Back in the "Oh, crud, it is the holidays and society says we are supposed to buy each other gifts." Usually, I make something for friends and family. Nothing big but definitely heartfelt. Generally it is something edible (or drinkable). Unfortunately, this year I have not had either the mental energy or the time to even think about gifts. Gifts are starting to roll in for me and my family and I am left with a sense of guilt that I am not doing more. I swear it is not that I am a miser!!! I just struggle so much with "stuff" that I don't want to foist "stuff" on other people. Now, I have bought gifts for my immediate family - but they are things that were requested or things I know are needed. When I find a gift that seems perfect, I will buy it. It is just that that rarely ever happens.

I have been getting a daily email from a website called, "Ideal Bite". Today's "bite" was about giving gifts to people who don't need anything. Here is the link: http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/tip.php?tip=20061215&title=For_the_. I am not posting this to give ideas for me (really - I don't need anything!) but to give ideas for other people.

Any idea how I can label my link instead of just posting the link???

Hui Neng Quote

"Your treasure house is within;
It contains all you will ever need."
--Hui Neng

Would that I could live these words! Why is it we need so many things. Things, things, things...they keep coming into my home. Some by (buy) me. What am I thinking? (Am I thinking?) Is there a drive for external things to help us ignore what we can't see inside ourselves? Does that last sentence even make any sense???

My head hurts just thinking about this stuff!

It is Christmas time (is this one word?) which means that it is time to buy stuff for each other. My DH keeps asking me what I want for Christmas and I honestly can't think of a thing. I am supposed to go on a business trip in January for 2 nights. I can hardly imagine 2 nights by myself with no children calling me in the middle of the night. Ah, bliss. That is what I want for Christmas!!! Stuff...well, I don't think I need any stuff.

Halt Creation Halt

What I really wanted this blog to be called was "Too Much Stuff" but I someone already got that one. I have been wrestling with the concepts of "stuff" and "art" recently. Since I was young, I have been an artist. I have enjoyed jewelery making, pottery, sewing, and painting. Recently, though, I realized that I no longer wanted to create things anymore. Emphasis on the word "things". I have come to a "creation halt". Handmade things are wondrous but also carry baggage. What to do with all the pottery that was left over after I gave pottery to all my friends and family? What to do with the paintings left over from my big show? What to do with art other people have created for me? These are not things that can be parted with easily. Or at least I am not easily able to part with them.

You may be thinking as you read this...but she is creating something now! Yes, it is true, but writing a blog isn't a thing so in my mind I am safe.