Okay, here we are. It’s October 13th and I have no idea how we got here already. Right after my last post, it rained. For six. Days. Straight. A very slow-moving nor’easter moved through southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey and it felt like it would never leave. That said, I recognize how fortunate I am that we rarely get hit by hurricanes. In the aftermath of hurricane Ian, I am very grateful that I do not suffer that kind of weather, and I am praying for those who have had their homes destroyed in the hopes that they are able to rebuild.
In my last post, I was all about scarecrows, pumpkins, and mums. Until I wasn’t. It was raining nonstop, it became 43 friggin’ degrees fahrenheit, and I refused to turn on the heat because it was only the first weekend in October. I kept myself busy (and warm) by keeping up with my workouts and by tackling some real decluttering projects
Oh, the clutter, the bane of my existence. It usually begins its life in our mailbox (hello, Pottery Barn catalogs that I vow to look at but never do), and then makes its way to the kitchen. Then, the holidays are upon us, and the clutter needs a place to go. But by the time mid-October arrives, I have no time to actually go through the clutter. The mission is to move it out of the kitchen and other common areas and get it out of sight of any guests we entertain over the holidays. Starting with Thanksgiving and ending pretty much never – or whenever the spirit moves me to throw stuff away, the room that serves as my office transforms into a dumping ground for anything and everything. In addition to being my home office and home gym, the space is where clutter goes to live (and die).
Well, the spirit moved me that rainy weekend. I decided I didn’t want to go through another holiday season spending time relocating crap i was going to eventually throw away. So basically, I got a head start. But instead of just relocating the crap, I went through it. I took action on anything that required my attention, and I threw away stuff that didn’t deserve to take up space in my home. I spent a whole Saturday decluttering my kitchen AND my office. At the end of the day, I felt so much pride in what I accomplished. It’s amazing how one can put off certain chores because they seem so dreadful. But if one breaks them down into manageable chunks, the chores become so much easier to tackle. I was so proud of my work that I hoodwinked my husband into helping me clean out our entertainment center in the family room that Sunday. “Hey, honey! Let’s have a few beers and watch the Eagles game today. And we can declutter during the commercials!” 😂
All in all, it was a successful weekend, and I felt like a load of stress was lifted from my shoulders. I’ll be back at the decluttering game this weekend and try to keep the momentum going.
