What can I say…we have been working this weekend. B.O.R.I.N.G!! Got the solar panels on the swimming pool drained. But before we could do that we had to cut some branches out of the way…and as long as we had the trimmer out, we had some more branches over the back gate that needed trimmed…you all know how that goes. One thing leads to another!
So we ended up trimming branches from several droopy cedar trees. Those trees sure do make a mess but I just love them all the same. Maybe if I put up a sign for free cedar boughs around Christmas time, I could get them trimmed for free!
And that’s just part of the mess!
I went out to pick tomatoes for lunch today, but before I could get to the tomatoes, I had to pull up the 4 foot tall lettuce that had gone to seed. Then I found nothing but GREEN tomatoes. The weather has definitely turned here and I fear those tomatoes will not be ripening this season.
We started cleaning the garage this morning…part of our plan to make ourselves less tied to “stuff” and more mobile. There were a few things that were definitely easy to toss out or put in the donation pile. The bread-maker was a definite giveaway, as were the storage bins for cassette tapes! Why would anyone keep these empty in the garage for umpteen years? I don’t know!!
But most things I touched stayed for another day. It’s not the “stuff”, it’s the memories attached to that stuff that makes it so difficult to throw anything away. How do you throw away mugs that say “#1 Dad” or “Somebody in Hawaii Loves Me”? And so we didn’t…
One thing I kept was a little plastic dish set that I bought for my first grandchild. That young man is now 22 years old and he and all seven of the grandchildren that followed him, ate from those same dishes when they were at Grandma’s house. How do you do it? How do you throw away the dish that sixteen precious little hands have held?
Silly, I know, but how do you get past that? Some things I threw out this time that I couldn’t throw away last time I tried this, so perhaps, in due time, more will go. Once it sits unused in the garage for 10 years or so, maybe I’ll lose my connection to it.
We did make progress and have quite a few things to take to the Goodwill. And my sister said she needs some mugs and glasses, things I have more of than I could use in two life times. It makes me happy when I can give things to someone who needs them, especially if they are going to be kept in the family.
So, little by little, piece by piece, we will work on getting this clutter more manageable. And while we do, we will remember to keep our eye on the goal and that is to get “Off our Rockers and into Therapy” – the sooner the better.
We are probably down to short trips now until the spring but you can bet we will be in that motorhome whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Donna, pick one thing you think you can't bear to let go. Just one. Give it away to Goodwill or a friend or family, or even toss it.
ReplyDeleteSee how often you think about it after two weeks. You'll probably be able to give up a few more things... :) Very interesting to me how, when you are actually holding and examining something, it is hard to let it go. Once you do, you hardly ever think about it again! Or maybe that's just me.
It's hard but sooner or later it goes... give it to one of the kids!
ReplyDeleteOh and how bout Fried Green Tomatoes... YUM!
Have fun
Donna
Bonnie Bounder is still sick, being worked on & i have to get over there ti winterize, hope i can remember as last year did not have to do it! as i was South :)
ReplyDeleteWould love to see u guys when u get over here! Yes, Smith Rocks is always neat to see. Then i know a way into the mtns behind there to an old homestead.orchard which is fun. Always love a trek to Green Ridge too, but am leery of driving up there by myself. There is a Ranger station that hangs over to Ridge overlooking Metolius River & Mt Jefferson. Headwaters of Metolius River is fun too!! So, see u later!!!!
Sometimes that works, sometimes not. I gave four Susan Jeffers children's books that I bought for my grandchildren 27 years ago to my daughter. My great-grandkids are too far away and aren't into that stuff anyway. I felt a huge hole in my heart after doing it. For a month! My husband gave a couple of those books to me for presents. He is no longer alive. Had to get over it. It was just a bit too early for that giveaway. Dumb.
ReplyDeleteBut most of the time my daughters make the giving away of precious family memorabilia simple. They are thrilled to get the stuff, and I can still visit it now and then. Can you try that, Donna? Nieces? granddaughters? sisters?
I let my family "shop" in my garage, this way I know that the things are still in the family.
ReplyDeleteI had old plastic dishes from McDonald's -- you know the kind with McCheeseburger, etc. on them -- that grandkids ate from when they came to Nana's house. Gave each grandchild a plate...don't know about the others, but my dgt still has them & even uses them from time-to-time. Giving them to the grandkids made it easier to give them up.
ReplyDeleteIf I could I would just get a big dumpster and fill it up. Pain for a day or so, but once it was gone I wouldn't be able to get it back. Craig is the one who holds onto everything!
ReplyDelete"Once it sits unused in the garage for 10 years or so, maybe I’ll lose my connection to it."
ReplyDeleteNo you won't.
We have a closet full of "stuff" from when our three daughters were children. School papers from first grade, report cards, plaster "works of art" from who knows when, on & on. I keep threatening to send each of the girls a huge box of their special "stuff". They say, "but we don't have the room. You just hang onto it". :-)
My wife & I say to each other, "One of the days, when we're gone, the kids will have a HUGE mess to deal with".
Truth be told, we both enjoy looking at the stuff now & then.
Memories.
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were.
Pass those special things on to kids and grands...take pictures and make a beautiful scrap book of those special things. :)
ReplyDeleteI vote for passing those items you having a hard time getting rid of off to the kids and grandkids..if they don't want it..goodwill here it goes...but that's just me...
ReplyDeleteI figure if I haven't used or worn something in two years..out it goes..
good luck with the sorting!!!...once it's gone it's gone!!..think of the freeing feeling!!!
I'm not much of a "thing" person, and we aren't planning on downsizing much more than we already have, so it's not a problem that I am dealing with right now. We have lived in several different houses both here and in California, so we've downsized (and upsized) too many times already.
ReplyDeleteAh, welcome to my world! If you want to feel better, come on down and take a look at our house! We did another flea market this weekend, small steps.
ReplyDeleteI find if I really want to keep something, I keep it out on a table, in plain sight for a week or so. After a week, some of it doesn't seem so important anymore. But some of it does!
I generally find it hard to get rid of many things as well but it does seem a bit easier if I give something away rather than throwing it out. And, it's true about the old saying....'out of sight, out of mind.
ReplyDeleteI thought it would be harder to give away/get rid of things to which we had emotional attachments, but it was a lot easier than I thought ... perhaps because we'll be making a "real" lifestyle change when we get on the road FT. A few things I kept, but they're in storage now and I don't miss them, so they may go sooner rather than later as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile prepping for retirement and hitting the road, when renovating and downsizing these past few months...I came to the realization that I could not move a 5 bedroom 3 bath house into the sweet one bedroom renovated apartment built onto our home. I was very attached to our 'stuff'...I sold alot, gave all the family antiques to the kids..outfitted bedrooms for the granddaughters, and gave alot to the needy..the few treasures left that do not fit into our new space are all stored in a storage building on our property. Its sureal to wander into our kids houses and see it all..I feel like I"m home :)...but glad its all still in the family..not an easy task but a necessary one...good luck
ReplyDeleteI gave the kids some stuff and I zeroed in on one gift from each of our kids that meant a lot to us to keep. Little knick knacks that were hard to part with or pictures from the wall, I took pictures of them so that I can go back and look at them from time to time. I haven't looked at them yet and it has been two years now but it feels better to know I have digital images. Judy from Rvlifeonwheels
ReplyDeleteI had absolutely no problem with getting rid of stuff. BUT I did make one mistake and I've regretted it even since. I kept a diary since 1992. Tossed them. What an awful mistake! I can not even tell you how I've regretted that move.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was thinking of Fried Green Tomatoes.
I too suggest giving it to some of the kids, and they will keep the memory going. They might even use them for their Grand kids.
ReplyDeleteYou sound exactly like us when we try to get rid of stuff. We end up just moving it around to a different place in the garage!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how much "stuff" we end up with without even realizing it! For a while we were trading stuff with our kids until none of us wanted any more things. Then we tried the yard sale route but I've never been good at that. So, now, we just head to Goodwill.
ReplyDeleteCandy
I agree with Ali....if I am having trouble giving rid of something I have found if I take a picture of it or group several things together like my childhood books and stuffed animals then I am able to let them go cause I can still look at them when I want to.
ReplyDelete