The Clutter Monster

• She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness


• ...She worketh willingly with her hands

These last few weeks at home I've been working on taming the clutter monster. It's been especially difficult because I tend to over think things. I spend too much time planning and not enough time doing. I've been working on it a little along, but as I mentioned in my Philippians 3:14 Fridays post, this last week I've been spurred on by husbands energy and encouragement. I look around and still see so much that needs to be done--I think because this time, as I tackle one layer of clutter--the surface clutter--I haven't stopped, but have begun tackling the underneath clutter--the stuff in boxes and bags and closets and drawers. So when I'm tempted to get discouraged by all that's still left to do, I'm encouraged when I think of all that I've purged.

I've discarded, one way or another:

• Bushels of documents; boxes full of bank statements, paid bills, insurance papers for vehicles we haven't owned in years. Tax return from 1983. And every year since then, I'm sure.
• 20-year-old towels. I kept the ones that are only 14 years old. It's process, give me a break. Plus, we wouldn't have anything left to dry off with unless I used my son's college towels. Washcloths, I'm ruthless. Towels--old towels never die, they just move to the rag box.
• Outdated computer programs
• 13-year old T-shirt paint
• Half-empty spray paint cans, over 10 years old
• Two plastic containers without lids. And 20 lids without containers.
• Bathroom cleaners with 2 drops left in them
• Over the counter medicine that expired in 2005
• A prescription bottle with pills in it that was filled in 1998

I gave away:

• Our old computer, minus the hard drive, to someone who's computer is even older and is glad to get it to rebuild
• At least 30 books
• Miscellaneous crafts materials that I haven't touched in years
• A set of fake leather suitcases
• Printer ink from our old printer that broke, to someone who has the same model
• Atari game system and games, bought at a garage sale years ago, that still works as far as I know

And my favorite giveaway--a box of miscellaneous "pretties" that were just not "me" anymore. I wasn't sure what to do with some of these things--there was nothing wrong with any of them, they were perfectly good, I just didn't want or need them anymore. I didn't want to just throw them away; but who in the world could I give them to? I decided to start a special box, and once it got full, just drop it off at Goodwill or someplace similar. As it ended up, I showed it to the friend who got some of the other things from me, and told her to take it to see if any of the "girls" in her life--daughter, daughter-in-law, grand daughter, would like any of it. She ended up letting her grandbabies "shop the box" for things to give their mammas for Mother's Day. They were all tickled pink, babies and mammas alike! She was amazed at how well those kids knew the likes and dislikes and personalities of their mammas--even at preschool ages. (Her granddaughter went straight for the jewelry; her grandson, the "smell good") I was thrilled beyond measure that my little box of discarded items brought so much fun to someone else.

I still have a long way to go feel like my home epitomizes the dwelling of a virtuous woman. But I'm making headway.

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday, May 8

Time for today's weekly update on setting and "pressing on" toward our goals. I've had a busy, productive week in many ways, thanks largely to my husband. He amazes me. He doesn't get to come home as often as I do, but when he's here, he works on home projects the whole time. Our "home" home is an older house, and there are always repair and maintenance items that need to be done. He usually runs out of time before he runs out of tasks.

The differences between us is readily apparent on a week like this one, where we're both home and both working on our respective projects. I'm a thinker, he's a doer. I think about what needs to be done, plan, try to decide what is the absolute best way to organize and place every item related to the task. I rely on him for inspiration--how can I not do something simple when he's doing so much? But practical help as well--not only do I rely on him for most of the heavy lifting, moving things around, and reaching those hard-to-reach places; but he encourages me to keep at it, one small step at a time, when I get overwhelmed my the sheer amount of stuff that needs to be sorted and tended to.

So how have I done on my weekly goals that I set?

1. I've managed meals pretty well this week. We've gone through a lot of groceries this week, because we're all here, all day. Some days it seems we barely get through with one meal when it's time to start at least thinking about the next, but we've definitely not gone hungry.


2. Morning routine, done most days.


3. I've lost track of the number of hours I've spent in the front bedroom (by faith I'm not calling it the junk room anymore!) I've cleaned out papers and documents from years of accumulation and careful saving. At some point you just have to let go. My filing is on hold until I can get a business grade filing cabinet; the old household-grade-from-the-discount-store just won't do. Holiday items are repacked and ready to be taken to the shed. I've culled out at least 10 books so far, and will finish pulling out at least 15 more by the end of the day.


4. Chest of drawers, not done yet.


5. Books not yet sorted.


6. I have taken some, but not all, of the donation items to their respective destinations. Some are loaded ready for delivery, the others should be finished today.


7. I "read-at" a book, but I still didn't take the time out to really read one front-to-back.


8. Ate my fruit and yogurt about half the time.


9. Read my Bible, but not daily


10. Continued prayer journal.

We have through this weekend to get everything done and get ready for our trek back to Georgia. Due to some scheduling issues, I'll be coming back to smalltown sooner than we'd expected--I'll only be spending about 10-12 days in Georgia before I'll be Louisiana bound again; this time for about two weeks. So while I'm trying to wrap up my projects, I'm figuring out my strategy for next time so I can complete the things that I don't get done this time.

In some respects I feel guilty that I didn't accomplish some of my seemingly simple goals. But I think I grossly underestimated the time factor involved in clearing out a decade, sometimes more, of accumulated trash and treasure.

My goals for now are short-term in nature:

• Finish purging books
• Dust and straighten the bookcases
• Finish my bedroom clean-up--I think I can get that done in an hour or two.
• Pack for the Georgia trip

Once we get back to home-away-from-home in Georgia, my goals are:

• Unpack
• Get my daily routine going
• Catch up my blogging and email
• Do some advance posts to help with the time I'll be back in smalltown on a slow internet connection

And that's all for me for now!

To see how everyone else is handling their goal setting and "pressing toward" their goals, see Philippians 3:14 Fridays at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time....

This Little Light of Mine

• She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
• She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night

A few years ago, my mother made me a cute little Christmas potpourri thingy--filled with Christmas potpourri and a short string of lights, with a cute little perky Christmas ribbon tied around the neck of the container. You could plug in the lights, and the small amount of heat would disperse the smell of the potpourri into the room. I used mine in my kitchen, and over the years it had gotten a little bedraggled. The ribbon was no longer perky, the potpourri really didn't smell anymore, and the jar stayed mostly dust encrusted and unused.

I shared on my Philppians 3:14 post about how I had been clearing out old crafts materials from my junk-room closet--I came across a couple of half-used bags of potpourri, and decided to re-do my little jar. I removed the Christmas ribbon and potpourri, washed and dried the jar, refolded the lights and filled it with fresh potpourri, plugged it in and Voila! Instant air freshener and pretty thingy for my kitchen!

I'm not much of an air-freshener kind of gal except in extreme cases, and my fragrances of choice run to scents with "fresh" in the name--Fresh Linen, Rainshower Fresh, Fresh Mountain Air--but what I like about this is that it's subtle. I plug it in for just little while after I've cleaned up the kitchen at night--I love walking back in to the kitchen later with the counters clean, the little lights glowing and just a light potpourri scent lingering the air.

It's not much, but it makes me smile when I see it, and it's making me think I could get a little more "crafty" again, even in my old middle age!

What crafty things have you re-purposed lately?

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday (er, Saturday) 5/2

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

This week marks the end of one month and the beginning of another, not just on the calendar, but for Philippians 3:14 Fridays, as well.

Several of my weekly goals were met along the way, but I don't think I did so well on the monthly goals. In one sense, while it seems like a failed experiment, it really hasn't been on several levels.

"How can that be?" You may ask. Well, I'll tell you!

Long ago (in a galaxy far, far away!) I used to be a fairly organized person. In recent years...well, who's kidding who, for the last 20 years or so, I find myself on a downward spiral of being less and less organized, of fighting a constant, losing battle to keep up with work, home, church activities, even personal things I used to do for fun--crafts and reading for pleasure, just to name two.

It got even worse instead of better when I started staying home last year--instead of filling my days with the activities I loved and always said I would do "if I had time" I slipped into even worse habits of ennui and drifting through days and weeks without accomplishing much except the most humdrum of necessary activities. Every so often I would surface for air, with all kinds of intentions of starting anew and "this time I'm gonna____________"(fill in the blank--get organized, keep the house cleaner, take a class, you name it).

One of the things that I like about Philippians 3:14 Fridays, is that it helps me to at least put it "out there". Write down all of those little things that I always intend to do but never seem to get around to completing. Set some goals. Realize that the way to achieve those goals is to break them down into manageable pieces. (Joke break--How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time)

If you don't have a particular destination, how will you know if you get there?

So, on to Philippians 3:14 Friday Saturday.

For my weekly goals from last week:

1. I did trim my hair and give myself a manicure of sorts--no polish, but I clipped and filed and buffed and used cuticle oil;
2. I cleaned out 85% of the old craft materials--giving some away and throwing some away--I have a few more things to sort and make decisions over;
3. I did some shredding and trashing of paper items, but not nearly enough;
4. I accomplished two speaking engagements in one week when one was unexpected rescheduled;
5. I did my morning routine about half the time.
6. I didn't get my bedroom finished, but I cleaned out a cabinet and two drawers in my kitchen, plus bathroom vanity underneath the sink.
7. I found our old Atari and games to donate to the youth center. Goodbye, Space Invaders and Pacman. And yes, there are kids in this era of Xbox and Playstation Whatever that find it fascinating and even fun to play these "old" games!

Monthly goals were not so well done:

Blog goals: I've had internet problems a lot, even the poky old dial-up was pokier than usual, and when I went to town to find Wi-Fi, one of my spots only worked about half the time. In another 10 days or so, I'll be back to high-speed internet and hope to accomplish my blog goals at that time.

Physical: Monitored my blood pressure and sugar fairly regularly; did not lose weight. Better luck next month.

Spiritual: I did not get to the Hallel, but did prepare and give two messages; started my prayer journal; fasted two days

Household: EEK--morning routine, so-so; lets just skip the rest!

Mental: I "read at" a couple of books, but did not read one front to back to completion

New Goals

I'm home in small town rural Louisiana for about 8 more days, so my goals are going to be for now until I leave for the big city.

1. Feed my family regular, healthful meals
2. Do my morning routine
3. Spend 5 hours this week working in the front bedroom/junkroom (broken into multiple days) Finish sorting craft materials, clean desk area and replace printer, get rid of at least 25 books, work on filing system, repack holiday items and put in the shed
4. Clean out my chest of drawers
5. Sort books to take back with me
6. Take donation items to youth center/library/Goodwill
7. Read one book this week--just for fun
8. Eat my fruit and yogurt daily
9. Read my Bible daily
10. Continue my prayer journal

Need some accountability to help you as you work toward your goals? See Philippians 3:14 Friday at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time....

Philippians 3:14 Friday, April 24th

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

This week was not good for me as far as meeting my monthly/weekly goals. Again. Last Sunday I woke up with a head cold, which turned into one of the worst-while-it-lasted head colds I remember in a while. I didn't sleep well because I couldn't breathe lying down, and most days I was exhausted, so I didn't do much. I did, however, accomplish a couple of things.

1. Re-establish that morning routine I was working on While there were a couple of days I felt so bad I barely got dressed, believe it or not, I found that getting up and doing my morning routine made me feel better, even if I collapsed into the recliner immediately afterward and didn't move from there for the rest of the day
2. Clean out old craft materials in the closet Craft stuff is out of the closet, and while I still haven't actually gotten rid of it, I've got it semi-sorted according to trash (T-shirt paint that's at least 15 years old) to give away (ribbons and lace and pretty things for my crafty niece)
3. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, shredding, discarding, and filing Nope. Nada thing done on this
4. Add a piece of fruit and one serving of yogurt to my daily diet If dried cranberries and yogurt-covered raisins count as fruit, then I did this everyday. If not, then 4-5 days
5. Get my hair cut or trimmed Didn't want to spread my germs, so I didn't do this yet
6. Start on my message for a speaking engagement I have coming up I had an unexpected opportunity for an additional speaking engagement for this weekend, so preparing for both of these was my main focus for the last couple of days.
7. Check out venue(s) for the Praise and Coffee event I want to host while I'm home Nothing on this one--I was too germy feeling to go a food service place of business--this may have to be postponed until I get back to Georgia.
8. Catch up on the assignments for the 31-Day Build a Better Blog Challenge I did mail my partner once this week, and read a couple of the assignments, but without high-speed internet some of these are really difficult--it takes a long time to download some of the pages I'd like to read, so this was has been slightly postponed, as well.

New goals for the coming week:

1. Continue morning routine, add weekly jobs--dusting, floors, etc.
2. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, filing, shredding
3. Get some donation items ready for the youth center
4. Clean my bed room well--I started this already, but need to continue
5. Continue prep for next speaking engagement
6. Remember--veggies are our friends
7. Get my hair cut or trimmed
8. Give myself a manicure

I know that sometimes it seems that I fail at my goals more than I succeed, but even in areas where I don't aways accomplish what I set out to do, I can still see positive trends.

What are your goals for this week or month? Join Philippians 3:14 Fridays, hosted by Kate at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time...

Phillippians 3:14 Friday--April 17

• She looketh well the ways of her household

This week has been a total disaster as far as working toward my goals. Absolutely the only thing I did toward anything at all was take apart our old computer and redistribute the parts--some to the trash, some to storage--to clear off the desk in our front bedroom/junkroom/office/library/everything room.

In my defense, my son was home from college on spring break, so I spent most of my time with him in one capacity or another. We didn't do anything particularly "spring breaky", but we had a good time driving here and there, looking up old haunts and searching out new to us places where some of our family has history.

My goals for the coming week are:

1. Re-establish that morning routine I was working on
2. Clean out old craft materials in the closet
3. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, shredding, discarding, and filing
4. Add a piece of fruit and one serving of yogurt to my daily diet
5. Get my hair cut or trimmed
6. Start on my message for a speaking engagement I have coming up
7. Check out venue(s) for the Praise and Coffee event I want to host while I'm home
8. Catch up on the assignments for the 31-Day Build a Better Blog Challenge

How have you been about setting and meeting goals? Need to get it "out there" for accountability? Join everyone at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman for Phillippians 3:14 Friday!

Until next time!

Praise and Coffee

I had a surprise waiting for me in my mailbox yesterday, and I can't wait to use it! I won this for being a Facebook Fan of Praise and Coffee Nights! Check out their fan site if you're on facebook, or see the Praise and Coffee Nights website.

What are Praise and Coffee Nights? The purpose is to encourage Christian women to host their own Praise and Coffee gatherings at local coffeeshops or restaurants--a time and place for women to get together for Christian fellowship outside the walls of the church. Check out the Praise and Coffee Nights website for ideas about hosting your own Praise and Coffee gathering--this is something I've been thinking about doing myself, both while I'm home in Louisiana and when I get back to Georgia.

The founder of Praise and Coffee Nights, Sue Cramer, also has a Praise and Coffee blog with thoughtful posts and devotions on a variety of topics. You can click on the link above, or see the listing in my blogroll on the left hand sidebar.

Until next time....