Decluttering - Phase One - Clothes

I decided it would be easiest to start my de-cluttering with clothes as really there's only so many choices to make.

• They either fit or they don't 
• They either suit me or they don't 
• I'll either wear them (like them) or I never will (hate them, even if they fit)

My clothes have been piling up on the bed, dressing table, chairs and floor as my wardrobe and drawers were full and going through the piles, drawers, cupboards and wardrobe in my bedroom I seem to have had a lot of clothes but nothing to wear. Sound familiar?

I made the decision to do one drawer/cupboard/pile at a time and not try and pull out everything at once.
I tried everything on even if I was sure it would/wouldn't fit.
And to make myself happy I started with my 'to slim into drawer' - I'm sure everyone (women at least) has a drawer like this in their house.

It was actually a lot of fun, helped by finding six, yes SIX pairs of trousers I can now fit into properly and wear in public :-)
It was also a bit like journeying through my past as I found outfits and items of clothing from years ago 80's and 90's that brought back lots of memories.  I'm keeping the memories and ditching the clothes :-)

I put everything that was going into big black binbags and when each one was full moved the bags out of the room and refused to look in them again as I know from experience if it sits there I'll start taking things back out and inventing a reason to keep them.

Several days and lots of clothes and dust later I won the battle of the wardrobe.

I had SIX black bin bags and one carrier bag to go to Cancer Research.

I didn't even have to worry about what was good enough to donate or not as they also get money for rags so anything they can't sell in the shops is still useful.

And they even have an option to Gift Aid it now.

My friend Hazel helped me take all the bags to the shop in one go so I wouldn't be tempted to start rummaging :-)

No more piles of clothes on the floor or surfaces, my clothes now all fit in my wardrobe and dressing table drawers.
However, I admit, I have started a new 'to slim into drawer' but its a lot smaller than the previous one.

Next phase - books!

Serious de-cluttering time

I have way to much stuff, all types of stuff and me and my house are drowning in it. 

Craft stuff, sewing stuff, genealogy stuff, music stuff, 

books stuff, dvd stuff, clothes stuff, paper stuff, 

exercise stuff, diet stuff, cooking stuff and oh yeah organisation stuff! 

Up till now I've done some minimal decluttering but mainly I've been trying to get organised more and find places and ways to store all the stuff I have. 

The problem is now every surface, corner, cupboard, drawer, box, shelf and table are stacked high with stuff. And while I do know what it all is and where its all kept and can usually find things quite quickly when I need to,  I can't really do much with what I've got as there is no room left for actually using the stuff.

My life has becoming continually maintaining the organisation of piles of stuff. There has to be more.

I've finally come to understand Flyladys comments when she says you can't organise clutter.

So, enough is enough!

I'm starting on properly clearing out years worth of stuff and as I haven't moved home since I was 3  I have a LOT of stuff and some of it is going to have emotional attachments but quite a lot of it won't.

Some of it I've kept for fear of offending the people that gave stuff to me, ornaments I don't like, books I won't read and clothes that don't suit.  

I've decided as my house is now so cluttered I never invite them round anyway how would they know if I kept their gifts or not, and would most of them even remember what they gave me.

Flylady had a little list that may help

• Do I love this item?
• Have I used it in the past year?
• Is it really junk?
• Do I have another one that is better?
• Should I really keep two?
• Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
• Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?

I'll post here as I work through the various stages, and hopefully writing it down will help when it comes to some of the harder decisions of what can go and what can stay. 

Anyone up for joining me or any suggestions on making it less painful, feel free to comment. 

New Phone and a Question

I'm still working on my To-Do list from last month and ticked off a couple.

I've managed to get extra hours in the day by taking this week off work and making serious inroads on my housework and sorting all my paper clutter. I'm trying to set up proper storage spaces for bills, sunday school lessons, craft classes, magazines & newspaper clippings as well as find a way to deal with junkmail as soon as it arrives not just pile it up on the kitchen counters.

I also bought a new phone at last. Only my fourth ever mobile and the first to really do pictures and internet. So now in the midst of getting to grips with the touch screen and rotating display and a keypad that keeps appearing and disappearing I'm also trying to navigate this new world of 'apps'.

• What are they?
• Do I need them?
• If so which ones?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Ten things on just after the Tenth :)

I was going to post this yesterday as part of Shimelles 10 things on the tenth but still getting to grips with my new phone and couldn't get it to type an entry only the title. I recently signed up to twitter so sharing 10 people I'm following.

glittershim also known as Shimelle Laine

Spring Harvest Christian conference I volunteer at each year

jake humphrey F1 from BBC, best in the world :)

twitturgies personal liturgies in 140 characters

ProfBrianCox everyone needs a bit of science

Natwivity Twitter Nativity

timminchin don't agree with all his views but he is an amazing musician/comic/writer

NASAVoyager2 I know I'm a geek

BrainyQuote Some of it has to rub off on me at some point

stephenfry isn't everyone?

If anyone wants to follow me you can do so here but I cant promise I'll be any more consistent with my posts than here :)

Things still to do this year!

Things still to do this year (in no particular order)

• Update craft blog
• Update family tree blog
• Update family tree website
• Tidy and organise craft room
• Organise and tidy family tree files
• Defrag PC and delete the bad digi photos
• Start craft class
• Find time to craft and sew and research family tree
• Find the other 12 hours a day I would like to have to do the above
• Turn my spare room into a Hogwarts(ish) room of requirement that i can use for crafting, sewing, genealogy and occasional visitors
• Take more photos
• Get back to running
• Record more stories
• Spend more time with friends
• Get a new mobile phone

10 on the 10th

10 Things I'm thinking about today

1: Headaches and sickness bugs :(

2: Sunday School classes

3: British F1 GP win for Ferrari and points for Michael Schumacher

4: Housework :(

5: Shimelles 4x6 Love layouts

6: Weather

7: Running plans

8: Punch art ideas

9: Which of my Vegas photos to scrap next

10: Whats for tea?

Its July!!!

Ok I know I said I'd be back in a week but its been a busy month :)

I had to make up some time at work so have worked the past 3 Saturdays and that really eats into your creative and organising time. So much for working to live!

I have manged to get some things done though - I got out for a run, only two miles but I'm back at it. I had a play with my Bigshot and I scrapped! I'm quite proud of myself.

Its been a while since I did any scrapbooking. I keep meaning to get started and I read lots of blogs and forums and look at lots of ideas and then think - I'll do it later.

Well at last later caught up with me. I'd seen a sketch on Shimelles blog and immediately thought of one of the photos I'd bought on my recent trip to Las Vegas so here is my oversized picture layout of my trip to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay.

I dipped into my stash of cardstock and designer paper mixing in a bit of pink with the blues to match my top and the coral. I used my new Top Note and Fun Flowers Dies for the Bigshot and some embossing folders to add some texture. Then I had great fun making my Shark lettering with chipboard letters, various shades of blue inks, crystal effects and lots of time and patience :) Crystal Effects advises 30-60 mins to dry if using a thick layer but don't believe it. I always leave mine overnight. Just to be sure :)

I'm please with the final result and glad to be back scrapping. Hopefully more holiday layouts to follow soon.

I've also treated myself by ordering all my holiday photos from Las Vegas and the Cruise in 09 from photobox they arrived yesterday and make a huge pile.

May need to browse for inspiration.

Belated 10 things on the tenth!

It's half way through 2011 and all my good intentions have fallen off the wagon and well by the wayside.

I took Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers a couple of years ago and this year I signed up for her new class Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers but life has got in the way and I've not managed to do more than read the prompts and tech bits so far although they have got my imagination fired up and raring to go. My new problem is: Where to start?

Originally this blog was just a place to keep things I wanted to remember, then to share my love of crafting and more recently, ok last year, my tentative steps into running. As my crafting changed to demoing I set up a craft blog and to keep track of my family tree stuff I setup a family tree blog and website. Result - to much stuff in to many places and none of it co-ordinated or organised and so I forget to update or cant decide what should go where.

So my belated 10 things on the tenth are 10 things to do

1: Start with a post a week on each site

2: Decide what goes where

3: Possibly merge my blogs into one to cover everything

4: Pick a look that is me as I am

5: Find or make a template or theme to match the look

6: Make time to craft, run, blog and live

7: Take more day to day photos

8: Try to be on time more.

9: Have a plan of action

10: Work to live not live to work

I'll let you know next week how I'm getting on :)

New Year

Well that was 2010. It went by quite quickly seems like no time at all since I posted this entry in December 2009.

" I'm going to concentrate on what I CAN do and how to do it not what I cant. "

This year I managed to lose a stone in weight and can now run 4km so I'm going to keep the word CAN for another year.

I CAN lose more weight, I CAN run further, I CAN be more organised, I CAN keep in touch more, I CAN enjoy life as it comes.

To do this I will

• Continue with Weightwatchers and get to grips with their new ProPoints system.
• Keep up the weekly runs and stretch my distances with the Running Bug
• Set up routines and good habits with Flylady
• Do more than just play games on Facebook

Roll on 2011!

Quote for the year ahead - "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." (Herm Albright)

Trying Friday Fill in's

Ok I have nicked this idea for a post from Kat's blog as it seems quite interesting and as its my first go I'll try both. For more info on Friday Fill-in's try here

*This week, I'm going to give you a choice of fill-ins OR a different kind of fill-in (or both). A friend emailed me a list where you have to identify Christmas songs by the initials of the first words of the first line of each song. Each Friday until Christmas Eve I'll post 9 more of these songs and if you'd like to play along, great! So...here we go! *

1. The best thing about a birthday celebration is my mum singing happy birthday on my ansaphone.
2. I cant believe the speed of the passage of time.
3. I went shopping recently and the most interesting thing I bought was spices, sad but true :)
4. Doublers was a child's game played with tennis balls.
5. The reason is because!
6. Getting fed up of snow and cold.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Sleeping, tomorrow my plans include taking photos at Santa's Grotto and Sunday, I want to run!


AND/OR
1. HYAMLC:
2. TFNTADS: The First Noel The Angels Did Sing
3. GRYMGLNYD: God Rest You Merry Gentlemen Let Nothing You Dismay
4. ICUAMC:
5. SNHNAICAIB: Silent Night, Holy Night all is calm all is bright
6. OTFDOCMTLGTM: On the first day of christmas my true love gave to me
7. DTHWBOHFLLLLLLLL: Deck the halls with boughs of holly falalalala lala la la
8. YBWOYBNC:
9. JTTWTLHC: Joy to the world the lord has come

Journal Your Christmas 2010

It's that time of year again, Journal your Christmas with Shimelle.

I started JYC in 2007 did some more in 2008 and read the prompts in 2009 this year 2010 I'm going to at least keep notes (every day if I can).

Dec 1st - Manifesto - why am i doing this? much the same reasons as I did in 2007.01Dec07

November

Still running and now I have winter running kit to keep me warm and dry while I do it thanks to Mum and Peter {THANKS}.

Normal sports shops still don't have running kit for the larger lady (me!) so we had to think a bit laterally while looking for the base layers and the jacket and, thanks to a suggestion from Peter, ended up in Mountain Warehouse. They have a great range of clothes designed for walkers and cyclists that also work well for runners and they go up to size 20 in most things.

So I got a couple of base layer long-sleeved tops, the Hi-Vis waterproof jacket that is really great and properly waterproof not just shower proof, a couple of pairs of thermal long pants (coloured long johns to you and me) and a head tube that is helping to keep my ears warm when I'm running but can also be a head band, scrunchie, hat, scarf or hood.

We did find something that fitted in a normal sports shop, new running socks! and amazingly they do make a difference.

Not wanting to have cold legs, and having found the thermal pants to be more like long johns, I searched online for running pants/leggings/trousers and another runner suggested Next Sports wear.

Now I admit, I had always thought of Next as being for 'Tall, Long Legged, Skinny people' but I stand corrected. They do have a petite clothing range as well as large sizes and their sports gear (sadly not petite) goes up to size 22! So I got my black technical running leggings to complete my winter kit.

I have tested the kit by going out (accidentally) in a force 9 gale and it held up well, the jacket kept me (and my inhaler) dry, the base layer stopped me over-heating under the jacket, the leggings kept my ankles warm and the head tube converted nicely from ear protecting head band to full head and face balaclava. And my test run was another 4km so getting closer to my goal all the time.

So the running will continue outdoors during the winter.

October!

So its October and I've not been out running in over a week due to shifts and a rotten cold that wont go away. My diet got put on hold for most of last month but trying to get back on track with a new month.

Some other New happenings this month

• Stampin' Up! launch their new catalogue (i may have to hide my credit card)
• The Running Bug have launched their new look site (still trying to find my way around)
• Me the Abridged Version reaches week 3. still working on weeks 1&2 need to catch up :)

5 things to do in October

Run at least twice a week every week.

Lose at least 4 lbs

Finish at least 4 pages in my MeTAV album.

Get caught up on paperwork in the house

Start Christmas cards!

4km!!!

Been feeling a bit rough this week had a cough that just kept getting worse and the weather has taken a definate winter feel so have had to force my self back into running mode.

Eventually made it out today after church and was aiming to do my normal 30 min run. I had to take a couple of walking breaks around 10 and 20 mins but that meant when I reached my normal finishing point I felt I could go longer so managed around 38 mins and when I mapped my route worked out at 4km!!

I can now imagine the 5km and think another couple of weeks and I'll have it :)

Update

I haven't blogged for a while as a few things happened very quickly.

Firstly my Aunt who had moved into the hospice got much worse very quickly and sadly died on the 12th of August. It came as a huge shock as we'd been hearing it can take years for this illness to run its course.

With hindsight I'm sure its better for her not to be trapped in a body that wont respond or do what you want it to. But I miss her and the memories, books and films she was still to share with us.

It was a very emotional funeral and lots of our family came together to say goodbye.

One silver lining (and you have to always look for these) is her doctor was able to confirm she did not have an inherited form of MND so I am no more likely than anyone else to have it, that does put my mind at rest and stop me dwelling on it.

Secondly my brother came home from sea to find his wife of 17months has left him, they had been together for years before getting married and this came as a bolt from the blue to us.

Lastly but not too traumatically my 10year old sky box died a slow and irritating death. It would cut out during programs and not come back on, or stick on one channel and not let you change it. Eventually needing to be switched off overnight just to get 1hrs worth of viewing the next day. The Sky website, rather unhelpfully, advised me I could get a replacement box for £159!!!! and would have to wait at least a week for delivery and installation.

Thankfully a lovely lady at work decided she had an old box she didnt need and gave it to me for nothing, free, gratis. I didnt realise how addicted to sfyfy, Sky One, FX and Living I had become until I couldn't access it.

Naturally I was going to make a card to say thanks but decided to make a whole box of assorted cards for her to use through the year instead :)

So new month - new focus!

Back to the running, and the diet. My cousin has suggested we enter the 10k road race at next years highland games and I think I may just do it. I put on two pounds but thats ok, I know I can shift them. I'm going to use my scrapbooking supplies not just hoard and stroke them and if I don't need or want something I will sell it or give it away to someone who will. I will try to learn new things and take in a class or experience or two.

This past month has taught me not to wait, to grab chances while there here, to tell people how you feel, not to put off that visit or that call or that experience. Life can be short and quick, remember to take time to enjoy it, do it and not just plan it.

I can do this. So can you ;)

Update and reminder to myself - Little and Often

This summer I can make positive changes in my life. I took up running earlier this year and can now run 30 minutes non stop.I joined the gym & pool for the summer and have started taking the aqua aerobics class most weeks. I registered for weight watchers online to try and make my weight loss and healthier eating a permanent thing and since I started running have lost 1 stone.

I took up running in May using the Couch to 5k program also known as C25K and the main thing it stressed was to take things one step at a time. So we started with just one minute of running at a time followed by a break where you were allowed to walk and repeated that several times then had a day off and did it again twice more in the week. This allowed me to get used to running slowly and be happy at that level before moving on to longer running and shorter walking intervals. Now 9 weeks later I'm running 30 minutes at a time. I'm not up to 5km yet but I know I can get there.

As I am asthmatic, was over 4 stone over weight and the top side of 40 I appreciated this style of running a little bit at a time but doing it often enough to become a habit.

I also realised that Weight Watchers has the same kind of process. I'm not trying to lose all my 4+ Stone overnight, just as I couldn't go out and run 5km with no training. I'm just trying to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week and when I've done that do it again the next week.

I'm also slowly trying to introduce healthier options into my diet and reduce the unhealthy options. ie more fruit & veg, less burgers and chips :) Just like the running and walking intervals it took a while for my body to change from wanting a bag of chips and burger every other night to being happy with fresh veg stirfry most nights and burger and chips once a month. But I know if I keep at it, like the running, I can change my eating and develop those new habits.

I can do this!

Competed Week 9!

At last, a week later I've managed out for my last 30 min run of week 9 and have now completed the c25k program!

Although I'm not at the 5km distance yet I'm classing myself as graduated and will keep increasing to get to the 5km in the next month or so.

Week9

W9D2 of C25k, running now for 30 mins equals 2 laps of my local park and playing fields which equals 3.26km!

I've already worked out that three laps are going to be the 5k so I can see the target in sight.

Stopped using the podcasts now and ran tonight using the soundtrack from We Will Rock You. Some great songs to run to in there. Just not got enough breath to sing along while I'm running :)

Rain!

I didnt manage my run yesterday as stuck late at work and the Scottish monsoon hit again today so went to Aqua Aerobics instead. Didnt realise it was an hour class shattered now :) but fun.

Catch Up Again

I am a bad blogger! I think I overdid it at my Gym induction on Monday evening.

As my main focus is weight loss the fitness instructer suggested I start with the cardio-vascular machines.

So to get used to the equipment I did 5 min warm up on the bike, 5 mins on the rowing machine, 5 on the cross trainer and then hit the tread mill. Once I got up to speed and used to the fact of running with out going anywhere I kind of liked it so did a 20 min run. Obviously forgetting at that point I'd already run 28 minutes in the morning.

My thigh and calf muscles were complaining all day Tuesday. Must make sure to go to the gym on a rest day not a running day.

Wednesday

Managed the last 28min run of Week 8 on Wednesday, did it at the gym on the treadmill as winter had descended on Scotland

Felt easier on the treadmill but really boring just looking at the machine or myself sweating in the mirror I found myself daydreaming about my normal route round the park.

Thursday

I had a rest day but felt the need to do something so went for a swim, its been a couple of years since I was last swimming but managed 26 lengths in 30 mins.

Sunday

Managed the first run of week 9 a full 30 min run with no stops using mapmyrun my route was 3.17km so quite pleased with that.