De-clutter Update

FYI

I bought a new Dooney today... I HAD to have it.

Shut up

10 Questions (and my answers) to help me De-clutter

I found these helpful/stupid questions online to help me clarify what is worth saving or tossing in my house...

Is this something I use regularly?

            Define regularly…. I need to be more specific… once a week? Once a month? Once a year? I can’t make a decision on such a vague question. I use my luggage once a year… but I am not getting rid of it because I only use it once a year.. so I need a better definition of “regularly”

      If this is not something I use regularly, is it something I love?

      If I bought it … chances are I love it.

     Am I holding on to this because I think I should love it?

           Who wrote these questions… seriously

      Am I saving this just in case?

       I have a lot of things I am saving just in case… luggage – just in case I can find some time to go somewhere, shoes – I have a pair of shoes(actually 3 pr of the same shoe, in the same color) that l love… but haven’t worn in about 10 years. I may need them one day with the right outfit. I have a lot of clothes that I may need one day when I drop about 30 pounds… when that happens I will certainly be ready.

      Do I have multiples of the same thing?

      Hell yes…I am a woman - I have too many pair of black shoes…who doesn't? I have several Dooney & Bourke handbags and I need every one of them AND their matching wallets. I have several bottles of my favorite OPI nail polish and that is because they discontinue the damn color and I can’t find it anymore.

                               

      Could something else I own do the same job?

      NO. Why would anyone think that one Dooney & Bourke bag would be a universal bag that could be carried with anything and all the time. NO – must have several, in several colors – with matching wallets. Non Negotiable.

      Am I holding on to a broken item to fix one day?

      Now I don’t have a problem with this, broken items do not interest me. i just as soon buy another one that looks just like it … toss it.

      Am I keeping this out of obligation or expectation?

     NO problems here either… unless it is a gift from my husband or children if I don’t need it … toss it

      Is this item worth the time I spend cleaning or storing it?

      Cleaning and storing?? The only thing I can think of that would fit in this category is books and DVDs. I do admit to having too many of both.

      Could I use this space for something else?

      I think I would only put something else in its place… maybe a new Dooney & Bourke bag J

After going through these 10 Useless questions I can honestly say that I am no closer to de-cluttering my space than I was before reading them. These did not help me classify anything. So I am either a high end hoarder or I was never cluttered to begin with.

Sounds good to me… moving on now… 

Life Goes on... Moves On...

When faced with the loss of someone so important to you that you feel you won’t be able to exist without them, you must remember that the world moves on with or without your participation, because it is certainly moving on without them. There are three words in the English language that have more meaning behind them than any other phrase. “Life goes on”. It does. With or without you it does go on.

No doubt about it and I am living, witnessing and testifying to that truth. My kids are still growing, bills are due, my teenager’s social schedule is filled with birthdays and sleepovers and my little man just graduated preschool and starts kindergarten soon. Time didn't stop because my mother died. The day she died is like a block of time that I can lock up and put away in a safe place. I don’t want to revisit that block of time very often, but there are still days when I go back there, do the ugly cry, feel sorry for myself about the injustice of it all and ask WHY? It is so easy to slip into that sadness and let it consume me but I can’t allow that. I have two children that need their mother, a husband that needs his wife and I need them just as badly. Now is about the time my mother would grab me by my shoulders and tell me to snap out of it, find my bootstraps and big girl panties and she would be right, as she always was.

Time is the one thing that heals, mends and repairs the broken heart so that we can continue living. Don’t fight it. Let it brush past you because as it does you are one step further from the sadness than you were a moment ago and every step counts. Never think that you are forgetting or leaving your loved one behind, you aren't, they are with you and you are merely living without their physical presence until you can be with them again. 

Typical Maroon Shit - OMG I was Hacked!!!

Hey guys and gals. This is Jr, Michele maroon-barefoot's other (better) half. This is just a quick anecdote about my lovely wife. I love God, I love my younguns, I love peanut butter, and I love Slayer. And, I love me some Michele Maroon.

You know why I love me some Michele Maroon?
I don't know why.

She will make the biggest mess in the world making herself a ham sandwich. It's like an old man in a rest home trying to cut a block of cheese in half with a plastic knife.
She tracks grass, leaves, and pine straw in the house like a hobo.

But, she is the sweetest, most caring, most wonderful, purtiest girl I have ever met. And I love her and am proud to be her house-boy.

Even though she drives me crazy with her bat-shit crazy crap that makes me insane. But she is my maroon. And I am in love...