Clutter

Isn't it amazing how stuff just starts to "clutter" in our homes?  It doesn't take long if you don't have the mentality to not accept something that is offered to you.  If you don't have a NEED for it you simply shouldn't take it.  Have you ever seen that show "hoarders"  its amazing how people can just collect random stuff because it was super on sale or someone was giving it away free or dirt cheap.  Just because something is a HUGE deal doesn't mean you NEED it.  I think this is the mentality my dad has.  He's not a hoarder like you see on TV.  He does own a VERY LARGE house with many garages for just one guy.  He has a 4 bedroom home that is 3 levels.  All 3 levels are livable and fully furnished.  As well as an attached 2 stall garage, a detached 3 stall garage, a shed and a fish house he uses as extra storage.  He will blame most of his "stuff" on the death of my grandmother and that a lot of it is her's.  My grandmother passed away 5 years this August and I had the bulk of what she had in her last few months, after she passed, I kept what I wanted and had a large sale after she died.  So the excuse my dad uses is a crock. 

My dad will often complain that he has "no money."  This is the funniest thing I think I've ever heard him say.  For one man in his early 60s who did not pay for his only daughters education who owns a minimum of 7 cars at a time with a fully furnished home with a ton of antiques and such I find it difficult that he has no money.  He essentially retired after my grandmother passed as she was quite wealthy.  I often tell him, if you have no money then downsize to 1-2 vehicles.  Put ads in the paper and sell some of these antiques that have no other purpose in your home other then to fill a void or an empty space.  He is beyond materialistic as he says he doesn't want to exist in this world if he can't have his stuff.

Then there is me.  I've never wanted to be considered a "pack rat" like my parents.  My father is far worse then my mother and my mother is getting A LOT better as she doesn't take things she doesn't need, for her its getting rid of what she already has.  I had part of the mentality that my home needs to look homey and in order to do so, you need to fill it with furniture and items that make it look a certain way.  I've not had to purchase most of the items in my home because my grandmother supplied me with most of the furniture I'd ever need.  But, then I got married and had my own interests and likes and as time has gone on I've sold the things she gave me and accumulated "our" style items.  But we don't keep what we replace, we replace it, the old needs to leave.  I still have pieces in which I've inherited but they are worked into our lives only if we find a use for them.

Last weekend we had a garage sale and this weekend we are having another.  My husband tells me today, I'm so glad you have started parting with so many of the things you've had.  Wow.  My husband rarely says stuff like this.  I told him, there is no reason to have any of the items in the garage that we've hauled out there.  He's glad I'm parting with my grandparents Wedding Dishes, like I told my parents, I don't have a table that seats 12, let alone an occasion in which to have such a party that you would use rare, breakable dishes, they sit and collect dust in our livingroom.  Our house wouldn't even fit that many people.  This is not 1950.

I just went thru my jewelry boxes.  I've always had 3 boxes.  Which is kind of funny if you know me.  When I'm not pregnant and have normal size fingers, I will always be wearing my wedding ring and 1 other ring which I saved for, for 2 summers and had my eye on at an Art Gallery in Grand Marais, MN.  That's it for rings, I don't wear bracelets, I wear a watch, and then usually a silver chain my husband bought for me for my 16th birthday with either a cross pendant my mother bought me the same year at Christmas or one of the many other pendants I've picked up over the years.  That's it.  I don't wear earrings pierced or regular, I had pierced ears at one point in time, but I've always had the mentality, "I am me for me, if you want me to wear make-up, jewelry, high heels, etc. then you need find something else to be your friend, because I am me, the way I am."  Plus, high heels hurt, yes they can be cute, but seriously people cute is over rated, comfort is so much better!  Who cares what people say about you, its what you say about you that matters.

I also just went thru my shoes.  All flats, all entirely adorable.  Though my dainty feet are no longer so, I'm still 9 months pregnant and my feet are swollen but I fear they have spread and they don't go back, so 6 pairs of totally adorable shoes are waiting on going out to the garage.  I kept a pair in white and a pair in black that I had on not that long ago that I'm hoping after the baby is born and the swelling goes away I can still wear them.

My point is we gather "clutter" so easily.  When was the last time you brought something home you didn't need?  Think about it, do you need it?  Did you need it at the time?  Is it something you could have borrowed instead?  I'm a huge buyer of books or at least I used to be.  Now I look online in my local library's catalog.  If my library doesn't have it, another library does, they'll get it for me.  If its a book with so much GREAT info that I can't live with out then I look on ebay or amazon for a used cheaper version and then buy that.  Barnes and Nobel is no longer a place I go in and come out with $60 worth in books because I can read most of them for free from the library.

I'm decluttering/organizing/cleaning because I'm nesting and I don't want all this excess "junk" taking up my time when my time is supposed to be with my bundle of joy when he arrives.  People are irreplaceable.  I tell this to my husband all the time, we are often in the city in which his family lives and I often encourage him to visit, and he doesn't want to.  Then they blame me for keeping him from his family which I'm not sure why they don't call and ask him why he doesn't come instead of just blaming me?  But whatever.  I see it as we need to spend time with people vs our junk.  Not every one sees it that way including my own father but when you can control the clutter to make room for family time, DO IT!

I'm going back to bringing items out to the garage as it grew quite dark all of a sudden and its only 4:19pm, hoping it doesn't rain...