Thursday, January 16, 2020
Today was an unexpected decluttering volunteer day. My friend, Lela Rae, had told me last week she had a truck if I wanted her to take loads of unneeded items to a donation center. I emailed her after I saw the mountain of trash bags under my patio awning and she replied she would stop by today to pick up a load to donate for me.
Tuesday evening, my decluttering volunteer for Wednesday, Molly, called me to let me know she had a miscommunication with another person she thought she was meeting with Thursday who thought the meeting was Wednesday. Molly wanted to schedule another day and I mentioned Lela Rae was stopping by for a few minutes Thursday so Molly asked if she could come on Thursday too.
I am purposely not scheduling decluttering volunteers on days I need to get my blood draws and Thursdays are blood draw days. I do get home by 11:15 a.m. at the latest, but I am cold and unmotivated when I get home. Having Lela Rae stop by for a quick donation pick up was one thing, however I had to think for a moment when Molly asked to come for a few hours and I would need to think while cold and miserable. I told Molly I had February days available, but she was so insistent on helping sooner rather than later I caved in and said yes.
Molly got here a few minutes before 12:00 p.m. and Lela Rea was here a few minutes later. Both of them loaded Lela Rae’s truck with my ready to donate items so she could get on her way. Then it was Molly and me ready to start purging more items from my house.
I do not know Molly well at all. Molly is a member of the networking group I joined the month before my cancer diagnosis, and I have not attended meetings regularly in the past 18 months. I am not sure I have said more than hello to her at events. I appreciate the fact that someone who has only a very casual connection with me was so willing to help.
Like my helper on Tuesday, Molly made short work of sorting boxes and storage buckets full of household discards. When my seven-year-old, Mika, became a toddler, I cleared off 12 shelves worth of my books, boxed them, placed the boxes in my library area, and created a four-foot wall of buckets to keep tiny Mika from going into my library and destroying my books. That wall should have come down two years ago. In the meantime, I kept putting unwanted items in that area because my sheds were full.
My wall has been taken down! Molly and I cleared out another six or seven trash bags and a couple of small boxes full of outgrown clothes and other household items. Six more empty storage buckets went to the shed! Unfortunately, just like decluttering day on Tuesday, it does not look like much progress has been made. My mountain of ready to donate trash bags on my patio is now a foothill, but inside my home still looks very cluttered as far as the eye can see.
We left my books boxed up because I need to finish clearing the shelves I used for Mika and repair them to be able to hold the weight of books again. We also left my adapted bassinet and a storage locker of black baby clothes I am not ready to part with yet. Those items will go in my upper shed once I get it shelved (whenever that happens). We have a path through the area and the wall has been removed so it is better.
My piece of advice to you is to be flexible with your schedule. I did not want to say yes to Molly on Tuesday, but I am glad I did. I cannot believe how much was done again today in only three hours. My friends come ready to work and deliver beyond my expectations.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Today was an unexpected decluttering volunteer day. My friend, Lela Rae, had told me last week she had a truck if I wanted her to take loads of unneeded items to a donation center. I emailed her after I saw the mountain of trash bags under my patio awning and she replied she would stop by today to pick up a load to donate for me.
Tuesday evening, my decluttering volunteer for Wednesday, Molly, called me to let me know she had a miscommunication with another person she thought she was meeting with Thursday who thought the meeting was Wednesday. Molly wanted to schedule another day and I mentioned Lela Rae was stopping by for a few minutes Thursday so Molly asked if she could come on Thursday too.
I am purposely not scheduling decluttering volunteers on days I need to get my blood draws and Thursdays are blood draw days. I do get home by 11:15 a.m. at the latest, but I am cold and unmotivated when I get home. Having Lela Rae stop by for a quick donation pick up was one thing, however I had to think for a moment when Molly asked to come for a few hours and I would need to think while cold and miserable. I told Molly I had February days available, but she was so insistent on helping sooner rather than later I caved in and said yes.
Molly got here a few minutes before 12:00 p.m. and Lela Rea was here a few minutes later. Both of them loaded Lela Rae’s truck with my ready to donate items so she could get on her way. Then it was Molly and me ready to start purging more items from my house.
I do not know Molly well at all. Molly is a member of the networking group I joined the month before my cancer diagnosis, and I have not attended meetings regularly in the past 18 months. I am not sure I have said more than hello to her at events. I appreciate the fact that someone who has only a very casual connection with me was so willing to help.
Like my helper on Tuesday, Molly made short work of sorting boxes and storage buckets full of household discards. When my seven-year-old, Mika, became a toddler, I cleared off 12 shelves worth of my books, boxed them, placed the boxes in my library area, and created a four-foot wall of buckets to keep tiny Mika from going into my library and destroying my books. That wall should have come down two years ago. In the meantime, I kept putting unwanted items in that area because my sheds were full.
My wall has been taken down! Molly and I cleared out another six or seven trash bags and a couple of small boxes full of outgrown clothes and other household items. Six more empty storage buckets went to the shed! Unfortunately, just like decluttering day on Tuesday, it does not look like much progress has been made. My mountain of ready to donate trash bags on my patio is now a foothill, but inside my home still looks very cluttered as far as the eye can see.
We left my books boxed up because I need to finish clearing the shelves I used for Mika and repair them to be able to hold the weight of books again. We also left my adapted bassinet and a storage locker of black baby clothes I am not ready to part with yet. Those items will go in my upper shed once I get it shelved (whenever that happens). We have a path through the area and the wall has been removed so it is better.
My piece of advice to you is to be flexible with your schedule. I did not want to say yes to Molly on Tuesday, but I am glad I did. I cannot believe how much was done again today in only three hours. My friends come ready to work and deliver beyond my expectations.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.