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Post by villanelle on Feb 12, 2021 19:01:47 GMT -5
For the piano, sometimes schools want them. Might be worth reaching out.
We have one week until our pre-move inspection. The house is getting messier, not cleaner. Today I went through the linen closet. How are nearly all of the sheets sets missing one pillow case? Two sets--one on the bed and one that is a size for a mattress we no longer own--have both. WTF? Anyway, I'm trying to get shit together, but it's just making more piles and more "I don't know what to do with this so I'll set it here" issues. Like, now I have a pile of sheets (because I unfolded everything hoping pillow cases were wrapped up somehow). I need to figure out what is what size, accept that I guess we will always have mismatched pillows on the guest bed, fold up what I want to keep, and get rid of the rest.
So I made progress, but I also made the house messier, not cleaner.
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Post by Inky on Feb 12, 2021 19:10:51 GMT -5
I'm a cricket. Organizing stuff is my life's work. I do leave little piles around until I can put it away in its proper place. We have more organizational stuff than we have stuff. As in, our furnace/laundry room has two shelving units and only one has anything on it. The cats play on the other. I rearrange furniture on a regular basis, and everything has its place until I figure out a better place for it. This is kind of like how I am. Rather than just shove something in a drawer to get it out of sight, I leave little piles, and slips of paper with notes around until whatever can be put in it's proper place. I am married to a guy who THINKS he is super organized, but his idea of organized is "out of sight, out of mind". That drives me nuts! People who come into our house though, comment on how tidy it is, so maybe we are doing something right between us.
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Post by jen on Feb 13, 2021 17:46:30 GMT -5
The real change for my mindset was cleaning out my mom's place. I realize Zoe has no interest in my stuff. I saw the burden my mom's things were on me and later my MIL on her children. If it doesn't bring me any happiness or I can make it beautiful, there is a good chance I will let it go.
Pianos are hard. You will probably have to pay to have it taken away.
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Post by Peanut on Feb 15, 2021 11:08:28 GMT -5
I grew up sharing a bedroom with my 3 sisters, so we never put clothes away, we lived out of laundry baskets. I was a SLOB full stop for a long time, I grew up sharing a (relatively small) bedroom with three sisters, as well. We weren't intentionally slobby, there simply wasn't a place for everything, so pretty much NOTHING had a place. It took a lot of conscientious effort to break the habits of my upbringing.
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Post by Eli on Feb 15, 2021 12:32:54 GMT -5
I have so much crap it's ridiculous. I have a spare room I want to clean out but I walk in and just turn around and walk out because it's so bad. One of my problems, besides my sheer laziness, is I have no idea what to do with the stuff! It's not trash and I hate to throw it out but I have no idea what to DO with the stuff once I organize it. I have posted our piano on the free stuff facebook page 3 times, every time, I get lots of people expressing interest, two who have gone as far to set up a date/time to pick it up that they backed out of, and yet, it still sits in my living room. I'm not even sure we can throw it out. It was Maeve's piano, my a cappella group has a keyboard that lives in my house, and I can use that for how I "play" (pick out the notes on the line of music I'm learning.) I always think "maybe, I'll sell this!" But then I realize that it's more likely no one will buy it and I'll still be stuck with it. I feel awful just throwing it out, but when I get the energy and time to declutter, I want it gone.
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Post by coachgrrl on Feb 15, 2021 17:29:11 GMT -5
I got rid of our piano free by listed it on Craigslist “free -you pick up”. It was gone in 2 days
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emmjay
Full Member
Posts: 1,734
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Post by emmjay on Feb 16, 2021 5:49:27 GMT -5
I think my mom had to pay someone to take my childhood piano away, but it was a piece of crap and no one wanted it. I sometimes wonder how I’m going to unload my piano whenever we move. I bought it from some people who were moving out of the country and paid £50 for it. It’s pretty decent, but so many people use digital pianos, even though I think the acoustic ones are so much better for both learning and playing!! We do have a piano shop nearby and they sell used pianos, so I might try that route.
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Post by maurinsky on Feb 16, 2021 11:38:08 GMT -5
I'll try Craigslist next. I got rid of a coffee table (I loved it, but it was too big for this house) on Craigslist.
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Post by villanelle on Feb 16, 2021 16:44:09 GMT -5
Do you have a local Buy Nothing group on Facebook? I've seen pianos go several times on mine. And people there tend to be slightly less unreliable than Craigslist.
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Post by momof3b1g on Feb 16, 2021 21:12:21 GMT -5
I'm a Bee! LOL - I'm actually allergic to those but I do think the description fits. I have so much stuff that's just 'left over'. I have kids crap and my crap. I do file things in my big file cabinet but have crap from the PTO (when I was on the board) and now the HOA (why am I on this board?) and just stuff. I have old toys that I just have to take somewhere (Eve wants to donate some of hers to the Humane Society and/or The Conservancy). And yes, what Kimbelina said - some of it I just don't want to trash because it is usable. I just don't have the time or patience to put it on Craig's list or Ebay or anything like that.
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Post by villanelle on Feb 17, 2021 12:49:57 GMT -5
I can't believe it, but I've actually ordered the Flylady book. Reading about the system online, it seems like it might be a good fit, with some tweaks. (I'm not shining my sink every day and toweling it dry every time it is used. And I won't be putting on "lace-up", or any, shoes every morning or "fixing my face" every day.)
Realistically, nothing will happen until we move, but one the book arrives, hopefully I get a better feel for things. As I understand it, each day has a focus (Thursdays are for running errands, etc.) and each week has a zone (which rotate through the 5 weeks in a months, so 2 are usually partial weeks) and you work your zone for ~15 minutes a day. I think you do that every day of the week, in addition to the the daily priority. There's also a morning, mid-day and evening routine, so in the morning you might start laundry, water plants, feed pets, (I plan to add a work out to this), etc. Then mid-day you do your 15 minutes of zone, move the laundry to the dryer, and whatever else; and evening you load and run dishwasher, take food out of the freezer for tomorrow's meal, check your calendar for the next day, and fold that laundry.
Those are just examples. You set your own 3 daily routines.
Right now, the system somehow seems a bit unclear. (Like, if I'm in the kitchen zone week, do I spend 15 minutes a day on the kitchen as part of my afternoon routine every day, and that's all, other than any kitchen tasks that might be part of my daily routines?) So I'm hoping the book will help. But in generally, I feel like it might help me deal with the feelings of being overwhelmed that always plague me with cleaning and organizing. I like her "just start where you are" philosophy. No need to bust your ass and get it all nearly perfect as a starting point. Just jump into the system and eventually, everything will get up to snuff.
Even though she's pretty adamant about the sink-shining--it seems to be the symbolic founding principle--and the shoe wearing and face "fixing" (God, I hate that term. My face isn't "broken" just because I'm not wearing make up) I plan on editing those out. I understand why she does them. T he sink is one small, quick, but obvious task that you can manage every day, and that makes you feel accomplished. I can substitue something else in, I think. And shoes and make up are to make you feel ready to start the day, a bit like an on-switch for you motivation. I just hate wearing shoes and don't wear them inside.
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Post by Inky on Feb 17, 2021 20:15:54 GMT -5
Interesting thing about the kitchen sink. 31 years ago, I had just had my second child and become very ill with RA. I had a homemaker come in every day for 8 hours (this is back in the days before PSW's and rationed health care). The first thing the ladies did when they came into my home was tidy the kitchen and wash the dishes. One of them told me that it just made everything look a little nicer. And it was, it made me feel better that my kitchen wasn't a wreck, even if I was.
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Post by villanelle on Feb 17, 2021 21:04:34 GMT -5
Interesting thing about the kitchen sink. 31 years ago, I had just had my second child and become very ill with RA. I had a homemaker come in every day for 8 hours (this is back in the days before PSW's and rationed health care). The first thing the ladies did when they came into my home was tidy the kitchen and wash the dishes. One of them told me that it just made everything look a little nicer. And it was, it made me feel better that my kitchen wasn't a wreck, even if I was. I'm totally on board with getting the dishes out of the sink. It's the actual polishing of the sink surface that seems silly to me. And keeping a towel nearby to dry out the sink after every use so the sink stays shiny and without water spots. DH would look at me like I'd sprouted a third eye if I asked him to please start drying the sink after use, and I don't care if my sink has water spots. I think that all dishes in the dishwasher instead of the sink, and empyting the drying rack of anything there would serve the same purpose of feeling I've accomplished something and having something nice and validating to look at, without actually adding an additional thing to the list of stuff I need to do.
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Post by Truffles on Feb 18, 2021 3:20:00 GMT -5
From a hygienic point of view, allowing your dishes to air dry is more sanitary than towel drying them. /factoid
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Post by maurinsky on Feb 18, 2021 8:39:06 GMT -5
I used to subscribe to the Flylady daily newsletter. When I think back to the colossal slob I used to be, I am proud of how much progress I've made. Dishes are all washed and put away before we go to bed. I vacuum once a week. There was a time when the small piles I have now would not have even bothered me! But they do now!
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Post by shaena on Feb 18, 2021 13:52:41 GMT -5
My mom cleaned homes professionally- mostly heavy duty like after fires and worse stuff, but she knew what it took to keep you in an organized clean mode. The big thing was always a clean sink, and always, always make your beds. Swish some lysol round your bathroom sink and wipe it down, and you can usually handle the big stuff later. I love this article I found a few years agoand bookmarked- "how to clean your home in 30 days". If I fall off the wagon, I just jump in to whatever day I am on, makes me feel like I am on top of something anyway! www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-your-house-in-20-minutes-a-day-for-30-days-131142Today is clean the fridge and pantry day, which worked well, as I did a pretty good shop this morning as we have snow coming today through tomorrow.
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