Thursday, November 19, 2015

Really Random Thursday: 11/19/15

Have you read the book by Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

I have begun tidying up and I'm starting to feel the magic, although at this point, mostly what I feel is dry hands and sore muscles.

I think by the time I'm through, I will have touched every item and piece of paper we own. I'll spare you the gory details, and just show you some of the things I have found. 

The pictures taken during years of our marriage (42+) have been condensed into about four photo boxes. Although there is a whole decade of images on my computer, but that's a task for another day year. Some of you will remember the days when we took our chances with the photos on the film in our camera. So every picture was developed, usually in doubles. I used to save nearly every picture, good, bad, fuzzy or otherwise. I have been ruthless this week. For the most part, I don't feel the need to save scenery pictures. A few representative pictures of events have been saved, as long as there are friends or family included in the picture. Along the way I found some gems.

Some made me laugh.

This is my friend, Dotty. She taught me to quilt. This is the mascot of our local triple A baseball team. I think we were in a skybox for the game and the mascot dropped by... I sent this picture to Dotty. She claims to not know the person in this picture. Ha!
Pictures of very good friends, Jessie and Val, and Val's now-husband, Matt. These pictures brought back memories and such a good laugh. Those are my red boots, by the way. 
And a bit of sadness. Here is Sue, such a dear friend, mother of Jessie and Val, no longer with us. She is holding Charlotte (who is now 9) in that bottom picture.
One of my favorite pictures ever. Our son, Aaron (now 37), with my grandfather.
If you are old enough to remember Toni hair permanents, you might vaguely remember that every year, the company chose a set of twins, the first ones born in the new year. So my cousins, Gwen and Beth, were the Toni twins of 1953. Their parents received lots of gifts from the company that year. 
Gwen, Beth and their sister Sandy
I found some professional photos of the fused glass Mark used to make.
 A "Glassy Quilt"--Mark made the frame and I made a 3" mini quilt and did a bit of beading.
Mark also made custom dinnerware. So beautiful....
We used to be vendors at quilt shows, and this sign was on the door of a hotel gift shop. Weird hours. Why not just say 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.?
When Aaron was going to optometry school in the Portland area, and he and Christa were expecting Charlotte, they posted a picture every day as the countdown to the due date grew closer. So if you are reading this and live in the Portland area, you might recognize some of these signs.
My friend, Jennifer, makes little personalized signs each year when we attend the quilting retreat sponsored by our local quilt shop. I'm missing one year. But I know I'll find it when I tackle the sewing room. The quilt shop gives us each 1/2 yard of focus fabric to make a project and Jennifer always adds a strip of that fabric to the card. It's a fun added touch.

You can tell that 2009 was the year Twilight was popular and everyone was trying to figure out which character they were. 

The year Jennifer was taking Spanish lessons and so our signs were in Spanish
And I found this cross stitch pattern. I think we all have this kind of day once in awhile.
So do you hang on to things? Or do you find joy in decluttering?

14 comments:

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Needled Mom said... #

Like you, this year I have been purging a lot of those old "Un-peopled" photos this year. As much work as it has been for you, I am sure that you have laughed and enjoyed looking back. There are some real treasures to be found that only you can appreciate.

Beth said... #

I so need to clear out the old pictures too. I have not read the book yet but love the idea of getting rid of unneeded/wanted stuff.

artsycraftsyivy said... #

I started reading that book, put it down, and did some decluttering. I really need to pick that book back up and start decluttering again! Congrats on your progress :)

Rachel said... #

I feel like I am always decluttering, but Tuesday I donated four bags of various items and today I am going through two different bookshelves. Its a process for sure, especially when I feel like more stuff comes in than goes out!

Doris said... #

I read that book--started with my clothing (I need to do it again now that the seasons have changed!) and then my photos (tossed ruthlessly, sent the rest away to be scanned), working on sewing room now, hence the de-stash!!!

Linda said... #

I had Toni permanents as a child! (How did my hair survive?) We cart around boxes of old family photos every time we move, some of them dating back to the late 1800s. With my parents and brothers all gone, I can no longer ask "who was this?" to identify the people staring solemnly at the camera. (Why did no one smile?) I guess it's time to be ruthless.

Deb Cox said... #

I love my stuff, I love reorganizing and I love getting rid of also! Thank you Cindy for such a fun post. At 62 I do remember all the things your were reminiscing about. How lovely to have a trip down memory lane with a smile. Thanks for sharing and please keep up the posts when you can. And keep up the good work of clearing out. Tah Dah!

Vicki said... #

Oh my word...that pic of Dotty is priceless!!

Barb Neiwert said... #

When we moved two years ago, we systematically decluttered - never did figure out how we 'stored' that much stuff in our basement. Geez. It certainly felt good. Now I don't buy anything new without getting rid of something old (that I truly don't love any longer). How fun are those retreat tags, btw!

Unknown said... #

I DO remember Toni permanents! I'm also decluttering (I call it downsizing).

FlourishingPalms said... #

I know EXACTLY what you're going through these days, Cindy. I did all these things before moving to Florida in 2012... touched every piece of paper.... went through every photo. Do you realize how frequently our social security numbers were plastered all over everything?! We shredded a ton of old information. As for photos... I took apart 18 photo albums, ruthlessly tossed the blurred pics, and those of places, and then scanned everything else. That took an entire week to accomplish. Photos are all on one CD, copied for every family member. As for the computer photos... I'm still working through that. My new MacBook and one-on-one photo sessions at the Apple Store will help me get those in order, and uploaded to the I-Cloud. Still, going through all your stuff is a nice walk down memory lane, isn't it? I too posted some of my findings on my blog, and since I print my blog as a book each year, someday family will be able to look at the things I thought were special, many of which I parted with. My best to you as you go through this process.

suemac said... #

I have gone through the sorting of clothes and fabric. I have not started with photos and paperwork. I need to get cracking. Moving helped with the clothes sorting. It is amazing that we hold onto stained tee shirts and clothes that no longer fit. Sigh. The book is great.

Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

I just got the audio of that book from the library but haven't started yet. Now I feel a bit more motivated as I've been trying over the summer to whittle away at 25 years worth of stuff around the house. You have made so many great quilty friends over the years. So glad I can now count you as one of mine.

lindaroo said... #

I loved reading the magic of tidying, for the motivation and method of purging, and for her odd personification of things and processes. It worked for my clothes; now I love everything in my closet and drawers, and I don't miss the rest. I admire your fortitude to tackle your photos!
The countdown to Charlotte is so clever. What fun!