Worn out

One of the interesting parts of not buying new clothes is that clothes that still fit actually wear out: the dye leaves the fabric and washing actually degrades the weave enough for holes to open.
This is the 3rd of my Target t-shirts to hit the trash: my drawers are getting emptier!

Paper multiplies when allowed respite.

I'm a little sad that I can't post the full bag of papers that we de-cluttered today (they had already been taken to recycling): this is just what I found during the commercial break when I was watching Bones. (Our Valentine's Day was watching TV together— we will try for a movie out next weekend, when it will be easier to get a babysitter.)

It seems that no matter how often we go through the stacked paperwork (which grows on a weekly basis) that after we have dealt with what needs to be dealt with and filed what needs to be filed, we have lots of paperwork to be recycled, shredded and/or discarded.

Sometimes it feels like a Sisyphean task, but today I had a pleasant reminder that we are actually reaching deeper into the piles than we have before, even though they grow weekly: I found a check written to me by a friend in the US two years which she had sent to me here and which I had clearly not sent back to the US to be deposited. So after a quick e-mail conversation, we have plans to meet up again this year in NY, where she can hand me a replacement and save herself the cost of an airmail stamp!:-)

These socks aren't made for walking

because they have been looking for their mates for an indeterminate period of time. Twelve unpaired socks left the house today and my sock bag is the lighter for it.

Accumulating Declutter

It's been a while since I've posted here, but that's because I have been accumulating my declutter.

Today I dropped off 54 books that accumulated in my to-be-donate/given away box, while on Monday I dropped off two overflowing bags of clothing at the local charity shop.

And yesterday, these hit the trash. Strangely enough, I had put them in the trash on Wednesday, but my youngest saw them and took them out (even though they are too small and have been replaced), so when I put them back, I made certain that they were thoroughly covered and no longer visible.

Clean teeth make the man?

What do I do with these? 4 electric toothbrushes, 2 for children, 2 for adults.

I have already discarded the heads, of course, but the brushes are perfectly fine: we have just upgraded to the "sonic" variety, after advice from my dentist. They work well, but I'm a sad case of extremely efficient calcium deposition and I need all the help that I can get.

I was also glad to be able to reduce the clutter in the bathroom by getting versions that allow different heads to be used with the same bases.

So, you can't donate used electronic at the places that I have looked– anyone know what can be done with them? There's always the recycling Hof, but it seems so wasteful.

Clothes make the man

And these are some very nice dress shirts that no longer make the cut (slight nicks on the collars and cuffs that are visible when seated with clients). The German generally checks every year when Brooks Bros has its big sale: ah, the trauma of requiring athletic cut:-).

Into the bag to be accumulated for clothing donation they go.

Starting the New Year

The last month has been a whirl of activity and running, like the Red Queen, just to stay in place. So what starts the New Year better than getting rid of clutter? What I want to know is how, after getting rid of so many documents, there seem to be more still in the filing cabinet that can go? We get a good workout with the cross-cut shredder that we brought with us from the States for paperwork that needs shredding and the rest goes into paper recycling. We did this gather and shred while sipping champagne and listening to the firecarchers and fireworks going off outside, but we did stop before midnight to watch the Hoff at the Berlin Wall :-) and to see some episodes of the new (to us) series Being Human.