packing party

2015 in 2015 update #6 – We made it to 10,000!

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So here we are – another month of decluttering the stuff completed!

We’ve been moved back into the house now for a month.  Most of the boxes are empty or stored for the kiddos to go through or pick up.  I’m assuming some of it will be here for a while.  Good thing we have an extra closet!

In unpacking all of our belongs, we decluttered some more stuff – 516 items to be exact!  We have basically gone through everything in the house and are feeling pretty good about how it is turning out.  Now the garage is a different story!  There are many items (mostly furniture, storage containers that are empty, and master bath stuff) we didn’t put back into the house and now we really need to make a decision about that stuff.  Good thing we have a 3 day weekend coming up!

So here are the numbers – Continue reading →

Blast from the Past

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We’ve been decluttering fools this week!  238 items gone and basically all our boxes unpacked (kiddos still have some to go through but that will take time).


As Barb walked into the kitchen this morning she saw something bright on the floor. Drawn to bright things, she had to investigate – even if to just pick it up and throw it away.

Now some of you will recognize the company name.  How many of you remember T G & Y?  How many of you remember the old pre-computer cash registers?  Who remembers having to make change – not the register telling you how much to give the customer?  Who remembers putting these kind of stickers on every item before it was sold?   The memories of our first “real” job!

Barb worked for them from 1977 – 1982. She was making $2.20 per hour when she started. Ended making $4.90 per hour.  She never shopped there after leaving since all stores in our area were closed.

John’s first “real” job was with the county.  He worked every Saturday for “a real paycheck” washing and gassing county vehicles.  Back then, it was cheaper to hire high school kids than to use an automated car wash.

This sticker has been floating around our stuff for over 33 years!  It has survived our getting married and moving into 3 different places.  It survived our flood.  It survived a house with children, dogs, and a cat.   What did it fall off of?  How did it end up on the kitchen floor?

This little sticker is a survivor!  If it can make it intact, so can we!

Decluttering the kiddo’s stuff

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Kiddo history  We have 2 adult kiddos (28 and 26). They both went away to college, leaving home in 2005 and 2007 respectively. Their bedrooms have remained as they left them until recently (thank you “Great Flood”). We are now trying to reorganize their rooms into a guest room and den/office area.

Kiddo 1 recently married.  We are assuming she will not being moving back in.  Most of her belongings are gone but the sentimental stuff was boxed up and left here.

Kiddo 2 moved home for a year after college to prep for med school and is now back on the opposite coast – in med school! She left mostly sentimental stuff here and not packed up.

Unpacking after the “Great Flood”  As we are unpacking the boxes, each box must be opened. The packers were not really detailed about contents and frequently marked the boxes for different rooms. Very frustrating to say the least!

Kiddo 2 called today while Barb was looking into a box from her bedroom.  A few items were discussed and kiddo 2 made a great suggestion:  why don’t we set a certain amount of time and FaceTime so I can quickly let you know if it is a keeper or a goner?”   We knew she was smart!

So we promptly switched to FaceTime, set a 10 minute limit, and decluttered 4 pairs of shoes, 3 formal dresses from high school, and about 20 knick knacks together!  She might be almost 3000 miles away, but we still were able to get her to declutter her stuff!

  

  

2015 in 2015 Update #5

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We can’t believe how much stuff we have decluttered!  After the “Great Flood”, we have been unpacking and decluttering along the way during July.  Our stuff was delivered July 14 and we staying the night for the first time July 30.  We had to wait for a bathroom to be functional.  Things are not quite back to normal but they are coming along.

Here are the numbers so far for 2015:

House = 5269

Garage = 2424

Barbie’s, etc =  2301  (See this post for details)

GRAND TOTAL = 9994 with 32 trips to Goodwill.  9 of these trips were this recent month!

Items removed this month = 1632 !!

WE WILL MAKE IT TO 10,000 ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE HOUSE!!  Who knew that we would actually declutter this much stuff when we started in January.  We were tempted to go around and find 6 items but we are too tired tonight.

We didn’t eliminate any stuff from the garage this month.  It is still full of boxes/belongings/furniture that used to be in the house.  The Barbie category didn’t change either.  The toys left are in the rafters of the garage and can wait until we have more of the house completed.

While we are unpacking, we keep thinking how much more work it would have been with 8362 more items.  The approximate 1000 books alone gave us a backache!

Unplanned Packing Party Update #2

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So we are basically 3 weeks post flood.  We are referring to the event in multiple ways:  the day our house leaked;  the great flood of 2015;  the unplanned remodeling;  the unplanned packing party.  It really depends on the day!  Moving to a small studio hotel suite has been challenging to say the least.  The house being empty isn’t bothering us – maybe decluttering the stuff has made a difference in our views!

Things removed:  drywall, all flooring, all doors and door frames, bathroom vanities, and all our belongings.  Removing the damaged drywall, etc was $8331.  Asbestos test was $750.

Now to the rebuilding:  The furniture is being restored at a cost of $6927.  Insurance gave us $24,197 for structural repairs.  As of today they have replaced all damaged drywall, texture coated the walls, prime coated the walls.  Monday they will be painting all the walls except for the bathrooms.  We have decided to do a bath remodel while everything is removed (pics in next post.)  Hubby will be adding porcelain tiles above the new tub!  We are hoping the doors are installed this week.

Here are some pics of our dining room. left one is before any repairs. Right one is from last Thursday before the texture coating and primer coating was applied.

IMG_1685                                        IMG_1860

Unplanned Packing Party Update

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So we have finished packing the entire house. They took the rest of it last night. We will be living in a hotel for at least 2 months.

It was really hard to decide which items to take with us. We usually go in the RV for June and July. Why does this seem so difficult while those 2 months seem stress free?  We think it has to do with the unplanned aspect of this.

We need to do some shopping too. We have made considerable progress not shopping for anything but “necessities”. Putting the house back in order is a necessity, but we have to decide everything “yesterday”.

Some of the things we have to decide: paint colors, type of molding/trim, carpet, door jam stuff, doors, and bathroom vanities.  We’re feeling stressed about going to the various stores to look at samples.

We also haven’t received a dollar amount from the insurance company. Our adjuster said he would have it by next week. How can we possibly tell the contractor what to buy when the budget hadn’t been developed?

Pics of our disaster so far:  The drywall didn’t need to be removed as high as we thought!