by kathilipp | Jul 1, 2009 | Uncategorized |
At first I thought there was no way that I could get rid of 21 pieces of jewelry. It’s not like I am Liz Taylor and have to have someone vault and itemize my baubles.
But, as soon as I started to go through all of my stuff I realized that there was plenty of stuff that needed to be dealt with: Target specials that looked very cool in the store, but really didn’t go with anything, pairs of earrings that have lost each other along the way. Bracelets that need to have needed to have their clasps fixed for three years and even if they did I wouldn’t wear them.
Often times there is a lot of sentiment attached to jewelry, and I don’t want you to become overwhelmed. So here is what I want you to do: Grab out 21 things – whether they need to be donated to a charity, thrown away, repaired or dealt with in some other way. Gather them up and we will start to deal with them tomorrow.
by kathilipp | Jun 30, 2009 | Uncategorized |
OK – so we have been at these projects for a while now and you may be wondering if it’s really doing anything. Your life is still a mess, you still don’t have clean socks and it doesn’t matter if you do these stupid little projects because it’s hardly making a diffrence.
Bitter much?
So if you need a little encouragement today, let me share a letter that I received from Cathy who has been doing the Project. I love how she asked for help to get it done – we all need a partner in crime when it comes to bringing life into order.
Hi, Kathi,
I love getting your blog’s. I’m not that familiar with how to post, so I thought I’d just reply to this email.
My sister Mary came to visit last weekend, and I asked for her help in the bathroom, because it was a two-person job. I had soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, etc. from Costco in big packages, and no place to put them, so they’d been on my bathroom counter for two months.
We set up a bunch of laundry baskets, and she sat on the toilet seat (lid closed, of course) while I pulled from each cupboard. Items went into baskets as “Cathy’s cosmetics”, “Jim’s stuff”, “Medicines”, “Travel sizes of stuff we actually use”, or “Shared stuff” (like toothpaste and toilet paper). Everything else went into the last basket — “Throw out”.
In the process, I had discovered I had bought the same product more than once, because I had no idea I already had the first one.
When we were done, I had tossed travel sizes of items I never use, old cosmetics, samples I would never open, old toothbrushes, hair brushes, etc. and I had room for everything to go under the sink with space to spare. Now there’s a drawer for Cathy’s stuff, a drawer for Jim’s stuff, a center container for shared stuff, and separate shelves for medicines, first aid, and travel. And it’s easy for me to see how many I have of anything.
Having my sister help was important, because there was so much stuff, and not enough room for me to walk to each deposit site. (I don’t get up as easily from sitting on the floor reaching into the back of cupboards as I used to). She says she didn’t do much, but she was the extra extension to my reach to help distribute into each pile, and then hand back to me.
Regards,
– Cathy
by kathilipp | Jun 29, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Project for Today:
Clean 21 items out of your purse/wallet.
Here is an easy one for the you – something you can do while driving in the car with your husband, (as long as you are in the passenger seat,) waiting for you kids to get out of T-ball practice or while you are watching 24.
Things to take a look at:
- Expired stuff: credit/debit cards, Driver’s Licenses, etc.
- Old stuff (Roger just got rid of one of those plastic calendars that fit into your photo holders – FROM 1995 – and no, I am not kidding.)
- Receipts that you don’t need
- Wrappers
- Gross make-up
Do it quickly and don’t look back. Just pitch it.
by kathilipp | Jun 28, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Today’s Project: Throw away 21 things from your fridge.
Note from Kathi: Hey girls – my server has been having issues, so I am sorry that you haven’t had your projects – but don’t worry – we are back on board!
I know technically I should be cleaning out my fridge once a week. But honestly, it takes one of the three following event to happen before I dig in:
- There is an untraceable smell
- The take out containers from the five of us make it impossible for me to find a place to put my pint on non-fat milk (you don’t get to judge until you have five adults living under one roof)
- Anytime I go to Costco
So today – I toss!
Items I will be taking a long hard look at:
So, in clebration of getting rid of my culinary glut, I will also be giving away one of my previously loved books to a randomly chosen commenter:
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously is a very funny – if not raw (wow, pun totally not intended) read. I loved the book (after all, it was a PROJECT she was working on,) but she does cuss like a sailor who drank a little too much cooking sherry.
Since I don’t use those words, but also realize that a lot of otherwise great books use those words, I still offer it here, with appropriate warnings J
by kathilipp | Jun 24, 2009 | Uncategorized |
You thought you were safe. You thought we were going to stay in nice easy non-personal spaces for getting rid of stuff; like your underwear drawer. You were wrong.
So now it gets personal.
Let me ask you a question: How crammed is your inbox?
When it comes to this time-saving technology, for me it can be as overwhelming as a messy room.
I receive between 40-100 emails a day in my main mailbox. (I have a yahoo account for things I have signed up for and loops.) Those are e-mails that, for the most part, that I need to respond to. It can get a tad overwhelming. But this week I got it down to Zero! Whoo – hoo and neiner neiner.
And yes – I am working on my Christ-like attitude thank you very much…
If you are overwhelmed by your inbox, could you get rid of 21 e-mails today? Once you start, you can’t stop. It’s addicting.
Case in point: here is my screen today. Isn’t it pretty?!?
I got it that way yesterday, and then tweeted on Twitter that I had my inbox to zero. (And maybe I was a tad self-righteous…)
That is when my obnoxious (loving) friends started bombarding me with e-mails so it would no longer be empty.
If you need some step-by-step help in the inbox area, look at this great post from Michael Hyatt about staying on top of e-mail: Michael Hyatt’s Blog Especially helpful for those of us running a business or involved in some kind of ministry.
So start responding and deleting! Put a post in the comments so that we can celebrate your lighter box together.
by kathilipp | Jun 23, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Don’t we all have that one thing that is just oh-too-much.
For me, it is books (OK my daughter would argue it is also handbags, but I can only deal with one obsession at a time.)
I have no idea how much you have of your obsession, but I do know that I need to get rid of a lot of books. My plan is to get rid of 21 books this month. But not today.
Today I am going to start small – you know the old adage: One Book at a Time.
So as I get rid of some of my books, I thought maybe some of you would like to be blessed by them (really, I am not just passing on junk – these are great books that I have read – but I need to make room for all the other great books I want to read.)
So leave a note in the comment section and let me know what obsession you are going to be dealing with this month. If I randomly draw your name, you will get that book – postage on me.
Today’s Give-away Generation Next Marriage. You will love it!
Here are the results of the cosmetics clean out:
In return – I am getting a new eye shadow. (I mean look at that nasty eye shadow I was using. Ugh.)
