Almost all of my recipes, this week, are new-to-us… I got a “Betty Crocker Quick and Easy” cookbook from the library on Saturday, and am determined to find new things to add to our repetoire.

Monday: Chevapi dogs, french fries, salad

Tuesday: Beef tenderloin in mushrooms and garlic butter sauce

Wednesday: BBQ pork chops – family [Mom - pizza party @ work]

Thursday: grilled cheddar-stuffed chicken

Friday: –fend for yourselves– [Mom working evenings]

Saturday: peppered pork pitas with garlic spread

Sunday: cheesy beef hash

Sure –we buy “the stuff,” but we also invest in what I call “the promise”. We buy exercise machines, but we are really investing in the promise of flat abs. We buy clothing, but we are really investing in the promise of being more attractive. We buy all that stuff from late-night infomercials, but we are really investing in the idea that somehow our lives will be better and our homes happier. It just doesn’t work like that… We buy all that stuff because we think it’ll make us happy. We think that if we collect all the right things–the right home, the right clothes, the right electronics, the right cars, the right appliances–we will eventually accumulate the life we imagine for ourselves. In buying what we want, we hope to acquire the life we desire.”

…and the picture of the pile now that I’ve gone through the entire house, too!…

LOL. It grew just a little, don’t you think? LOL.

I just hope that it will all fit into the back of the pickup truck that Goodwill sends out! LOL.

The top is one of the areas that needed a serious cleaning (the dust was about an inch thick up there, and there were some miscellaneous items that had been stored there that were better off being stored in the garage… you can’t see this stuff, really, in the pictures, as it was hiding behind the kids’ Disney videos).

Here’s the BEFORE picture:

living room entertainment center (BEFORE)

And, here’s the AFTER picture:

living room entertainment center (AFTER)

 So, now I am finally done my “Spring cleaning” and decluttering, and all I have left to do is to give the stuff to goodwill… they’re sending the truck over to collect my donations tomorrow morning, so I don’t have to wait long!

Next project will be to declutter the kids’ rooms, but I think I’ll wait for a while on that one… I’ve done enough cleaning this week to exhaust me thoroughly, and I am going to rest and read for at least a week, before I tackle anything more.

Feels good, though.

Here are a couple of BEFORE shots of what the area looked like:

shelf beside the back door (BEFORE)

red shelf in back hall (BEFORE)

Now, here are the AFTER pictures:

shelf beside the back door (AFTER)

red shelf in back hall (AFTER)

Much better! I also tackled the drawers and the cupboard of the red shelf, and got rid of all the garbage that was hiding in each. Plus, there’s a closet in the back hall that I emptied of all of the old winter coats & such that no longer fit (but you don’t get to see pictures, as that’s one of my only closets and it’s so full that it doesn’t look like I did much to it — but, I know the difference, and that’s what counts! LOL).

In reality, a lot of my books were impulse buys from library sales or the goodwill stores, or I got them given to me through Freecycle, or some friends. So, a lot of them were ones that I just thought maybe I’d read some day, but didn’t really have a deep attachment to.

All told, I got rid of 277 books, this go-’round (I did a book purge last year, too, and got rid of about 212). My collection just went from over 1100 books, down to 880-something.

 So, there you have it… 5 boxes of books, ready to go to Goodwill.

I’m almost — ALMOST — inspired to go through the rest and purge more… but, not quite.

Monday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
Tuesday: –fend for yourselves– [Mom working evenings]
Wednesday: porkchops with applesauce, Lipton Sidekicks rice, cucumber slices
Thursday: chicken kievs, salad, Lipton Sidekicks noodles
Friday: cheeseburgers, french fries, cucumber slices
Saturday: chicken parmisagna, white rice, corn
Sunday: spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

pantry - BEFORE

 And, here’s an AFTER shot:

pantry - AFTER

  Second, I worked on the desk (which is actually a home for a sewing machine) where I keep my stereo, and all the kids’ homework supplies (colored pencils, erasers, calculator, etc). Here’s the BEFORE picture:

stereo shelf - BEFORE

And, here’s an AFTER picture:

stereo shelf - AFTER

 Lastly, I worked on the shelf where I keep the kids’ homework books… it’s usually a landing for any sort of paper clutter, too. Here’s the BEFORE:

homework shelf - BEFORE

 I actually had cleaned out the bottom shelves, a little bit, on Tuesday, while decluttering the computer room. But, the top is what I worked on today. Here’s the AFTER pic:

homework shelf - AFTER

 I got rid of a full box of boxes… I saved lots because I always thought, “What if I need a box to wrap a present?” The end result? I never used those boxes, so they sat, collecting dust, and taking up room. I also got 2 boxes of mugs to give away (had emptied / decluttered the “mug” cupboard yesterday), and 3 boxes of donations… here’s a picture of some of the “donations”:

donations

 So, now I just have the one drawer in the kitchen left to declutter. It’s all paper clutter, so it shouldn’t take too much effort or time. The most important parts are done, and that’s all I care.

Here’s a BEFORE picture of all the stuff I pulled out from underneath my bed…

And, here’s an after shot! (this space used to be STUFFED full!)…

 That blue bin is the only thing left under there!

After cleaning out what was under the bed, I worked on hubby’s closet. He’s always been complaining that he has no space in this house, ’cause even the spaces that are supposed to belong to him are filled with my stuff. Well, not any more. I made sure to remove everything from his closet in the bedroom that was mine, so now that closet is solely his. Here’s a picture of AFTER (forgot the “before” shots, but just know that the floor used to be hidden under a pile of stuff)…

  Look! You can see the floor! Even that box that is in there in this picture is gone now! It was full of our photo albums… now they’re on the bookshelf… wanna see?

 You can even kind of see the closet, still, in this picture, and you can see that the box is gone, and all you see is floor! LOL.

Next I worked on my wardrobe. I didn’t take a ‘before’ picture, but you can see in my AFTER pic (below) how much bare space there is now! Used to be so stuffed that I couldn’t add another thing! I took out all the clothes that didn’t currently fit (too small), and moved them to a bin out in the garage. Now I have room for what does fit.

 It doesn’t look like much, but you’ll just have to trust me that it’s a LOT better! I actually kept opening the doors and looking at it, after I’d finished! LOL. It was just so nice to see SPACE in there! LOL.

I tackled the stuff at the side of my bed, next. There were a bunch of papers & notebooks on the floor, and I moved them to the bookshelves, instead. Now it’s a lot cleaner and neater…

 In front –and to the right– of those Kleenex boxes were a bunch of notebooks. Now –as you can see– they’re up on the shelves.

Lastly, I decluttered the tops of my two big bookshelves… The white one had the shelves stuffed, and the top nearly overflowing. The brown one was definitely overflowing with books and other clutter… now, as you’ll see, the white one is just tidy, and the brown one actually has some space!

((sigh)) The room just feels so much better now. I actually woke up and smiled the following morning. It was so nice to wake up and see tidy shelves and clear floors!

Monday: Ribs & french fries, with salad

Tuesday: –fend for yourself– (Mom working evenings)

Wednesday: chicken nuggets & Lipton rice, corn

Thursday: cheeseburgers & potato wedges, cucumber slices

Friday: –fend for yourself– (Mom working evenings)

Saturday: Meatloaf & mashed potatoes/rice, salad

Sunday: ??? (porkchops / spaghetti / tacos)