Brrrrrr. I woke up to a chill. Last week it was over 100 degrees. This morning I wake up to 45-degree weather. What the heck? We RARELY get below-40 weather here. IT feels like summer one day, and like winter the next. Last "fall" was like this. I am not used to such extreme weather changes. I usually have more time to adjust to the cold. No doubt it is time to dig out the warmer clothes.

Fall weather always leaves me feeling very "spring cleany." I think the thing is in the spring I am just bursting to get outside. But in the fall, suddenly you are holed up inside. & then you see all the projects you have been putting off while enjoying all the nice weather for many months. This year in particular, since we have rarely been home all summer and really let the house go. It seems natural to work on the house, now that I rather be inside!

IT also seems everyone has been sick. A quick perusal of Facebook anyway, shows all the locals with sick kids and such. I am glad I am on "quarantine" (spending my days pretty alone and holed up) and that the kids have a holiday from school this week. Though since the hell of preschool (about 365 days of all of us being sick), no one in my house seems to really get sick any more. A year of preschool apparently gives both kids and their parents, immunity of steel. But I don't want to jinx it either.

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Well, I did it! The closet is pretty complete - as of last night. I didn't even stay up late.

The thing is, it is full of cracked eggs so to speak. While the "cake is baking." Pictures will be later!

I have a pile for donation. It's not particularly large. Interestingly, the closet was already way more cleaned out than I expected.

I found 2 items that would probably take hours to go through. Some photos, and some arts and crafts. The progress I made was to donate the un-started crafting kits. Woohoo. The rest, I just couldn't look at. Another day or time. & I do remember distinctly going through ALL the pictures at one time or another. Let's face it, I have room to store a box of photos. So those are my 2 boxes of crap in my closet. Gotta leave something for later!

I got a pile of CDs for dh to sell for me. Giving away some frames, a lamp, some weights, and some gifts. I always felt obligated to keep gifts. I don't see the point any more. There is stuff that has been buried in my closet for years because I felt I had to keep it. Gifts that were not re-gifting material. That is very freeing, to let those go.

The interesting find was some 1st birthday party decorations from my eldest's first birthday, about 5 years ago? Some of it was donateable. The rest should have been trashed 5 years ago. That's a byproduct of my not wanting to throw things away. But thankfully, a rare byproduct.

In the end, the closet stores our: clothing, mementos/yearbooks, important records, 1 box of crafts, 1 box of photos, my wedding dress (which I plan to donate actually), piles of piano music, some frames, all our camping gear, some sports/workout gear, & pillows and blankets. I think that's about it?

I need to go through a couple of items with dh. We have a 100-disk CD player. I think he wanted to sell. I couldn't get it down myself - was on a top shelf. Dh has a secret stash of future gifts for the kids in there too. But I do need to run through with him on a few items.

I feel very proud and accomplished to harness any kind of simplicity. As with everything, simplicity is relative. Compared to just about anyone we know, we live very simple as far as accumulation of stuff. Even my kids know if they want a new toy they need to sell or donate an old one.

No doubt it is obvious from my pictures that we can achieve greater simplicity, though. I feel like it is a never-ending work in progress. But yes, I have spent many years trying to break free of my stuff. It sometimes doesn't show because my spouse likes stuff more than I care for. I think with age I personally just lean more towards "useful stuff."

I accumulated a lot of useless stuff in my younger years. So it's taken a while to plow through it all.
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Today's To Do List:

1 - Kohls - shop with my $10 "coupon"
2 - Groceries (just a few items, like, we are out of cereal and PEPSI!)
3 - Best Buy for recycle
4 - Crown books for a treat

5 - Vacuum closet/finish tidying up
6 - Arrange CDs (ones to keep)
7 - Wash bed sheets
8 - Clean up bedroom - dust/vacuum
9 - Clean Master Bath - make it sparkle
10 - Maybe start some carpet washing in the p.m. This can certainly wait
11 - Clean toilets - as everything else is getting so clean, I am noticing the toilets haven't been cleaned in a while

12 - Update Quicken / Look at Sep. expenses

DONATIONS - I am waiting for someone to offer to pick up everything. 'Tis the season - the stuff will be gone soon. We usually get plastic bags left on our doorstep every couple of weeks, with a request to set out donations. I just don't have one now, but probably don't need much patience before one will arrive.

Is that quite a To Do List? The funny thing is I absolutely hate tackling one big project. I have been procrastinating on the closet for ages, for one. But I thrive on a lot of little tasks. So I am excited to accomplish much today.

I also tend to be overly optimistic, so we will see!

Tomorrow I am planning a relaxing day. I know I can tidy up the kitchen in a short time, before my parents arrive if they visit. & I know I have the rest of the working week to accomplish smaller tasks and to work on the carpets.

I think the house will be pretty immaculate when the boys come home. Too bad it won't last long. It's more rewarding to clean with the "tornadoes" out of the house. That is for sure!!!