Progress
I thought I'd better jump off the wheel a minute to say "Hi" and let you know I am still alive and kicking. (That is if I still have anyone checking my blog for signs of life.) And thanks to those of you that have been checking in with me via email...your thoughtfulness has warmed my heart! I guess two meager posts over the past month would pretty much constitute as a blogging vacation, wouldn't it? We've been busy, but mainly I've just been very focused on completing a few projects I've started. This week I have been working on sorting through...passing on...or throwing out the excess of my 25 year old collection of recipes. Yes, it's true. "Hi, My name is Diane and I collect recipes." Some of you may know what I'm talking about. You have cupboards and files full of those great looking recipes you've cut out of the newspaper, magazines or printed off the internet. No matter that I have 12 recipes in my file for corn bread in an attempt to capture that one true...totally perfect...all-time favorite recipe that will win me the grand prize in the next Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. I've decided that I need to regroup...use the standard collection of family favorite recipes I already have...set aside a few new ones to try (I do LOVE to try new recipes) and free myself of the clutter of my 25 year old collection of "must try" recipe files. Enough is Enough! I've already filled up one trash bag full of clipped and printed rejects and I have a stack of about 15 recipe books to pass on. I have freed up two entire shelves in our kitchen cupboards! Two shelves mind you!! My Dear Husband, being the patient man that he is, would welcome having me return to cooking some of our old family favorites. I welcome being able to go to my notebooks full of familiar family recipes and within seconds locating the exact recipe I would like to use to produce a nice home-made meal. My efforts are helping us get out of the habit of eating out as much as we were...and therefore cut back on "eat-out" expenses. So, there you have it: Diane's latest confession! I am really getting into this de-cluttering thing. I have been reading Peter Walsh's book, "It's All Too Much"...very inspiring!! Seems like I'm not alone in this endeavor to peel back the layers from the "parenting stage" of life and move into the "empty nest" stage with a little lighter load. Some of my empty-nester friends are in the same process. :-) Actually, I wish I'd learned this skill 30 years ago. But...better late than never I guess!! Our biggest accomplishment though is the progress we've been making on cleaning out our garage. Will wonders never cease? We're not even half way done...but the key word here is PROGRESS! Notice that there are no pictures to illustrate our de-cluttering skills. No-sir-re-sir. Even I, Miss Photographer Extraordinaire, have my limits as to what I'll photograph. I'm feeling much too vulnerable today to post blatant pictures of our clutter. Just take my word for it. PROGRESS is the word for today.
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21 comments:
Lol, just checking in. (Too funny: "Hi, My name is Diane and I collect recipes.") Sounds so familiar!
We're empty nesters too, with a basement just begging to be emptied. You're SO inspiring.
God bless you as you get a handle on the clutter. I've been waiting for the rain, but that's really no excuse. :~)
My de-cluttering job is to pack up a BUNCH of knick-knacks. I know I don't have it in me to get rid of them. They all have sentimental value but I am going to at least get them in boxes and put in the storage barn. I'm just waiting for a little cooler weather.
Good to hear from you!
Susan
I'm a lot better at decluttering now than I used to be. Part of it is realizing that the more I have (like kid's art work and papers), the less likely I am to ever go through it. I've gotten better at discerning what to keep (when I go through recipes and I am tempted by one that looks similar to what I already make and like, I tell myself I better not clip it because I will likely never make it) -- but I still have boxes of papers of past magazine pull-outs and cards and stiff to go through. Maybe it is the empty nest thing coming up that motivates this decluttering. :)
BTW, thanks so much for your birthday wishes!
Soooo nice to 'see' you again, Diane. Love the picture of the wee hamster (it is a hamster, right?).
I went through my recipes last year and tossed all but 10 of them. I have a number of cookbooks I could be rid of too. My culinary habits have become much simpler in the past 5 years especially.
Bless you this day...
Hi Diane,
Wonderful to see you posting again. We are indeed kindred spirits on the recipe issue. Perhaps I'll make that a wintertime project. We don't eat out a lot, but even with all these recipes that I have, I still make pretty much the same things again and again..
hugs!!
so good to hear from you diane. how's work going?
de-cluttering is a good, good thing. i've got a couple of projects on the to-do list, now that school has started. not really looking forward to them, though. but you've inspired me... a bit. lol.
So glad you popped in to give us an update on what was happening in your life! : ) I was getting a tad bit worried!
Keep up the good work on your de-cluttering!!
Now that I feel all guilty for eating out and not caring one bit about all my recipes, I'll tell you how glad I am to see you have posted :) I cleaned out one closet last week and reorganized my bills box to make my daughter in Texas happy. She was concerned for her father should something happen to me. Now he can pay the bills all by himself, hehe. Not really funny, but it was important to her so I did it.
By the way, did you enjoy my Michigan accent? I'm waiting to see your vlog so I can hear you and see the real "Diane."
Diane, I was so tickled to see that you had stopped by, and then to see that you had posted.
Decluttering is a never ending job. Once you make it all around the house, it is time to start over!
I have the same problem with my recipes. I will take a picture of that some day. One of the things I want to do is to make a *Good Things* book like I saw awhile back on A Chelsea Morning's (Barb) site. That will include - I have decided - one entire month of menus, compete with ingredients.
That way, in a pinch, I can have a week's worth of meals and the ingredients to grab on the way to the grocery store.
And ... I just decided this today actually, I will, at any given time, never have more than 5 recipes that I want to try. Five! If I find one that I can't pass up in a magazine, I will save it, but I will have to take one out and throw it away. I figure that will get me to trying them more often, when they will either be tossed out, or put in the rotation.
See. I've been busy. Planning. Now I just need to get it done.
Good to hear from you.
Diane, So good to hear from you.
You sound very busy.
It is always great to de-clutter. I'm sure it feels great to you to get that job done.
I've been doing that lately too.
I've worked on decluttering paper products, worked on declttered my bedroom. What a good feeling that is.
Good to see you post. I have been checking in from time to time.
Don't work too hard.
I'm so glad to see you back! You've succeeded in making me tired! You're one busy lady these days.
When you find that perfect cornbread recipe, will you share it? I still am looking, too!
Saw your comment at Becky's place and when I read "de-clutter" and "recipes", thought I'd better run over here quick for ideas and inspiration. I organized my recipe box and notebook at the beginning of the summer -- and already I have clipped recipes sticking out of both of them. I like Becky's idea -- limit the number of "to be tried" and one in/one out. It really is so nice to live simply. And it's a constant process, isn't it? Good luck!
Hi Diane...I saw your reply at Becky's and had to jump over to see what's been going on with your life! :)
Sounds like you have been very productive! And I understand about clutter...I made some progress this summer, but have only made a dent in it all, it seems!
God bless!
progress, perfect ;o]
Good for you, Diane. My parents hous is more full now than when they had 4 children at home. Not an ideal situation!
That is why my recipes are online! You don't HAVE to print them!
It is so nice to hear from you again. Glad you are getting some projects finished. I, too, am a "recipe collector". I love it. Have a good day. connie from Texas
Hi Diane!
I love this post! And you are doing exactly what I need to be doing. But life is too crazy right now to think about it. Maybe when I'm an "empty-nester?" ha ha.
Great to see you are back. The hamster looks just like my daughter's, "Jerry."
Sandy
Diane, I passed on to you the Nice Matters award today. :-)
It's great to hear from your Diane! It sounds like you've been busy with some fun projects.
You asked if those plants in my fairy post were mine. Yes, they are. We've had a very rainy spring and summer so everything is still green. :0)
Kelli
I suffer from the other extreme. I am a thrower and I get in so. much. trouble. There must be some in-between state that is healthy! LOL
It's good to have you back again - you have been missed!
good to see you posting... I work part time for a company that De-Clutters and sorts for senior citizens.. we also assist with their moves in to another home or we help them to downsize into senior communities.
of course some of our clients are not seniors... they are just like you and like to collect things... except when they have 20 to 30 years worth of clutter it becomes overwhelming and they need our help...
now that being said... I still have copies of the first Income Tax we filed 46 years ago... does someone want to come help me do some de-cluttering of my own?
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