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Post by Delta Dawn on Jul 22, 2018 23:09:27 GMT
I got rid of two Costco-sized leaf bags of clothes yesterday. The second hand store said they would sell what they could and go from there. I will take the rest to two other second hand stores next. I got a nice cheque from her, too! Yay! That closet is almost empty now. I have a 5 lb bag of makeup to donate to a program that helps homeless women in which the owner is a fellow Rotarian. I am happy about this. I threw some stuff out a few months ago as I didn’t know about the program. I know better! I am psyched!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 4, 2018 16:19:09 GMT
After a short break from the decluttering, we are back at it again. A friend's husband had surgery and has been sidelined for a few weeks. She mentioned having a hard time finding old westerns for him to read (his latest genre) at the used book store. DH to the rescue! It's been his favorite genre for years. Last night we started pulling a few books to pass along and before I knew it we had gone through all the shelves in the living room, as well as 2 cabinets below. DH was shocked that they were packed with books. I told him there are more stashed in the guest room! There is now a pile of 60 books, mostly hardbacks, sitting on my island waiting to be donated to the thrift store. I suspect there will be more added to the pile today. DH is going through his office, looking for things to take up to his new office at work. Every so often he comes out and asks about whether he should donate something or not. Progress! All of you with someone who won't part with things, have hope. This man was the worst packrat ever and is now tossing things left and right! Anyone else purging and decluttering this weekend?
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,177
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Aug 4, 2018 16:51:54 GMT
I finally this week got started in my craft room. I've sorted and matched up items and have gotten rid of the packaging trash from too many items. I really wish some companies would rethink the way they package things.
I have labeled a ton of things (three label cartridges used so far), and yesterday I did some more sorting in order to organize things better.
Maybe the best part is that I've begun thinking about what to totally get rid of, in order to clear out items I haven't used in many years. Getting used to the idea mentally first makes it easier when I go back in and start pulling out things to ditch. I don't want to just cram more things in to an already full room - I need to make room by getting other things out of there!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 4, 2018 17:15:48 GMT
Maybe the best part is that I've begun thinking about what to totally get rid of, in order to clear out items I haven't used in many years. Getting used to the idea mentally first makes it easier when I go back in and start pulling out things to ditch. I don't want to just cram more things in to an already full room - I need to make room by getting other things out of there! I find that once I accept that things need to go, it's much easier to get them out of the house. I did this with my sewing room back in the spring for a July garage sale. Everything was boxed up for over 4 months before the sale. Once I got to the sale, nearly all that didn't sell was donated. Once it's out of sight for a while, you realize that you don't miss it. I'd be hard pressed to tell you what I got rid of at this point. I need to do another pass through there, but will wait for winter. Too busy with the guest room and photos at this point in time. Good luck on getting rid of stuff!
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 5, 2018 0:52:34 GMT
We got the 3rd row seats from DH'S vehicle out of the storage area in the basement. He traded it in and his new vehicle has better folding seats. Yay!
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Post by Delta Dawn on Aug 5, 2018 1:21:52 GMT
I am not throwing away today but I have a beautiful bathroom countertop. I worked on the clothing mountain which is more of a mountain range rather than just Mt. Everest. I am trying to get a friend to take some stuff. I will ask her again otherwise I will list donate it.
I discussed the situation with bff and she said to start at the foot of the bed. So I did. I own 5 white cotton sweaters I found out. I seem to like them a lot. I have a couple of cream ones, too.
I need to get back to it again. I am motivated to do work on the room thank goodness.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 5, 2018 1:33:20 GMT
Made lots of progress today. Current tally is 71 books to donate/give to a friend, a bowl and gravy boat into the donation bag, small college mascot statue to donation bag, and 2 large suitcases of items DH took up to his office. I actually have empty space on multiple book shelves now!
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Deleted
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May 13, 2024 5:10:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2018 1:48:49 GMT
Awesome job ladies. We did some re-arranging in the living-dining area one day a couple of weeks ago, and although we really didn't "get rid of a lot," it LOOKS a lot bigger now with the new furniture arrangement. At first I wasn't too pleased because my chair ended up without a table by it to hold my laptop and extra hard drive, because we moved the tea cart into the scrapbook room. Well, we had an end table that had a built-in lamp on the other side of the living room. Dh took the built-in lamp off, and now I have a table for my laptop! It's much smaller than the tea-table, so fits in the space much better. I didn't need the lamp on it because we have a wall lamp there, so I guess we DID get rid of a lamp!! In the ruckus, a couple of things got broken also, so we got rid of those too. One was a tiny teacup that I've had since I was a child--one that my father bought me, so that was sad! I still have a few more, but that one was my favorite. I also went through the drawer in the hutch, and got rid of a few tablecloths that we don't use anymore. Oh, I also got rid of three accent rugs--but I bought 3 new ones, so not sure that counts!!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 5, 2018 2:33:07 GMT
Oh, I also got rid of three accent rugs--but I bought 3 new ones, so not sure that counts!! It meets the "one in, one out" rule so it counts in my book! Great job with getting your living/dining area sorted out.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 13, 2018 10:00:39 GMT
It's been awhile since I've checked in.
I'm mostly maintaining in my bedroom.
I've made an effort to use up birthday gift wrap this summer, instead of buying new. So now, next birthday, I do need to buy a new wrap. But just one.
I was helping my young boys to tidy their room yesterday, and something good happened. When my older son asked me, "what do I do with this?" I have him the option to put it in container A, to hang it on the wall, or to toss it if he didn't want it anymore .
And a little lightbulb went on in his mind.
"I can toss things?"
"Yes. It's okay to toss things we don't like or want anymore so there's room for what we do love."
I think I've just sewn a little seed of knowledge.
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 13, 2018 12:46:52 GMT
It's been awhile since I've checked in. I'm mostly maintaining in my bedroom. I've made an effort to use up birthday gift wrap this summer, instead of buying new. So now, next birthday, I do need to buy a new wrap. But just one. I was helping my young boys to tidy their room yesterday, and something good happened. When my older son asked me, "what do I do with this?" I have him the option to put it in container A, to hang it on the wall, or to toss it if he didn't want it anymore . And a little lightbulb went on in his mind. "I can toss things?" "Yes. It's okay to toss things we don't like or want anymore so there's room for what we do love." I think I've just sewn a little seed of knowledge. Good job teaching, mom! I got my adult DD to go through her Barbies she had stored in our house. She let them all go. I have a friend that wanted them, so win-win!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 13, 2018 15:57:19 GMT
And a little lightbulb went on in his mind. "I can toss things?" "Yes. It's okay to toss things we don't like or want anymore so there's room for what we do love." I think I've just sewn a little seed of knowledge. Great job! When DD was younger, we had to add another step in there though. She is very literal and would just toss everything into the trash, including good clothes, jewelry, etc. The housekeeper and I would have to go through her trash and pull things out all the time. I had to explain the "donation pile" to her and tell her to put the good things there. The lessons stuck though and she is now a very organized 30 year old! Yesterday afternoon I tackled another round of the dreaded guest room. Made a lot of progress and have a huge donation pile to go later this week. Got rid of: - 6 vintage feather pillows (1960's era) - several down pillow inserts (puppy chewed off the corners of pillows and I sewed them shut with intentions of reusing at some point) - large decorative tin that was a gift from a friend. Have tried to find a place in my house it works for over 5 years and it just doesn't. - several vintage wool sweaters and a 1980's blouse that hasn't fit in 20+ years (can we say "hope springs eternal"?) - 1983 era Stiffel floor lamp that has been damaged but still works. Doesn't work with our new furniture/layout. Then moved on to the foyer closet. Reorganized the shelves and was able to move 3 boxes of Christmas decorations from the guest room to those shelves. Organized the coats, got rid of excess hangers, went through the bin that holds gloves, etc and donated several items. Added some ski goggles to the eBay pile. Also moved 5 boxes of photos from the guest room into the living room cabinets that I emptied out last weekend. Finally found the 2 under bed boxes that held my stuffed animal collection. Put those back on display and now have 2 boxes to donate. Also pulled a few things from other boxes to add to the eBay pile. There is still work to be done in there, but I can at least walk through there and see more floor! I figure a few more weekends and it will be completed.
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Deleted
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May 13, 2024 5:10:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2018 16:40:41 GMT
DS1 just moved out and left behind quite a bit (stuff and dust). Time to take care of it and reclaim the space for a home office. We're removing popcorn ceilings and painting too, so it's going to feel fresh when we're done. Can't wait to reorganize the linen closet either.
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Post by katlady on Aug 13, 2018 16:46:48 GMT
I finally got all those bags of paper shredded!! Yahoo! It was about 6 paper grocery bags filled with paper. Each bag took about an hour! UGH! And I couldn’t watch tv or listen to music while doing it because of the noise. I even started wearing headphones just to block out the shredder noise. Lol! But, it is done and I will never let paper accumulate like that again (famous last words). Next, my fabric and scrapbooking stuff. I will get that spare bedroom cleared out ... eventually!
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Deleted
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May 13, 2024 5:10:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2018 17:34:30 GMT
you know, when my kids were still at home, we used to have garage sales every year to get rid of all the stuff they'd outgrown or didn't want anymore. I just realized the youngest has been married for 16 years now, and we haven't had a garage sale in probably over 20years!! So maybe that is why we had so much stuff!! I'm feeling pretty good about the house now. There is always more we can get rid of, of course, but we got rid of A LOT OF STUFF!! I don't think I ever got into the other bathroom yet--so still have the medicine cabinet and the under the sink stuff to go through in there. Maybe later this week!! I have grandkids here for a couple of days--so not until they are gone!
Happy declutter day ladies!
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Post by jennrs on Sept 10, 2018 12:27:24 GMT
Fall weather has finally arrived here and it gets me in the cleaning, organizing and decluttering mood.
I have been working on closets. We have two in the hall, one for coats and jackets and the other has towels, sheets, blankets and bathroom extras. I can proudly say they are both more organized than they have ever been with NOTHING ON THE FLOORS!
I also did my walk in bedroom closet and there was tons of stuff in the floor in there. Now there is only a safe and a rolling craft storage bin.
I got rid of a huge cat tree over the weekend that I loved but the cats just didn’t use it. I also have an old child’s desk someone is picking up today. We’ve had that for over 20 years and I bet it was sat at 20 times or less.
I also had an old big tower computer in the bedroom closet. I took it out to try and hook it up to just make sure there are no pictures on it I haven’t saved but I cannot find a plug in mouse for it. It will not take my wireless one. So I need to get one and check it then get rid of it. I’m not sure how to delete everything and get rid of it though. Any ideas on that would be appreciated.
Sorry this got so long but I’m feeling good about my accomplishments! Has anyone else accomplished some decluttering goals?
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Sept 10, 2018 12:43:11 GMT
I also had an old big tower computer in the bedroom closet. I took it out to try and hook it up to just make sure there are no pictures on it I haven’t saved but I cannot find a plug in mouse for it. It will not take my wireless one. So I need to get one and check it then get rid of it. I’m not sure how to delete everything and get rid of it though. Any ideas on that would be appreciated. What we do with the old computers and laptops is based on advice given to DH by the IT department of his former company (a huge international company). Take the hard drive out and destroy it, then recycle or donate the shell. They said even if you delete everything, there are ways to retrieve information. Granted the average person won't know how, or even care to, but it's not a risk we are willing to take. Our local goodwill will take the shells of most computer towers and laptops for their training centers. If they don't, then we take them to the local recycling center that accepts electronics.
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sharlag
Drama Llama
I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy.
Posts: 6,574
Location: Kansas
Jun 26, 2014 12:57:48 GMT
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Post by sharlag on Sept 10, 2018 13:55:48 GMT
We used the cool weather this weekend to clean the garage. Spiders, spiders-- EVERYWHERE. And we have a pest control contract for 4x a year visits. BF, whose parents were in the exterminator business, says they never promise they'll get rid of spiders. And we had mice in the basement, chewing shit up. So.... what am I paying for, seriously?!
Anyway, my car is packed with Goodwill stuff, and items to take to storage in my parents' barn. I'm so glad I don't have to pay for storage while we clear out the house to sell!
What do y'all do with ballpoint pens? There's a reasonable amount we can keep as a household, and we've exceeded it into the hundreds. It's ridiculous.
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Post by Linda on Sept 10, 2018 14:24:33 GMT
What do y'all do with ballpoint pens? There's a reasonable amount we can keep as a household, and we've exceeded it into the hundreds. It's ridiculous. Can you donate to a school or a non-profit? Or if you know any cashiers or waitresses -I know I went through SO many pens when I cashiered because customers and coworkers would walk off with them.
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Post by joylynaroundthebnd on Sept 10, 2018 16:00:11 GMT
This weekend I took some shoes to my sister and moved all of the furniture out of my craft room. Some stuff was purged as I removed it, but I am pretty sure more will leave my house and not go back into the craft room.
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Post by Lovebug2867 on Sept 10, 2018 18:01:50 GMT
We have finally started our purge and decluttering. It's very slow going. We have cleared out half of our living room (it was full of boxes of craft stuff) I went through the boxes and threw out the stuff that wasn't any good. But really the boxes were just moved elsewhere in the house (craft room is full of boxes too just no storage yet to put anything away)
We went through the pantry too (our pantry is the size of a small room and it was a mess. Boxes and other stuff piled up on the floor etc. We threw away 4 big trash bags full of trash/expired food. Bagged up 2 large bags of food to be donated (stuff we don't/won't eat).
We are remodeling the pantry to make it more efficiant and to move the freezer in there (so shelves have to be moved/removed. But I can see the floor lol Can't see the kitchen table though.
I'm starting to think we have more stuff than we have room to keep and that's crazy because our house isn't small and there are just 2 of us.
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sharlag
Drama Llama
I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy.
Posts: 6,574
Location: Kansas
Jun 26, 2014 12:57:48 GMT
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Post by sharlag on Sept 10, 2018 19:22:18 GMT
Have you noticed how awful everything looks at the beginning? It can be discouraging during that period, when you're working but can't see progress yet.
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Post by Lovebug2867 on Sept 10, 2018 19:36:40 GMT
Oh yes everything looks awful here. All the trash that is being removed from the house and the donation pile keeps getting bigger and bigger so I know I'm making progress. I think it makes it harder that we're remodeling (trying to get that finished finally) at the same time. We got new floor put down in the kitchen and almost completely painted. Mudroom is ready to be painted. Living room needs new floor and painted and the most of the rest of the house needs new floors and painted as well lol
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Sept 10, 2018 22:32:49 GMT
Everything definitely worse when you start the process to declutter/purge. Did another round in the guest room yesterday. Emptied the cedar chest and now have a huge pile of vintage clothing to be sold or donated. There are 7 or 8 Laura Ashley dresses from the 80's and 90's (oh to be that thin again!), several beautiful wool blazers and some gorgeous plaid pleated skirts from my working days (I quit working in 1999) and several pairs of lined wool pants. All of this stuff is Brooks Brothers, Pendleton and Talbots. The wool pants represented a hollow victory for me. They were from when we lived in France about 8 years ago and haven't fit in 5 years. I tried them all on and they now fit! Yay me! Unfortunately, they are no longer in style. Boo!
I emptied a couple of underbed boxes filled with all the smocked and lacy dresses that were DDs, as well as some baby blankets and quilts. I'm down to just 4 more of those boxes to go through and most of it will be donated. Also emptied a large rubbermaid tub of DD's old t-shirts. We've already pulled the ones to make her t-shirt quilt, so these were just taking up space. Filled 3 of those brown grocery bags with t-shirts to donate. Since I was on a roll, I went through my closet and got rid of a lot more stuff. I've lost about 15 lbs and much of this stuff was just too big. So far I've filled 2 huge shopping bags with clothes. I seriously need to go shopping for clothes that fit or I'll be running nekkid through the streets of Houston soon! I also purged 9 pairs of shoes.
DH went through his office again. He started with the idea of just clearing and organizing one shelf. Several hours later he'd gotten rid of another dozen books, added things to donation bag, as well as trashed or shredded lots of old papers.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Sept 23, 2018 14:49:24 GMT
This past week was another successful week for my decluttering. I decided to replace a set of dishes, so I boxed up the old set to donate. Then I pulled out another set that had belonged to my late MIL. We haven't used them once in the 15 years we've had them so boxed them up as well. That led to going through the cabinet with all the serving and holiday items. Donated several large serving bowls and a couple of those Fitz & Floyd holiday plates. Once you get on a roll, you know how it is so next up was the cabinet over the refrigerator and the drawer under the double ovens. Gone are 2 Calphalon baking pans, and some sort of specialty cake pan I've had for over 20 years and never used (a gift), 3 large wooden salad bowls, a vintage 1960's basket with smaller serving baskets (it was from DH's family and they used it for popcorn). All that donated stuff freed up space to rearrange, and I cleaned the cabinet shelves while I was at it.
All those dishes needed bubble wrap, wrapping paper and boxes, so that led to organizing my box area in the garage. I used up all the odd bits of bubble wrap and paper I've been saving from incoming packages. Then I organized the boxes (I have quite the stash of free USPS boxes) and recycled many of the saved boxes from my own orders. It's so nice to walk out there and know exactly where to look for a specific size box now. There is even an empty self now - small shelf but empty! Also ongoing in the purge department is my eBay stuff. As listings have ended on older things I have been pulling the vast majority of them and adding to the donation bag. Some of this stuff I've had up for the past year off and on. So it's leaving. Also went through the backlog of things that need to be listed. If it wasn't a hot seller, or it wouldn't make at least $20 profit, it was pulled and donated.
This week I need to work on the last two underbed boxes filled with DD's old toys, as well as add a few more things to the cedar chest. I also need to get going on the old photos and thin those out. So many duplicates still from the days of double prints. We're finally finishing up the decorating of the dining area so I'm trying to clear out all the stuff that was being dumped in there. Flat surfaces are the devil when it comes to clutter!
What is everyone else working on in their decluttering/purging projects?
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,330
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Sept 23, 2018 18:19:13 GMT
I just got done doing another pantry purge and reorganization and I purged and reorganized the built in cabinets in my dining room. I ended up with some trash and a big box of stuff for donating. I've got a couple more cabinets in the kitchen to go through and then that room will be done.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Sept 23, 2018 21:28:42 GMT
I have discovered an fantastic way to eliminate paper clutter quickly. Just went through a gift box full of old receipts, scanned them and uploaded to the cloud in under 30 minutes! Using the app Scannable, I took a photo of each receipt. With Auto Capture turned on, it was quick work. When I finished scanning 92 receipts, I then uploaded them to a file on my iCloud drive. All the receipts were in my file almost instantaneously! I really liked the Scannable app because even the faded receipts are easy to read once captured. The original receipts are now in my shred basket.
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Post by mikklynn on Sept 23, 2018 22:19:46 GMT
Oh, I am so happy this thread popped up again!
I finally got DH to clean his closet. I donated 3 bags of nice clothes that are way too big for him. I also threw away another bag of ratty clothes. Whoo!
I cleaned my closet last weekend and also donated some clothes and got rid of a ton of old shoes.
Since I started purging a year ago, my whole attitude has changed. Yesterday I threw out some old, rusty tools of DH's. He's never going to need to spread grout again! If I can replace something for $20, I am NOT keeping it "just in case".
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Sept 24, 2018 0:43:05 GMT
Since I started purging a year ago, my whole attitude has changed. Yesterday I threw out some old, rusty tools of DH's. He's never going to need to spread grout again! If I can replace something for $20, I am NOT keeping it "just in case". I just told DH tonight that this purging has become addictive. Rarely a day goes by that something isn't added to the donation bags. Just tonight I quickly went through 2 shelves in my sewing room. Several books (including college textbooks) and magazines are now gone. Also tossed quite a bit of paper into the recycling bin. Now things aren't jammed tight on the shelves and I can access what I want easily. Anything I pulled can be replaced if/when I ever need it again, though I seriously doubt that happens.
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Post by Linda on Sept 26, 2018 18:15:28 GMT
way to go everyone!
My Girl Scout troop disbanded (I'm still staying involved as a community level volunteer as a mentor to my daughter who will be a Juliette) so I packed up the troop supplies and donated them to another leader who has a HUGE troop of 40 K-5th plus is helping start up two more troops. Cleaned out two bags of GS paperwork -most of which ended up in either the trash or the to-shred bin.
I donated 2 big bags of binders to a friend's school - I have 4 more waiting for the next time I see her (and hope there will be more by then).
Passed along a half-dozen empty egg cartons to another friend
read a thread here about bundt pans and added mine to the donation pile
Read 7 books recently (short quick ones) and while I enjoyed most of them, they are mysteries and I won't re-read so off to the donation pile they all went along with another book which I started and decided against finishing.
DD went through her dresser and found a half-dozen things she no longer fit/wanted and put them in donation (without me saying a word - yay!)
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