Confessions

A while back I took a deep breath and made a confession about myself that took a lot of courage to admit. You can read about it at Organizing and Time to "fess" up. I've been thinking about my problem and wondering if I'm any closer to recovery now than I was then. It's not looking good.

I think the root of the whole thing is that I'm terribly unorganized. I need to put my ingenuity to work and gather all my stash together in one place where it's easily accessible to everyone and organized so they can see what's available. Yes! That's what I need to do...now where to start? As I mentioned, I have a little here and a little there. I'm speaking generally now and I know I'm underestimating when I say a little. The problem with the organization idea is that I need a staging area.
 
The ugly truth of the matter was exposed when I did a little rearranging in the kitchen and decided to go through EVERYTHING.  Let's not even go there!  So, what do I do with the things that still have use...are sentimental to me...I dream of using someday but don't because I'm afraid I'll break them...are too fancy for our everyday life but I don't want to get rid of them?
 
Maybe I can justify hanging on to some of this "stuff" if I change the way I look at our daily life. Why should I save my "good" dishes for Christmas?  Why don't I get out the luncheon plates and punch cups just for fun?  And even though my girls are older, and maybe they'd enjoy it more because they are, why don't we have tea parties as often as we used to?  Yes, if I think about it long enough, I can find reasons to put most of the things back in the buffet and china closet.  But I have to take credit for getting rid of one fancy dish that we've had for a long time and never used.  So that's something, right?

And here's another issue I'm struggling with.  When I was about 10 years old, I started collecting salt and pepper shakers.  Once people know something like that about you, they are more than happy to help!  So I have this wonderful collection of hundreds of cute, whimsical salt and pepper shakers that I haven't looked at in about 10 years or longer because I don't have anywhere to display such a large collection.  So, do I keep them all packed away or do I get them out and rotate them through the house?  Or do I pick out my favorite ones and sell the rest on ebay?  I hate to part with many of them because some are souveniers and others were gifts.  Some of my favorites were picked up at yard sales and flea markets.
 
But, it's not really even things like this that I'm talking about.  There's really not a problem with having dishes that are used for special occasions or collections of things.  The true issue is the other stuff I save that normal people would throw away with out even thinking twice, let alone planning for future use.  Now I'd like to clarify that if you were to visit my house, it wouldn't be obvious to you that I save things, unless you go to the attic or garage and I don't make a habit of entertaining there. Yes, I really think organization is the key.  If all the interesting things that I save for upcycling were all in one place, it would be much easier to show a turnaround which could very easily make "some" people in this house a little more tolerant of my habit.  My goal is to twist his mind into seeing things from my point of view. So, yeah...

I'm serious about forming a PRA group for those who share my problem.  Pack Rats Annonymous.  Any ideas for overcoming this bad habit?  Or better yet, any support to ease my guilt? 

I didn't think so.

Second hand

Day 22

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the things we discard?  I'm sure that I could do a much better job of recycling our waste.  But, I'm pretty good at saving things that can be reused or upcycled (much to my husband's dismay!) 

My children have grown up wearing many "handydowns" as my youngest called them when she was little.  I've never asked them to wear clothing that was out of style or stained in any way.  In fact, most people didn't even know that the clothes were second hand.  Many of them were handed down to us directly from some lovely friends whose children had outgrown them.  Others were cool garage sale finds or unique buys at Goodwill.  Now that they are older, if they are looking for something specific that would be costly new, we've tried looking on ebay with some good results.  They may have to wait a little longer to find what they're looking for but it's worth it.  They've had fun shopping for second hand finds that expand their wardrobe with fun or interesting clothing we'd never be able to justify or afford any other way.  They are also even more mindful of the cost of new clothing now that they are making some spending money of their own.

I find a sense of accomplishment in stretching my husband's paycheck by recycling, upcycling or reusing second hand items that might normally be tossed in the garbage. I hope I've taught them well enough and that they will be able to live frugally when they are on their own regardless of their income level.

I have friends who have upcycled second hand clothing into completely new products by sewing, felting or actually unraveling yarn to make into something else.  I love those ideas and plan to try a few projects of my own sometime soon.