It gets a little harder each day realizing that I am starting life all over again at my age. I am not a spring chicken any more. But I am determined to see this adventure in life and make the best of it that I can.
I have been busy packing for the last two months. So far all our extra bedding is packed up, all dishes I can do with out at the present time are packed, the Christmas decorations I wanted to keep are packed up as well. Oh and 10 cases of empty canning jars are packed up ready to move to.
I cleaned out the corner of our den and I am stacking the boxes and tubs there as I fill them. So far I have managed to pack up a total of 40 tubs and boxes of various sizes. We don't use our den very much so it is the prefect place for me to store all the tubs and boxes until the day it's time to load them.
Today I took down all the pictures I had all over the house. These are family pictures. I didn't realize I had so many of them either hanging on the walls or sitting on bookshelves or other pieces of furniture. Hubby decided to count them as I gathered them all on the dinning room table. He came up with a total of 87 frames with pictures in them. Dang I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I had that many.
There is no way we will find another place as big as what we live in now. Besides I want a smaller place any way. Keeping up with an 11 room house is getting to much for me. And with only 3 of us now we don't need a place as big as this one. Besides I want a one story place. It's getting harder for me to climb stairs any more with PAD.
With that said I seriously need to down size a lot of things in my life. I started with the dishes and the Christmas decorations. I only kept what I really wanted and what I need of the dishes to last us until we move. The rest are going in to the yard sale pile.
I am going to have to do the same with the picture frames. I took all the pictures out of the frames and put them in a big plastic tote. I have sorted through the frames setting aside only those that I really want. The rest are going into the yard sale pile. I kept 30 frames for myself. As I was sorting through the picture to pack them up I pulled some out and will be giving them to my kids. They are pictures of them when they were younger. I think it's about time I gave them some for their own homes.
Next week I am buying 3 picture albums and I will be sorting through all my pictures and making a photo album for each of our kids. That way when we are gone they will each have their own pictures already sorted out for them.
Earlier this week I took down all my knick knack shelves, sorted through the knick knacks and chose 10 I really wanted to keep. The rest have been added to the yard sale. I have always been a big collector of unicorns and teddy bears. I think it's time I let those collections go except for a few of my most cherished pieces.
I have 10 knick knack shelves. Two that two of my kids made me is shop when they were in high school. I am giving them back to them. Three that my husband made me. I am keeping them and the rest have been added to the yard sale pile.
Now for the good part of downsizing. I have always been a pack rat. I learned from the best of them. My mom and my grandmother. I was brought up to believe that you never got rid of anything because you never knew when you would need it again and that you never got rid of anything some one cared enough to give you. Let me tell you that those two lessons in life can be a chain around your neck dragging you down in to a sea of despair when you have to spend so much time cleaning them all the time. By the time you get them all cleaned it's time to start back at the beginning. Every time I put something in the yard sale pile I feel a little lighter inside. I know I will never have to clean that item again. I am beginning to really enjoy that feeling.
The bad part about downsizing and getting rid of some things is guilt. The things I bought for myself I am not having any problem getting rid of. The things that I have not used in years and just kept because I was taught I might need them in the future are not really bothering me either but the things that was bought or made for me by my kids and other family is giving me a hard time. I keep feeling like I am going to hurt their feelings by getting rid of what they have cared enough to give me. My kids say they are fine with it. That they see no need for me to keep all this stuff. But old lessons die hard especially when they have been ingrained in you since you were old enough to walk.
But one thing keeps me on track and that is remembering how hard it was to clean out my grandmother's house after she died. I was not working at the time so I helped my mom and uncle clean it out. It took a week and all we were doing was cleaning out her personal things and what she had wanted to go to who. She had left the house and furniture to my uncle because he lived with her and took care of her the last 10 years of her life. It was her wish to die in her own home and he granted that wish. He deserved the house and furniture.
And as my mom is my grandmother all over again her house will be the same way when she dies. It will take a week or more to clean out her house and pass on what she wants people to have. I don't want to put my kids through all that when I die. I want to make things easier on them. Having to sort through 60-70 years of junk is not something some one should have to go through so soon after losing a loved one. It's not easy physically or mentally. I want to spare my kids as much of that as I can and if I down size it will be a lot easier on them when the time comes. Also if I give them some of the things I really want them to have now I won't have to worry about some one else getting before they do. That almost happened to me when my grandmother passed. I had loaned her my anitque waterfall matching dresser and chest of drawers from the 30's years before she died with the promise that I would get them back if anything ever happened to them. The day after she died my youngest aunt and her boyfriend were caught loading them in a a pickup. My uncle caught them and told them they belonged to me and that it was in my grandmother's will that they go back to me. Faced with the chance of being charged with theft they put them back. I went and got them a week after my grandmother had been buried. I was in no big hurry for them because I didn't want to believe my grandmother was gone. But in the end once I got them to my house I felt better because they had been a part of my life and my grandmothers life for years. That set sits in my bedroom to this day with a picture of my grandmother sitting proudly on top of the dresser. I will keep that set with me as long as I live and her picture will remain front and center on the dresser as long as I live.
Prepping Granny
I have been busy packing for the last two months. So far all our extra bedding is packed up, all dishes I can do with out at the present time are packed, the Christmas decorations I wanted to keep are packed up as well. Oh and 10 cases of empty canning jars are packed up ready to move to.
I cleaned out the corner of our den and I am stacking the boxes and tubs there as I fill them. So far I have managed to pack up a total of 40 tubs and boxes of various sizes. We don't use our den very much so it is the prefect place for me to store all the tubs and boxes until the day it's time to load them.
Today I took down all the pictures I had all over the house. These are family pictures. I didn't realize I had so many of them either hanging on the walls or sitting on bookshelves or other pieces of furniture. Hubby decided to count them as I gathered them all on the dinning room table. He came up with a total of 87 frames with pictures in them. Dang I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I had that many.
There is no way we will find another place as big as what we live in now. Besides I want a smaller place any way. Keeping up with an 11 room house is getting to much for me. And with only 3 of us now we don't need a place as big as this one. Besides I want a one story place. It's getting harder for me to climb stairs any more with PAD.
With that said I seriously need to down size a lot of things in my life. I started with the dishes and the Christmas decorations. I only kept what I really wanted and what I need of the dishes to last us until we move. The rest are going in to the yard sale pile.
I am going to have to do the same with the picture frames. I took all the pictures out of the frames and put them in a big plastic tote. I have sorted through the frames setting aside only those that I really want. The rest are going into the yard sale pile. I kept 30 frames for myself. As I was sorting through the picture to pack them up I pulled some out and will be giving them to my kids. They are pictures of them when they were younger. I think it's about time I gave them some for their own homes.
Next week I am buying 3 picture albums and I will be sorting through all my pictures and making a photo album for each of our kids. That way when we are gone they will each have their own pictures already sorted out for them.
Earlier this week I took down all my knick knack shelves, sorted through the knick knacks and chose 10 I really wanted to keep. The rest have been added to the yard sale. I have always been a big collector of unicorns and teddy bears. I think it's time I let those collections go except for a few of my most cherished pieces.
I have 10 knick knack shelves. Two that two of my kids made me is shop when they were in high school. I am giving them back to them. Three that my husband made me. I am keeping them and the rest have been added to the yard sale pile.
Now for the good part of downsizing. I have always been a pack rat. I learned from the best of them. My mom and my grandmother. I was brought up to believe that you never got rid of anything because you never knew when you would need it again and that you never got rid of anything some one cared enough to give you. Let me tell you that those two lessons in life can be a chain around your neck dragging you down in to a sea of despair when you have to spend so much time cleaning them all the time. By the time you get them all cleaned it's time to start back at the beginning. Every time I put something in the yard sale pile I feel a little lighter inside. I know I will never have to clean that item again. I am beginning to really enjoy that feeling.
The bad part about downsizing and getting rid of some things is guilt. The things I bought for myself I am not having any problem getting rid of. The things that I have not used in years and just kept because I was taught I might need them in the future are not really bothering me either but the things that was bought or made for me by my kids and other family is giving me a hard time. I keep feeling like I am going to hurt their feelings by getting rid of what they have cared enough to give me. My kids say they are fine with it. That they see no need for me to keep all this stuff. But old lessons die hard especially when they have been ingrained in you since you were old enough to walk.
But one thing keeps me on track and that is remembering how hard it was to clean out my grandmother's house after she died. I was not working at the time so I helped my mom and uncle clean it out. It took a week and all we were doing was cleaning out her personal things and what she had wanted to go to who. She had left the house and furniture to my uncle because he lived with her and took care of her the last 10 years of her life. It was her wish to die in her own home and he granted that wish. He deserved the house and furniture.
And as my mom is my grandmother all over again her house will be the same way when she dies. It will take a week or more to clean out her house and pass on what she wants people to have. I don't want to put my kids through all that when I die. I want to make things easier on them. Having to sort through 60-70 years of junk is not something some one should have to go through so soon after losing a loved one. It's not easy physically or mentally. I want to spare my kids as much of that as I can and if I down size it will be a lot easier on them when the time comes. Also if I give them some of the things I really want them to have now I won't have to worry about some one else getting before they do. That almost happened to me when my grandmother passed. I had loaned her my anitque waterfall matching dresser and chest of drawers from the 30's years before she died with the promise that I would get them back if anything ever happened to them. The day after she died my youngest aunt and her boyfriend were caught loading them in a a pickup. My uncle caught them and told them they belonged to me and that it was in my grandmother's will that they go back to me. Faced with the chance of being charged with theft they put them back. I went and got them a week after my grandmother had been buried. I was in no big hurry for them because I didn't want to believe my grandmother was gone. But in the end once I got them to my house I felt better because they had been a part of my life and my grandmothers life for years. That set sits in my bedroom to this day with a picture of my grandmother sitting proudly on top of the dresser. I will keep that set with me as long as I live and her picture will remain front and center on the dresser as long as I live.
Prepping Granny