Recipes

[RespectLife]

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@ChiliPepper wrote:

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@novamc1 wrote:

That's how we older folks roll, I guess. 

I'm having to turn loose of my long-time love affair with vintage glass, and the only thing that makes it not too hard is that I have no idea what I would do with it in the future except pack it, unpack it, find a place to store it, keep  it clean and unchipped.........and then what?.  That's what we have to ask ourselves, I guess.

@novamc1

@mustang66lady

@RespectLife

Do you all suppose it will be freeing?

Gosh, I hope so. It's painful thinking about it.

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@ChiliPepper

For me, it would/will be freeing to downsize my excesses.  Those are just poor decisions...no one needs this much makeup, shoes, clothes, handbags!  I accept that losing 3+ rooms of furniture is inevitable.

But @mustang66lady  nailed it...

"Plus, I think it is almost burying loved ones again, when we get rid of something they once loved."

If I have to lose anything of my family in all this...it will be and remain SAD!  There are a ton of nick-naks of theirs that must go.  I know they loved their treasures...but I can't continue to be in charge of them.  I feel guilty!  LOL  Sorry, Mom, I don't want that glass bird anymore!  LOL

I felt just awful the last two moves of Mom that we had to donate/toss her treasures.

It felt callous and sinful, watching her life plopped into boxes and carted away.  I guess I am thankful in a way that her mind was so gone she had no idea what we were doing or what was going on.

I have a cone of kitchen string in the basement that was my grandfathers!  Have no idea how old it is...but I am going to be buried with that cone of string!  LOL

How silly!  String!  Nope, can't toss it!

I also have a lot of 'things' my husband gifted me with....wonderful pieces but what am I going to do with it all?  There just won't be room in the new house...nor are they really my taste anymore....

I don't want to just box them up and leave that on my kids.....

[ChiliPepper]

I couldn't do the fourth one, having someone there would stress me out way too much.

[novamc1]

@ChiliPepper

I don't know about feeling more free,  but in some ways look forward to losing some major items.  My goal for the past several years and now is to shed furniture, lamps, and miscellanea that are too heavy for me  to move alone, hard to clean around or under,  and  just too much to take care of.

The dining room table is a beast with a 3/4-inch glass top sitting  on two mahogany pedestals made by a local furniture designer years ago.  That  heavy glass will require four football linebackers to move.  The rug under it should have been replaced 15 years ago, but I couldn't find enough manpower to lift that glass top in order to get to the stained rug.  Passing along that table will  be a freeing experience.  It's one of those items that I still  love, actually designed myself, and thought hard about  before buying .........but that was then, now is now.

Then there's the enormous china cabinet  bought after several years of searching  for the "right one"..... and DH's big mahogany leather-topped desk..........He had the idea that this desk  would go in our new master bedroom, because we  won't have space for a genuine office in the new home.  I told him he must be joking!

Auction, here it all comes!!   We either own our stuff, or it owns us.  I feel owned, so I guess I do feel it will be freeing.

[RespectLife]

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@ChiliPepper wrote:

I couldn't do the fourth one, having someone there would stress me out way too much.

Me either!  Plus, if they are not VERY close to you, they won't have insight as to what is really meaningful in your life.

HEY!  I do NOT have excessive paperclips!

WHOO< HOO!  Check one thing off the list!

But I do have at least 50 eyeliners...two eyes, yet 50 eyeliners!  LOL  I try to rationalize they are all slightly different...different colors, different types etc.

And after all, if I never buy another one..I will have enough to last me a lifetime...that's IF I live to 153!

Rationalize away dummy...

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[ChiliPepper]

@RespectLife

OK, so I have a bag of makeup under the sink that is older than DD & she is 15.

Out it goes.

Baby steps my Friend, baby steps LOL!!!

[ChiliPepper]

Question #1 : When was the last time I actually used this?

If you have a hard time answering this question, you may have answered your decluttering question right off the bat! Don’t keep things (in general) that you don’t use at least once a year. There are of course exceptions, but in general things you keep, should be things you use.

Question #2: Will I really need this “someday?”

Often you hold onto something because you think you’ll need it someday. So ask yourself honestly, if you will really use this item someday. If so, make a purposeful plan. If not, don’t keep it if you know deep down it will not be a part of your future.

Question #3: What is the cost of keeping this?

Every single item you own requires something from you. Really question if the dynamic of keeping your item exceeds the demand of keeping it. Count all of the costs of the things you want to keep, store, maintain, and use. The cost should always reap a good reward and/or benefit.

[mustang66lady]

@ChiliPepper

@RespectLife

@novamc1

Clearly it is obvious that Novamc is the "friend" we are all going to invite to help us downsize!  Girl, you got it goin' on! 
Respect,I know what you mean about every time you moved your dear Mother that you had to get rid of more of her beloved things.  My Mom had done a declutter of sorts before she was ill.  She did manage to get rid of a lot of her knick knacks and kept only those that meant the most to her.  She requested a small, corner curio that she found at Penney's and said that is what she wanted for Christmas and my brother and his family and me and mine all chipped in together and bought it for her.  She then proceeded to fill it and anything that didn't fit, she got rid of.  I still have that curio, filled with the things she picked out.  Don't know if I can let it go.  I did add a couple of things to it that remind me of her.  She had a candle scented like Wind Song-her favorite cologne.  That went in there because to smell it, is like her being with me.  And I put in the flameless candle H286345 in red (her favorite color) that I bought to sit on her bedside table at the nursing home.  I am too sentimental.

And I'm happy you want to be buried with your Grandfather's string!  Because it won't mean anything to anyone after I pass, I want to be buried with my Grandmother's quilt.  We are sisters at heart, I think! 

[ChiliPepper]

My Mom used to love those glass, telephone pole insulator things. When I was a teenager before she died, we would travel around to sales & find those.

I kept a couple. I would like to be buried with one of those.

[RespectLife]

ooooooo  @novamc1

GOOD ONE! 

"We either own our stuff, or it owns us.  I feel owned."

I am stealing that quote and repeating it over and over again through this process!!

EXCELLENT !!

It goes in with my other memorize quotes!

@mustang66lady

"If God leads you to it, He will lead you through it"

and...

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels"  !!  

LOL on that one...but I say it all the time!

[RespectLife]

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@ChiliPepper wrote:

@RespectLife

OK, so I have a bag of makeup under the sink that is older than DD & she is 15.

Out it goes.

Baby steps my Friend, baby steps LOL!!!

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@ChiliPepper

Hey,

If it is barely used, almost new or new...

I have a women's shelter in NJ that accepts makeup, cosmetics, bath & personal items. (no clothing)

I send stuff frequently.  I always make sure it is in pretty good condition.

They will even send you back a tax receipt that you can use for the 'garage sale' value as a deduction on your taxes!

Let me know if you (or anyone else) is interested in the name & Address!