Decluttering

 We've lived in our house for 44 years and in that time we have accumulated a lot more stuff. So have our two children, who left an awful lot of their stuff here when they left home. Clothing, toys, video games, books (lots of books) - it's all here, sitting undisturbed for the the most part. And my husband and I have lots more books, records (the kind you play on a turntable), and paper - lots of paper.

So I am on a mission to declutter. It's a part time mission, but I'm keeping at it. Most recently I've been culling cookbooks. I like to cook and try new recipes and over the years I have acquired quite a few cookbooks. I've been paging through them and noting on sticky notes the recipes that I have made (and that we actually liked). It's interesting to see how our (my husband and my) tastes have changed over the years. I also rediscovered recipes that we liked but somehow fell off the radar. 

I realized after I started writing this post that I wrote about my cookbooks in an earlier post. Oh well.

I also have a closet full of stuff from my teaching career. I thought when I retired that I might use some of it for teaching at summer school or after school programs. I retired three years ago and haven't touched it. Maybe that's something I'm not going to do.

Then there's the craft supplies - sigh. I stopped doing most sewing type projects when I couldn't see well enough to do cross stitch, etc. But now I've had cataract surgery and can see really well. Will I take it up again? 

My mother did a fantastic job of decluttering her life. Everything was in order when she passed away. The  only things to take care of were her belongings in her apartment. In addition, my brother, sister, me, and all our assorted children all get along, so there was no fighting about who gets what. 

I'm planning to emulate my mother. the decluttering continues!