KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

maryb

I would just love to abolish Christmas Cards but DH won't let me. So I sat at the table for two solid hours yesterday when I could no longer put it off. He won't even let me get away with love from xxx and xxx he wants a little sentence in each one - totally pointless in my view especially to close family we see and speak to on a regular basis. So I addressed them, signed them love from xxx and xxx, and passed them across the table and told him firmly if he wanted to add anything that was down to him but when I was finished, those cards were being sealed and put in the post. He did add a few words to some of them so it obviously does matter to him.

At least we no longer send cards to every au pair we ever had (and with six years between my DDs we had a lot until DD2 was old enough to come home from school on her own) - he reluctantly accepted that a girl who was in her late teens 20 odd years ago was very unlikely still to be living at the same address and the ones we were fondest of we keep in touch with on Facebook anyway.

Now it's done my back is really hurting. Good thing I kondo'd paid employment, I don't think I could cope with sitting at a desk writing all day. It's funny how it doesn't take very long at all to get to 90 percent recovery from a broken bone but that last 10 per cent.....

I'm not really a grinch - well not much. I used to love Christmas when the DDs were small but now I feel I've done all that and I'd like to ignore it for a few years until the grandbabies come along

GreyQueen

:j Freegler picked up whilst I was out, and left a lovely thank you note, which was appreciated. Item was from Nan's house and should give good service in someone else's home.

Have been decluttering weeds from my allotment. A robin has been helping me by working alongside hoovering up the nasties. I love it when that happens.

MMF007

Kondo'd lunch with a dear friend
we are both avoiding sugar so I made a jelly for dessert! A packet of sugar free jelly - rasp flavour - lightly poached rhubarb, rasps and cherries, sprinkled with tiny gold stars. A proper grown up jelly.

She is not quite as ruthless as some with regard to xmas cards, but nearly! She opens them, reads them, puts them in a filing tray and after xmas reads them again and then recycles. Mine are on display

no real kondo-ing has gone on but I am delighting in the orderlyness, ease of finding things, and being able to look round the rooms and feel the joy.

greent

I'm not a fan of Xmas cards. I send to some relatives and my closest friend and that is it nowadays. OH has written his today (17) - all of which need posting (good job we still have a load of freebie stamps from RM surveys! ) We get lots from the smallest 2's friends at primary - they are all stacked in a pile in the family room and will be looked at for tag making and then recycled.

Trees (6 so far) are up (may put another small one in dining room and maybe even 1 on a kitchen windowsill) There are a few decs for the CS but not many - I took 2 big bags of decs and ornaments to Cs last year when I KM-d them

greenbee

Tree is up and slowly recovering from being in the net. I've found 3 sets of lights but could swear I'm missing some... I know there was a short string of warm white LEDs and I thought there was another lot with a green cable. Either way, the current lot are too short for this tree, so I'll have to get some more tomorrow. And then work out where I'm going to plug them in (and mark up the wall for the electrician as I seem to be missing a socket in the right place for the tree... best to find out now )

WeeMidgie

My elderly cassette / CD player has given up the ghost, so will go out this week for recycling. I've spent the evening adding music to an old iPod Touch. So now I'm lying in bed, cat curled up on my legs, earphones in, mug of tea to hand, listening to music that definitely sparks joy!

Siebrie

Christmas tree is up, decorated by dds. I excused myself, because they were constantly bickering and getting on my nerves. The end result is actually fine, maybe I should excuse myself more often

2 balls were broken during the decorating, so less to store for next year

Dress rehearsal for xmas play with me in one of the three lead parts and dds in support parts went rather horrible but was fun. We are a mixed language group, ages ranging from 1 to 45 (I'm guessing I'm the oldest), with someone with Down syndrome in the other lead part. It is quite an experience for me to suddenly find myself in a 'binding' role, glueing the troupe together by creating in-jokes, cuddles, advising other players, showing how to speak, etc. I try not to be overbearing, working in the background; the person who organised the whole thing is getting desperate, because she thinks it will never work. She is very good technically, but cannot create the 'we'll do this' feeling.

LizzieR

It's been a while as things have been pretty busy over the last few weeks, but I'm now ready to get back on track with the kondoing. A few weeks ago I moved around quite a few pieces of furniture as I was concerned about mould on the inside of some of the external walls - mainly caused by furniture being against the walls so no circulation of air. I had double glazing fitted about 4 years ago which seems to have been the cause of this problem :-( Anyway, air can now circulate better, but stuff has been all over the place in the past few weeks as part of this furniture reshuffle, so it's time to get things sorted.

Jobs for today include cleaning the kitchen, deciding whether I want to put up any Christmas decs - already have lots of fairy lights up as I love the soft hazy glow of these - but less bothered about trees and ornaments etc, sorting the clothes mountain that seems to have emerged in my bedroom, returning some clothes I bought last week (they do spark joy and fit, but I really don't need them and I hope to be another size smaller in a few more weeks, so won't get much wear out of them anyway - better to keep the money in the bank!), popping over to the folks place to help put up some outside lights they've bought. I could also do with getting out for a good long walk if it brightens up a bit.

Totally understand about the point many of you make about Christmas cards - I send one to friends in NZ and a couple to close family, and then only ones I've embroidered as these tend to be kept as decorations which come out each year, so they seem to have a greater purpose than making money for card manufacturers! I don't really see the point of sending cards that don't actually say anything (apart from 'Merry Christmas from.....' which were probably a real chore for the senders to write, even if it's nice to know they were thinking of me. Although I'd rather have a card that says nowt than the lengthy (word processed) missive about what folks have been up to during the year - maybe I'm just jealous as my life is boring in comparison :-D

Anyway, enough of the procrastination, time to actually get on with something!!

Have a great day everyone.

GreenBitterfly

I've been vaccing my bedroom, desperately needed doing, and ended up kondoing odds and ends from my cosmetic bag (I don't wear make-up, but it's got odds and ends in it) but have thrown away cheap emery boards that don't do the job and cosmetic samples that must be out of date by now.

I inadvertently ended up kondoing a costume jewellery ring, was fiddling with it and ended up knocking off the 'jewel' on the top. I guess the glue had dried out.

Got my mum to get rid of a DVD, I bought her it but I don't mind if she gives it away to the charity shop, it bugs me more to see DVDs in the sideboard cupboard that I know they'll never watch again than my mum giving away DVDs that I've bought her!

wort

I tried to get out of writing a few cards to people who were friends of oh dad and never seen for years, but oh wanted to send them. I have done the same as I did last year and put a string around my tiny hall and only my favourite cards make it on there the others are recycled.

Decorations are definitely much less as we have a 20 week old kitten , the tree is in the converted conservatory and only decorated with lights and wooden stars and hearts, plus 6 gold reindeer. No baubles at all , I didn't spend hours fiddling with the lights etc. As I normally would and do you know I'm quite impressed. My idea was I wouldn't be as bothered if the kitten trashed it! I told everyone it's scandi style feeling the hygge and all that :rotfl:

My huge wreath which normally goes on the mantlepiece has gone on top of the kitchen cupboards as I already have lights up there anyway. I removed all my ornaments not that much and put out a couple of gold reindeer and some candles.

I'm not cooking this year as it's my sisters turn and love the whole Xmas get together with all my family over Xmas and New year. We never buy for one another ( huge family) but we love a party! And all take our own drinks so it's not expensive for the hosts. I work in retail and luckily don't hav d too much extra and it's my Saturday off on Xmas eve so will enjoy going to church to the crib service around 6 PM with my family. Then home with oh for a nice meal got some rump steaks on a meal deal last weekend that are waiting in the freezer with A pot of peppercorn sauce.

Hope everyone is well I have the dratted cold which I'm hoping to shift before the big day.