5 Days of Thanks

5:  A good clean-out

I have begun the process of cleaning out the house of extra stuff we just don’t need or use.  I want it done before we begin the Christmas process.  It is surprising how much junk we hold onto.  We don’t like throwing things in the bin when they could be recycled or used up later or whatever.  This means that we have about a million empty plastic bags, hotel toiletries, and I have amassed an impressive collection of potions and creams that I am convinced I will use at some point, but inevitably have forgotten about since the last clean-out.  Today I bit the bullet and just started throwing things away.  I found a total of five empty shoe boxes under our bed and in the closet under the stairs.  What were we keeping those for? 

I got about half-way through the house today.  The worst of it is going to be going through my clothes and being ruthless.  If it doesn’t fit and I haven’t even attempted to wear it in the past year, gone.  My goal is to be able to fit winter and summer clothes in the dresser and wardrobe with room to spare so that I can get rid of the two huge suitcases that are useless because they are too heavy.  In order to meet the airline luggage weight restrictions you basically have to leave the suitcase empty.  In the past five years we have only used them as storage for out of season clothing or backpacking gear.  Gone.

The other reason for doing this, besides starting the year out free of useless stuff, is in an effort to keep our house a little less damp.  We have discovered that our flat has minimal, if any, insulation.  Once cold weather sets in, our external walls need to be wiped down at least once a day to keep the condensation from puddling on the floor.  The less stuff we have stuffed under the couch, dresser, bed, etc.  The more air will circulate and hopefully the less dampness.  That’s the theory anyway.