Wednesday, September 8, 2010

An Early Thanksgiving

I FELT MY BABY MOVE!! With the tornado of emotions and indigestion I've been experiencing, you may think that "feeling" my baby at such an early stage is just wishful thinking--ITS NOT. Imagine a small fish in your lower abdomen flapping its fins against your insides. Mothers, you know what I'm talking about. My first pregnancy, I remember this feeling, but I brushed it off as anxiety or upset stomach. As the baby grew, I realized it was not my body creating the sensation but the tiny life inside of me. This pregnancy has been difficult and I have been ACHING for this little flutter--a reminder of how incredibly lucky I am to be pregnant. I find myself constantly putting my hand on my belly (heavily padded with adipose tissue) just to say "hi" to the little one. It’s the most miraculous thing to feel him/her say "Hi" back.

Now for the next piece of good news: I've had a burst of energy these past two days...HOORAY! I already feel the intense nesting instincts pushing me to do something I hate and rarely do: CLEAN! However, I must use discretion; this instinct drives me to throw PILES of stuff away that I later realize I could use. We have a very small space and things defiantly need to be sorted, but how do I know if it’s time to let something go or if my neurotic pregnant-self is just being over-zealous? (I'm hoping for answers from sisters who have become clean FREAKS in recent years). I LOVE plastic bins; I could put so many treasures in plastic bins then move them to our next phase of life in late spring. Store or let it go? How do I know the answer to this ever-worrisome principle of organization? Some tips would be well appreciated.

6 comments:

  1. Sell or get rid of it all!!! You can always re-buy stuff, even if you have to get it from a yard sale.

    Life is easier w/ less stuff. Only keep what you LOVE!!! Get rid of crafts your not using, toys Ally doesn't play with and your house will be easier to clean. I need to tackle my garage and Timmy's closet. It does NOT get easier w/ more space, it actually gets HARDER because there are more secret cracks and crevices for the clutter to hide.

    Have a yard sale. I love sitting out w/ all my junk and at the end of the day having a huge wad of cash to go blow! If you do it w/ a friend it's even more fun, because you can make fun of the people who want to pay 10 cents instead of 25 cents for perfectly good items.

    YOU can do it. NEST bina NEST!!!

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  2. Ha!! Here is my Rebuttal ... Store it!! (within reason)

    Obviously, if you can't see a purpose for an item, or ever using it, get rid of it or have a yard sale. I agree with Suz, you have to LOVE it. You will eventually be in a bigger house, so it only makes sense to store the items that you would miss later.

    BUT, I guess I can be termed an organized 'hoarder.' I have a LOT of decorations and collections. My rule of thumb is, if you have a collection, you need to honor it, or sell it. Thus, our cookie jar shelf, our bobble heads lining the window sill, and our crown molding of star wars characters. It is all just junk, but I love it, and they are honored. ;-)

    We have a lot more storage in this house than in previous houses. I think we were more careful with our purchases with less storage space. We also had access to a lot of basements in Utah.

    The key is you have to LOVE it. I stored 'skinny' clothes for 5 years. I finally fit into them, but I didn't want to wear them because the styles change, and I just like to be comfy. I finally got rid of them ;-)

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  3. Bina,

    Don't listen to Cathy. She doesn't have minimum 2-3 moves looming above her head (assuming you move for more training, and move 1-2 times until Scott finds the perfect job.)

    Think about the cost of ownership - every item you'll eventually have to move has both an emotional, physical and financial cost. The less you have, the less stressed you will feel when it's time to move.

    Who wants to move breakables? random collectables? I'm not saying get rid of the calico critters, but i'm sure there is so much other stuff you can live without.

    There are so many THINGS in the world. Clear your head by cleaning out your closets. You can always rebuy someday when you have your mansion.

    Don't don't don't don't keep it. For me, I struggle with focusing on a certain task, and it's even more difficult to focus when i'm surrounded by too much stuff, messes, etc.

    We are reflooring, repainting our whole house and again i'm asking myself, why on earth we have all this junk??!!! okay, i'm getting off the computer now and going to sort.

    watch hoarders or other organizing shows for motivation.

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  4. I know what you mean with feeling #2- you understand it so much better! i loved every second of it!

    kaley

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  5. Just put it all in boxes and it will be like Christmas all over again when you move and try to unpack! Out of site...out of mind. :) You know I'm just kidding though. I'm the WORST when it comes to organizing.

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  6. Throw it out, throw it out. That is my motto. And I use cleaning as a day of exercise, once a week or so. Take Ali to co op, turn the music up loud and go on a rampage through the house and count it as your exercise/break from your child. It's such a mood booster to me. And I have a clean house when it's all done.

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