Hoarders and Spring Cleaning

On Monday night I watched a Hoarders marathon...Have you seen this show? I really feel for these people who are dealing with major issues. It made me realize that I have a tendency toward hoarding and at the same time I crave organization. I feel so invigorated when I clean out a closet or cabinet. In fact, organizing is probably one of my favorite things to do. I love to take my vacation days off just to organize. Cleaning, on the other hand, is a whole other story...Thank goodness for Claudia! Anyway, watching the marathon also made me start thinking about why I hold onto things. I seem to have an emotional attachment to things and I am highly sentimental. I save cards, letters, pictures, and other stuff. I have plastic tubs full of these things going all the way back to when I was in kindergarten. I still have my first scrapbook that I started when I was probably in first grade. I think this goes back to the fact that my mom died when I was 2 and I don't have any of these things of hers. I have always saved stuff thinking that my kids might want that piece of me, but I know that it is a bunch of clutter that will be thrown away one day. I need to go through it and either put it in a scrapbook or throw it away myself. I think this is also the reason I scrapbook and blog. I know that these hobbies are allowing me to document my story for my children and their children. That is the piece of me they will enjoy when I am gone, not plastic tubs full of crap.

I also think I need to be prepared for anything. I think I need a stocked pantry and freezer just in case I have surprise company or so I can whip up a special meal for Sutton. I still end up going to the grocery store and very rarely do we just have folks stop by without calling first. This habit comes from growing up in the country and not being able to just run to the store if we needed something. Sutton has reminded me many times that we only live 5 minutes from the grocery store. Since I have been home the past few months and cooking most nights, I have been cleaning out my freezer and pantry and trying to use all of the stuff I have stored up and now I am realizing that some of it has gone bad because I had forgotten about it. I also hoard toiletries and save those little bottles of hotel shampoo and soap so I have them for my guests. I have enough scrapbook supplies to make at least 5000 pages (I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not) or possibly open my own little store. Since Miss Q arrived I am starting to see that less truly is more and life is much easier without so much stuff. I also see that I have wasted a ton of money.

So this week I am purging the house. I just cleaned out my spice cabinet and freezer. From now on I am only going to buy small bottles of spices for recipes because they go bad before I can use the whole bottle and today I threw out alot. I have cleaned out all of the little hotel bottles and a lot of Quincy's clothes she has outgrown and the baby toiletries she can't use because of her sensitive skin. I am also working on my closet. I have always taken stuff to Goodwill, but I just learned that the Family Shelter is in need of clothes, toiletries, and baby items. I am going to take stuff there from now on. I was overwhelmed today when I talked to them. Here I am blessed with too much and so many people don't have enough.

One thing I am preparing to throw out and I have known for years it needed to be done, but I just could not bring myself to do it, is a box of old letters from junior high and high school. I used to have several pen pals and I have saved all of those old letters. I am going to keep a few but for the most part that needs to go...I need to live here in the present. All of this stuff is just taking up space. I have been thinking of all of these things lately and it is so nice to just put it out there and own it. I am really ready to let some things go and move ahead. Wow, writing this post has been good therapy for me!

If you are like me and in the mood to do some spring cleaning, I thought I would share with you a few resources to get you inspired. Watching Hoarders and Clean Sweep usually does the trick for me, but I have also been reading a couple of great organizing books lately. I love Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke and I am really enjoying One Year to an Organized Life by Regina Leeds. Another favorite book of mine is It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh. My favorite organizing blog is Creative Organizing by Aby Garvey. I love Aby and I am so impressed with her ideas. I have taken a couple of her online classes and I highly recommend them. I also get inspired each month when I get Real Simple magazine in the mail. Do you have any favorite organizing tips or inspiration? If so, please leave a comment.