Decluttering and moving

As of Christmas Eve I have come to the end of my month of decluttering.  In an attempt to get things to a more reasonable level in my apartment, I gave myself the goal of getting rid of one thing for 30 days starting on November 25.  The results were very pleasing.  It became a pretty big pile of stuff rather quickly which was not what I had expected at all. It even helped a lot with Christmas shopping in a way.  People would come over and occasionally find something they would like in the box.  Definitely the most surprising one for me was my friend revealing a great love for Anne of Green Gables. So Canadian!  I gifted her the full box set.  It worked out even better than expected because she had forgotten about expressing an interest in them. Double success!

With having been told I have a limited time to move out I have stopped going through my books as vigorously as I would like but I did manage to clear out about half a shelf.  Now the remaining are all packed up and ready to move.  With most of my things going into storage (minus that which can not freeze) I'll be able to go through my boxes one by one and eliminate all of the books that I'm not really interested in reading or re-reading in the future.  My standards are pretty high for which books I'll be allowing myself to keep because I've limited myself for a more simplistic lifestyle.  I've filled half a large plastic bin with my favourite and in some cases rare books that I have. When I've gone through my sizable collection I will eventually fill up the rest of the box.  Past that I will not allow myself to have anymore books.  Supporting local libraries has always been important to me so this will really force me to be a more consistent patron.

...ok odds are that I will have another bin by the end but the hope is there.

I feel like I'm on the cusp of some great change because of this move.  In theory I think this will force me to make some pretty big decisions about where I'm going in life and who I want to be.  Most days I'm ok with this change but then I'll find myself waking up from a nightmare (dreamt that I was actually supposed to move out a few weeks earlier than expected... as in that day!).  My mind is trying to work through some pretty intense anxiety over it all - will I be able to pack up everything in time?  The move has put me into a bit of free fall state of stress. My only real comfort comes from packing.  The simple act of putting my shit into boxes has become a type of meditation that has managed to make me feel like this move might actually be an attainable goal.  Slowly my life is becoming a sea of cardboard on every chair and patch of rug in my place but that just means that I'm actually getting closer to my goal.

Here is hoping that I'll be able to actually get it all done.

Spiders

As fair warning this one is probably not going to be something that everyone will want to read (this next section particularly).  Odds are that the people most afraid of spiders skipped this week based on the title alone but if you were just brave enough to get this far and want a cute story about a spider then I suggest you skip the italicized paragraph.  

I have very limited experience with spiders but I like them.  They keep bugs under control and I love seeing the detail and variety in their webs.  I'm fine when I don't need to be near them but if there is even the slightest possibility that they could bite me I get away as quick as possible.

When I was in elementary school I was sitting in class and noticed that my hand was feeling like it was burning in one section and up my arm.  I looked down to find that my skin on the back of my hand was bubbling.  Yes it was as terrifying as it sounds. I got checked over at the doctor's and they found two bite marks on the same arm as my hand.   They diagnosed me as having an allergic reaction to spider bites that I would just have to wait till it went away.  Eventually it did fade but even with being more than 15 years ago the scars are still there.

The happiest story I have about a spider is from when I was working as a school photographer.  I was driving all around the province going for a day or a week to different towns and putting a lot of time in on the road.  I began to notice a spider web that was always in pristine condition on the passenger side rear view mirror of my car.  It was in the perfect position that the wind was broken by the mirror causing the web to sway just slightly in the draft rather than being ripped up.  I assumed that it was catching the odd bug but it never seemed dirty so  I left it in the interest of seeing what it would do over time.  I didn't really think about it all that much for the next couple of trips.

One day I was sitting in my parked car having my lunch and rather large spider came out from behind the side mirror and inspected the webbing.  It wandered about eating what it had caught on the drive down.  I was amused to have a lunch companion.  That evening on the way back to the city I could only assume it was back behind the mirror.  I was hopeful that it hadn't wandered away.  Nothing like stepping out for a walk and your home having driven off.  The next day a fresh new web was ready for the drive out of town.

This continued on for the whole summer. I would come out to find a new web or the spider sitting somewhere on the webbing.  As soon as I turned on my car that little arachnid was behind my mirror and ready to travel.  It was great having a little car companion for all those months and hours on the road.  I find that I actually miss him from time to time when I am driving around.

Locked doors

Nothing catches hold of my attention like a distinctive locked door.  There is a good reason for this.  In my experience locked doors usually lead to the most interesting rooms filled with odd equipment, roof access points, and offices with great views of the city.  While I usually like to let my discoveries and invitations to these places unfold purely by chance, I often long to be able to pick up the phone and get through any door at a moment's notice. 

While a locked door adds a certain flare for the dramatic reveal I have noticed that just being introduced to something new in the city is where the real excitement comes from.  Several of my friends have been great for showing me lots of interesting places.  Either to explore together or because they have special access that they want to share.  I love being invited somewhere that has been around for years but I've never had a reason to see inside before. Riding up old fashioned service elevators and finding surprisingly elegant places. Even just being in a store after hours energizes me. I always jump at the chance to see the restricted areas; even when the ceiling looks like it is going to come crashing down at any second.

The more I can learn new and interesting things about my city the longer I find I can fight off the travel bug that is constantly pulling at me to explore other parts of the world. Some recent ones have been:

1) finding the giant koi fish unexpectedly swimming in a classic restaurant here in the city, a couple of them having been here for 20 years now.
2) wandering around in the various tunnels that connect the buildings down town trying to see how long we could stay inside and warm.
3) going shopping in a giant warehouses that is by invitation only.

It all comes from being with the right people at the right time.

However one door in particular was made all the more fascinating because I couldn't get in.  For years.  It became my favourite locked door to the point that I would bring it up in conversation from time to time to see if anyone I knew could get me in.  It has a combination lock with a red sign, almost the length of the door, pointing at the door reading "Archery". I was instantly hooked. I walked past there once a week for a while, knocking to see if anyone was there by chance. I talked with the people that owned the building above and they said to just keep trying. I enlisted the help of other people to walk by and knock each time they did too. People laughed about it but I would get the periodic text saying "no luck with the door". Eventually it paid off and I did manage to make contact, joined and now have access to an archery range 24/7.

Each door seems to open onto a different world in the city that I was not aware was a part of this small section of prairie life. I want to be the person to appreciate what is behind all these closed doors, package them up in a blog, and share the experience with others.

What is your favourite hidden gem in your city?
What is the most interesting place you have found either away or at home?

Watching Hoarders and moving, power combo for motivation

Back in November I was watching a marathon of Hoarders online.  I started thinking about some of the random little things I had kicking around that I didn't really need or want any more.  I thought I would set myself a goal like my friend Estelle had done a few years ago.  She was going through her things and getting rid of one thing everyday. I loved the idea. As of November 25th I started with the plan of having 30 days of giving things away. I hadn't even really thought about the Christmas aspect.  I told myself that if I filled a bag with enough nice things for kids in good condition then I would make a donation.

Eliminating clutter from my life stemmed from a vague notion that if I was going to move countries or even cities I was going need to have a more manageable set of possessions. Generally, I like the feeling and look of having a more sparse lifestyle, so it was going to be a double win.  But life has a way of speeding up time tables on me.  Since starting my project I was told that by January 31st I need to be out of my place... well crap.  Looks like it is going to be a lot more than one thing a day to get rid of.

When I had started brainstorming things to give away I had only really thought of about 10 things. I thought that by this point in my declutter process that I would be finding it hard to find something everyday.  But now that I'm actually through the things I was originally thinking about giving away I have gone full blown in really thinking about what it means to have less.  I had filled a box with things to give away by December 1st.  It was actually incredibly helpful to have the list because it got me into action of actually giving things away. 

I decided to keep going with the declutter plan.

For me, the biggest source of mess always seems to be paper related. Papers are constantly coming into my life. After a short while they start to add up. Before I had a weekly pile that started slowly growing on Monday and would expand to a few different surfaces by the end of the week. With constantly working and running out the door, I always used to think I didn't have time so it could wait till the weekend. Then there would be the mountain to go through. It always got done but it did take way more time than it needed to.

I've been taking care of this with filing as soon as it comes through the door.  Each time I grab the mail I stand by my recycling box and my accordion file. I leave all junk and envelopes in the box and file the bills. With my wonderful hand crank shredder sensitive information can be recycled with peace of mind. I've put the three in a more readily accessible spot by the door where most of the papers got caught coming in in the first place. I love the concept of putting things where they will be used not where you want them to be. It takes a lot less time and stress to just get to work on something rather than having to make a big production of gathering what you need.  Keeping all my important documents in one place is also going to be essential when I move.

In the case of my books (another form of paper clutter) I've been reading more of the ones that I was on the fence about.  While I read I actively think about if I really am going to read it again. Do I need it on my shelf or will getting it from the library work for me in the future? There are a lot of "take a book, leave a book" homes popping up on front lawns around the city, I try to make it a point of leaving one in each whenever I can. Additionally If I'm reading a book and think my friend would really love it I put their name with a sticky note inside it and either loan it or give it to them. (I have pretty different tastes in books compared to my friends so that doesn't happen very often).

This is where moving is streamlining my decision making.  I will be moving back in with my parents for a few months to make some solid choices about where I want to go in life.  I'm putting into a storage unit all the things that I will definitely want in my future home but for sure wont fit in a bedroom.  Couches, table and chairs, book shelves and all the other little house things that add up (pots and pans, vacuum, ironing board, towels, dishes, etc).  The first thing I did when packing up was take all of my favourite books and put them in a container for storage.  I don't need them with me at my parents' place but they will be essential for making any future place I live a home.  I filled half a box.  The rest of my books will come with me to be read over time and given away.  At the end of the reading and sorting I think I'm going to limit myself to just being able to keep enough books to fill the rest of the box.

My goal now is to have my place ready to move by December 31st.  This way it will keep me hugely motivated to keep thinking in terms of "This needs to get done now!" rather than letting myself get complacent and procrastinating.

What do you do to eliminate clutter? What is your biggest challenge? Want to join me in giving away stuff? Let me know in the comments what donations you are making.

Home discoveries

I look after homes around the city. From time to time people give me a call and I go and look after their animals or plants while they are away. Over the years I’ve realized a few things that are pretty essential when it comes to going into a new place.

Find out where the can opener, scissors and cleaning supplies are kept. This includes garbage bags.

Everything else you can kind of figure out on your own but if you don’t have a clue where to start looking for those 3 things it can be rather frustrating (especially looking for the cleaning supplies which are usually time sensitive). You might be asking why the can opener is first in my list? It took me an extra half hour one time to make a simple can of soup because I didn’t know that they had their can opener mounted on the underside of their cabinet.

Stepping into someone’s life is always interesting for me because I get to see what people take for granted as normal. I always ask what people can think of as a little quirk to their home, which has had some pretty interesting results. My favourite one has got to be the phones that didn’t work when it rained. Unfortunately I happen to be staying during a particularly wet summer.

On occasion I get to really enjoy something unique to the area. Most recently I was looking after a home and discovered the best idea for a residential area: loading zones.

The more time I spent there the more I wanted them on every street. I’m all about efficiency of use. Having the ability to run back into the house to retrieve something I had forgotten saved me a lot of hassle in terms of needing to find a parking spot. Additionally my pet peeve, people disrupting the flow of traffic by double parking to pick someone up, was eliminated.

For a while there looking after homes had become a fairly consistent thing. People going away for weeks leaving me to look after their place had friends of mine asking if I will ever give up my apartment to do house hopping full time. But that way there wouldn’t be any transitions. The feeling of a job well done comes from handing their home back to them in as close to the original state as possible with very happy animals. But it is actually by going home after that I get enjoy more fully the life I have and my own brand of quirks. And of course my own bed! You always appreciate your own bed over others… and if that is not the case for you I suggest you invest in a mattress better suited to you.

What is something unique to your home that you love?
What is a unique trait that you would warn people about?

The best winter

I've made a pact with myself this year to not let the dislike of the cold and winter from years past drag me down.  I had to make this agreement with myself in order to keep my sanity for the next few months.  After almost 7 months of winter and then minimal amounts of free time to actually be out in the heat of summer I spontaneously started cursing when I woke up to the first snow fall.  I could not accept that winter had come again.  The warning shot of winter melted, and I realized that I had to change my attitude or I would not make it through this year.

An important aspect of this pact was realizing that I just can't talk to people about the weather ever this winter.  When I'm around someone who hates the cold as much as me I join in on the cold smack talk and feel worse.  If I'm around someone who loves the cold it becomes a conversation stalemate with nothing more to say until the topic changes.  All this week I've been using a lot of humour about the weather to shift the topic and it has been working nicely.

This is all thanks to last week helping to wean me off of my desire for a longer Autumn season.  I spent the majority of my time on the road.  I drove up to Saskatoon with their noticeably higher levels of snow.  With the bright sunshine and warm wind it was a perfect couple of days to get used to the snow again.  Driving then further on to Price Albert I found where winter has been hanging out for much longer.  With Semis Jack-knifed on the highway and an army troop carrier truck on its side in the ditch we were pretty careful on the roads.  It was this gradient of progressively more white as we went up that helped ease me into it rather than the shock of a sudden dump.  On the way back it was just solid snow the whole way.  Winter had snuck back to Regina and set up camp.  But thankfully I had my game plan ready this year for how to cope.

I found my car encrusted by the ice rain and then about 2-3 inches of snow on top. 

I set to work with the first part of my plans.  I now keep my ice scraper in the back seat on the floor.  It seems so simple now.  When I go to get it, the avalanche of snow will land in the back-seat and not the driver's.  I've only had a chance to store my car in garage for winter approximately 3 times in my life so I'm pretty used to having snow on my car but this year I'm purposefully not going to be lazy about removing all of it.  I've got a few other little things planned like lifting the wind shield wipers off the glass at night so they don't cement themselves down. 

I've always been one of those people who doesn't layer enough for the cold, or if I do have enough layers for heat then there is the wind chill factor that sneaks in through every seam.  This year I will not skimp on preparation and layering clothing.  Even if I don't think it is going to be so cold I'm going to always have my big coat, small gloves and mittens, extra layer of either outer shell pants or having some tights on under my clothes.

I'm also think about getting one of these little jaunty ice scrappers but it might not help me stay positive.  Maybe I'll go with an ice scraper that is also something to keep my hand warm.  Keeping my mind off the cold with creative projects and having an emergency stash of scarves (my socially acceptable blankets) will hopefully be enough to make this my best winter.

Please share any ways that you make winter barable, and if you love winter then what aspects do you love?  

Spy or crazy

So today at work it came to my attention that everyone I have just started working with were of the opinion that I was a mole, a plant, or a spy.  There are three major reasons for this. 

1) The people I work with (by their own admission) are a paranoid lot
2) My dad works for them as a private investigator
3) I'm always writing

This last one is the big one.  I always have something to write on.  For the most part I use my phone's note sections or send myself emails.  But that constant use of a phone doesn't really go over well with people in a work setting.  So I got a notebook to keep my thoughts in order.  I collect up all my ideas and just keep my mind from being overwhelmed by keeping track of all this new information coming in.  But it freaked people out. A lot.

I was asked around my 3rd day not to write any more during lunch.  They didn't like that I was making a list of ideas for what to bring for lunch or writing down my plans for the weekend.  They got rather creeped  out by it.  I was a bit embarrassed but kept writing because that's just how I think.

Today last day of my second week my office mate somehow got to telling me that she thought she was going to loose her job from all the stuff I was writing down.  I was completely thrown off.  I had been making a list of pros and cons for traveling next year and told her so. 

Pro: Adventure                    Con: No stability     
Pro: Having a hot winter       Con: Not being able to afford a house

She just started laughing.

I tried to let people know through the day that I wasn't a spy and just this is how I think... which means that people now think I'm crazy.  I prefer people thinking I'm a spy.

One good thing that came out of this is that my office mate has declared that she thinks I'm cool rather than crazy (which is always nice to hear).  She asked why I didn't blog, and it got me thinking about this blog that I just stopped working on.  So I found a list of writing prompts to get me back into the swing of things and have started pulling together some thoughts for the next few months.