The Great American Clean Out

I have been in my little yellow house on Leonard Street for six years. I swore when I moved here that I was NOT going to let the "stuff" take over .... Well, of course, it happened! So, I got to thinking, if I clean more now, there will be less to do when the holidays get here. And, with having a 3 day weekend and rainy weather in the forecast, what else was I going to do, right?

In anticipation of the Great Cleanout, I purchased this little Bissell carpet shampooer at Target on Friday. I just got the basic one, it only weighs 14 pounds and cost $99, and figured I'd give it a try and see if I get my money's worth out it. They had big ones that I swear I could have rode around the house ....but, I had nowhere to park it, so I'm just going to start small.

 

 

I love this picture. The carpet looks super duper clean. Trust me, it's not but the little Bissell did suck up a lot of dirt. And, the smell is wonderful. I'm thinking I'm going to need to probably do this room a couple of more times to be happy with it, but so far, huge improvement. (2 cats + 1 dog = dirty carpet)

 

While letting the living room dry, I went to tackle my closet. I had already gone through my clothes a couple of weeks ago, so I mostly needed to store away flip flops and sandals and take inventory of my boots. Pretty depressing if you let it be. So, I started organizing my boots and even took s Sharpie and wrote on the boxes what was in each one to save me the aggravation of taking down the wrong box every daggone time.  Been there, done that.

 

 

But, then I discovered these really cute black booties. I had forgotten that I bought them toward the end of the season last year and got them on a super deal at Kohl's. So funny because I had been noticing boots like this a lot lately and had made a mental note to get some!

 

 

 

I own a pair of brown ones that I got from Avon last year that are almost identical to the ones in this picture. I really love this outfit combination. Need to invest in a sweater made like this blue one. Comfy cozy!!  Okay Steph, let's focus...

 

 

 

 

When you don't have a lot of room, you have to make the most of every inch. I hope to find some more storage containers to make it easier to keep this straight. Please note: Crazy jacket doesn't belong to me, but it does belong to a really cute boy so I let him hang it here ;)

 



 

 

Once the closet was clean and all the junk areas were de-junkified, I shampooed the carpet in here, too. You know how when you get a new toy, it's just so fun! I'm sure the next time, it needs cleaning, I will be moaning and groaning.

 

Having completed two rooms top to bottom, I was starving and the kitchen was next up on the agenda. Jacob got a chair yesterday for his computer desk and we had to put that together last night and, of course, had left the screwdrivers on the counter because the drawer was too full. So, I decided that I might as well start here as anywhere and pulled everything out. Why do people keep every extra screw, bolt, and allen wrench that comes with everything we ever buy?? Just in case, right??

Even though they never make holes the same size. EVER.  Well, underneath ALL of my screws...there was a little card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I opened it, I couldn't believe my eyes. A note that Daddy had written to Jacob. There was no date, so I don't know how long ago it had been written. But, the bigger question, why would I have ever put it in that drawer? I just think little odd things like that are super cool. Thank you Daddy for the surprise ;)

 

 

 

 

I do have to admit. I am feeling pretty happy with myself. One of my good buddies told me yesterday to just start cleaning out and getting rid of junk, and you will feel so free. I have to say she is right. It takes a long time, but I'm hoping the effects will be long lasting. Think I'm going to call it a night right after I put this load of laundry away, which oddly I don't mind since there is now room to put it.

 

Tomorrow, I will tackle the bathrooms and shampoo Jacob's carpet. The Guest Room will probably be the biggest area of accomplishment since it seems to be the dumping ground for things we don't know where to put. I wish I could do like they do on the TV show "Clean Sweep." They take every last thing out of the room....and then make you sort it before putting it back and usually, only a third goes back. Anyway, I'm feeling great. When this done, my next project is painting!