Hello, Thursday Morning friends! I’m off coffee for a few more days, so have a cup for me. I am enjoying a cup of green tea, however. It’s not quite the same, but better than hot water.

This week, I’m making plans to simplify my life. No, I haven’t been watching that popular show. We had to make room for some repairmen to come and when we did that, I decided that stuff is not going back. Some of it hadn’t seen the light of day in years. Obviously, I don’t need it.

In ancient times, when I was still at home with the parents, my mom kept me always de-cluttering. I didn’t understand the need. I could still stuff things in my closet and they didn’t fall out when I opened it. Not usually, anyway. She was such a tyrant. She even made me change my sheets every week. EVERY week. And my bed had to be made every morning. She could’ve been a drill sergeant.

Today, if you pop in for a visit early in the morning, my bed is made. Well, unless someone is still in it. He tends to sleep late on weekends. And every Friday morning, the sheets come off and the clean ones go on. I still hear Mom’s voice in my head. “You’re not going anywhere until that bed’s made.”

Why did the uncluttered closet not stick so well? I look at that empty cardboard box and think, “Hey, I might need that.” In it goes. Those ancient magazines filled with outdated recipes and whatnot—you know as soon as I toss those out, I’m going to need whatever it was inside, even though I have Google. I can look up anything on there. And all those old recipes? Someone has kindly loaded them on Pinterest.

My husband is a fool for tools. He has everything you can think of stuffed away in there. The trouble is, when he needs a particular tool, he can’t find it, so goes out and buys another one. So, we have multiples. We found those while moving things for the repairs. We had to laugh about it, but when does it stop?

So, simplification. It makes perfect sense. Give it away, throw it away. Pack it in a box and see if you can do without it. If so, give it away.

My clothes closet is a good example. I have a pair of jeans in mint condition that I haven’t been able to wear for fifteen years. But I might someday. I love those jeans. They’re probably gonna stay. 🙂

I took a gander at the things hanging in my closet and realized I’ve been uni-color for too long. Everything in there is black. Or very dark. It’s like my closet is in mourning! A shopping trip is long overdue. But first, I need to clear out all those dark things. Because it’s spring and we need color!

I don’t have an abundance of cabinet space in my kitchen, so I keep those cleaned out. At least I feel they are. Somewhat. And our refrigerator’s recent near-death experience left us with a sparkling, clean fridge with no ancient unidentifiable blobs in the freezer. So, we’re good in the kitchen. Until you get to the china cabinet. The part underneath, hidden behind cabinet doors. So that’s on my list. Scary place. ⇒

Now you know one of my darkest secrets. I’m a mini-hoarder of things I may someday need. Spring is time for renewal and junk off-loading. It’s amazing how good I feel, having rid myself of too much baggage. And that was just my junk drawer. Closet, here I come.

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Life Minus Stuff Equals Simplify – It makes perfect sense. Give it away, throw it away. Pack it in a box and see if you can do without it. If so, give it away.