Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Cleaning out the Clutter

It always happens, at the beginning of the year I get hit with some kind of "must clean everything and organize all closets" syndrome. It's really annoying. However, it has happened again this year. The problem with it, is not that my house gets a good scrub down, its that my house looks like a tornado hit it during the process. I have to drag everything out of the closets, sort through it all and then return it in an organized manner. I began to sort through my shoes last night. I pulled out all of the shoes that I either A) Have no clue why I bought them to begin with...kind of like a "WHAT was I thinking??" moment. or B) Loved, but now it's time to say good-bye...probably because they went out of style back in high school....or they have a huge hole in the sole, ha.
I'm a huge book lover! I have more books than one should have, it's almost unhealthy. They are no longer able to fit on my (one) book shelf. They are stacked all over the house...and I just need to let them go. My problem is that my local library...well...it stinks! Really. They have barely any books and the books they do have, I have no interest in reading. Therefore, if I want to read the latest "bestseller" book, I have to buy it. Which in return adds to my stack of books. I've sorted through my books and have divided them into piles, one stack of books I may read again and another stack of books that need a new home. Does anyone know if libraries will take donated books? I know mine sure could use them! Because of my, horrible library and only one book shelf, situation...I'm really starting to consider the Kindle. If you have any thoughts on this, please share :)
I also have bags of clothes that need to find a new body to love them.
I know I could always take this stuff to Goodwill, but does anyone have other suggestions?
and what about old cell phones and blankets? Any suggestions of places that would need these type of items?

I'm starting this year off with the mindset that minimal really is more!...that goes for my house, not the amount of words I use in my posts, ha.

5 comments:

The Dales said...

Take your blankets to a local shelter. Miracle Hill in Spartanburg can always use blankets. When the temperatures at night drop below freezing many churches and soup kitchens open their gyms and put mats on the floor for homeless men and women. They are always in need of used blankets and coats.

The Dales said...

Oh and some shelters for women take used cell phones.

Meredith said...

That's what I was going to say. I have had bad experiences with Goodwill, so I take my stuff to our rescue mission and their thrift store.

And the kindle is awesome! I still loooooove books, but I love my kindle too.

Jackie said...

My school has a book exchange so if you don't find anything to do with your books I can take them to school for the teachers to get.

Mrs. Mullen said...

AJ-Awesome!! Can they use old text books?? or would they know what to do w/ them??