First World Problems - Too Much!

There's too much STUFF in my house.

Too much yarn.
I have an entire closet and a large cedar chest STUFFED with yarn.

I have a thing for sock yarn.  And cotton yarn.  And variegated yarn.  And eyelash yarn.  And wool yarn.  Oh, me (as Dad would have said).  More than I'll ever use, I'm afraid, but I'm going to give it the old college try!  I'm working on a pair of socks right now.  I figure if I alternate knitting a pair of socks with doing some other yarn project, I might make a dent in the stash. 

Eventually. 

Maybe by the turn of the next century.

Too many pots and pans.
I have all of Mom's, all of my great-aunt's, plus all of MY Revereware.  I almost added some more from one of my friends when she was cleaning out her mom's house, but I restrained myself with great effort.  I did give some to That Girl, and some more is packed away for That Boy, but I still have more than I can comfortably store.






Too many cats.

Four.  I've already documented THAT hot mess here, here, here, and here... 

Heavy sigh.






Too many clothes.
You'll notice there aren't any pictures associated with this part of the post. 

Too. Much. Shame.

This is the WORST.  My clothes won't all fit in the walk-in closet and dresser.  I don't wear most of them.  I can't even SEE a lot of them, so they get forgotten.  Time to release them back into the wild.

I looked online for decluttering ideas. There are zillions of sites dedicated to getting rid of excess STUFF. Obviously, I'm not alone. I think Nike's "Just do it" tagline is probably the best advice, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with decluttering.

Following the instructions from one site, I did a quick and dirty closet and drawer inventory (a project I’ve been putting off for some time now). I discovered, to my great dismay, in my wardrobe inventory (excluding underwear, shoes, outerwear, and accessories, I have a whopping 367 items in my drawers and closet.  OUCH.

Here are the counts: Athletic/Athleisure 172, Casual 102, Better/Business Casual/Church 86, Professional 0, Date Night/Girls Night Out/Dressy/Formal 8. Wow.  That’s a boatload of jeans, t-shirts, and running clothes. I knew I had a lot of clothes, but who knew??? And I forgot to go count the storage box of too-small/special/holiday clothes.  Surely those don't count. At least I'm not counting them this time around.

Then, upon further reflection, I found I’d forgotten about the clothes from the recent trip to Florida!  So I counted those. Oh, my. Now I have 398 pieces of clothing. Actually, there are two more items in a gym bag I keep in the car for emergencies, so I guess I’ll just make it an even 400.  Just too many clothes, and almost all in the Athleisure and Casual classifications. How sad is THAT?

Well, at least it fits my so-called lifestyle.

I'm chipping away at the overflowing closet.  I've donated four big bags of perfectly good clothing, but the closet doesn't look any emptier.  Everything was jammed in there, and now it's not as tight.  At least it's an improvement.  I've only attacked one wall of the walk-in closet so far.  Maybe I'll make some real headway during the next stage of the purge.

What do you need to declutter? What is your shameful story of Too Much?

Not Very Handy Right Now...

A couple of weeks ago, I had surgery on my right hand.  Why?  Well, it's the aftermath of a cat bite.

Back in mid-May, I was trimming one of the cats' claws, and...RAWR!!!

She got irritated, started up her warning "siren" (which I stupidly ignored), then bit me.

Just look at that sweet face!  Surely she's not capable of such a dastardly deed.

Don't be fooled.  This is the Demon Cat from Hell.

When she came into our home as a kitten, she wasn't well socialized.  She didn't like to be touched or picked up.  She growled and yowled.  She didn't clean her fur very well.  She was Grumpy Cat times ten.  However, after YEARS of work, she can give a good imitation of being somewhat pleasant.  I can no longer sit on our sofa without her immediately taking over my lap.  Of course, it's all on HER terms.

No matter how she pretends, she is NOT a nice cat.  The other cats get out of her way.  She terrifies the dog (the BIG dog).  She sits where a gorilla would sit - wherever she wants.

Anyway, she's not a fan of being handled.  So she bit me.

HARD.

I detached her from my hand, then wrapped her up in a towel and finished the job.

She was NOT going to win.

Long story short, the bite got infected, I went to the emergency room twice, was put on pain killers and two heavy duty antibiotics, lost some movement in one finger (on my right hand), tried occupational therapy (FAIL), then had surgery that repaired two tendons.

Here's how my hand looked afterward.  My whole arm was numb until the end of the next day.  It felt like a telephone pole in its sling, and was about as useful.

I've since graduated to a different, slightly abbreviated splint and bandage.  I have to wear them 24/7 for three weeks - ugh.  At least I can sort of use my fingers.  I get to take it all off once a day and do a little gentle massage.

Meanwhile, I'm working - slowly.  I try to write left handed (oh my - barely legible) and use the computer (hunt and peck).  Getting dressed is an Olympic event.  By the time I have all my clothes on, I feel like I've competed in the decathlon.  And lost.  I'm ready to lie down and take a nap.

I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the long run.

It will.

It really will.

Right?

Help! I Sat Down and Can't Get Up!

Animals!

I'm surrounded by ANIMALS!

How did this happen?!?!?

How, indeed.

It all started with one tiny kitten, found under a neighbor's porch.  Then he needed a companion, so we adopted another.  A friend had a cat with kittens and we took the one with the funny face.

You see where this is going.

With the ebb and flow of life, we lost some cats and gained some cats.  We were finally once again down to only two older cats, and thought attrition would take care of things, but alas.

That Girl moved to to Baltimore and, long story short, left us her animals.  Two MORE cats and a large dog, all young.

Yes, friends and neighbors, since last summer we've had four, count them, FOUR cats and a big dog!

I constantly pick hairs off my clothes.  I dust mop or vacuum several times a week, and when I walk down the hall, there are STILL animal hair tumbleweeds rolling along ahead of me.  Thank God none of them has long hair.

Two of the cats reenact the Civil War daily, leaving clumps of each other's hair all over the house.  They all get hairballs and throw them up where we are guaranteed to step on them.  Two cats eat too fast and throw up their food.  Of course, That Dog helps clean up the messes.  Best.  Treats.  Ever.  Eeeewwwwww!

Why do we put up with it all?  You know - yes, you do.

When I sit on the sofa, one cat curls up on my lap and falls asleep.  One climbs onto my lap, puts his "arms" around my neck and bumps his head against my chin.  One curls up on the back of the sofa behind my head and puts a paw on my shoulder or head.  One presses up against my hip and pulls at my arm with a paw, wanting to be petted.  That Dog drops a tennis ball on my lap.

All they want is to loved.

Isn't that what we all want, really?