Love in Dark Settings

Third Priority Resolutions
Stuff Taking Up a Lot of Space

BOOKS & MAGAZINES

Situation last fall:
--5377 books and magazines, all neatly shelved and categorized. I'm capable of being organized in one area of my life.
--Plus whatever books I received from Mother, but those books are already shelved, thank goodness.

Problem:
--I've run out of space for other belongings.
--I can't find the books I most want to read.
--I'm not reading the books I already own.

Goal:
--Get rid of 500 books and magazines.
--Read the books I already own rather than bringing home new books or downloading Internet writings.

What I actually achieved:
--I got rid of 407 books and magazines.
--I bought five new books and sixteen used books. (The used-books figure is very low in comparison to previous years.)
--I stopped going to county library booksales, which is where I was buying most of my books.
--I'm still indulging myself by letting myself occasionally visit the library bookstore and go to the annual PTA booksale.
--I considerably slowed down on the number of writings I borrow or download.
--Books goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year (the same as last year):
--Get rid of 500 books and magazines.
--Read the books I already own rather than bringing home new books or downloading Internet writings.

MUSIC

Situation last fall:
--Hundreds of records, CDs, and tapes given to me by my mother before her death. The records were organized by Doug, more or less.
--My own records, CDs, and tapes, which are in reasonable order already, thank goodness.
--My MP3/FLV files, which are a little less orderly.

Problem:
--Where do I put these?

Goal:
--Find places to put the records, CDs, and tapes.
--Start going through the CDs to see which ones I want to keep.
--Listen to the records when dancing to see which ones I want to keep.
--Figure out whether I want to get rid of any MP3/FLV files.
--Organize all of the above into categories.
--Try not to download much more music.

What I actually achieved:
--I found places for the CDs and tapes.
--I listened to some CDs and records.
--I got rid of some MP3 files.
--I did a tiny bit of sorting of my MP3/FLV files.
--I organized my CDs into categories.
--I bought one MP3 song.
--I didn't keep track of how many FLV files I downloaded, but it's still too many.
--Music goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Find places to put the records.
--Organize my records and tapes into categories.
--Continue going through the CDs to see which ones I want to keep.
--Listen to the records when dancing to see which ones I want to keep.
--Figure out whether I want to get rid of any MP3/FLV files.
--Try not to download much more music.

VIDEOS

Situation last fall:
--My videos (mainly taped by me), which have been packed in boxes forever.
--Videos on my computer. I haven't looked at all of these.
--The commercial video tapes I kept from Mother, which are also in boxes.
--Mother's taped videos, which Doug, quite sensibly, wants to dump, but which I feel obliged to go through to see if there's anything family-related there.

Problem:
--I can't watch many videos during the year.
--Doug and I don't have a TV. (We haven't been watching TV or videos, so he lent both our TVs to the tenants.)
--We have a VCR, but it's not hooked up.
--The video tapes are boxed away.

Goal:
--Shelve the video tapes.
--Get one of the TVs back from the tenants.
--Hook up the VCR.
--Watch the video tapes I most want to see.
--Skim Mother's taped videos.
--Watch the unwatched videos on my computer and decide whether to keep them.
--I'm not even going to try to make a resolution not to download videos, but honestly, this isn't much of a problem. Videos take up a lot of computer space, so I'm sparing about downloading them.

What I actually achieved:
--I shelved the videos.
--Doug got one of the TVs back from the tenants.
--Video goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Hook up the VCR.
--Watch the video tapes I most want to see.
--Watch the unwatched videos on my computer and decide whether to keep them.

CRAFTS

Situation last fall:
--Several boxes' worth of crafts, left by my mother.

Problem:
--They're pretty! They're hidden in boxes!

Goal:
--Put most of them on display.
--Get rid of the ones I don't want.

What I actually achieved:
--Nearly all of them are on display now, but I need more display space.
--A lot of the baskets and pottery are now doubling as storage space.
--I haven't yet gotten rid of the few crafts that I don't want.
--Crafts goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Clear out more space for crafts displays.
--Put out the crafts that remain in storage.
--Continue finding ways to use baskets and pottery as storage space.
--Get rid of the crafts that I don't want.

PAPERS

Situation last fall:
--My boxes (mainly papers): 75, plus whatever's in the attic.
--My mother's boxes: Not counted yet. Suffice it to say that they take up most of the laundry room.

Problem:
--I've no closet space left.
--The boxes have taken over my study floor.
--Mother's boxes are in the damp basement - not a good place for papers.
--My overflow boxes are in the frigid attic - not a good place for papers.
--I can't find the stuff I really want to save.

Goal:
--Go through all of my boxes, getting rid of the stuff that I obviously don't need, filing the stuff that can obviously be filed, and putting the rest into labelled boxes for sorting in later years.
--Do the same for Mother's boxes.

What I actually achieved:
--I went through some boxes at the beginning of the year but got sidetracked by other projects.
--Papers goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year (the same as last year):
--Go through all of my boxes, getting rid of the stuff that I obviously don't need, filing the stuff that can obviously be filed, and putting the rest into labelled boxes for sorting in later years.
--Do the same for Mother's boxes.

BULK OBJECTS

Situation last fall:
--Mine are mostly mixed in with my papers.
--Mother's are in several boxes, thanks to me sorting her belongings before her death.

Problem:
--Lots of this stuff can be tossed.

Goal:
--Get rid of what I don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.

What I actually achieved:
--Some of the bulk objects are now in boxes, ready to be donated to Goodwill.
--Bulk objects goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year (the same as last year):
--Get rid of what I don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.

COMPUTER EQUIPMENT & STEREO EQUIPMENT

Situation last fall:
--Tons of old stereo equipment.
--Tons of old computer paraphernalia.

Problem:
--Doug and I don't have much money. That makes me reluctant to throw out things we might not be able to replace.

Goal:
--Be brave. Get rid of what I don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.
--In particular, put the computer cords, mice, etc., in drawers, neatly organized.

What I actually achieved:
--I put the computer cords, mice, etc., in drawers, neatly organized.
--Computer equipment & stereo equipment goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Get rid of extra computer and stereo equipment.
--Organize the remaining items.

STUDY

Situation last fall:
--Utter clutter.

Problem:
--Most of the problem is due to the overflow of boxes from my study closets and hall closets.
--The second desk in my study is blocking my access to the tall filing cabinet.

Goal:
--Organize my boxes, and the rest of the clutter should be easily cured.
--Move out the desk.

What I actually achieved:
--I organized the boxes in my closets in order to get more room.
--Doug moved out the desk and gave it to a tenant.
--I began to clear the clutter.
--By the end of 2008-9 season, I'll have everything off the floor in my study. Cross my heart.
--Study goal met.

My goal for the coming year:
--For tidying, see Housework goal at the end of Part 4 of these posts.

CLOTHES

Situation last fall:
--One crammed closet and nine drawers' worth of my own clothes.
--Half a closet of my mother's tee-shirts.
--Two clothes baskets' full of my mother's clothes.
--A spillover of my clothes on my closet shelf and closet floor.

Problem:
--I don't need all this!
--I don't know what clothes I have in the house.

Goal:
--Decide which of Mother's clothes to keep.
--Clear out my old clothes that I no longer wear.
--Organize what remains.

What I actually achieved:
--Doug and I are now sharing most of Mother's tee-shirts.
--64 clothes items have been set aside for Goodwill so far.
--I've started organizing what remains.
--This job is likely to spill over into the fall season.
--Clothes goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Get rid of all but a bare minimum of clothes.
--Organize what remains.

BEDROOM

Situation last fall:
--One-and-a-half bookcases and one nightstand full of my mother's belongings.
--Utter clutter elsewhere in the room, especially in the closets.

Problem:
--Doug and I have visions of being strangled in the night by the belongings looming over us.

Goal:
--Get rid of what I don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.

What I actually achieved:
--I'm still working on this, but I've made considerable progress.
--This job is likely to spill over into the fall season.
--Bedroom goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Get rid of what I don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.
--For tidying, see Housework goal at the end of Part 4 of these posts.

BATHROOM

Situation last fall:
--Utter clutter.

Problem:
--You've detected a theme by now, haven't you?

Goal:
--Organize my bathroom so that I can get what I need.

What I actually achieved:
--I totally reorganized the bathroom, bringing in a table, shelving, baskets, cloths, and other objects with which to organize my belongings and to decorate.
--Bathroom goal met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Persuade Doug to replace the broken faucets.
--For tidying, see Housework goal at the end of Part 4 of these posts.

MAIN FLOOR

Situation last fall:
--There's a pathway somewhere in there. I think.

Problem:
--The current problem is mainly the result of an overflow of Mother's furniture (see below), but I also need to keep this area tidy.

Goal:
--Organize the main floor so that I can get what I need.

What I actually achieved:
--Doug put one of the living-room sofas in a tenant's room, freeing up a lot of room.
--I uncluttered the dining room.
--Main floor goal partially met.

My goal for the coming year:
--Organize the main floor so that I can get what I need.
--For tidying, see Housework goal at the end of Part 4 of these posts.

FURNITURE

Situation last fall:
--We had too much furniture already.
--Then Mother left us hers.

Problem:
--I really don't want a fire inspector to tell us what he thinks of our situation.

Goal:
--Get rid of the furniture we don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.

What I actually achieved:
--Doug gave some of the furniture to the tenants, but I really can't take credit for that.
--Failed to meet furniture goal.

My goal for the coming year (the same as last year):
--Get rid of the furniture we don't need.
--Organize the remaining items.