Cindy's Weekly Wisdom First of all, this story has a happy ending, although it sure didn't look like it would when it all began. A few months ago, a dear friend of mine was in a very dark place and disappeared. Literally gone. You can image what my husband and I feared. My friend has no close relatives and no spouse; I am the executor of his estate. I felt a lot of emotions during this time, and one of them was outrage: "How DARE you go off and leave me with all this sh*t to take care of! How dare you not clean up your own mess before you dumped it in my lap!" You see, my friend is a bit … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ A Book Review
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding by Jessie Sholl I'll confess, it's a bit difficult to say that I loved a book about someone's painful life struggle, but I really did love this book. It's beautifully written, easy to read, and the author cleverly interlaces story telling and factual information about hoarding. The author, Jessie Sholl, lived with a mother who was initially a pack rat and who became a full-fledged hoarder after the death of her long-term boyfriend. But as Ms. Sholl makes clear, hoarding is just one symptom of … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ It’s Not Yours Anymore
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Last week, I talked about shopping at the Goodwill, and we all felt a bit of dread: what happens to our stuff when we let it go? I know the definitive answer to this question: It's not yours any more. I came to this perhaps obvious realization last week. For years, I have had a queen size air mattress with a leak that I have never found. I've tried to find it while using it (and slowly, slowly getting closer to the ground), and I tried to find it earlier this year when I blew it up just for the purpose of locating the leak. I was not successful. So last week I … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Shopping at the Goodwill Outlet
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom My thrift-store shopping girlfriends, Holly, Natalie, and I hit The Goodwill Outlet last month. Goodwill, I believe, is the most common thrift store in the United States. In Austin, the Outlet is where everything not sold at the neighborhood stores goes to die (at least that's how I think of it). It's a massive, one room warehouse with another massive room for processing goods, and a separate area for the local offices of Goodwill - in total, a 124,200-square-foot (11,538 square meters) building. There's definitely a "last chance" quality to the store. Everything is … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ It’s Not Easy Being Green
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Raise your hand if you consider yourself an environmentalist. Mine is up! But as Kermit the Frog says, "It's not easy being green." Being "green" and decluttering often do not feel like they go hand in hand. After all, you might *gasp* throw something away. You might discover that you cannot find another home for an item you no longer want or need. You may have to face up to the fact that you made foolish purchases that you now recognize as being bad for your wallet and bad for the environment. I was once told that for someone who's such an aggressive recycler / … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Declutter Your Pet’s Tags
Does your pet wear a collar and tag? If you have a pet, I hope the answer is, "Of course!" Today is a great day for inspecting your pet's tags. Are they still legible? Are they still accurate? If you have a tag from Home Away or another finding service, dial the number and make sure the information they have is correct. Does your pet only have current tags? I once found an animals whose owners kept putting on new rabies tags like they were charms on a charm bracelet. Remove the extras. Heaven forbid your pet should get lost, but we all know it's possible. Even the shyest cat or … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Decluttering Shame
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom A book, and its identical twin sister, have been both a clutter and a shame over the past half decade. When I purchased the pair, probably for a premium, since they came from a pricey, wooden-and-organic on-line toy store,  I thought they were pure genius, and I was a genius too. "Pocketful of Memories Book": oversized pocket folders, one for each school year kindergarten through eighth, with room to fill in fun information such as "my autograph," "my pets," "my favorite places to visit." How fun! How Simple! How never really used! It seemed like a no-fail system. … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Mental Clutter
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I was surveying a newly installed fence and gate - my own - and I suddenly thought of Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. Unfortunately for us, I don't own her book, so I can't mine it for an appropriate quote, but one of the keys to happiness that she extols is getting things done and off your to-do list. Make a mammogram appointment, write a thank you letter, update your resume, get your fence fixed. Taking something off your to-do list automatically makes you feel happier. I know it did me. The sad saga of the fence goes like this: In September 2009, … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Too Good to Use
Do you own anything that's "too good to use"? I bet you do. I started this post by asking my mother. The first thing she said was, "Yes, and do you know what a mistake that was?" What I think is really interesting about this story is that it took my Mom less than a second to think of an answer and that the item in question was given to her as a wedding gift 49 years ago. You'll be surprised what it was. Here's what she said: "Yes, and you know what a mistake that was? When we were first married, we were given a twin blanket that was 'too good to use.' We were sharing a twin bed then and … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Buying a Little Happiness
According to the January/February 2012 issue of Money magazine, you'll be happier if you "Spend a Little a Lot of the Time "The Reason: Frequent small indulgences give you greater happiness than occasional splurges, according to a growing body of research covering everything from the pleasures of chocolate-chip cookies and massage chairs to lottery tickets and good grades. "The Resolution: Skip big-ticket purchases in favor of smaller ones you can spread out. Instead of splurging on dinner and a show, eat out one weekend and go to the theater the next. Rather than a designer dress you might … [Read more...]