Patricia Stoltey

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Throwing Stuff Away!

November 4, 2013 By: Patricia

How can stuff accumulate so fast?

Why do I print stuff out and never read it?

Does everything with a name, address, or email address on it really need to be shredded?

Why do I still have the records from accounts closed more than ten years ago?

Why does Katie Cat need to knock over the shredder and pull out all the paper strips before I’ve had a chance to empty it in the trash.

Why do I have files and files and boxes and boxes of stuff I never look at?

I’ll never get around to reading all the paperbacks I have around the house. Why do I keep them?

I don’t know the answers to any of those questions, but I need to figure it out. My husband and I are thinking about downsizing. It’s going to be a big job.

Maybe if I do a little bit each day. A file here, a box there. One task a day, one day at a time. Maybe in a year…

NaNoWriMo Report

Yesterday was Day Three. I reached 5,087 words, and I reached the word count goal before dinner…for a change. This week I want to get my word count done each day before lunch. Wish me luck.

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Comments

  1. Arlee Bird says

    November 7, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    So many questions that I need to answer as well. I’d like to get a shredder and start shredding. Found a box in my garage the other day that had stuff from 25 years or more ago. Do I really need all those old bank and credit card statements. I don’t think so.

    Lee
    Special report today on the “Story Sprouts” book launch in L.A.
    Lot’s of pictures in this one!

    Tossing It Out

  2. Patricia Stoltey says

    November 5, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    Pat, that’s very tempting. I wonder what would happen if we found a house with no closets. πŸ˜€

    I did finish yesterday’s word count, Pam, but am just getting started on today’s. Hi Ho!

  3. pam2spicy says

    November 5, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    Here it is 11:30 and I am wondering if you have finished your words today! I always wonder where all those words come from. Someday I’ll try it and find out. I seem to accumulate stuff, too. Had a big garage sale 8 years ago. I am in a small house. Doesn’t help. Takes too much time. Great post, Pat!

  4. Pat Tillett says

    November 4, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    I know exactly what you mean! Eight years ago we went through everything before moving to our current house. We got rid of an amazing amount of “stuff.” Now, here we are eight years later and it seems we have more stuff than before. I was told the key is to move somewhere with VERY LITTLE storage space. Good luck!

  5. Patricia Stoltey says

    November 4, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    Jan, you’re suggestion sounds awesome. I just brought up two big trash bags to load up with things for Goodwill.

    Susan, so much stuff is right. I feel like a pack rat.

    E.J., maybe it’s because we have so many other important things to do than clean up after ourselves? Yes, I think that’s it.

  6. E.J. Wesley says

    November 4, 2013 at 5:53 pm

    The only way I know to get through the big projects (like moving, unpacking, etc.) is one box at a time, Patricia.

    And I have no idea why we keep so much crap. Clutter just seems to come with time like dust. πŸ™‚

  7. Susan Gourley/Kelley says

    November 4, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    LOL, it’s like you’re speaking for me. My husband and I want to downsize within the next two years. I’m getting him to clean out some things and I’m slowly thinning out my bookshelves. So much stuff!

  8. Jan Morrison says

    November 4, 2013 at 9:34 am

    Yay for you for both adventures! No writing months for me til I finish revisions on all five completed books! Okay – four with one half-done (a early NaNo). As for down-sizing, having lived in five different houses this year – I’m getting pretty good at it! I say nothing comes into the house that doesn’t have an equal amount going out. Not books, not clothes, not little doo-dads. And once a week take a box and whoosh through a room picking up stuff that can be re-homed! Put on some Aretha Franklin and rock your sweep!

  9. Patricia Stoltey says

    November 4, 2013 at 9:15 am

    Alex, she gets away with a lot. Spoiled rotten.

    Margot, I know I’m not the only one with too much stuff. When I helped my Mom move to assisted living, I was astounded at how much “stuff” she’d managed to accumulate in her little apartment.

    Karen, NaNoWriMo was essential to get me writing again. I hope I can carry it on through the following months this time.

    Ken, that one made me laugh. I’m thinking of adding one more piece of stuff to my house (after I get rid of some other furniture)…a stationary bike. I think I’ll put it in front of the television. πŸ˜€

  10. Kenneth W Harmon says

    November 4, 2013 at 8:56 am

    I want to downsize this year too, but I never have time for the gym.

  11. Karen Walker says

    November 4, 2013 at 8:28 am

    Wow, you’re ding NaNoWri. I’m impressed. This made me laugh. Good luck downsizing.

  12. Margot Kinberg says

    November 4, 2013 at 7:06 am

    Pat – I’m happy to hear you’re making such great NaNoWriMo progress! Nice going! And it’s interesting isn’t it how we collect and keep stuff. Maybe it gives us a sense of security; I don’t know. But people do like their stuff. And so, obviously, does Katie Cat πŸ˜‰

  13. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    November 4, 2013 at 7:00 am

    Katie Cat does it because she can…

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. My most recent release, In Defense of Delia (Five Star/Cengage, November 2022), is available in hardcover and will soon be available in ebook and trade paperback. Read More…

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