The GREAT clean-out of '09

Whew! It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. I managed to finish just hours before leaving for the airport for our trip to Florida. Leave it to my husband to point out the obvious (more than a few times) that packing for the trip should be more important than continuing my obsession with finishing my HUGE decluttering project and I needed to stop. Unfortunately the urge to clean and organize coincided when Ian's camp ended. So of course everything took longer than it should. It took me 3 days on the kitchen and I must've filled up 3 big trash bags with stuff to throw out and two bins of stuff to donate. The rest of the rooms went a little faster as there isn't physically that much space to hold as much.

Some of the highlights from The GREAT clean-out of '09:

Found a box of tea that had expired in 1996. If it expired in 1996, then how long ago did I originally acquire it?!?!?

Got rid of Tylenol Cold that expired in 2002. And with one dose left in the box, how many had we used that were past its prime?

Hey, has anyone seen a "D" or "O" magnetic letter? I now know that we are only missing those two keeping us from a full set.

Got rid of every sock that didn't have a match. By now I've given up hope that the washing machine was going to give them back.

Threw out all of Sam's clothing that is stained and has no hope of looking presentable again or would feel good about giving to a charity. (And yes Mom, I tried Oxy Clean first.)

Got rid of every pair of underwear that I'd be embarassed to be caught in a car accident with and the paramedics having to see what was covering my butt. We're talking more than 10 years on some of these pairs. I did discover some nice underwear that hadn't been worn (EVER!) under the pairs that I had been wearing too much!

Went through every hat, scarf and gloves set for the kids and only kept the ones that will still fit them this Winter. There must've been a heckuva sale at one point because we have about 5 sets that are are no longer the right size for Ian and is too boyish for Sam to grow into.

I even hosted book club one evening and was able to give to every guest who wanted one a bottle or two of wine. Jeff and I aren't going to drink it and as long as the girls understood that the wine could've turned to vinegar by now, they were game to give it a try. Reports have come back that some of the wine was still good (and tasty!). Although it was a pretty funny remark when Terri said, "why get rid of the wine? It's not like you can put something else in that space, it is only supposed to hold bottles of wine."

Buh-bye to all my CD's and VHS movies. We don't have a VCR anymore and all my music is loaded on iTunes. Got to love the electronic age.

Recycled the phone books on the shelf above the coat closet...seriously, who uses phone books anymore!??!?

Scary to think that most of this stuff moved in with us. Probably would have made the load for the movers a lot lighter if this clean-out occured before moving. And to think that I had so much more time on my hands back then too before kids. I seriously wonder what I did with it all that extra time.

Next up: The car.