Last Saturday, I spent the day deep cleaning.
Deep cleaning always results in some interesting finds. Who knows what will surface when I move something that’s been conveniently hiding a random piece of who-knows-what in a corner.
I ran across some doozies.
Like duct tape that had obviously been sent through the washing machine.
Let’s all tilt our heads to the left and think about how uncomfortable it would be to walk around with duct tape in your pocket. Or how much of a hurry someone would need to be in to not notice a big ol’ roll of duct tape in his/her pocket as he/she got ready to take a shower.
Or how the people sorting and then doing laundry didn’t notice it either.
But most dumbfounding of all is why I took the duct tape out of the washing machine and stuck it in the junk drawer at least 10 feet away in the kitchen.
Because that required actual noticing.
I guess duct tape’s legendary usefulness made me do it.
But as I ran across it while in Clean It Out Mode, I saw it for what it was: a kindof nasty-looking roll-but-not-really of duct tape that probably wouldn’t stick very well even if I could pull and yank hard enough to get some off.
So I threw it away.
Next, I ran across a doorknob. A doorknob.
Who keeps a doorknob?
Me. I totally do.
I have an antique doorknob that fell off the door of my historical-sounds-too-fancy-run-down-probably-describes-it-better college apartment. I love that doorknob and smile whenever I randomly run across it. I doubt I’ll ever pitch it.
But this isn’t an antique doorknob. It’s OUR doorknob that fell off our front door after months of not being able to open that door from the outside.
I don’t love this doorknob. Maybe because this time I am the homeowner and a doorknob falling off isn’t quaint as much as it’s a big pain in the hiney. A pain that requires buying a new $80 doorknob and the knowledge that even though we changed out the doorknob we still have to repaint the door.
So I pitched it.
What random things have you come across lately that make you question YOUR sanity?
--Nony
I thought of you today, Nony, as I was packing our kitchen for our first move. We’ve been in our house for 13 years. As I cleaned out one of the cabinets, I came across a container of non-dairy creamer that expired in (gulp) 2004. 2004!!! It took me less than 30 minutes to clean out that cabinet. Why have I not done that multiple times over the years?!
I found an empty cardboard pierogi box in the freezer, when cleaning. It’s been in there for months so I figured the pierogis were bad by now anyways. Take it out and it’s totally empty ?
I have started to throw away broken plastic bead necklaces. My daughter had a ton of them. My granddaughter found them and plays with them until they break. I had been stuffing them back in the “jewelry” box in kids room until I finally had a forehead slap moment. “Why am I stuffing the broken ones back in the box? Will granddaughter even notice?” The answer finally became no and guess what? she has no idea. 🙂
I still haven’t worked up the energy to tackle the inside of my house, but I’ve been cleaning out my garage. I’m a widowed empty-nester. I found FOUR large toolboxes. I totally emptied one and organized the tools into several sets. Only two of the four toolboxes now contain tools.
I found boxes of galvanized roofing nails. Rusted tin snips. Bags of bubble wrap. Assorted sizes of chilled. Bags of nails and screws and concrete anchors and other stuff I’ll never use.
I found a CD MP3 player… Power cables for phones or electronic devices I have not used in years. I found Christmas cards received over five years ago. And a box of precious pictures that were put aside because the picture frames were damaged and needed to be replaced.
Trash and treasure. It’s amazing what was put out of sight for future consideration.
My husband and I recently moved into our forever home. After 11 years in the military and many moves where other people packed our things I told him that every box would be gone through before we put it away. We threw away several bags worth of papers we thought we should keep but no longer needed. But the doozy was the very large box that contained the insides of an ice cream maker we had in 2004. Which means that mostly empty box was moved 4 times including here to our new home. It very quickly went in the trash.
Can I just plead the 5th? Well this week how about makeup that is more then a decade old? It’s shameful.
I identify with this so much! I’m a huge “saver” of things, which I’ve found is a symptom of anxiety, for me. I guess I feel that if I keep things I’ll somehow be able to control any type of emergency that comes my way. Recently I chunked several of those useless itty-bitty brushes that come with drugstore blush. Why was I hanging onto them, and why did I keep them right in prime bathroom drawer real estate?! My soon-to-launch e-course has some decluttering tips and your post reminded me to stay true to the cause!
We are getting ready for a move. I found a few books that have been following me around sense high school. My oldest child is 8 if she needs a copy of Julius Caesar or The Sun Also Rises in 7 years I am sure we can find one at a used book store or on Amazon. I didn’t enjoy those mandatory books the first time I read them. Why have I been dragging them around all these years?
Cords. Cords that probably belong to things we don’t own anymore. But that we don’t *know* if we own, so we’re afraid to throw away. It’s a vicious cycle.
I’m two-ish (maybe 3? Who knows?) years into following you (yeah, I’ve only just now gotten to this part of the blog 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️), but I could not have understood this more. I totally get it. I could go on and on with similar examples of things I’ve kept such as half an Easter egg, a button when I never ever sew on buttons, the Ken Barbie who I hope magically grows back a missing leg…
… yeah. I get it.