Every time I think I might sell my house and move to a condo or some place where I have no yard to take care of, I wonder if I can actually live without my garage and my storage room and my basement.
After Barry died, I thought I could live upstairs in 1000 sq. ft., and I could use my basement area for my studio, guest bedroom and a small storage room.
Now, I am moving most of my office back to the basement. When a room is so cluttered you cannot bear to even enter it, the time has come to do something drastic. Every surface in the bedroom I had turned into my office was covered with papers, books, magazines, boxes and anything that didn’t have a space of its own. On the floor I had boxes filled with papers, pads, mail, and everything was mixed up. My writing, my genealogy research, my personal papers, my writing group information, family business papers – all those things I never got around to filing or stashing away in binders, or finding a good place for, blocks the path to my desk.
I would like to buy a one level house near downtown Hayesville in a community where the house will be maintained and the yard will be cared for with only an annual fee from me. I like my privacy and must have a place for my dog, a little one, but some outdoor space. So I’m not sure a condo or apartment would work for me.
This past week my sister was here and she helped me carry some of the boxes out of my office. We tried to clear out the room to get rid of the old carpet and to put in easy-care flooring. I’d like for the room to be pleasant again, one I enjoy entering. I hope to continue to use it for my personal office duties, but also use it for a second guest bedroom when necessary.
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| Students working at Writers Circle around the Table |
Downstairs I will have room for my writing classes, my computer desks and my genealogy files as well as some of the papers generated by my writing. Still, I have to purge, big time.
All of that takes time, and I hate to have to spend my precious time going through and tossing out. Time is the one thing we cannot purchase, hoard, or make more of and I feel time rushing past faster and faster every day. I also find that I often have to take some of that time each day to take a nap so I can carry on with the rest of my daily plans.
In spite of some flares this week with health issues, today is a beautiful day and I plan to work on the poetry class I teach each week and the publishing class I will teach in July. So much to do, so little time.
I hope your day is good wherever you are today. Enjoy your time and read what Leigh Cutrone has to say about downsizing on her blog.
When I retired, I got rid of and threw out some things I wished I had kept, but as the years have gone by, I miss them less and less. Purging is tough. I'm lucky to be married to someone who obsessively throws out stuff he doesn't use. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou are indeed lucky! Barry was even more of a pack rat than I am so I still have much of his clutter to deal with. Recently I bartered his leather saddle bags for a day of work around my house. I hope to do more of that.
ReplyDeleteGood luck organizing your office in the basement. I also need to discard papers, books, etc. It's amazing how things just accumulate until there's no room left. Hope your are feeling well. Have a great 4th!
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