Week-In-Review (10/02/21 - 10/09/21)

Hi everyone,

It's Sunday night! Time to review and reflect on yet another insanely busy week which will be remembered for its crazy amount of decluttering, seriously, put that one in the books!

I am not sure if you could say that something finally "clicked", but it just was one of those weeks where I just could not justify the crapload of nonsense anymore. I get it that it seems only obvious from the outside eye. You walk into someone's house and you immediately feel the pressure from the over decorating, oversized furniture, stuff everywhere! But to those living in it, I can assure you that we are used to it and therefore no longer notice it. It's not like we walk into out home after a long day at work, open the door and get shocked by the sheer sight of our possessions. It's our beloved stuff after all and we have worked very hard at acquiring and displaying it over a very long period of time. During that same time, desensitization set in...You know, when you no longer see the pile of mail on the dining buffet, the abandoned shoes no one wears in the entry closet, the dried up detergent on the side of  the washer or your kids entire school years as displayed in unmatched frames above the mantle. It did not happen overnight. We invested a lot of time and effort into shuffling the stuff around and I am pretty sure each shuffling session left us with the fleeting satisfaction of a job well done...But was it?

I know it can be very frustrating to attempt to even comprehend how people can live in such chaos. Our environment is a reflection of what goes on in our head, sure, and people are real quick to assume that chaos on the outside only means one thing - chaos on the inside. But what if the person simply does not care though? I mean, sure, a clean and well maintained home is great. But it's not a priority to many and it does not necessarily mean that we were not "trained" or given the proper skills while growing up, it definitely does not immediately puts us in the slob/hoarding slob/disgusting slob category. Some of us simply do not care. Maybe a clean and organized home is not a priority to us.  Maybe if life itself is not disrupted and our family is equally happy regardless of whether there is overdue laundry or everything is neatly piled in its dedicated space, there is no pressure or obligation to attend to the dirty socks right this instant. A lot of people will claim "my home is lived in" but I saw on Instagram the other day a lady who said that we need to stop saying that as an excuse for the mess and instead tell the truth...It's not that our homes are lived in...We are overwhelmed! And that overwhelm does not necessarily come from the stuff we own, it could be medical, emotional, work related, kid related, society related overwhelm and in turn, the house is neglected. Trust me, after a crazy day at work, the last thing on my mind is wiping off the dried up detergent or fold a basket of laundry. No Stepford wife lives here!

The main issue really is the expectation vs. reality. I blame social media. I give you a for instance. Here is a picture I shamelessly grabbed from the infamous Instagram - bearer of all toxic contrast and compares:

Barn & Willow

What is this? And where do you put your stuff? How is that even practical? Yet, we are bombarded with images just like this one and made to feel less-than because, well, we don't have this look. So off we go to Home Goods or whatever and buy all the things. Except that we can't really let go of our real stuff, so this new stuff gets thrown over our old stuff and it just never seems quite right. But if you pay close attention to those insta-worthy settings, you will notice a lack of personal belongings. It's all store bought, nothing related to family or memorabilia or even an existence outside of the catalogs. Where is the remote? Where do you put your cup of tea? Where do the pillows go when you want to sit down or do you have to sit on the edges? What's that furry thing draped over the sofa and do you really need the chinchilla one on the other side? How cold is it in this house that you need not one but two furry throws. How does one vacuum the far left corner? Can you imagine my Beagle in this décor? But wait! There is a subliminal message of LAVISH lifestyle here, the pillow says so (also the Chanel book casually facing the camera!) I have to find myself a pillow that says ORGANIZED and maybe some people will cut me some slack! 

So we get bombarded day in and day out with these expectations and then you wonder why people freak out when they see a real home, with real stuff that is actually making living functional but is not cohesive (not catalog ready). Seriously, look at home décor on instagram with a critical eye and tell me it's not just me who feels that this eye candy stuff has skewed our perception of what a real home looks like!

Anyway, back to decluttering. So yes, a lot of decluttering happened this week and I am proud of myself! Having the Town-Wide garage sale next week may or may not have been an incentive, but it sure did not hurt. So here is the week-in-review:

Saturday October 2, 2021

Saturday morning is kitchen cleaning day except that this time around I had Edward lend me a hand. The day was spent filming a declutter video (Episode 8) where I pretty much let go of 40% of my everyday dishware plus some and then of course it was Band Competition in Randolph, NJ where William's Band took second place. 

1. Saturday morning "sigh"!

2. Edward did assist since most of the mess was his. We went to the Football game last night and he pretty much left all his dinner dishes and stuff all over the place. 

3. Scott and I enjoyed a glorious sunset at Randolph HS while awaiting William's band performance. 

4. Back from band competition - a bit late too, Edward and I enjoyed a game of chess, which of course he won. I'll have you know that I taught him the basics of Chess when he was around 7 years old and he picked up the rest while in school and now college. He far surpasses me but then again I am not surprised because even though I know how to play and can win against William, I am really not that good a player. I sure do enjoy the challenge though. 

Sunday October 3, 2021

I had a late start since I went on the bike and raked in about 8 miles...Then of course I had to recover!

Sunday is always a mad dash to film as many videos needed to make it to a count of 3 for the following week. I was able to do another declutter (Episode 9) and bake a Zucchini and Pineapple cake. Don't turn your nose, it was delicious and did not last long. (Video coming up this week). The rest of the day was spent blogging. So you see, there is not much time to attend to dried up detergent on the side of the washer!

1. Sunday breakfast - Poached eggs over avocado and Ezekiel bread ( I am trying, but not a lot).

2. A successful declutter from the spice and tea cupboards. 

Monday October 4, 2021

I actually had to work from home today in order to finish the audits in a relatively quiet and uninterrupted environment. I feel so much more productive and structured working from home and I was an idiot for resisting the idea for so long. There, I said it!

1. Enjoyed a Cappuccino for breakfast and I am loving our new Keurig. It was pricey but the frother makes it worth every penny. It's easy to use and it makes Cappuccinos in no time. Let me know if you want a demo. 

2. A no makeup kind of day - I just needed to get stuff done.

3. Fiona loves that basket on our desk. It's under the lamp and I suspect she is there for the heat.

4. I managed to edit and post Monday's video without pulling my hair and I went to bed on time!

Tuesday October 5, 2021

This day will be remembered as the day FB and IG went down for what appeared to be a very long time. Maybe it was accidental, maybe it was by design. Who cares! I was able to capture the attention of William who found himself with NOTHING to do! Enters big declutter #1. William needed help with his room anyway. I am afraid to say that the apple does not fall far from the tree in this house and both boys can live endless weeks with the same pile of junk pushed to one corner of their room, the entire set of glassware and mugs on their desk and not to mention all the empty seltzer cans. But, since he is still young, I helped. In all, we got rid of 5 fifty gallon garbage bags of stuff, mostly clothes, but also a lot of toys, books and miscellaneous. Everything was thoroughly dusted and vacuumed. I kid you not, the room had an echo once we were done. 

1. Going back to work and stuck in traffic.

2. Jersey City finally opened the new lift bridge. I have watched this bridge being built from day one - I was pretty excited to finally see it open except that they only had 2 lanes for traffic and the back-up was miles on. Took over two hours to get to work. So much for NJ engineering! The bridge was meant to ease traffic by the way!

3. 5 large bags of stuff. It took about 4 hours but we did it!

4. William's room - like brand new!

5. And, he was able to let go of all the stuff that was kept on top of the bookcases!

Wednesday October 6, 2021

Who would have thought that seeing his brother's room all neat and organized would inspire Edward to want the same? 

I worked from home and managed to catch up with quite a lot of work and some telehealth, then Edward and I decluttered his room. He did not have as many bags as his brother's but we managed at least 4 and a lot of big items like storage containers he no longer needed. His shelves are pretty much emptied. 

Posted Episode 9 in my Decluttering series. And just in case you were wondering, no, I did not film the kids declutter.

1. Breakfast at home - Veggie Omelet with cheese and toast. 

2 and 3. Look at all this space? We also bought a new computer chair since I took his and since he asked for a large white erasable board, I made a request through my town's Facebook page and was able to get a free (very large one) for his Calculus and other College related stuff. He is pretty much set for success! So yes, the red chair landed in his room (at his request) he loves it and does most of his reading in it. It is also a preferred spot for Fiona. 

Thursday October 7, 2021

Nothing really exciting or noteworthy happened on Thursday. I did spend some time in the garden sprucing things up a bit and that was it.

1. The Asters are in bloom.

2. It took a while for the dogs to realize they were walking right by a Doe. Some hunting breed they are!

3. A sure sign of Fall season: The Wooly Caterpillar! According to folklore, the amount of black on the woolly caterpillar in autumn varies proportionately with the severity of the coming winter in the locality where the caterpillar is found.  The longer the caterpillar's black bands, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. The position of the longest dark bands supposedly indicates which part of winter will be coldest or hardest.  If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe.  If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold. If true, this will be a short winter with December and March being the coldest! Personally I think it's just Genetics and whether the food in my garden was plentiful. 

Friday October 7, 2021

I was finally able to post my video about the Spin Bike from Yesoul. So far I have used it every week. I am having a hard time finding the time to do more than once per week, put I tell you, it's an awesome form of exercising. The Treadmill is fine but I find the activity to be boring and not very engaging. You are pretty much at your own pace and finding the motivation to push harder can be difficult. The bike, however, because I am following classes on the app, I really don't have much choice but to take a beating each and every time and I love it! I am already 22 miles into my Amalfi Coast Challenge!

Yesoul S3 - Unboxing and Review

1. Work at home breakfast - I finally opened the jar of Apple butter!

2. Granny Smith from the yard -This is our first home grown apple. Scott truly loved it, I thought it was a bit too sour but this is his kind of apples. Delicious nonetheless. 

3. Football game - well, you all know why I am there really. Enjoyed an Eggplant and Mozzarella Sandwich. 

4. Finally took a good picture of William! He is been ignoring his parents (like most 14 yo would) when we come to watch his band, so catching him willing to have his picture taken has been quite hard. 

And that is all I have for you this week. It was busy, as all other weeks are. I am hoping that catching a glimpse of behind the scenes is enjoyable to you. I think we lead a pretty normal life, nothing fantastic or glamorous going on and that is just fine by me!

Have a great week!

Cheers.

Sophia 💜