Cleanse and Purge, Preparing For The New Year

    I am already taking steps towards making 2015 a productive year. Today, having the house to myself, and a cancellation of my plans for sushi and shopping with my friend, I kicked into high manic mode and started cleaning and purging. There is so much clutter involved when you have a houseful of people. It can't really be helped unless everyone is as OCD about clutter as I can be, especially at this time of year. Before I moved into my snug, little house, I made a goal to rid myself of 50% of everything I possessed. Granted, when you have lived in one house for 5 years, with teenagers, it is easy to accumulate way too much crap, so riding myself of the bulk of that 50% was actually pretty easy. Since I moved I have continued to have bouts of purging (I sound bulimic), and I still have too much stuff. I would love to reach the point where I have very little that must be stored in boxes and bins. I want to get down to bins of seasonal decor, fabric, and craft supplies only. I have a cedar chest that has mementos, mostly of my sons' childhood, and that can remain untouched. But how much "stuff" does one person need? Not as much as we all seem to think we do. I still have things stored away that I haven't needed since I moved in 3 years ago, I think it is safe to say that I don't need them.
    Funny, it just occurred to me that I just hit the 3 year anniversary of buying my little house. Three years ago, the weekend before Christmas, I spent the first night in my own home. It was freezing cold, the house had been unheated for months, and the central heat did not work. It was so cold that I shivered all night long, and barely slept, but I was so excited to be buying my very own home, that I picked out all by myself, and financed all on my own, that the cold was worth it. That was a rough winter, I hit the lowest I have ever been, but the entire time I poured all my energy into making my house into my very own, colorful home. My sanctuary. A dream come true. Oh the difference a few years can make!
   Okay, enough dawdling at the computer (well actually I am taking a moment to eat some baked winter veggies to refuel for more work and a workout), time to get back to work. I love my home, I love my life.