Another Tiny House Story: The Stuff Saga Continues...

"I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust." -HDT

See ya later tables!

Long time no read! I know, I know! Once again, life has whisked me away on other currents for a time, and it looks like things won't be drifting back into place for another couple weeks. Work has become incredibly demanding right now (just put in 11.5 hours yesterday) as we strive to meet a deadline. Plus- over the past three weeks I have covered a substantial amount of ground- literally. I made two separate trips up home to the County (a 9-10 hour drive each way) and after arriving home at 9am Sunday morning. I shuffled around the apartment all bleary eyed, and.......began packing my suitcase. Monday I was set to fly out to Florida.

I had a nice second visit back home and got to spend some time with family that I rarely see. I was also thrilled and genuinely touched to speak with a few different family members that have become loyal readers. I was delightfully surprised to hear how one member of the family had forwarded the blog along to many others saying, "Look what someone in the family is doing!" I feel so blessed to have such wonderful family. :)

Just a few of my awesome family!

On Sunday, after arriving home, I had that familiar nagging feeling start at me again- saying that the window of time is closing in and we need to stay on the ball. I was so damn tired though, that I just couldn't muster the energy to get over there. It's probably a good thing too, I can't imagine I would have been turning out quality work that day. Picture this if you will: My face was mashed into Dan's chest, as I pawed arbitrarily at his arms and legs and groaned in utter exhaustion, "I feel like we should be working on the house, but ...but I just.....Don't....Want..TOooooooOooo! I'm sooo tiiiirrrredd!" I then crumpled down onto the couch and awaited his response.

He took one look at me and said, "Nope. We aren't going. YOU need rest. YOU need something light and fun." So that's just what we did. We had ourselves a gift card outing. We had free movie passes and some gift certificates to PF Chang's. So we had a nice afternoon together, nearly free of charge....and then I crashed around 7pm. hahaha It was just what I needed before getting on a plane at 630am Monday.

While I was gone, Dan put in a little bit of time after work, and finished the last of the insulation on the back wall and began working on the front wall. That's all we've done from a building stand point for a bout a week. :/ Tomorrow is my annual company picnic, so hopefully on Sunday we can push hard and get most of the insulation complete- if not all. Then we are on to applying the interior walls! We are thinking T&G pine.

Although there isn't much to report on the build- there is still plenty to say about the long journey towards weaning ourselves from stuff. Dan- the simple guy that he is, didn't have much crap to begin with- ooh how I envy him these days. He just needs to narrow down his wardrobe a bit, and then he's ready to roll. I, on the other hand, still have quite a bit to sort through. Even when we aren't physically working on the house, we are always doing something to be more prepared for the change.

I am proud to report that the regular Stuff Screenings are still happening every two weeks. I look through all my things and I pare them down more and more. As I have gone along, it has been easier each time to get rid of something. I'm beginning to see the stuff for what it really is...just a bunch of things. I used to feel, in a way, that certain things I owned were important to have as part of my identity. "Hogwash!" I say! That's how I feel now!

My perspective has shifted, and I now look at certain things (okay most everything) as just one more item I have to track and manage and organize....and depending on the cost of the item, I sort of view it as "adding time to my sentence"...meaning it will take that much more time to be deft free because I've added one more thing to pay off. I look at every purchase these days and ask myself, "Is this something I need? Is it something I really want? Is it worth it?" No matter the dollar amount, we place the value on an item. These days, I'm finding I place a whole lot more value in my life than my things.

I've also come up with another equation that allows me to update my wardrobe a bit, but still work towards the goal of less stuff. Any time I get a new item of clothing (only from the thrift store!) I force myself to get rid of at least three other pieces. It's been going quite well!

Just as a progress report:

I began with 4 dressers of clothes and a full closet. If you were to squish together all of my clothes on hangers- I would say it spanned about 5 feet.

I now have 1.5 dressers of clothes and my closet has slimmed down considerably. If you were to squish them all together now, they span about 1.5-2 feet.

I began with approximately 45 pairs of shoes. (Lifelong problem...might be genetic, you should see my aunt's collection)

I now have about 15 pairs and still working on that. I'm quite proud of this one!

I began with about 2 bookcases worth of books.

I now have just one bookcase, and one full shelf on that is empty too.

I've also started trying to sell random things on Craigslist. I began with a handful of items

Couldn't believe I got rid of it and got $$! Felt great!

in June. I got a few bites on different things, but the one thing I didn't think would sell, was the one thing that did go! I put together a "girly kit" and got rid of all my hair styling accessories, extra makeup, a serious amount of nail polish and a few other odds and ends beauty products. It was essentially just a grouping of my junk, but I dressed it up, made it look like a nice kit of things for a little girl to play with- and instead of throwing it out or donating it- I got $30! Hey- if we can somehow turn all this extra stuff into money for the build- HECK YES!

So this Wednesday, I went through another serious Stuff Screening. I donated our two end tables and some junk that was in or on them. I began tackling the back room which holds ALLL of my artsy fartsy stuff, along with anything else we can't find a place for at the moment. I sifted through all of my art supplies and am selling a full tupperware dresser of random goodies. I've decided that going forward, all of my art will come from re-purposing items, so I don't need all these supplies sitting around.

I also need to start thinking about selling my babies.....which are plants of course. You know how there are "cat ladies"? ...Well I'm plant lady. I've had many of them for a long time, but there simply will not be space for all of them...and some a just too damn big!

If you live around me and are interested in any of the things I'm putting up, contact me! Consider what you are doing as a donation toward our build! Helping us in many different ways! Below are the links if you want to check out the items- I won't shove it down your throat. ;)

Thanks for reading!

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