KonMari!

Today was an awesome day.

Awesome!
AWESOME!
AWESOME!!!

So.........I suffered for awhile, not from lackanookie, but, umm, that, too! Suffered from lackakala! Cheddar, dollahs, moola, money, whatever way ya phrase it, I was suffering.

The KonMari method is a way of down-sizing, organizing, simplifying, invented by Marie Kondo. A very wise, witty woman from Japan. She wrote a book called, 
"KonMari ~ The life changing magic of tidying up. A Japanese art of organizing."

She was right. I DO see magic happening in my life. Aside from the money from the USAF, the money from translating documents, it's enough to live on with not much to spare. I looked at all the bins I had organized my crafts (mostly sewing & needlework) into. There were 35! 30 plastic bins, 24" long x 18" wide x 10" deep. Then, there were the 5 that were double that size.

Many years of teaching needlework, doing needlework & sewing for pleasure & profit. I had accumulated 35 of these bins over flowing. Now, the bins were organized, by category, by designer, one was full to almost overflow with DMC embroidery floss. Hundreds of colors, thicknesses, all neatly identified by a band on them identifying them with a number going from 105 - 3999. Some even having a variegated or ombre coloring.

My passion as of the last 12 years has been fitness. I still indulge myself in an afternoon of creating beauty with floss and a fine weave linen. My favorites are 32 sq to the inch, sometimes 28.
There are a few projects I work on from time to time. In the upheaval of a divorce, then, the horror that is the dating world, it's rare when I can keep my concentration.

The point of this epiphany is ~ what was I going to do with all this stuff? The KonMari method is to start the purge with clothes & shoes. Hold each item individually. If it doesn't spark joy, toss it!
Donate it, throw it away, give it away. I got rid of 3/4 of my clothes, now I was ready for the second phase. Books, papers, mementos.
Yepp.

I posted on a needlework message board. I received offers to buy a couple items here & there. It would take too long, mailing little by little. One lady who lived relatively close, wanted to come to my home to look through what I had, on Wednesday. She wanted to come to my home on...........wait for it.............................Friday!

She wanted to purchase it ALL for in excess of $500. 

Be careful what you wish for, ya just might get it, riiiiight?!!?!?

I worked on sorting for 4 hours, took a 1/2 hour nap, woke up, sorted for 2 more hours.....there are so many emotional land mines in those needlework bins. Memories of my former life. UGH!
I began to shake all over, my heart was pounding so hard, I ran for the porcelain "cookie receptacle", promptly, retched between sobs, losing my cookies. I was having a panic attack, anxiety attack, a full scale melt down. Sitting on the bathroom floor, sobbing, losing my cookies until there was no more "cookie" left in me.

I needed help. I reached for the phone to call my closest,dearest lifelong friend, Janice, in Maryland. A GF so close she knows everything about me, yes, everything......still trusts me, loves me, accepts me without judging.

We talked for 2.5 hours between my sobs, my confessions, my whining. 

First time in over 5 years I have allowed myself a meltdown.

I worked on sorting for 2 more hours.

On Fridays, I clean my car, on Saturdays, I clean my home. It was Friday, had to stick to routine. The buyer would be at my home at 1130 hrs. It was 10 am, plenty of time to vacuum my car, wipe the interior down, run him through the car wash, dry him & get home. Oh, yeah, my car is a guy. His name is Texas. It's on his plates! or, his name tag plates. *smile* 

Got home, the smell of the fresh baked bread filled my home. Janice called. She loves me, was checking up on me, making sure I was okay. Started straightening up a bit. The buyer arrived at 1130 hrs, exactly!

She looked through the bins with the methodical approach of a professional. WOWZERS!
She offered me a good price, I asked for $200 more, she agreed, went to her car, brought the money, she consolidated the bins from 25 down to 20, we carried them to her car, loading them to all fit. 

That, was that. She asked me if this was okay, if I was okay.........I was MORE than okay with it! I was relieved at the space freed up in my home. The money, the quickness of the whole transaction. Making that much money, selling off that much "stuff" would have taken me 8 months or more in yard sales, inter net sales, etc.
Yupp, ha ha! I was very very okay with it.

A good day. KonMari method. Marie Kondo would be thrilled to see the joy that ridding myself of clutter brought to me.

You can listen to her book online, on YouTube. It really is life changing, it really is magic.

*poof*