Long Unplanned Hiatus. Decluttering and Culling. Happy Shoes.

It's been 19 days since my last post. The hiatus was unplanned. Hubby has been home so we have been spending time as a family. Now that he's back at work I actually have time to write. Every blogger I follow seems to have embraced decluttering in the New Year, being a joiner, so have I. I'm not quite as good at it as every piece of junk I own seems to have sentimental value. Hubby was ruthless, though. The culling/decluttering conversation went something like this:

Me: (trying to hide a canvas shopping bag)
Hubby: (in a stern voice) Throw it out.
Me: But it's still good.
Hubby: Throw it out.
Me: But my dad gave it to me.
Hubby: Throw it out.
Me: But I could use it for...
Hubby: Throw it out.
Me: But..
Hubby: Throw it out.

The day's conversations were pretty much a repeat of that for different items. So on New Year's Day that's virtually all we did. Some people find it cleansing and calming but it makes me panicky that I might have thrown out something that I will eventually, maybe years down the track, maybe have a use for. The culling that I found uplifting would be my wardrobe culling. I threw out all the clothes that I kept because they still fit (I never grow so that's a lot of clothes) even though they were very old, ugly, don't suit me or just out of fashion. I kept a lot of them to wear around the house or to bed. I made the decision to throw out anything that doesn't make me look good. I was ruthless there. After all if you look good, you feel good. Now that I've gotten rid of unwanted clothes I can see what's missing. White tops, for example. I need more white shirts, blouses and tanks. Time to hit the sales or what's left of them. I also got rid of my maternity pants. Not that I'm not planning on having another one but I hated wearing them when pregnant. They never stayed up and I spent most of my day pulling them up. So they're gone. There were some ancient outfits that I kept. Like the pink Snoopy polo shirt that I've had since grade 4. They still fit me perfectly too. I told you I never grow. The next thing I have to tackle is my shoe cupboard. It's actually the linen closet but there's no linen to be found in there. Just shoes. My shoes. That is going to be very difficult and very emotional. How can I ever get rid of my patent leather ballet flats that I wore to death on our honeymoon? It was new when we left Sydney and after 22 days of walking on cobblestones and gravel the leather on the heel had peeled off and was worn down to the bone.

Speaking of patent leather ballet flats. These are my happy shoes.

There's something about red patent leather, isn't there? I wear these shoes with everything, especially navy. They make me happy. Everyone should have a pair of red patent leather shoes.