Cleaning & Clearing

     I have been on a massive cleaning & clearing effort at our house for the last couple of weeks. I've had the luxury of the time to spend parts of a day or two on each room, thoroughly cleaning it and getting rid of lots of stuff.
     If you've read my blog for some time, or know me, you know that I despise cleaning. The goofiest things have kept me motivated:
     - a piece of synthetic "lamb's wool" that a friend gave me, saying, "Here, this will clean your window screens." I gave him a look that said, "What makes you think I want to clean my screens?" I took it anyway, decided to try it, and it's a miracle!
     - I bought Howard's Restor-a-Finish at the hardware store to spiff up our oak kitchen cabinets, and that, too, is a miracle product. It cleans and restores the finish without much effort. The cabinets look like new.
     - I had printed an article I saw on Facebook that included a list titled "101 Things That Can Easily Be Reduced in Your Home." My mission is to cross off at least 90, and I'm over half-way to that goal already.
     - The pile of stuff I plan to donate is growing in our garage. There's nothing there I will miss.
     - I've sold some things on craiglist or ebay, thus earning somewhat of a "tip" for my efforts.
     - It feels SO GOOD to de-clutter. I LOVE how seeing some empty spaces.
     - I'm up to 18 bags of trash pitched, plus a bunch of stuff to recycle.

     I heard someone say recently regarding happiness: 1) I got to eat today; 2) I'm healthy; 3) I have someone to love and love me; why wouldn't I be happy?  It makes me happy to have less stuff in my life, and make more room for experiences, like travel, events with friends, golfing and so on.
     Here's to less stuff!
            Leta

P.S. Before and after photos of the laundry room...