“Pressure-Valve Friday” and Exiting Clutter for Week 11 (Decluttering and Simplifying 2010)

Mental clutter, physical clutter and all sorts of bits and pieces were handled this week, making it a nice one.

It’s been a strange week. My mother had cataract surgery Wednesday morning, so David and I handled the shuttle service for the appointment and the follow-up the next day. We also had a meeting that evening, making for a very long day. After being out late the previous Saturday night and all day on Sunday, we were hardly recovered from the weekend when the midweek early mornings were necessary.

Because of last week’s snow, the trash truck didn’t come on schedule last Friday. In fact, it never came at all, so the trash has been piling up. This afternoon, however, the truck finally came, hauling away three weeks worth of decluttering (since our big session the previous week had been on Saturday) and two weeks of regular household trash. I’ve never been more glad to see a trash a truck!

Earlier in the week, I took a trunk-load of small items to the local Goodwill store, once again clearing the kitchen table. Over these 11 weeks, that table has become the staging point for any items leaving them property via any method other than trash truck.

My mind is much clearer this week, too, since I finished much of the work involved in preparing my taxes. There’s still plenty to do, but the biggest projects related this unpleasant task are accomplished.

Today was my pressure-valve day. I didn’t go any farther than the mailbox today, providing myself a nice break from a busy week. I was able to sleep a little later, rest a little more, handle a few small projects, catch up with a few minor projects related to my bookselling business and even tweak a few things on the blog. Releasing a little pressure in several areas makes for a much clearer mind and a much more relaxed body.

And a trash truck finally arriving as scheduled makes for a much clearer house.