day one of the purge was less than remarkable. just like those sad folks on hoarders, i got sucked into a microproject that yielded limited results. to my credit, i did clean out an entire file cabinet of old bills and pay stubs. (on a side note, if anyone wants to steal my identity, this upcoming trash day might be a good time). also, my house is not going to be condemned if i don’t finish my purging by the end of the second day.
yesterday was also further complicated by the boyfriend deciding that he wanted to join in the purging by bringing up 7 fully packed storage bins or childhood crap from the basement to the living room and starting to dig through them. he is definitely the hoardier one of the two of us, and i got really stuck on trying to get him to throw his shit away. i actually at one point uttered the phrase “why did you just put that kite string in the ‘keep’ pile? you don’t own a kite.”
the fact that his stuff was all over the living room (making it impossible to move or clean) stressed me out horribly, and i became very mean. apparently, the boyfriend also becomes very mean when other people hover over him and try to force him to get rid of his stuff. it was a brutal afternoon.
after some vegetables and a full 9 hours of sleep however, i am looking at my shelves with renewed scrutiny, and am surprising myself with how much i am willing to give away. today will be better, i’m sure of it (i’m not sure of it).
look for and update on the results of day 2 later today.
broke 207 
Ha ha ha! I’m always mentally canning Jason’s stuff … I seem to have a blindness for my clutter. I like your idea about cleaning out the filing cabinet, though — will feel like lots of progress even though I won’t be able to see it!
i do feel very good about finally having all my paper put away. i usually file about twice a year, so i have 6 more months of freeedoooom! also, i was very encouraged to find both my birth certificate and my divorce decree. never know when you might need that shit.
OMG, nine hours of sleep! Who are you, and what have you done with/to my friend????
i know, right? i went to see x-men and when i got home i was so tired that i went straight to bed at 9:30. before zap even!
You know what helped me(for the most part) get rid of paper clutter? A shredder! I love that freaking thing! When I go through the mail/old bills I just throw them on top of the shredder and someone in the house gets around to shredding them.
that is SUCH A GOOD IDEA. i have a shredder at work, but i’m too lazy to bring stuff to work to shred. clearly, i need one for my household. i’m sure my dog will love it.