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5:28 PM

Neat as a Pin

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

I've had these boxes piled up for years and inside are surprises of interesting papers that I wrote long ago. Diaries full of teenage thoughts, early marriage thoughts, and a whole lota weird things hehe. The best thing though was finding old story ideas and excerpts from those unfinished rough pearls. I've thrown out a lot of old papers that just aren't relevant. My friend told me try to keep this basic rule: Besides necessary important documents, keep only one or two papers from every year. That is very good advice but Veeeery hard to put into action. I'm trying but it really IS HARD to part with worldly things. I have thrown a lot of things and put a lot more things to be donated to Red Cresent (like american red cross) but still I have too much stuff. I just want peaceful home not cluttered by anything not needed in this dunya. I'm just looking around my house and I'm sick of looking at it and sick of it stuck in my head on a list of things to do that never gets done. I have enough to worry about with daily vacuuming and dishes to worry about sorting boxes and weeding out old broken toys.
UGH don't get me started on toys! Too late! TOYS!!!! AAARRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!!
They really don't need so many toys. Best things to get are imagination toys like a few dollies, a group of Lego's/blocks, crayons and paper, etc... these mcD's toys that break in three minutes are just worthless wastes of time money and space and for what? for them to feel special that they got a new toy everytime they have a meal? I know i know I used to love getting the toys too and then having a long bubble bath and using all 500 mcD toys from the past 5 years to act out a play (when i was 10). But now that I'm the mommy and have to clean up every stupid little piece of plastic that invades my peaceful space it's too much and enough is enough. I'm getting rid (donating) all the old toys that the baby wont need for the next three years and that the toddler doesn't really gain anything from it. In the future I will try VERY hard not to get anymore of those silly little toys but the problem is all restaurants have them now ugh so i will have to keep donating them away.
But I'm seeing real progress in my home. My closet is neater and orderly without those guilt-kept clothes sitting in the back under a pile of winter clothes. My old baby things are ready to be taken to my sister-in-law's who is due soon. And boxes and boxes of files and papers are being sorted daily into a few piles:
1. Keep because they are VERY important
2. Put into a box to be scanned into my PC later (when i get a new PC and a new scanner) because i like to see them now and then but i don't want to forget the memory but i don't want to cart them around with me as actual papers, take up much less space on a portable hard drive.
3. Donation because they are worth something but not enough for me to take the time to sell it.
4. Sell because they are worth money and why not get a few cents instead of just giving it?
5. Throw away because it has no use for me anymore and no one else either.

So that is what i do daily right now without my blogging times. I sort out my life and take care of my kids and try to keep the house from becoming one massive lump of sorting piles. It is NOT easy but it will be worth it. Less stuff to clean means it will be easier to clean, insha'Allah. A cleaner house will be a happier family. I have a full plate right now and I'm just trying not to spill everything.

9 intelligent thoughts:

Anonymous said...

I love the new layout. It is beautiful.
~ Amanda

Anonymous said...

Salaam,

Get it together sis.......I know it is hard but sumone has to do it.
You are motivating me to do great things. FOr some odd reason I have a couple of rooms in my house that look like a hurricane went thru it...if you have any ideas let me know....I thought of hiring an organizer.......lol...InshaAllah we will both tackle this...

ps...............
I LOVE THE NEW LOOK

Umm Ibrahim said...

Very pretty template... is it a blogger layout or did you get it from another website? Is it difficult to do? I am afraid to change my template in case I wreck everything!

Good luck with the organising... not my strong point. :?

Susie of Arabia said...

Wow - I am so far behind on my blog reading... and I open yours and WOW! it's beautiful! I LOVE the flower and the color. I am blown away. Great job!

American Muslima Writer said...

Thanks, I'm glad you all like it bunches! I do too it's refreshing to my mind hehehe. I just googled "FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES" and chose the site with the largest selection. I was nervous too but it gave me step by step instructions on how to do it. and though i have to re-add my "widgets"/sidebar items (which you just save on WORD) it worked smoothly. Though now i will have to add my friends back onto my blog roll one at a time..sorry for delay don't take offense it's going alphabetically.

I'm only getting net every three or four days when my hubby can spare his work laptop. So sorry if i'm sooo behind, heh miss one day in blog land is like missing a week of news... who did what? when? where was i? hehehe

All my rooms look like hurracanes but at least you don't have kids to make them worse yet Angry Muslimah. Use your precious time wisely and get your stuff in order BEFORE you have kids otherwise it'll take you a month to do what you could have done in a week.
I'm sure you could do it yourself beacasue organizers are soo expensive and you have all the tool you already need. Look at papers and say do I really need this or can i remeber this without the paper being in my life? If the answer HONESTLY is NO then just throw it, don't pause don't think too hard about it and trust in Allah for the future. It is hard but we can do it :) Just start with one box and have three boxes/bags empty and ready to sort things. Keep throw or donate. Even expensive things that you just can't bear to throw yet think you might want to sell someday just give it to a friend or charity as CHARITY. You'll get more reward than you ever could have gotten for money. It's hard i know! I'm just giving away old jewelry i don't wear and other expensive stuff but it feels sooo good to be FREE from things.
Keep me updated AM!

Thanks all for comments while i'm MIA it really cheers me to see them when i come back on.

Anonymous said...

Salaam,

I love you sis,
you know I will

Jayne said...

Wow - whole new look & very snazzy I must say!
I had painters in last week - utter chaos! Had the carpets cleaned, cleared out some more junk & am now almost finished in putting the place back to 'normal'. I still have to tackle re-arranging grandma's room & strip it totally of all her identity, which is weird, as it'll always be 'her' room *sigh*.

Jayne said...

angry muslimah......you've deleted your blog???

American Muslima Writer said...

IN case AM doesnt reply back, yeah she's going offline for a while to get more time to herself which she totally deserves and I can't get ahold of her either but that's what I last read on her blog before it went out of sight. I miss her! AM if you're reading this then I DEMAND you e-mail me and let me know ur alive and ok...hehehe I still love that pic you had on your site about the Niqabi's with guns.

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