helenorvana: (stock - snow-covered trees)
Like a cake without frosting (Helen) ([personal profile] helenorvana) wrote in [community profile] unclutter2011-01-03 12:34 am

Hey, I'm Helen, and I have a tendency to collect pens more than anything

I lived with roommates for about three years before moving back in with my parents, and accumulated quite a bit of stuff that I haven't seen for a year as it's been sitting in a storage unit since I moved back. But my sister's getting married on Saturday, which means she's moving out and clearing all of her stuff out of the storage unit. Which consequently means my parents want to clean everything out of the unit and get rid of it.

I've not very organized and rarely pick up after myself in my own room, and thus two or three times a year will end up cleaning, reorganizing, and tossing/donating a ton of stuff that I never remember I had in the first place. I finished this most recent "spring" cleaning last week and have a ton of stuff to donate/recycle, but wasn't anticipating needing to clear out room for more stuff coming in. *pouts*

As far as the pens are concerned, every time I "spring" clean I go through my pen-holders with every intention of clearing them out, but I always end up testing the pens to see if they write, and keep all of the ones with ink left that still work. I have pens that I acquired through some fashion ten years ago that I just can't manage to justify getting rid of to myself. :S

So, my total last week, Out: Three bags of clothing, two black bags of trash, a laundry basket each of recycling and items-to-be-shredded, a bag of bags (purses, backpacks, etc), two jewelry boxes, a variety of smaller boxes/containers, a large container, I think a lamp, and a number of other smaller items that various siblings walked off with in the process.

And this coming week, In: Whatever I have left in the storage unit, including but not limited to a drawing desk, a 20- or 30-pound stuffed English Bulldog I've had since I was fourteen, possibly a bookshelf?, and boxes of more books, DVDs/CDs, and potentially clothes.
peaceful_sands: butterfly (Default)

[personal profile] peaceful_sands 2011-01-03 12:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I so know the problem with the pens... I've been clearing this morning and I was stood on the loft ladder looking at a box just near me, wondering what was inside - when I opened it - it was completely full of pens! So that's on top of all the ones on my desk, the bag of them next to the bed and the other box that I found in the garage *head desk* Maybe they're multiplying on their own? Maybe I'm not really this bad?
beachlass: red flipflops by water (Default)

[personal profile] beachlass 2011-01-03 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like you were very productive last week! Good luck and welcome!
iliketea: Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things (Default)

[personal profile] iliketea 2011-01-03 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I gave tons of my pens away to one of my local non-profits because they always need office supplies and then I could feel like I wasn't wasting them. I also know that lots of schools in my area accept donations of school-type supplies, which is how my friend gave up all the school supplies she'd purchased over the years before moving across the ocean.
bethctg: a person standing under a ladder, a yellow moon and silver stars hang in front of it (winter house with pink)

[personal profile] bethctg 2011-01-03 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[personal profile] iliketea has a good idea. Libraries might also like them. We are always running out of pens for the patrons to "borrow". ;)
bethctg: a person standing under a ladder, a yellow moon and silver stars hang in front of it (Default)

[personal profile] bethctg 2011-01-03 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes! Pens are like GOLD at our service desk! ;p
jumpuphigh: Pigeon with text "jumpuphigh" (Default)

[personal profile] jumpuphigh 2011-01-06 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Instead of just testing them to see if they work, you could ask yourself, "Do I love to write with this pen?" That helped me with my pen problem. Now, I only have my favorites.