Backyard Project 2016

When we moved in a year ago, our backyard was a pretty big mess. The downside of living near the beach is that a lot of the soil in our town is actually sandy infertile ground that doesn't do grass very well. But we can't use the backyard that well if its dusty or sandy because whenever we send the kids out they come back in covered in dirt or mud. Also it doesn't look that nice.

The previous owners had an above ground pool and had given up on grass around the pool so they threw down wood chips to prevent weeds around the pool. They also left all the bricks that were around the pool, and the big hole. Also, the house was on the market a while, and by the time we actually moved in at the beginning of August, the yard had 40 large bags worth of leaves in it.

Before picture of the backyard (toys not included)

We did a tiny amount of work on it when we moved in, but there was a lot of other stuff going on when we moved in, as there always in when you move into a new house.

Also the fence was kind of bent.

By the time we looked up how to grow grass back there, it was no longer the ideal season to do so, ie. Spring or beginning of Fall. We did what we could, getting the leaves out, cleaning the plastic and bricks out. Bob helped us fix the fence. We hired someone to cut two dead trees that endangered our house.

Leaf removal, August 2015

Bob helps us fix the fence, September 2015

In Spring, we went to Japan, so two weeks ago we finally got started with the yard.

Weeding

Raking up the woodchips

And we got dirt to fill in the yard generally and also the big hole from the pool. Our friend had recently grown grass in his yard and ordered 10 yards. When we spoke to the dirt place on the phone they suggested 8 yards, and since it was the smaller number we decided to go with that. We didn't actually understand how much dirt that was or that they would leave it in the front of our house not the back.

8 yards of dirt = Mt. Everest, delivered August 24

We got out our shovels and filled a wheelbarrow, took it to the back, dropped it, raked it, rinse, repeat, over and over again.

Shoveling!

It's not child labor if you don't pay them!

Miranda putting little handfuls into the wheelbarrow. So proud!

Bring it to the back

Racking out the mound of dirt

The back is finished, a lot of wheelbarrows to rake...

Kids had a lot of fun getting filthy while I raked

Neverending dirt!

Finally rolling it down

Seeding


Seeded!


Watering

One problem was that after we had put more dirt in our backyard than we ever could have dreamed of, is that we still had about 2 yards of dirt left in our driveway. (At least!) We listed it on Craigslist (Free dirt!) and we had four different guys come over and take the dirt. Hm.

Too much left!


August 31- Our long dirt pile nightmare is over!

A little bit of grass!!

My First 5K 2016

Last Sunday I ran my first 5K!

How do I explain my (non)history of running? In high school when the gym teacher forced us to run the mile to measure our physical fitness I always tried my hardest, even though I hated every second. I watched the cool girls just walk nonchalantly around the track, but I just couldn't bring myself to not care. I cared about everything. That said, my personal best mile was about 8 minutes... which, in case you're not a runner, is very slow for a mile. That's a young, thin Ericka trying her very hardest for maybe a year... 18 years ago.

Since then I've rarely run except for some brief flirtations with treadmills, but even that ended over a decade ago.

Looking dubious pre-run

So one morning, after many years of pondering why my friends run half-marathons and marathons, I decided to do it. I registered for the shortest race in close proximity. Janice gifted me sneakers for my birthday- thanks Janice! And shortly after that I signed up. I had enough time to do an 8-week training schedule, which I turned into 10 weeks with a 1-week Japan break. This plan was possibly flawed because it wasn't enough time, it was interrupted by Japan, but mostly because I couldn't even do what the training program required. When I asked my doctor why I couldn't run for 30 minutes, he said maybe I needed more training time. But after he inquired about my high school running, he shook his head slowly and said maybe I'm just not built to run.

The starting line. SPOILER ALERT: Shirtless tall teen guy on right was the winner.

Whatever. My goals were simple: 1- Beat my practice times which were about 43 minutes for a self-timed 5K (3.1 miles), and 2- Not come in last. Nonetheless, that morning I was freaking out. I felt a little ill. It didn't help that I went alone. I even encouraged my family to stay home because I was concerned about Kevin entertaining the kids for a big stretch. When the race director gave a moving speech about the hometown hero who had passed away at a young age and in whose honor we were running, I cried. I suspected the race director was actually the mom. I was not off to a great start.

My position on the starting line was behind these guys.

I achieved my goals: 1- I beat my practice times (coming in at 41:10) and 2- I didn't come in last! I was still kind of mad about how slow and almost-last I was. Evidenced by this below:

Woman pushing stroller beat me. Seriously! And almost all the other runners too.

At least I got to run by the beautiful harbor.

Working hard

Perhaps I could have shaved off some seconds or even minutes by not taking pictures while I ran, but I could no more hold my pictures than hold my breath. Actually, Chrissy said the one thing that made me feel a little better: "But you were so much faster than all those people sitting on their couches." Truth.

Pre and after party in the gym

After the race I walked home... about 3 miles... in just a little more time than I ran 3 miles. Sigh.

Stats:
Time: 41:10.2, Pace: 13:16/mile, Place: 220/234
37 F, Division 35-39 F, Division Place: 9/10, Gender Place: 106/117

How About Those 2015 Resolutions?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2016 here we come!! Please be kind!

On the one hand, some things on my resolutions list from last year remain undone. On the other hand, I've had a banner year in terms of getting things done! So let's start with all the positive (non-resolution) change.* This post is long, so I highlighted key stuff for you. Haha.

In March, Kevin got me this book for birthday because he knows I'm interested in organization books. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing* by Marie Kondo (Konmari) is no joke. I don't just have a more organized home, but it was LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC! It's real. Let me explain.

After I had started successfully decluttering my home so that I could bask in the things I love most, it occurred to me that this problem I had been unable to solve with willpower or other books-- I was able to solve with a better system. Maybe I just needed a better system for... everything!

So I asked for recommendations, specifically seeking something that was similar in style to Konmari: a book with a system to fix my problem, with some instant wins, that would keep me motivated, and was free to implement. I think that the "free" part is kind of key because it somehow prevents shysters from profiting (and therefore recidivism on your part).

So for finances I did The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey. I'm not going to get into my financial details online, but huge improvement! If you want to ask me in person, I'll tell.

At this point it occurred to me that what I really wanted was to lose weight. This one was tough. I was asking around everywhere. I tried reading a few bad diet books. Meanwhile articles were coming out that diets don't work. Ugh.

Finally I found this BBC documentary from 2012 about accidental diet research on mice and its effects on humans... as far as we know now. Basically the documentary talked about the scientific method of eating 500 calories every other day, and your regular current diet in between. There are a few different names for this method of eating: alternate day fasting, every other day diet, or 5:2 fast diet (if you only do it 2 days a week).

I read the three best books on the topic (Mosley, Varady, Johnson). The thing is, you don't need to read the books at all because I just explained the whole diet to you, but if you want to be convinced that it's healthy and scientific then read one of the books. I still think the best one is The FastDiet - Revised & Updated: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting by Michael Mosley. I also like the Facebook group Alternate Day Fasting. (I would recommend actually reading and following KonMari or Dave Ramsey if you have problems in those areas, but the diet is really straightforward.)

I've done the 5:2 diet for 5 months, and lost 15 pounds so far. I lost the weight I gained when I was pregnant plus another 7 pounds. I'm the weight I was when I got married in 2009, and there's no signs that I'm stuck or that I've plateaued yet. So I'll report back when I do.

Lost the Miranda weight plus more, except 

that Miranda makes me carry her all the time.

I asked around again for life-changing systems, and this time I found bullet journal which is a very easy, simple, and fun way to make your own planner and keep track of your short-term and long term goals. No book this time, just this website: http://bulletjournal.com/. I also like the Facebook group Bullet Journal Junkies. You don't have to buy, borrow, or read anything.

I'm in the process of finding information on meditation and mindfulness. I'll report back this too. 

Also, we bought a house this year! So that was an awesome bucket list item for me. I'm super happy about our little house near the beach and near Kevin's job.

As for my actual 2015 Resolutions, below I highlighted which of my 2015 resolutions I actually accomplished. I'm doing a separate post on my 2016 resolutions but hopefully I can keep that list SHORT and manageable.

2015 Resolution "Musts":

• Spanish: Started to get serious about teaching the kids Spanish! 
• Complete our powers of attorney (was also on my 2014 resolutions)
• Living wills (was also on my 2014 resolutions)
• Healthcare powers of attorney (was also on my 2014 resolutions)
• What would I do for our kids? Letters?

My reading list:

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 
• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munroe 
• Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler 
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 
• (I also read 21 other books that weren't on this list including: Nobody is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey)

Also fun reads (bonus):

• the third Magicians
• the rest of Game of Thrones 4-6 (read 4 and 5, stuck on the boringness of 6)
• Enders Game 

Charity: One donation a month. I might also encourage you to donate to the one I pick. (I gave this year but not to 12 places, or each month.)

Things I still needed to do from my 2014 Resolutions:

• Back-up my entire computer.
• Learn to bake!
• Lost the baby weight I gained with Miranda! And not a resolution - but also James weight! (Thanks 5:2!)
• Culled my dad's books (thanks Konmari!)
• Finish James's baby book
• Baptize the kids.
• Learn Italian this year.

* I used three associate links above, because why the heck not, but these are all books I used to great effect. All of you who know me in real life know that I won't shut up about these books. My "cults." Also, you don't need to buy any of these books because they're probably in your local library.

KonMari Progress- Forward and Back 2015

I blogged a whole bunch of times about KonMari in the previous months. My motivation kind of took a nose dive when we moved in the middle of my process (at about 4 and half months). For a month I had to focus on packing and unpacking instead of Konmaring. But moving was itself interesting in the middle of the process. When confronted with having to move the object to a new house there was a point in favor of discarding the item rather than the usual default of wanting to keep it. I also handled everything we own twice because I packed and unpacked almost everything.

Unpacked new smaller house- Love all the free space with less stuff!

But then, I thought I was in sentimental items, and when we got to the new place I realized I had totally blown the Komono step. This is what Marie Kondo calls the step where you do all the "miscellaneous" items that just aren't clothing, books, papers, or sentimental items. Well, that's the biggest category and I really didn't push myself very hard on it. So a lot of my unpacking time was been trying to deal with all these items that don't necessarily fit into my life now. For example all of our CDs... really torn about whether to keep them when I rarely play music off them. I don't know why I had less trouble discarding clothing and books which I care a lot more about, than I'm having getting rid of CDs, but there it is. Also, the solution to convert our VHS home movies into DVDs will take time and money, etc. So I'm back to dealing with all that.

Some additional things have found their way into the house in the meanwhile, though we try to control that, but the new house had some new needs. Then once I lost the momentum of having a regular time to work on it each week, it's been hard to get back in.

Also, when I saw the huge positive effect Konmari was having in my life and in my way of thinking, I decide to find and apply similar processes to other problems in my life. So I discovered Dave Ramsey, and it's totally changed how I view and handle finances in my life-- for the better. Much better!

Next I decided that the weight I was dragging around wasn't sparking joy (duh) and there had to be a more motivational way of getting rid of it. So I discovered Alternate Day Fasting, which is supposed to make it easier to lose weight, and more importantly, reduce your chance of getting cancer or weight-related illnesses like diabbetes. The diet costs nothing (actually saves you money) and I've lost 17 pounds since the end of June. (I started on 5:2, but now I do 4:3 or 5:2 depending on how well the week is going.) But my focus on these new projects distracted me from Konmari. It's difficult right now to keep myself from moving on to even more projects before having finished this one.

This is a chart of my weight (and averages) since November 2008, and the correlation with some big projects I took on. Almost back to a healthy weight now. (First time since 2007 which isn't even on this chart.)

Seven-Year Weight Chart (11/2008-10/2015)

So now it's been a bit over 7 months since I started, and I still plan on finishing my Konmari "festival" by the end of this year. It will be amazing to know I am surrounded by what I love. But no matter what, Konmari has already changed my life a lot (just like Marie promised) and changed how I approach and surpass challenges.

I found this video by a blogger I already knew and like, Laura of HowToGYST.com, and yes, totally agree with almost everything she says, except the less shopping is a huge plus for me, not a con.

 

• KonMari- Clothes 2015 
• KonMari- General Solution 2015
• All my other KonMari posts

"The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" Marie Kondo- Talks at Google

I just love this. Marie Kondo highlights some of her techniques, and answers the questions everyone asks all the time.

My favorite quotes:

"My method is completely based on if you get inspired by the object. It depends on the person... how much stuff you want to keep around you."

"My clients never go back to the mess, because they've been transformed into the organized person."

"It's not about tidying up, it's about how you want to spend the rest of your life."

"I know every one of us has so many items in our life. But examining the items in our life is examining how we want to live right now."

• Start with KonMari- Clothes
• KonMari- General Solution
• All my other KonMari posts

KonMari- Kids' Toys 2015

First, a note: Please don't start with this category. Read the bottom of this post to see why.

So the KonMari book does not cover kids' stuff with any depth. Our kids, like many American kids, have too many toys. This despite the fact that Kevin and I have bought approximately 10 toys for the kids... combined. Everything else was a gift because we are blessed by people who love us and our kids. We are extremely appreciative, and we have never exchanged anything. If someone gave us something, our kids played with it.

But this happened:

Kids' Toys Part 1

Kids' Toys Part 2

Even with my toy-management tricks (more on that later) all of these toys became a full-time job. And now that Miranda is a year old, both kids have officially outgrown some stuff. So I waited until the kids were asleep because my kids are 4 and 1 and aren't quite old enough to make decisions regarding their stuff yet. If your kid is older, you might think about including them in the process- depending on the child's personality. Then I enlisted the help of my husband. Kevin had a few different opinions as to which toys he likes the children playing with, which he finds annoying, and even which toys he thought the children liked. All valuable input. 

We put all the toys on the guest bed and took out any that James isn't yet old enough for. Those went in a box I labeled, "James- Next Stage" and stored. Then we pulled out the toys that are too young/boring for James, but which Miranda is not mature enough for yet (this box had a lot of dolls) and labeled, "Miranda- Next Stage," and stored. Okay, two whole boxes out of the way.

We still had a lot of toys, puzzles, and drawing stuff. So we divided the toys into KEEP- MAYBE-NO. Our criteria was:

1) Does my child enjoy this toy? (Does it spark joy for him?) If no--> NO pile.

If yes--> 2) Do I hate this toy so much that I still want to throw it out (usually involved toys that were worn out, had a million annoying pieces, choking hazards, or talking toys with no off switch)

If we hated it--> No pile. If we liked it or could tolerate it out of love for our child --> YES pile. 

Pile of yes toys!

So we obviously still had too many! Enter my Toy Management System. I use a bunch of Ikea fabric boxes and plastic tubs to divide the toys. Puzzles and drawing stuff gets their own boxes.  All the other boxes have a mix of James and Miranda toys. I take out one such mixed box and leave it out for about 3 days. They play with the toys enthusiastically. After about 3 days I put the box away and take out a new box and they act like I just bought them a box of new toys.

This is because kids have kind of poor memories. Giving the toys a rest makes them new again. This is also why trying to talk a kid into donating a toy that "he hasn't played with in a long time" usually fails. The other good thing about my system is that if a toy is "like new" and she still doesn't play with it, then I can safely assume it's because she actually doesn't like it. Also, because each box only has about 20 toys in it, clean up at the end of the day is much easier.

All the boxes that are hidden in my living room
(not pictured/not in living room: puzzles, drawing stuff, easel, and
toy car which we currently keep in the office/playroom)


What the living room looks like with all the hidden boxes (in Ikea bookshelf)

* Note: 

I really don't think you should start with this category, or any category that involves stuff that belongs to other people. If you start with your own clothing, as Kondo suggests, you not only get a reduction in stress from not dealing with the stuff you don't like, but also an increase in joy from seeing only the things that you love. 

You don't love other people's stuff, and you only have limited control over how they treat it or put it away. Starting with this category is likely to lead to disappointment because you will still have a lot of toys, you don't love those toys, and every time things seem messy you might feel like KonMari failed. 

Whereas, if you attack it after you have done your own stuff, you will already be a believer; you will already be surrounded by what you love in your spaces. The toys can be a less-than-perfect cherry on top. And I think the kids will learn best from seeing how you take care of your own things.

Any other kid toy problems I can help with?

• See also, KonMari- Kids' Clothes
• Start with "KonMari- Your Clothes" so you can hone your decision-making skills
• Then do "KonMari- Books" 
• All my KonMari posts

KonMari- Kids' Clothes 2015

This is not a post about how to fold kids' clothing the KonMari way. In fact, for reasons I'll explain at the bottom, I don't even necessarily recommend doing that to your kids' clothes. This is about how to manage an excess of kids' clothes. Think of it as a warm up for toys.

The reason we have too much kids' clothes is because when we had James, we hoped we'd have a second child so we saved all his clothing to pass down to his theoretical sibling. They were three years apart (exactly) so we had three years of extra clothes that didn't fit anyone. Plus then we had a girl so we also got gifts and girl hand-me-downs.

But I think the main reason we had so much was that there are A LOT of baby sizes. So once a child is 2 years old, they go up a size every year. This is reasonable. But from birth to two years they go through approximately 12-13 different sizes. For those of you not in the know, they are: newborn, 0-3 months, 3 months, 3-6 months, 6 months, 6-9 months, 9 months, 9-12 months, 12 months, 12-18 months, 18 months, 18-24 months, and 2T. Thank goodness for 2T!

I cannot emphasize enough what torture all these sizes are. Especially because no one in the universe seems to understand the hyphenated sizes. So for example, if your child is in "9-12 months" that means that she has outgrown size 9 months and it won't fit her anymore, though size 12 months will often fit. It does not mean, as most people assume, that she can wear both size 9 months and size 12 months.

And oh okay, one more wrench, seasonal clothing. You might have a beautiful 9-12 months sundress you are dying to put your baby but if it's snowing out, that's probably not going to happen.

Step 1: Took everything out of storage and drawers.

First off, I did this at night while the kids were asleep. You can't do anything when children are awake, especially something like this. I split everything up by size, regardless of gender or season. Notice the stickies on different parts of my couch with 12-18 months, 18 months, 18-24 months. I started with the largest sizes. I packed a box of things that were still too big for James. Things that were the right size for him went into his room even if it was out of season because the seasons are changing right now.

Step 2: Sort by size. Seen here: 12-18 months.

Step 2: 18 months, 18-24 months

Then I went through 3T and 2 T since no one will be wearing those for a while. I mostly just checked that everything was in good condition, folded it, and boxed it.

The big stuff is packed and waiting for 2016.

Finally, the hard part, stuff that Miranda will grow into soon, or that fits her now but is out of season. I tried to do my best here, but it's pretty tough. I reduced the number of boy things when I saw she had enough girl things in the size/season. Toddler clothes is ridiculously gendered. I try to let Miranda rock the dinosaur shirts as much as I can, but even the cut of the shirts is different for boys and girls. It's super mean to parents. Anything she couldn't use just yet I packed, but I'm keeping it most accessible in our attic. Everything that both children have outgrown but that was in good condition was donated to the Boys and Girls Club.

Why I don't particularly care about folding kids' clothes the KonMari way:

 

Miranda unfolds the KonMiranda way.

Remember, this is just the warm up for the hard one: kids' toys!

KonMari- Kids Toys!!

KonMari- Your Clothes

All my other KonMari posts

KonMari- Komono 2015

Komono is KonMari's word for miscellaneous items. She breaks it down a little, but really you just have to sort of walk around collecting like items. For the most part, I do keep like stuff together, but I definitely had some spare bath items in the guest room for guests, and I had office stuff in several places.

Before I even read this book I had already cleaned out all the junk in the bathroom. Our junk drawer had mostly stuff we used. But I went back and threw out some more stuff out of the bathroom. My make up is now just the bag I use everyday plus a few extra lipsticks. The extra guest stuff is just a few items people might actually use. Anything that was really old and probably expired I threw out.

Guest basket

On another day I looked for extra items in the kitchen. We still have too many wine and champagne glasses, but we do break them sometimes, so for now we'll keep some extra. The pantry only took like 3 hours although they were a very tiring 3 hours, so that's all I did that day. The pantry was full of surprises and excess! I did most of the office the day I did paper, but I should probably revisit that.

Improved pantry.

Some of the random stuff is not mine, but Kevin's. I tried to just sort of push them together so they looked better, but sometimes, I casually mentioned them to Kevin. I stressed that he did not have to get rid of anything, but sometimes he did reduce a little here and there if it didn't spark joy.

I need to go through each room again looking for the random stuff, but for now, I'm a little bored with komono. I know I have a lot of stuff in the mementos and photos category so I'm working on that now.

In the meanwhile, the next two posts are KonMari- Kids' Clothing and KonMari- Kids' Toys. I know that a lot of you are especially lost with those. Feel free to post questions so I can answer them. Not that I'm an expert obviously, but I've wrestled with the problem and come up with some solutions that work for us.

• Next category: KonMari- Mementos (in progress!)
• KonMari- Kids' Clothes  
• KonMari- Kids Toys!!
• Previous category: KonMari- Paper
• All my other KonMari posts

KonMari- Paper 2015

Paper... I suspect that most people embarking on KonMari do their clothes and then get stuck. I base this theory on the plethora of youtube videos about KonMari and clothing and lack of videos on the other categories. But maybe it's because paper is kind of boring? When I got to paper, I thought: this is easy! I already have a little file box of important papers, and I'll rip through Komono (miscellaneous) easily.

Um no, the box itself was hard because super important papers were mixed with papers I didn't need. And also, boring. Then I went around the house looking for more in the way Kondo advises for clothing. I had a file cabinet full of a mix of papers and mementos. I had work papers on my desk and under my desk. I had desk supplies that were technically "Komono" but since they were right there I couldn't resist. I reduced as much as could but in the end I got tired.

Note: Don't mix up "papers" and "mementos." This was a little tricky for me, but a lot of the paper I was keeping wasn't for the business of life, but rather a keepsake. Move that to the mementos category.

Papers (plus) on the way out

I didn't organize things exactly the way Kondo recommends, but I tried to employ the spirit with fewer file categories. I might yet switch to her system but for now this is working. My home office is not experiencing the level of zen that my bedroom is experiencing, but there's a huge improvement, and I can easily find everything that's actually important in the one file box. We're getting rid of the empty (very old, broken, and heavy) file cabinet too. And I think James will get the large plastic drawers I used for office supplies for his closet when I redo his room.

• Next category: KonMari- Komono (miscellaneous)
• Previous category: KonMari- Books
• Start with KonMari- Clothes
• KonMari- General Solution
• All my other KonMari posts

KonMari- Dad's Books 2015

My other problem was that I had kept about 26 boxes of my dad's books after he passed away. After 4 years, I had still reduced or read very few of them. I had tried just looking through them, getting a friend to help (hi Ash!), and finally doing one author letter at a time. The last strategy was going a little better... but still really slow.

Enter Marie Kondo. In three days, the books I chose to keep are in three bookshelves, and hundreds of books that I would not have ever read were donated. I was shocked how much clarity I had in the book selection after 4 years of being totally confused. When I look at the bookshelves they spark joy! I want to read the books, and the arrangement reminds me of being at home and visiting my dad.

Suddenly I have clarity on my dad's books! Donate! Donate!

 

Less than half the number I started with, but still, admittedly, a lot.

Okay, we still have a lot of books. We probably always will. But when I look at them they make me happy now in a way they did not before. They don't stress me or make me feel guilty. They make me look forward to pulling the next adventure off the shelf.

KonMari- Books 2015

Oh my gosh, we had a major book problem! That's over now!

No, it's not. So let's start with me: I had books from childhood, college, graduate school, and law school. I thought I had gotten rid of most of the books from childhood and college but when my dad passed away I discovered that my parents had actually put a lot of my books in storage. (Storage, by the way, is the world's most evil form of money-waste. I mean you guys have seen those reality shows where people bid on other people's storage lockers right? So very depressing.)

But just to obfuscate my problem a little, Kevin and I had combined our books. Now under the KonMari system, Kevin has a special book dispensation. He's a creative writing professor so books are his job, hobby, and passion. That means that Kondo believes that it is totally legitimate for him to keep more books than the rest of us should keep.

Before: Kevin and I had our combined fiction books here
(not pictured: nonfiction and poetry)

So the first thing I did was un-combine our books. I had him double check before I got rid of anything, and he found a book I didn't know was mine, and he rescued a few that were actually his. There were some books that we both owned but hadn't been reduced when our libraries were combined because there were different translators or notes in the books.

Kevin's fiction books after I took mine out- not a big difference! (Nonfiction equally huge.)

I did my books pretty quickly because I was so excited after clothing. The measurement is still if the book sparks joy. If it's your favorite book and you reread it regularly- keep it! If you just love looking at the cover on your shelf- keep it! If you've been meaning to read for years but haven't, sorry, set the book free so someone else can read it. If you read it, and you're done with it, thank it, and send it on to its next home.

I got my fiction to about 70 and my nonfiction to about 20 books to keep, and 25 to force myself to read before donating. Since my original purge, I've gotten rid of a few more that I realize do not bring me any joy, so it's still a work in progress.  But I'm happy with how little space they take up currently, and that they're all in one place. In a perfect world though, my bookshelf would be closer to a list of my favorite books: We Were Flying to Chicago, The End of the Affair, Gilead, A Brief History of Time, a few others, and of course, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

All my books after (except the to-read pile on my night table)

Confession time: I broke the KonMari rules and kept a bunch of books I have not yet read, but since then I've been actually reading them. They are sitting next to my night table and I read them (or at least confront them) daily.

Books I am currently reading or re-reading before I decide their fate (1 borrowed).

Okay, so then, my other big problem was that I had kept about 26 boxes of my dad's books after he passed away.... but this is a much trickier situation because the books are part "books" category and part "mementos" category. So I'll save that for the next post.

• I did my dad's books separately because they were part book/ part memento. 
• The next category is KonMari- Paper

Previously:

• KonMari- Clothes 2015 
• KonMari- General Solution 2015

• All my other KonMari posts