Not quite a horder - decluttering

We had to dispose of TONS of expired prescriptions when we cleaned out my in-laws house...they never threw anything away.

Fortunately, our pharmacy sells bags (maybe $3 or $5) that you can fill with as many old pills as you can (they're pretty large) and then then return to the pharmacy (or did we mail them?) and the pharmacy will safely dispose of them.

Doing things like mixing old meds with used kitty litter, dirty diapers, or coffee grounds are supposed to keep dumpster divers from finding stashes that they might try to take or sell on the street.

As for keeping old meds for the future, well, it's hard to tell which meds can keep well past expiration dates, and which ones go through chemical changes that actually make them not only useless, but sometimes harmful if you were to take them.

Meece: when we built our house, DH cut a hole in the garage ceiling and built an attic up there. It's a thousand degrees in the summer, and reachable only by one of those pull-down ladders, which - thanks to my balance issues and fear of heights - does not work for me.

We put a Tuff Shed in the back yard, with the idea that all his camping crap would go up into the attic, and all my holiday decor would go into the shed. Think that's happened yet? Guess I won't be decorating for Easter this year!

IMHO I think most of them have a longer shelf life than we've been led to believe.  The drug companies would make less money if people were able to hang on to their unused prescriptions.  We are brought up to believe that nothing lasts very long and must be replaced.

 We watched a special the other evening about the Pope's visit to Cuba and you wouldn't believe the number of very old cars that are driving around there...looking like brand new!  A good mechanic really has job security in that country.  It looked like classic car heaven.  Some of those cars were over sixty years old and still humming.  Here, they would be in the junkpile or sitting in some collector's carpeted garage!

^..^

From WebMD website: 

" ...A little clarification is in order: The testing does not mean that the drug will remain potent for only two years. It means only that the drug has been tested to assure its safety and potency for at least two years. In fact, a drug may be potent for 10 years or more but still have an expiration date that is only two or three years.

The U.S. military has found that many drugs stored in their facilities lasted much longer than their expiration dates. The reason is that their drugs were stored under ideal conditions. Not many of us truly can keep our drugs stored in a cool, dry place without being moved for years on end.

The experience with the U.S. military's drugs underscores why you should take expiration dates seriously: You don't store your drugs under ideal circumstances, as the military does.

You probably store some drugs in your bathroom, where they get moist when you take a shower or bath. Or you may store some drugs in your kitchen, where the stove gets hot, or on the windowsill, where the sun hits them.

Under these circumstances, it is not likely that drugs stored will become outright unsafe, but they could easily lose potency, which means they won't be as effective as they should be.

Health is too important to chance. You want your drugs to work as they should. That's why it's so important to store drugs properly and discard them when the expiration date says to."

Here's the whole link:  http://www.webmd.com/news/20000421/drug-expiration-dates-serious

We may not trust pharma, for good reason, but I prefer to be safer and err on the side of caution - FWIW

Now, back to our quest to declutter lots of bigger items (at least in my case)

Who won? Hope it was your crazy cat. They are so bold when hunting. One of mine proposed jumping onto the head of a golden retriever. Dog was rescued at the last minute. My Dd big black lab is afraid of their fully clawed rescue cat.  

I went through some of my mom's remaining jewelry and found some london blue (saphires, are those saphires?) stones. I put on two rings a very flashy bracelet, earrings  and a pin. I never wear more then  faux pearl studs a cross and on the rarest of occasions a watch. I am all dandied up just now.

I went through this box of tee shirts and found my worst Christmas sweatshirt ever. I was thrilled to find it, I will win any contest in it. I may even bedazzle it. It has Santa and his reindeer running across the chest and over onto the shoulder and arm. It is pretty stretched out and worn but a treasure non the less. 

Laters all Ginger

Way to go Meece!  I need to take my cue from you on that.

^..^

I jst figured that flying squirrels were prevalent in NY. 

I have a bad memory from my very early childhood of a squirrel runign into our house and my mother chasing it out with a broom and as he left, she slammed the door behind him...or that had been the intent!

Who's taking pictures of my home---??? oooo the clutter--I seemed to throw it into my bedroom what a mess. I really need to declutter like crazy--just let it go and go. Now it's over welming to me. I was not a saver before--but lately it's a matter of maybe I'll need it. Yea right 4 yrs and i didn't need it--just a mess with no energy.

camillegal, some have found that you start by just giving it 15 mins at a time and just get rid of something - maybe it's only a piece of string but it's something.  At times that's all you can do and other times it gives you the incentive to discard a rope, then a chain, then...  Don't look at it as the whole BR, but one corner or just a tabletop.  Come here often for motivation.

Teka, I simply thought squirrels, somewhere, could fly and your cat was after it!

Actually my Grandma had flying squirrels in her attic in Western Kentucky. I know because my mom and I needed to sleep up there one time when there was a family funeral in the house. I was under five but I remember them, they sort of sailed from spot to spot.  Like gliders. They have a connection from their front and back legs along the side. Sort of like verticle love handles.  So the do exist but I would hate to see them in a cat fight.

I go tee shirts and bra top camisoles, and tutrtlenecks and such all sorted into 8 bins yesterday. I do need to put a label on the sides or I will never remember what is where.

Today I will do one drawer of my bedside chest. 

Laters

ginger

ok, so we have a HUGE mess in our kitchen, so i'll be working in there, for awhile...

  out of nowhere, coachroaches,, ugghhh!!!

 starting spraying, saw them coming out of the baseboard by the refrig,  smae day, saw the gutter outside was overflowing.. so, for 5 hours last night, i removed the baseboards, and found soaked drywall, on the wall the water must've seeped in.. what a job!!!

  so, now, its bleach the mold, then put the borax on the walls.. haven't seen a one today.

  will have to call the landlord, and the condo.. see who's responsible for the repairs.. in the mentime, lots of stuff will have to go... i'm really not feeling well, but that trumps how i feel!!!!

  so, its gonna be a laborious week, but the kitchen cabinets, all of it will be gone thru and pitched...guess thats the way God said get busy in the kitchen, girl. YUCK!!!!!3jays

DH said he'd be out in the garage yesterday...

I figured oh, great, he's organizing HIS mess out there!!!!

Nahhh....today everything is out on the patio table and he's building a shelter around the dove's nest that they built on top of our fence....she got drenched in the rain we had two days ago.

(I'd even gone out and tried to cover the basket (that I put there instead of their pathetic little twigs that kept falling off) with some big fake Boston ferns I had. Looked stupid, but worked.)

Oh well, gotta love a guy like that!

We had them in the gargae last summer.  I sprinkled roach powder and haven't seen them lately.

My son was working out in our back yard last month and left his baseball cap hangin on a plant hook on the patio.  I little pair of house finch took up residence in the cap and will be raising a brood soon!  They are protected by the patio and a hat.

I am going to leave the "go away box" in the kitchen so I rememebr that things need to go away.  I will feel such accomplishment when I get it full.