Basement DeClutter & Weekly Update

May 24, 2025 /
Collage of a woman in a basement setting, contemplating items for decluttering, including a lamp and a decorative bag, with a playful life-size cutout of a mariachi musician and a small dog on a couch.

Well, after years of wanting to work in the basement, or should I say years of putting it off, it has finally STARTED, even if slowly. Our basement area has been a blessing for sure. In so may ways. It is a whole floor in which we have a finished section and an unfinished section and on one end of the unfinished section it holds two cars for a garage. It has a lot of storage area including the lawn mower, a row of 3 sets of heavy shelves for storage, a whole set of kitchen cabinets, and it has been a holding ground for family’s stuff (ours, Katy’s, George’s sisters, his Mom’s, my Mom’s). So now in our retirement it is time to go through things and either finally get rid of or use – or store if we think we may use it one day or want to pass down. So I did a video on it. It was hard. I had 2.5 hours of footage and had to get rid of most of it. That’s ok, I shed off some really uninteresting talk as I can talk someone into a coma if I get started. lol Usually I’m quiet and don’t talk, if you can believe that.

Anyway, here is the video this week. You can watch it here.

UPDATE

So, it’s been a quiet and low key week for the most part. We have had company up from Florida this week – Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken. They stayed with Mom. So far everything has gone well. Was not sure they would ever come back after the last few trips not going so well over there with Mom. I had them over on Monday evening for a spaghetti dinner. Thankfully everyone got along and it went well. And I couldn’t help but tear up as I cooked and cleaned and set the table for the evening. Everyone is getting older. And if things didn’t go well on this visit, would I ever get to see my Aunt and Uncle again? Would they ever come back? Or would we ever get to go see them? It’s hard to accept, but even George and I are getting older. Will all of us be together again at Christmas? I have no idea. We can’t count on life anymore. Not in this cursed earth life. We can count on the next one, for those of us with the faith, as the curse will be lifted for believers in Him. But for now we are here dealing with this life.

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked in the house, did laundry, cleaned up from the dinner party, edited videos, ordered pics from Shutterfly for the hallway family pics redo, and I ordered a few things to add to the walls from Amazon that would look good in the hallway with the family pic collage. No longer will things be in straight lines down the hall but a mix of good messages, sayings, along with photos. I’ll do a video on it.

I edited two videos this week. The Truth about HR is coming out on Wednesday 5/28. I will do the thumbnail today and then reboot the Mac and set up files for the next vlog which is my Exercise Program coming out on Saturday 5/31 which will be a bit of a hilarious one, as I’m not an expert but am enticing women all over to just start moving their bodies anyway they can, so we can all keep moving.

Vlogging this week has been boring though. I’m a little worried about it as nothing much has gone on and so that leaves me with trying to vlog some today – also in which nothing much is going on, lol. So it’s gonna be a random week. Sometimes you all seem to like those though, but we’ll see what happens.

I have also felt bad this week. I’ve had very low energy. But I have a physical coming up the first week of June. I also need to make a dermatologist appointment as I have a place on my back that has changed significantly. And I need to get my mammogram scheduled as well. I’m not sure what is going on but I tend to tire quickly – especially in the last two weeks.

I packed Magi boxes with the church on Thursday. We did boxes for two age groups of girls. Then we had some sit down work packing snack bags with crayons as we put six crayons in each and made a big bin of those. We worked for about two hours, snacked and talked. It was nice. There were several of us and I was overwhelmed trying to remember the names, at a time when my memory is really starting to fail me, I’m noticing.

Oh we had dinner with Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken and Mom at Hermitage Steakhouse Thursday night. I was a little bit disappointed in their ambiance. It seems they are also selling furniture, lamps, and home goods throughout the place and it looked junky, a little unkempt, and just did not have the cozy, candle lit table environment I looked forward to. I hate to see a place go down, especially as good as that one has been. The food was still good but they no longer have the little rolls that come to the table. You have to order “bubble bread” if you want that with your meal. It was still good food, both steak and salad bar, and we had creme brûlée as shared by Aunt Martha.

I also had lunch with a friend/neighbor on Friday and we went to a Thai place. I picked her up at Noon and we were at the Thai place for two hours. It was 2:30 when we left. I was shocked. We had been talking animatedly about so many things. Lunch was good, conversation was good and we went to Jeremiah’s and got a “Tadpole”. And one of our neighbors was there working, whose Mom is the one that gave us the coupons anyway, lol. So we enjoyed ourselves and then headed up. I was home by 3:30 and put George’s sheets on the bed, from the laundry. Then I was pretty done for the day. I read, watched YouTube. I was tired of the computer and didn’t want to do any of that. But George and I watched the HR video to make sure there were no glitches or problems. I have to do the thumbnail for that today.

So the Memorial Day holiday is like no big deal when you are already retired. lol. We were not even sure when it was. It’s this weekend, lol. So we are going to have hamburgers. Mom has been on a “no hamburger kick” so there is no point inviting her over to eat them. I think we will just have a relaxing, not going anywhere, kind of day that day and I’ll see if Mom wants to go get nails done on Thursday as that looks to be the only day it’s not going to rain heavily or storm. Usually by now the storms have subsided some, but these systems just keep coming.

So today is planning day. I’ll be working on next week. The goal is to set my appointments mentioned above, get nails done, have the Memorial Day hamburgers we planned, and to finish projects started in the basement, eat lunch with my friend Deb, work on the photo wall in the hall, and hopefully work on decluttering some things in my office. I don’t want to add a lot of things to my plate this week until I finish up what’s already on my plate.

So Mom called this week and she has squirrels getting up into some of her outside structures and making lots of noise. I’ve had to submit a work order to the HOA.

Oh and if I have not mentioned it, I’ve scheduled my flights for Texas for June. Katy will pick me up in Dallas and then we will drive to Waco for a day, spend the night, see more of Magnolia land, lol and then head home to Dallas where I’ll spend a week. My anxieties already kicking in a bit. You know how I am. But I’m willing to face them to spend time with my family. It’s just me going, with no George to guide me and protect me along the way. But God is going, so we are good. 😉

George is also planning his trip to go separately later in the summer and then we’ll go together in November.

Ok am going to get on with my day today, and see how far I can get with the lineup in planning, and doing! I think I might be hungry too. It’s 10 a.m. already. No breakfast yet. My appetite is also weird. Nothing ever sounds good anymore yet I still eat.

OK off of here. You guys have a good week and if you read down to here, here’s the link for the video. If you made it all the way through you have to let me know as I’m convinced no one comes here to read my blog anymore. I’m considering doing just a few journal entries on it to capture my day, but I haven’t figured out the allotted time I would do it. I miss the AOL Journaling Days it was so easy. Type, hit button. Here I have to add tags, categories, etc. lol

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14 Comments

  • lollapaloozasilly053add9f40

    May 24, 2025 at 11:40 am Reply

    Hey Sonya. I also began working on my basement after retirement. (I retired about a year before you.) It’s definitely a marathon project, not a sprint. I’m still not completely done, but it’s definitely in better shape than it was! You’ll get there too. Just chip away a little at a time.

  • Jill from Indy

    May 24, 2025 at 11:45 am Reply

    Sonya – I always read your blogs and enjoy them! I watch all your videos too on YouTube! I really like the declutter ones a lot – something I need to do massively myself. I like all your videos though and never miss one. Thanks!

  • Anonymous

    May 24, 2025 at 12:46 pm Reply

    Hi Sonya 👋 I’m excited about your Wednesday video. I worked in HR briefly and would have liked to pursue it as a career but that never happened. Anyway, I also love spending time with family but things have changed so much and so many have passed on that it makes me sad to think about it. I have one aunt left on this side of Heaven including my mom that’s been gone for 10 years and I miss her so much. Faith is my strength and inspiration now and for that I’m grateful 🥲 Enjoy your week and you can’t imagine how much joy your videos bring! Keep on keeping on… you are blessed and a blessing to so many 🤗🌸😊

  • Anonymous

    May 24, 2025 at 5:12 pm Reply

    I so enjoy your VLOG, videos and instagrams. Even if I don’t acknowledge or comment on all of them, I am watching.

    Your basement cleaning inspired me today. I had things I no longer wanted in the basement and my good intentions was to have a yard sale, but that is so much work so I packed up 5 boxes and a bag and took it all to the local thrift shop. It is the Jubilee Ministries. Yesterday I took my luggage that I no longer use to the children’s home. When the children are moved from the home to foster care, many times they only have garbage bags to transport their few possessions.

    Yes, family differences can be a challenge. I know from experience.

    So glad to hear you will soon be getting a physical. I hope your physical includes complete blood work.

    I see a dermatologist for a full body check because one of my kidney meds can cause skin cancer. I’ve had squamous cancer on my arm removed. Too much sunburn as a teen. And I had carcinoma removed from my face. Again too many sunburns. Suntan lotion in my days was not a thing. Since then I’ve had PDT therapy to my whole face. Not pleasant but I made it through.

    I too had lunch this week with two dear friends who are former co-workers. Good to get out and talk about something new and different and breakup the routine of housework and computer.

    As mentioned previously, if you get time, go to the Fort Worth Stockyard. My son and his family no longer live in TX but I really want to go back and see the Stockyards again. My granddaughter was born in TX and is a Texan through and through. Kansas is not her cup of tea. She goes back frequently to see friends. It is a country of its own!

    • LessHustleMoreCoffee

      May 24, 2025 at 5:25 pm Reply

      Thank you so much for commenting today. This means so much to me. You are gonna laugh but I was thinking at first the Stockyards was a steakhouse and then I thought naw, it’s Texas and will be cows. lol 😂

  • Anonymous

    May 25, 2025 at 1:38 am Reply

    Morning Sonya…just managed to watch this weeks Vlog…I’ve. Enjoyed it I always get a laugh …at watching you….sorry I’m not laughing AT you…just at some things you say 😂. I’m amazed at the amount of things you have done down in the basement and even more amazed at how much you have got to do. It’s a huge space. I’m sure your basement is bigger than my whole wee home ! I’ve realised over the years that the bigger the space the more we keep. I only have two bedrooms a sitting room and kitchen …One of the bedrooms is where I store things and looks abit like your basement!!….however unlike you I’m not a hoarder and the older I’ve got the more I think o,f what will happen when I’m no longer here…..I now look at everything and say now what would Beth or Barbara do with it ? and realise they would throw everything away without even looking at it….So out it goes.i remember how awful it was when my Father died and Mum had to clear out his things he was a hoarder !! It was so upsetting. I vowed then that I would never ever leave so much. I’m wishing you all the best going through everything. Perhaps another question you could ask yourself is what would Kate do with everything. Young folks today don’t have the same kind of likes as we do…so to save them feeling guilty about throwing things…let’s leave them as little as possible. Change of subject love Maddie new hair cut she looks lovely….loved seeing all the nice food you’ve had eating out. I do enjoy VERY MUCH your BLOGs….never stop please. Must stop I’ve said much to much…. God Bless ❤️

    • LessHustleMoreCoffee

      May 25, 2025 at 6:37 am Reply

      I wouldn’t call us hoarders by any means- not compared to what you see on TV. That is horrible. lol We do clean and organize, and collect pretty things, most of which we use or have used, and for the most part has been stored in an organized way. It’s difficult to throw or give away everything except what you are using especially if you are one to repurpose or reuse. We have been lucky to have the space and other parts of family have used it too. As we are in the senior years of our life, we are going thru and getting rid of things. I know I’ve mentioned that it is so my daughter won’t have to. You might have missed me mentioning that in previous videos. Also as people have died we inherited things and don’t want to lose them until a family can use them- hopefully in our own.

  • Anonymous

    May 25, 2025 at 1:42 am Reply

    Sonya. I’ve just written the longest ever reply and lost it…I can’t possibly do it all again. I will try to send an email later. But enjoyed the Vlog …
    Have a good week. God Bless
    I’m so disappointed at loosing what I’ve sat here almost 20 mins, writing..as I’ve no idea what happend

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