Peace of Mind Organizing

Worth repeating: Traveling on an airplane with a puppy

6 May 2021

I came across this post today and decided to repeat it. It’s got some solid information about flying with a puppy that some might find helpful now that we’re starting to fly more again. Bix is now five and continues to be exceedingly well behaved. I hope you enjoy looking at pictures of Bix as a puppy as much as I did this morning!

If you’ve wondered why I haven’t blogged in a week or so, I have an excellent excuse.

Allow me to introduce Bix.

He’s an eight-week-old standard poodle puppy who joined our family on December 13. Tomorrow he’ll be nine weeks old. He’s absolutely adorable, smart as a whip and well behaved (for a puppy). He’s endlessly amusing.

Here’s a picture of Bix and me, taken by Dianne Janczewski, Bix’s breeder.

Bix came from Clifton Standard Poodles in Clifton, Virginia. I live in St. Louis, which means that I brought Bix home on an airplane. I enjoy planning such things and I gave the journey home with Bix a lot of thought. I had flown with a puppy once before, a dozen years ago, when we brought our departed poodle Kirby home from the breeder in New Jersey. But I didn’t really remember the fine details.

I did a lot of googling but I did not find a whole lot of helpful information. (The most helpful exception: Dog Jaunt.)

So I thought I’d detail a few things here that I did right and wrong in hopes of helping others faced with traveling with a little puppy on an airplane.

First, let me reassure you that Bix flew in the cabin of the airplane, under the seat in front of me. I flew Southwest and purchased their branded carrier so that I knew it would fit. If my puppy had been a small breed, I might have purchased a higher-quality carrier, like the Sherpa or SturdiBag, but I knew I’d be using this carrier for a very limited time and I felt the peace of mind of knowing it would fit was important.

Overall, everything went very well. My biggest worry had been that Bix would cry and disturb other passengers by whining or barking or that he’d eliminate in the carrier, which would also disturb passengers. He did neither of those things. He just slept, raising his head a little at the noises during takeoff and landing. He was a very good boy and didn’t even seem stressed.

Here’s a picture of him in his carrier on the plane.

What I didn’t anticipate was that he would get motion sick in the car on the way to the airport. My dear friend, Patti, was driving us in her new car and didn’t seem to blink when Bix threw up three times. Luckily, I had some pee pads with me that caught much of the mess, but it was still pretty gross. (He threw up in my car on the way home from the airport, too.)

So based on my experience, I’d like to share some things I did right and some things I did wrong:

Things I did right to prepare for my puppy’s first airplane trip

1. I paid attention to the airline’s regulations and bought a carrier that fit.
2. I booked a non-stop flight.
3. I made a reservation for Bix.
4. I bought some DryFur Pads to line his carrier and absorb any messes (which in his case was vomit).
5. I bought some Adaptil dog-appeasing-pheromone wipes and wiped down his carrier. That may have contributed to his calmness in the carrier.
6. I brought along four pee pads, though I wish I had brought more (see below).
7. I had a friend drive me, rather than taking Uber or a cab to the airport; given the vomiting, that would have ratcheted up the stress level for both of us.
8. I had my husband meet me at the airport so that we could take Bix directly to the pet-relief area once we landed. He really needed to pee.

Mistakes I made in preparing for my puppy’s first airplane trip

1. I didn’t anticipate car sickness. If I had, I would have brought along paper towels and more pee pads.
2. I didn’t insist on a private screening from TSA. I had read that I could request a private screening, but I was refused one by TSA. I should have insisted, because I had a difficult, stressful time getting Bix back into his carrier, which opens only in the front. In a private room, it would have been less stressful.
3. In retrospect I should purchased the higher-quality Sherpa carrier, which would have been easier to get him in to and out of. The Southwest carrier was taller, which I found appealing. But since Bix was lying down in the carrier, that wasn’t really relevant. And the Southwest was difficult to use and of shoddy quality. And it cost nearly as much as the Sherpa.

I hope if you’re faced with a trip like this one that you’ll find this post helpful. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again (though I’d correct the mistakes I made). Certainly getting sweet Bix home to us was well worth the effort!

Here he is on his second day in our home. He was and remains happy and comfortable and not the least traumatized by his travel experience, thank goodness.

Guest post on craft organizing on Meori blog

3 May 2021

I was tickled to be asked by Meori, the maker of a variety of organizing containers and bags, to contribute to their blog. My post about craft organization, which they named, The 6 Most Helpful Craft Room Organization Ideas, went live last week.

Meori asked for a lengthy post, so that gave me some space to go through the decluttering and organizing process for a craft space. I love a organizing craft room, but it can definitely feel overwhelming when it’s your own space. I’m hoping that my post’s six-step process will help anyone who is struggling with that feeling of overwhelm and frustration!

Meori offers a number containers that can help with craft organizing. They sent me a few to try out and I immediately adopted the Mini Box with Insert (pictured here) to create a little kit for my lettering pens that’s easy to move from room to room.

Sign up for discounts on my genealogy guides

29 April 2021

I’m really excited because this weekend I’m launching a new Orderly Roots Guide. These guides are modeled after the Organizing Guides that I’ve written for the public and my Insider’s Guides for New Organizers. All three series of guides offer concise, cut-to-the-chase information on topics I find to be of interest. They’re a low-cost way to tap into my expertise.

The new Orderly Roots Guide, which might of interest to you if you’re one of the millions of people who count genealogy among their hobbies, is called How I Do It: A Professional Organizer’s Genealogy Workflow. (That page will be live on Sunday, May 2.) I’ve also created The Orderly Roots Bundle, which has special pricing on all four guides when purchased together.

The reason I’m writing about it today, before the new guide is available, is to give you the opportunity to sign up for the Organize Your Family History Mailing List. Starting on Sunday, I’ll be sending out a series of emails with helpful information and limited-time promo codes for How I Do It and The Orderly Roots Bundle.

If you click on over and sign up for the mailing list, you’ll save a few dollars on these resources. You’ll also be signing up to receive an email on the last day of every month with links to the previous month’s posts.

If you’re a genealogy fan and don’t already read Organize Your Family History, I encourage you to check it out, especially if you are challenged by organizing your findings.

10 things you can throw away right now

26 April 2021

I led an organizing team in a basement last week and enjoyed watching the clients experience the freedom of letting go of three carloads of unneeded belongings. It made it so easy to organize what they decided to keep.

Is there stuff in your home you could part with? I see the same sorts of items in people’s homes, so I created a quick list of items that tend to clutter up basements (and other parts of the house). Sometimes these can be easy to let go of.

Are any of these items cluttering up your home?

1. Empty boxes for items you’ve had over three months (possible exception: the box your giant TV came in)
2. Packing peanuts and air pillows if you haven’t used any in six months or more
3. Paid bills (non-tax-related) that are more than a year or two old (if that)
4. Supporting paperwork for taxes filed more than seven years ago
5. Clothing that doesn’t fit you or you don’t feel fabulous in
6. Supplies for pets you no longer live with
7. Outgrown games and toys
8. DVDs or VHS tapes
9. Supplies for hobbies or crafts you no longer do (or never actually did)
10. Expired over-the-counter medications or beauty/personal hygiene products
11. Leftover holiday cards you never used from years gone by—especially dated ones
12. Holiday cards you received from others

I suggest you do a quick sweep of your house this week. If you spot any of the above items, consider letting them go!

Here are some ideas for disposing of these items:

• Take the old paperwork to a commercial shredding service (the big-box office supplies stores offer this service as well)
• Donate clothing, toys and craft supplies.
• Sell DVDs or CDs to a used-record store
• Give your unneeded pet supplies to a local animal shelter
• Take the unwanted packing material to a UPS Store (or similar establishment) for reuse

The longer I do this work, the more I believe that less stuff = more happiness. A good place to start is with these no-brainers!

Photo by alan.stoddard via flickr.

Letting go of sentimental items

19 April 2021

I published this article in last week’s monthly newsletter. I got some good feedback, so I thought I’d share here as well.

During last week’s Declutter Happy Hour class, we discussed the challenge of decluttering sentimental items. They can be so hard to let go of, even when you’re motivated to downsize.

The piece of advice I always share about sentimental stuff is that the more you keep of it, the less special any of it is. For example, instead of keeping all your kids’ art projects, which can be hard to store in a way that allows you to enjoy them, keep just the meaningful ones. Another example: Instead of hanging onto your grandmother’s collection of a dozen tea cups, keep one or two and display them. Then release the rest to cousins who might appreciate them or tea cup collectors who might buy them on eBay or in a resale shop.

I also always urge clients to think what will happen to these sentimental items after they pass away. The best way to see that they’re respected and appreciated is to disperse them while you’re still able. That will not only help you downsize, it will make it easier for the person who is responsible for going through all your stuff after you pass.

Getting in touch with why you’re decluttering can help in these difficult decisions. Remember, it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. You can choose just to keep one or two items that represent a particular person or time in your life and let go of the rest.

Photo by Lydia Matzal on Unsplash

Decluttering dog toys

15 April 2021

Earlier this week, I repeated a post I’d written four years ago about the love my standard poodle, Bix, has for his toys. He gets two new toys every month from BarkBox and he’s also given extra toys by a friend whose dog gets BarkBox for the treats and doesn’t love the toys.

Bix enjoys destuffing and desqueaking some of the toys and then playing with the carcasses. So we rarely threw any toys away. His toys were stored in an overflowing containers.

Here’s a photo. (I have no shame.)

In December 2020, Barry and I bought a new bed, upgrading to a king-sized bed. That started a cascade of events that included carpet cleaning. While the carpet cleaner was there, we decided to clean the carpet of the room where Bix’s toys were stored. So we had to clear them out. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to declutter his toys.

It was a surprisingly fun and easy process. The toys had been moved into the living room, so I just started sorting them there. (I thought Bix would want to help, but it turned out he wasn’t very interested in my efforts.)

I sorted the toys into four categories:

• Those we wanted to keep
• Those we didn’t want to keep (because they weren’t popular with him) but were in pristine shape. Those we set aside to give to friends or save for puppy gifts.
• Those we didn’t want to keep but that had some wear. This category was good enough to donate.
• Those that had been played with so much no one would want them (primarily toy carcasses)

I set aside the gift toys and was delighted to have no problem finding takers. I threw away the trash toys and moved the rest of the toys to a donate area.

Here’s a photo of the abundance of toys we set aside to give to friends:

Bix’s favorite toys are small plush balls. He has peanuts, peas and apples from BarkBox (along with the plush peanut shells, pea pods and apple bushels they came in). In the sorting process we discovered, inside the covered basket pictured above that we rarely opened, a bunch of small plush balls that must have been purchased for one of Bix’s poodle predecessors. Honestly, we had no idea we had them.

Bix was ecstatic about these balls. He squeaked and squeaked and squeaked them. He lolled about on the living room rug with them. Finding them was definitely the highlight of the process.

Once all the sorting was done, I had the pleasure of organizing the toys we decided to keep. I used two containers. One was a plastic laundry basket from IKEA. The other was a Rubbermaid Bento Storage Box that has interior dividers that pop out from each corner. I used two of the divided areas to hold the plush balls, with the rest of the toys in the open area behind, as well as in the laundry basket.

Here’s an after photo.

It’s such a relief to have the big mess of toys gone. And, like most decluttering projects, the best part is that everything is more accessible. Bix now has easy access to his favorite plush balls, which previously would get lost in the pile of toys. And it’s very easy for us to put them away in their designated spot.

I realize that this still looks like a lot of toys. But it feels like the right amount for us!

Worth repeating: Bix's favorite thing, BarkBox

12 April 2021

I wrote this post four years ago, and Bix’s love for BarkBox has only grown. It’s caused quite a toy clutter problem, one that I worked on a couple of months ago. Later this week, I’ll write a post on how I decluttered Bix’s toys but today you can read about his beloved BarkBox, the reason his toys turned into an organizational challenge.

My standard poodle, Bix, who is 18 months old, is a big-time player. He loves his toys with a fiery passion. Every night he instigates a game of fetch in the house and throughout the day he plays with his toys on his own. His very favorite fetch toy is an unassuming plush peanut.

Here he is with his peanut. (You can see the peanut shell in a shot further down.)

I tend to be sort of minimalist in my life, but I have a confession. Bix has an abundant collection of amazing toys. (Some might call it overabundant.) And he gets more every month. But here’s the thing: he plays with almost all of them. We keep the toys in a laundry basket from IKEA and he frequently digs around in it looking for a specific toy. So it’s hard to declutter them (though I think I could probably safely remove a few).

Why does he have so many? Because of BarkBox. It’s a subscription service for dogs that delivers a themed box of toys, treats and chews every month. The themes are so darned clever. They make the humans smile. And they make the poodle ecstatic.

This was the December BarkBox, which had a winter theme.

Bix seems to recognize the BarkBox box (or, more likely, he recognizes our reaction to the BarkBox box) and he sits down politely and waits for us to open it. Then he goes nuts playing with his new toys. It’s truly a joyous thing.

Here he is on BarkBox day with his new zombie cat. I think that was October.

One of the things I love about BarkBox is that almost all of the toys are made for them and therefore unique. And they are are so clever and cute (and funny!). They’re pretty durable. Bix enjoys de-squeakering toys and pulling out the stuffing (thankfully, he doesn’t eat the squeakers or the stuffing) and then he enjoys playing with the toy carcass. We have thrown away very few toys.

Here’s Bix surrounded by the toys he selected to play with that day.

Bix likes to take favorite toys to the windowsill where he watches the world from the back of the couch. Here are his rucksack and his Polaroid camera, from the travel-themed BarkBox, and (of course!) his peanut.

When you subscribe to BarkBox for at least three months, you can get a free extra month by using my subscription link. (And Bix gets a free month too!) I found that after my three-month subscription was up I could go month to month. You tell them the size of dog you have and whether there are any food allergies (for the treats). Bix has been a subscriber since he was eight weeks old, so he went from Medium (“Just Right” to a Large (“Big & Bold”) as he grew up. He’s now 60 pounds.

The declutterer in my wants to stop Bix’s subscription. But the dog mom in me doesn’t. It brings such joy to Bix. And the toys don’t take up that much room, right?

Again, if you have a dog and want to give it a try, you can use this link and you’ll get an extra month added to your subscription. And Bix will too!