It finally happened!

Today, my husband had an employee drive him home for lunch (the car died this morning-we're working on getting it resurrected) so that employee could pick up our tv.

IT'S GONE!
No giant box staring me in the face every time I walk into the living room! I'm not completely anti-tv (just mostly *wink*). I enjoy watching good movies. But I prefer small tv's, usually behind doors. Ours was a 32" box that stuck out a foot beyond the bookcases and seemed to take over the room. And now it's not :)
Which means the entertainment center that was holding it is in the carport, also waiting to be donated.
The living room feels so much more relaxing and open. I hope it's a long long time before that thing gets replaced.
And I know it will get replaced at some point. I can't fool myself. For now, we've watched a couple of movies on our new laptop and haven't felt deprived at all. As the kids get older though it will be harder to do squish together and I think we'll have something wall mounted. The computer plays dvds and we're trying out netflix (I'm in documentary heaven!-but I worry about some of the kids shows on there so we'll see).
We've been saving for a new computer for almost 2 years. Our previous was so old it had a 3 1/2" floppy drive! We got a lighting deal on amazon combined with gift certificates and finally could afford a new computer! Yay!
We also have the stereo in the donate pile. We have a second hand ipod player and finally have a computer than can handle having a large music library. We're going to utilize those to save space. I feel like we're finally REALLY starting to accept our lifestyle.

This weekend, Igloo (that's hubby's new nickname, remember) was in a major decluttering mood. He looked around at all the stuff and said, "you know, I think it's time for us to get rid nice things now too. Because we just don't have the space."
That has really resonated me. I always kept the nice things because I liked them. They were nice. But everything feels better without the antique Howard radio and without the tv. This week we plan to address how many shoes everyone actually needs to have.
Don't get me wrong, we have the space for our things. Everything fits. But there's a nicer spirit or energy in our home when it isn't filled with so much. When it comes to how a home feels, I think less is usually more. That's why this decluttering never seems to end. As you get rid of more, you start seeing more as potential clutter. You start asking, "do I need that?" about everything and the answers start to change as you get rid of more.

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