Bitten: One Bullet

So, I finally did what I've been considering for years: I hired a professional organizer. I found Stacy on Craigslist and after several emails back and forth, I finally found the courage to call her. I did hem and haw, but she was a good salesman (read: a little pushy) and she had Saturday morning open, so I agreed.

She said she works fast, and she did. Somehow she managed to do the things I wouldn't or couldn't: zoom through my worst spaces, insisting on decisions, convincing my kids to toss out things they don't play with and don't love.

It was a nail biter. I was panicking, I knew somehow that my kids (okay, me) would freak out later about "Why did I get rid of this" or "But I still loved that. It was all I could do not to stop them from tossing the Dora doll (one of at least FOUR that the Girl owns) or the Batman observation tower (but you LOVED Batman!).

There were times she went so fast I was afraid things would get missed in the shuffle: She presented the kids with a big bin of teeny tiny toys and said, grab what you want and the rest is going out... boom boom boom and she was dumping it in a big trash bag... the Boy did rescue a few things and he seems ok with it all but I wonder. Maybe it's all me, and not them.

She wasn't too forthcoming about donating stuff, dismissing a lot of it as "broken or missing pieces" when I didn't think it was, or "not worth the bother" when I DID think it was. Especially since I am always trying to teach my kids not to be wasteful. Then again, this way the stuff actually did leave the apartment (as opposed to all the stuff still in my kitchen awaiting a time when I can take it to Goodwill). Nonetheless, after she left, I did rescue a few things from the trash (to donate, not to keep. I don't think.)

One big burden of which she relieved me: My son has a collection of Rescue Heroes and their stuff. If I had to guess, I would say maybe 50 guys, some with pet animals, plus several vehicles (police car, dune buggy, boat). And a giant Rescue Command Center which is about 3 feet high and took up a large part of my living room for about 3 or 4 years now. He hasn't played with it in ages and has said many times he's ready to give it up. We (hubby and me) always said we didn't want just to donate it randomly or throw it out, since it was such a big collection. Anyway, Stacy also sells on ebay and she took the entire collection and is going to post it on a commission basis. The only thing she wouldn't take was the Command Center, as it is too big and bulky to ship. She suggested I toss it. I couldn't bear to do that, so now it's in my kitchen too. But I think it was a good move to let her handle the sale, etc., of all the guys, since she has the time and ebay experience, whereas the stuff I try to sell on ebay barely makes a profit and sometimes shows a loss. The Boy is excited too, as he has Dollar $ign$ in his eyes!

Don't get me wrong - the place still needs work. But the living room and the kids' room look (and feel) amazing. Stacy wants to come back and help me more. I would love it but not sure if my wallet would love it quite as much. I want to try to do a little on my own, now that I've gotten a kick start. We'll see.

The best part? The Boy was able to have some friends over to watch Wrestlemania on Pay-per-view last night, and they could sit on the couches, and play on the floor!!! Everyone was happy! (Except my downstairs neighbor. Sorry, 309.)

Pictures and more info later.