Minimalizing - Where to Next?

I've been working furiously on laundry all day today.  It will be done in one more load.  I found that I was only waiting for two items to come out of it; those and the clothes I wore yesterday.  The rest all got folded and put away in the crates.

Today I wore my khakis, a white blouse, and my sandals.  Simple.  No fuss.  No frustration.

Everybody got haircuts today.  I used the clean garage for the salon.  It worked out great!  While I waited for the next "client" to walk in, I went through a crate of papers that's been sitting in the garage.  I HATE paper.  I almost think I have a phobia of it.  I let it get the better of me more than anything else.  It's ridiculous!

Here's my big hang up.  We've purchased shredders in the past--three to be exact.  Each one has died a very wimpy death.  FRUSTRATING!  I refuse to buy another shredder, but when I come across documents with personal data on them, I don't want to throw them in my recycling bin.  So, what's a girl to do?

My next hang up...recycling only comes once every two weeks.  We usually take that two weeks to fill up our can, but with summer and the kids around all day all week, we fill it up faster.  So, for now, the recycling bin is full and waiting for next Monday--yes, an entire week.  So, I guess the pile begins; I mean, re-begins, but guaranteed, it will be a smaller pile.

I've read two different things.  One is this.  The other is that you should have a list of tasks (areas that need to be minimized) and work on them a little at a time.  I also read that you should start with something small so you could see success from the beginning.  So, yah, I can see the wisdom in that, and yah, I probably should do that, but nah.  I need to get on top of the garage--not literally, of course; although, at one point, I probably could have climbed the crates up to the top if it had it been required.  So, I'll finish my bedroom and bathroom and get that garage under control--better yet, I'll get it minimized.

Oh, by the way, the Warden just left for work.  We have a tradition of standing at the door and waving good-bye to him.  I walked out because it was taking him a long time, so I thought he'd pulled out and gone the opposite direction from what I had expected, but no, he was busy pulling his car out of the GARAGE!  YAY!!!

One other great benefit.  I was dressed in no time flat this morning.  I saw that my bedroom mirror was dirty, so I walked in, got the Windex and cleaned it right then.  On typical mornings, I'm so stressed about what to wear that that's what I spend a good part of my time doing.  Time to clean a mirror?  No way.  I usually put that off until later.

Nice to have life simplified a bit.  So far, I'm loving the benefits.