Tag Archives: cleaning out closet

Clearing the way for a New Year

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I hang onto old tennis shoes, even when I get a new pair. My reasoning is this: I’ll wear them at the beach. I’ll wear them doing yard work. I’ll wear them sometime.”

Guess what? It never happens. With daily walking I need new shoes every year. Sometimes twice a year, if they don’t hold up. A collection of worn out shoes with holes on the inside line my closet shoe shelf.

To ring in the New Year, I threw these old puppies out. I looked around my closet and found lots of shoes, dresses, and random clothing that I haven’t worn in years. Or ever. I will clear it out and deliver clothing to the Phoenix Dream Center that helps victims of sex trafficking. They have a clothing closet — which is a room with donated clothing that they can browse through and take whatever they want. The residents of the Dream Center, former sex trafficking victims, rotate working and organizing the inventory. I’ve written about the Phoenix Dream Center “Where Hope Lives” HERE.

The other clearing out I’ve done the last two days has to do with paperwork. Stacks of papers that I didn’t want to file in the moment, but squirreled away in a casita kitchen cabinet. “Out of sight, out of mind.” I don’t think my kids were impressed when they opened the cabinet. Most of it can be thrown out since everything is online these days.

Now that the paperwork is taken care of, I found another category of excess to toss. Cleaning products that I don’t need in Arizona. I moved a ton from Palm Springs, December 2020.

I think because we spend a fortune on these items, like cleaning products, tennis shoes and clothing, it’s hard to get rid of them.

It feels good to start the New Year fresh with the cobwebs of my life cleared out!

What do you you hold onto that you don’t need or use?

What are you doing to start the New Year fresh?

Getting Ready for Guests

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A picture my son colored in second grade. Wait until you read the story he wrote about it below!

Funny how it takes guests staying with us for me to get motivated to clean closets. I successfully emptied the casita closet. It had turned into storage space for all sorts of stuff including blankets, air mattresses, slippers, Sorel snow boots, hiking boots and even a box full of canvases and paints. Now it holds an appropriate number of sheets and towels.

That felt so good. I continued my cleaning spree in my own closet.

My efforts filled a car with blankets, books, comforters, and more that made it to Kiwanis Thrift Store. It’s amazing how things can accumulate after three short years of being in our new home. To be honest, a lot of stuff that I stored in closets moved with us.

Next, I went through my bathroom drawers and threw out ancient makeup, cough drops, unnecessary ointments and mini lotions and shampoos from years of hotel stays.

I have a guest bedroom closet left to tackle and I’ll be done! But it has all the personal things like photo albums, boxes of photos from my mom including her notebooks and diaries. I have generations of things to go through. Like the photo above, I saved things my kids created, report cards, school awards and swim medals. I have my daughter’s set of Madame Alexander dolls from the Wizard of Oz. I think it was easier to clear out the big stuff — especially because there’s no emotional attachment.

Here’s the story that goes with the photo:

What are your thoughts about the story? FYI, “derend” is a unique spelling of turned.

How do you do to prepare for guests?

First trip to the Dream Center

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sunset pink sky
Pink sunset sky Tuesday night.

I took a tour of the Phoenix Dream Center with a group of women yesterday. It’s the residential facility that heals and houses victims of human trafficking.

I wrote about The Dream Center HERE.

The building itself is an old Embassy Suites. It has security from Homeland Security as well as their own security staff surrounding the building.

I was impressed that it had it’s own medical office. They said they want to check the victims out physically within a day of them entering the program. Often human traffickers keep the victims documents like driver’s license or social security card when they escape, so it could take 45 days to get new documents and a doctor’s appointment. They lost one young woman to organ failure and felt that they could do better. So, they built their own medical office and doctors volunteer their time so there is no need for documents or insurance.

The girl who died said she was at peace, because she was free and felt like the Dream Center was home.

The center also has a dental office and optometrist office.

I cleaned out my closet the day before my visit and found they have two rooms for men’s and women’s clothing that were clean and organized. Residents can go into the clothing rooms and pick whatever they want off the racks for free. Residents also are responsible for maintaining the clothing rooms.

There’s a garden which is healing for the residents to work in. They also have a chapel, therapists and psychiatrists.

One of the eye popping statistics was that unlike the drug traffickers who sell their product and then need to find more to sell, human sex traffickers can sell their victims from 12 to 16 times a day for years. Young boys around 11 years old can earn $300,000 a year for their traffickers.

We were told that 95% of the residents grew up in the Phoenix area, they are not coming from the southern border. The number one trafficker is a Romeo, who a vulnerable young woman falls victim to and is manipulated into sex trafficking. They may meet their trafficker online or in person.

It was a worthwhile day, but I’m emotionally exhausted.

I thought human trafficking was a border issue, but it turns out it’s not and it’s throughout our country and the world.

What are your thoughts about human trafficking NOT being a border issue?