Day 1: Reading "The life-changing magic of tidying up"

 1/30/2016
Hello,
My name is Karen and I am a 49 year old stay at home Mom (SAHM).  I'm married to a wonderful man and we have two girls, one in college; and one in middle school.  We have a large home that contains way to much "stuff".   I have been simplifying, selling, and donating  "stuff" over several years but still have entirely too much stuffy "stuff"!
  It could be that my favorite shopping places are thrift stores and yard sales, and if it's a great find ~well~ then I have to buy it.  The other reason is that both sets of grandparents and parents have passed away and we inherited lot's of "stuff" from several homes on both sides of the family.
  A friend told me about the book she was reading called "The life changing magic of tidying up" the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, By Marie Kondo.  I was excited just by reading the title!  All the things I need - decluttering, tidying, organizing...Yes. I'm doing that already...but what I need is the life changing magic part.  One thing I discerned immediately, is that while I'm Christian and have faith in God, from what my friend was telling me this was going to be a very secular book.
  I tried to take the book out of the library, but was three people deep waiting on the kindle version, so I decided to purchase the book for myself yesterday 1/29.  I went to the gym and spent 99 mins on the treadmill reading.  I read more last night, and this morning I spent another hour on the treadmill reading and finally completed the book with a cup of tea in a comfy chair this afternoon.  I enjoyed the book, and I'm very inspired.   I have concerns for Marie and some of her methods, and yet I'm going to give this a go and keep you posted on my progress.  Today is Saturday, so tomorrow being Sunday is not a good day to start.  Monday is a "teacher work day" at my daughters school, so the official start day for me will be Tuesday Feb. 3rd 2016.  I hope you will follow my progress & hold me accountable.  I also hope that you will find this blog inspiring and join me on the quest to declutter!