Get rid of one possession every day

I am sorting out the Christmas decorations. You all aim good thoughts in my direction. I thought there was about 8 boxes of decorations… wrong. 14!!!!! Wreaths, outdoor decorations, snow villages, Norwegian carved whirlygig things. (I have 4 Christmas trees. This is excessive.) I have made it through 4 boxes so far and have one Rubbermaid bin to give away.

It is Christmas in July in my living room until it is all sorted!

I also gave away this week a double bed frame, floor lamp, 20 plastic hangers, and 20 mugs and 10 glasses. I have a dog house ready for the neighbor to come pick up and a suitcase full of clothes for my sister. I have another group of suits and silk dresses to give my sister but they need to go to the dry cleaners first.

In May I gave away 1/3 of my clothes. Lock stock and barrel – every thing that was purple or teal and a lot of blouses that were red and black. I sort my clothes in color groups: Blue yellow white; green orange brown; black red gray; and purple teal. Everything in those colors from tank tops to silk dresses hang together in my closet or are in clear boxes on the shelf just above. As long as I pick from one color group, whatever I pull out matches. I gave away the purple teal group, and 1/2 of black red group. I liked to give away the entire group of black red—but I just don’t have enough pants and skirts to do without the black ones.

Onward! Snow villages here I come!

Last night at closing I almost had a truck full to unload. Our recycling center has a give-away shed. Today was going to be a good day for the rummagers!

THe list includes:

A mu-mu!!! Oh golly-gee-willikers Batman! We are talking a MU-MU. I should of had someone take my picture in it and then donated it to the recycle center. It was a black, fushia, lime green, dayglow orange and RED flowered mu-mu. I think it had turquious and yellow in there too. And it was floor-length—it was as big as a Bedouin’s tent. Or a big giant bowl of Fruit Loops!!!

I also gave away an ever-so posh set: leopard faux-fur hat, gloves and scarf—tres chic!

A Belgian Waffle Iron

A pancake griddle

Liz Claiborn shoes… that did not wear as well (as long) as a pair of Liz Claiborn shoes should of…

ONE FULL BIN OF BOOKS. A waist-high, two people couldn’t lift it full bin pf books! Gone Gone Gone. Happy lives books!

A lovely butter yellow sweater I have just had too long.

17 assorted glasses—plastic, glass, odd bits from sets whose mates have broken.

3 bags of Senseo coffee pods. (I have a Melita and Senseo’s are too big.)

A stovetop expresso maker. (I had 2).

A tea kettle. (I just inherited my dear Aunt Myrtle’s Mirro Perkolator—it will do.)

A scrapbook of postcards.

1 nightgown.

To go this week:

MORE SWEATERS. I set aside about half of my sweaters in the fall and challenged myself to make it through the winter without them. Here we are almost to March. I haven’t needed any of them! The set-aside one’s can go to the thrift store.

I am going to do this with other things I have lots of: bathing suits, t-shirts… Some things are easy to get rid of: socks, mix matched glasses – but other things like the sweaters… I love them but know I have too many. This helps prove the point to myself. I just need to remember to put an expiration date on the bag or bin.

Onward! Oh! I know they had a good time at the recycling center this morning!

a Shredder (I love electronic bill pay—very few personal papers to shred anymore!)
2 Christmas flower pots
1 pair of sandals
2 mugs
a window-sized air conditioner

I have a few items in the thrift store bag for this week but need to find some more! I’ll have 2-3 Christmas clothing items as soon as the laundry is done.

My next big “weeding project ” is the books. They are all going except gardening books, cookbooks, travel books that are not too out of date (I enjoy vicarious travel), a Bible and a dictionary.

All the novels are going but just a few: one to read and one ready to be read. (If I want to read a book again I can go to the library.) I keep novels that were inscribed to me.

I’ll also have some heirlooms: my 5th great cousins books about travels in China, a romance novel written about my house (Island on a Hill by Dixie Browning), a few childhood storybooks, and a a couple of novels written by friends.

I took my art books to work last fall for the coffee table in the staff lounge. They are very enjoyed there.

I hope to be down to 2 shelves of books when I am done: one with gardening books, another with travel and heirlooms. (There is another bookcase in the kitchen with cookbooks.) I need a spot to store my camera equipment, plus room to sort out all those photos!

b.

I have been readying my house. I am starting a renovations in about 2 months. This week I have given away:

1 stereo
1 milk crate full of LP records
2 pairs of shoes
10 sets of curtains
3 dust ruffles
1 quilt
12 sets of sheets
2 mattress pads
2 blankets
baby toys
a trowel
2 frying pans
a crock pot
2 cutting boards
one plastic silverware holder
a suitcase
all the wrapping paper except what I am using now (birthday and baby shower paper)
3 underbed storage boxes

Several things I haven’t gotten to yet: an entertainment center—I have a smaller cabinet to put the DVD, stereo and VCR in, but not time to unplug everything and get it back together before Christmas.

1/2 of my Christmas decorations. There are 8 boxes in the attic. I want to have 1/2 that amount.

Also, I bought a prelighted Christmas tree. (It is sitting in the living room naked—it is a minimalist year.) I need to get rid of the old one and the light sets.

I have a dresser that needs going through: mostly t-shirts and knit pants, sweatshirts, etc. I just don’t need that many t-shirts.

I have a buffet full of tablecloths and napkins, placemats, etc. It would really be nice if it was 1/2 empty. I could use the space to store my DVD’s or photos.

In the laundry room there are 2 milk crates: rugs, dog bedding, cleaning rags, etc. All can be weeded heavily.

There is a bookcase in the bedroom. I need to get rid of more books—two shelves worth is my goal.

Then my hanging clothes and the kitchen stuff—two things that always need weeding.

I be bringing home Christmas presents next week too and need to find room for them. (I love food baskets. I eat the gift and I don’t have to worry about finding a spot to put it away. I am hoping I will get lots of wine and cheese for Christmas.)

SO. A lot is gone. More to go.

Ever want something and then, when you get it, realize that – well – you really didn’t need that after all? A couple of purchases recently have fit into this category.

I found one of those hook things that you hang bananas on at the thrift store…. “great idea!” I thought – so my bananas ripen without one side getting bruised. But… more than 4-5 bananas tip it over. It takes up counter space. Previously I put the bananas in a fruit bowl. Now the apples are in there by themselves. And now I’ve realized – no bananas ever sit around my house long enough to become bruised. So! Out the door: one banana holder.

Item #2 a compartmented bag to go over the back of the truck seat. It is hard to drive a regular pick-up with no back seat area. I thought if I got an organizer to hang on the back of the seat, I could put the sun screen, sun shade, umbrella, tire gauge, etc. in there…. well. If it is raining I don’t want to get out of the truck and fumble behind the seat to get to the umbrella. The umbrella just needs to live under the front seat. It is also easier to get the sunshade and sun screen out of a Rubbermaid bin in the back of the truck. And the Kleenex needs to be grabable anytime… the box is on the bench seat again. Out – gone – done. Sometimes it is good to be organized. Sometimes you are organized but it just doesn’t look like it.

The third thing on the list is a grind and brew coffee maker. I am giving it to my sister. It is another example where I thought some item would be an ingenius, but it just adds complications. The inner parts have to be spotless and extremely dry or the coffee gets stuck as it comes out the chute…. As a regular coffee pot it does a great job – and my sister’s office machine just went ka-put. No problem! I have one for her!

That is all for today. The lesson I am proud I have learned is, even if it cost real money (retail vs. thrift store find) make whatever it is work for you or ditch it and move on.

I gave away a swing last week. See my porch entry for more info. It was a very nice swing. I was happy to give it to my neighbor that just built a new porch.

Friday I dropped 3 Tupperware cake carriers and interior pie keepers off at the thrift store. They took up a lot of storage space. I do catering so used them a bit – but most people want healthier options than cake these days. I had also used them to carry plates of deviled eggs. I can buy DE and cakes carriers for cheap at a discount store. If I need one (or three) I can stop by the discount store.

I also – drum roll. I gave away 1/2 of my vinyl. (It is 4 crates full and I carried half of it out.) Do you know how long I have had these? In some cases 30 years. An original Eagles blue album, best of the Doobie Brothers…. The Beatles White Album… Christmas with Julie Andrews … Thriller .. Carol King Tapestry—just to name a few.

Do you know how long it has been since I played most of them – and I even own a turntable? 20 years. I transfered most of them to cassette tape when I got a cassette deck. And some of the most loved have been replaced with CD’s.

The covers smelled of damp but the LPs inside are in pristine condition. I never loaned my albums and threatened my roommate’s lives if they touched them. And I moved them for 30 years from home to dorm to home to aparment to apartment and finally here.

I am glad to say I have finally grown up enough to give them away. With hopes that someone that loves Rock and Roll and wants vinyl will find them.

I looked into selling them on E Bay. They were pretty musty smelling – plus the covers were not pristine. I could maybe get $2-4 each – or $1 each in a yard sale. It was not worth it to deal with all the hassle and packing, maybe make $100 and 2-3 months from now, still end up giving half of them away. Best just to give all of them away and not worry about it. Let the thrift store hunters get excited when they find an original Beatles LP lurking in the $1 rack.

2 more crates of vinyl to go. Then the old stereo with the turntable attached can go away too.

I have a thrift store bag at the front door. I have to pass it to go from the bedroom to the living room… I feed it often.

b.

They have a seam about the place where my big toe’s nail starts. It makes my toe hurt. Nothing is allowed in this house that makes my toe hurt. Plus they are very hot. Into the thrift store bag they go!

b.

I HAVE GIVEN AWAY $147 ELECTRONICALLY TONIGHT AND WILL GIVE AWAY $186 BY CHECK TOMORROW.

IN ADDITION, TO MAIL SAID CHECK, I AM GIVING AWAY $0.37 FOR A STAMP AND A NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT FOR AN ENVELOPE—WHITE, LETTER-SIZED, SELF-ADHEASIVE FLAP. I HOPE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE APPRECIATES THAT I DIDN’T NEED TO SPIT ALL OVER THE BACK OF THE ENVELOPE I AM SENDING TO THEM IN THE MORNING.

TAXES DONE.

I HAVE A GLASS OF RED WINE AND A COLD COMPRESS. I’LL BE OK AFTER WHILE.

B.

I went through my jewerly. I have many things to give to a high school group that is having a yard sale at the end of May. I had way too much jewerly and never wear it very much anymore. I wear keys and an id badge around my neck all day now. To that I add a book bag, an iPod and headphones to commute—hard to not get jewelry tangled in all that.

I kept too many pieces still - but I am giving away almost half. Since I won’t actually hand it over until about the 10th of May, I figured I have an extra 3 weeks to devest myself of some more so I can make it exactly half. I have lots of things of the same style - enameled silver teardrop french wires for example. If I wore a different pair every day, even someone into jewerly would think I had worn the same earrings all week. So, I need to get rid of at least half of the visual duplicates.

I have a nice, multipocketed jewerly organizer to hold all these treasures. I have two actually. Both were full, about 20 pockets on both sides of each. I have one almost full with the give away pieces. The second one I’ll keep—and it needs to not have more than one necklace or pair of earrings in each slot. There is some doubling up now in the “keeper.”

This is great. It feels wonderful to be able to give things away. I finally realized about last year sometime, that keeping things means I had to keep up with things. The more I had the more I had to take care of, the more time it took me. I’d druther be doing other things. It was best to give my time and attention to friends, family, pets, gardening - things that give me love back and things I love - plus what I call dinasaur tasks: things I have to do or I’ll go extinct.

Speaking of which, I have to get off 43 Things now and finish my taxes.

Good night.

b.

This weekend, I cleaned out a basket that has been lurking in the living room. It was a very attractive, handmade basket. I got it at a street fair about 10 years ago from a lovely lady from Sandford, NC. If I remember correctly, she told me her husband split the oak for her.

All that said. The basket obviously hadn’t been touched much past the time I purchased it. BECAUSE IT WAS FULL OF MAGAZINES FROM 1996!!!!! Ok I did find 3-4 from 1997-2000, and one from 2003. Obviously whenever the living room has been cleaned up in the last 10 years a couple of magazines were stuffed in there until it was overflowing. Never leave it to me to disturb something that is a. functional or b. quaint or c. not blinking and flashing red lights like Three Mile Island melting down.

So I recycled all the magazine except for a Harpers Magazine from 1996. I wanted to read it. I wondered how our perspectives have changed in 10 years. This was prior to 9/11—Bill Clinton was still president. So far, it reads pretty well to be 10 years old. Can’t wait to recycle it.

I have one more basket to go through in my living room. I wonder how old those magazines are?