Dear Friends and Family,I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. What do I mean by meaningfully? No, it doesn't mean I'm giving away things loaded with meaning. It means it's purposeful decisions to remove something that has found a home in our home. In other words, clearing out old bananas doesn't count, they never found a home. Clearing out old toys counts since they would linger in the basement given no active actions on our parts.The List (most recent departures listed first):
- Back in 2007, five years ago, I was in a store and saw a Christmas tree marked down to $5.99. And, I couldn't resist. And, I bought it. Since then, it's sat in our garage as a reminder that $5.99 spent on something else would have been a better use of $5.99. I'm bringing it into work today for our office decorations. My colleague has promised to drop it off at Goodwill once we're done with it.
- Not sure how to count these. But I took two bags of old clothes (either too big or too small) out to the garage for donation.
- More not glamorous adds. I had "take down umbrella" on my list of to dos. Funny, that's the one winterizing thing I feel compelled to do. I went up the deck and the umbrella was knocked over. I tried to pull it out of the stand. I broke it in half. I considered repairing this old, faded umbrella. A week later, I asked Mr. mouse to throw it out.
- It's not a glamorous add. A cookie sheet. It's old and stained and apparently we have a new one that's nothing short of amazing. So, I discreetly put the cookie sheet by the garbage and so far Mr. mouse hasn't objected.
- You thought I had forgotten about you, didn't you? Actually, I've just been too busy. This one is a simple one. One evening, I needed a hangar to hang up some pants. There were no obvious empty hangars. I think Mr. mouse had brought them all down to fold laundry. So, I took three t-shirts that were languishing in our closet and took them down to the donate bag in the garage. Three down. Something like twenty or forty more t-shirts to go.
- This one hasn't been in the house all that long. But, minus active actions on our part, I could see myself having to deal with it sometime in the far future. It's an umbrella. I bought it for P for her third birthday because that's what she wanted for her birthday - chocolate cake and an umbrella. But, it turned out to be much too big for her. Since I bought it from some small store in Oregon (online), returning it seemed like more bother than it was worth. Our friend, Gracie, said she would take it. She likes it. Win. Win.
- My college graduation gift from my parents. Actually, it might also have been a house warming gift from my parents for my new apartment, my first home outside of theirs. Sounds like something you should keep forever, doesn't it? Except, it's a 27" tube TV that we no longer watch. We finally recycled it this weekend when our friends were over, since we could fit it in their truck.
- I don't even know where to begin. It started this morning, when I went upstairs to put the floss away and I realized the area under our sink was a disaster. First, there were the seven plastic bins, packed with stuff, piled up to the top of the cabinet, three on one side of the sink and four on the other side of the sink. Then, there was stuff wedged on top of the bins and piled all around the bins. I can't count each individually or this list would grow well beyond the 52 goal, but it seems like it should count for more than one entry. I know, I'll count it by the bagful of junk I threw out. The first bag was filled with expired stuff like sunscreen and eye drops.
- The second bag was filled with stuff we don't use anymore like (expired) rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide.
- The third bag was junk junk like plastic bags, leaking mouthwash, empty containers. And, what's left looks so much better. Three plastic bins on the left (from bottom to top): teeth, first aid, travel. And, on the right hand side: bathroom supplies, more unopened supplies, and more unopened supplies. In the middle? One open bin with the remaining partially used, not expired, still useful supplies, like sunscreen and bug spray and lotion.
- baby gear: burp cloths
- baby gear: diaper bag
- odds and ends: stairs to the deck
- junk: old swimsuit
- baby gear: 2 old breast pumps, one box
- junk: peg toy we inherited (missing pegs)
- toy: set of giant pipe cleaners
- junk: Halloween themed cup and five empty boxes
- baby gear: two booster seats
- book: Cooking for Baby
- toy: toy computer
- toy: baby animal puzzle
- toy: bird house with four plush birds
- toy: Mega Blocks table and blocks
- junk: 4 planters, 1 watering can
- useful, just not for us: 1 hose reel, 2 hoses
- useful, just not for us: P's toddler pool
- junk: 2 rusty lounge chairs, 1 stool
- junk: 4 solar lights that no longer light
- junk: a bucket and a lid
- useful, just not for us: a basket
- books: Gone with the Wind, Brave New World
- toy: Mr. Potato Head MLB edition
- baby gear: the Boppy
- odds and ends: new drawer used for kitchen towels
- odds and ends: guest bathroom counter
- useful, just not for us: crock pot
- useful, just not for us: hurricane with almond candle
- junk: old bath salts and perfumes
- baby gear: foam roll
- baby gear: 256 2 oz breast milk storage containers
- toy: truck (combo riding and push toy)
- toy: dog security blanket
- toy: battery-operated toy train
- toy: stacking pyramids
- toy: hammer and eight nails
- useful, just not for us: cane
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