Once Upon a Time

Happy New Year! Let's Catch Our Post-Holiday Breath, and Catch Up!

Okay, now, let's finish off October, then we'll parse November and December, and slide gracefully into the new year, shall we?

October 21 - 31 is easy - ten days of poking through our Halloween stuff! Halloween used to be a big, big deal at our house, much-anticipated, with eager anticipation of the weirdness of wearing an alter-ego costume and walking house-to-house at night, receiving free candy, wow!

It's low-key now, just a sort of novelty holiday; not heart-stopping or giddy, not even scary, except for the price of that candy. So, it's time to downsize the holiday and its accompanying stuff, though we all continue to share a more mature appreciation of the excitement. . . and the candy!

Gone to a new home are:
Halloween tablecloth,
Halloween lights (orange!),
paper plates (grinning pumpkins),
paper napkins (more pumpkins with attitude),
paper cups (orange),
plastic treat bags & ties

and used up from previous years' stock, and not to be replenished (yay me, yay me) are:
paper goody bags
paper plates (haunted house theme)
paper napkins (black cats)
giant bagful of plastic giveaways (spider rings, bats, etc., etc.)

November, hoo boy, thirty days it hath, so let's get cracking:

1. - 8. Eight whisks, plastic bags, and mugs, bought last year, used up this year to make festive "We whisk you a Merry Christmas!" cocoa mix 'n' mug gifties for the church fair. Hmm, technically, 8 x 3 counts as 24 items, yes? Cool!
9. Off went a coat, appreciated but not beloved, to the coat drive. Hooray!
10. - 12. Time to go through the boxes of cold weather stuff! A review of mittens/gloves reveals three old pairs with finger holes. Not useful for shoveling snow; tossed!
13. - 15. Three brand new pairs can go to the coat drive, though. That's heart-warming!
16. Then there's a goofy looking hat. . . maybe it will appeal to someone, so away it goes, too.
17. - 25. Plastic containers, for Thanksgiving leftovers, for my mom, who is hosting the big meal - that equals nine T'day dinners for her to heat and enjoy, later, at her leisure - yum!
26. Thanksgiving-design paper napkins, purchased last year on discount. Stop the stockpiling!
27. Ditto for the attractive Thanksgiving paper plates, use them!
28. Cans of soup from our own pantry, donated to the food bank.
29. Boxes of cereal, too. It is shameful to hoard.
30. And also, extra toothbrushes - better to have them used up than cluttering the linen closet!

And now, may I introduce: December!

1. - 11. Eleven pipers piping? No, eleven unloved t-shirts! Ones I had been "saving" for the gym, or for sleeping in, or for, I don't know, re-roofing the house or rototilling the garden, two things I don't see myself doing, like, ever. How about if I go to the gym in clothes that reflect pride in my body; sleep in pretty, cozy, and sweet little nothings; and hire somebody to do that other stuff!
12. A partridge in a pear tree? Oh, one resin planter in the shape of a creepy turkey, which held a Thanksgiving ivy several years ago. It had a malevolent gleam in its painted eyes. . . plus, the ivy died.
13. - 15. Three turtledoves? Nah, three turtlenecks, because I'm coming to grips with the fact that I really don't have enough neck for a turtleneck. Ow!
16. - 17. Two ladies dancing, to continue the metaphor, painfully. . . a pair of handsome boots with a tendency to pinch my toes, and a cute pair of ballet flats that are just too narrow: donated to smaller feet.
18. Paper Christmas napkins - made to be used, not kept as collector's items, sheesh!
19. - 21. Three half-full/half-empty bottles of nail polish from I don't-remember-when.
22. Does using leftovers from the freezer count? I say, sure - so, thank you and goodbye to the last of our Thanksgiving ham ("Thanksgiving ham?!" you ask? Yes, it was a supplement to our Thanksgiving turkey - which is long gone!).
23. One roll of wrapping paper - from last year - used up. No new paper bought; we've switched to re-usable cloth and paper gift bags for the bulk (gulp) of our presents.
24. Cute Christmas tin from years gone by, filled anew with yummy treats and given away.
25. Half of a box of Christmas crackers (the snap, hat, joke, gifty type; not the cheese-and- type!), bought in 2007 - part of the festivities of our Christmas dinner!
26. - 28. Sock intervention! Three pairs with pokey toe holes, begone!
29. I'll claim in one big lump the gazillion magazines that I brought to the Public Library for resale. . . since I bought half-a-gazillion magazines, paperbacks, and hardcovers from the resale shop, while I was there!
30. Oh, dear, an unopened bottle of expired aspirin. When will this clutter headache end?
31. Gone with a bang: the other half of the box of Christmas crackers!

And, welcome to 2009 -

January 1: From the turn of the century, seriously: "Happy New Year!" paper napkins, three meals' worth, used and gone, baby, gone!

My new year's resolution continues to be - use, reuse, donate; reduce, refuse, and. . . blog! Happy 2009 to us all!

Love, LD

I can see clearly now. . . too!

A package of clear page protectors

Like, 250 of 'em! Gone without a second glance to a fine new home, our church's choir - who will be singing their praises, even as I hum a happy tune, having made a little more room on our stationery shelf!

xo, LD

I can see clearly now. . .

A roll of clear laminating plastic

Many autumns ago, it was a ritual to find the most astonishing fallen leaves and encase them for posterity between two sheets of adhesive-backed clear plastic. Now, I guess it's time to pass along the fun - and so this bargain-priced, jumbo-sized, long-dormant roll is on its way to some young crafters. (P.S. We still have a couple yards left. . . just in case. . . shh!)

xo, LD

Ten Things. . .

Thursday, Friday, Saturday - Saturday (phew!)
Something for every finger on my two hands!

Here goes: what went, when!

Thursday - a very pretty mug that was just not my style gets to take a journey to a new home.

Friday - gone: a "gift with purchase" that ended up being a dust-gatherer instead of a treat (a metal "word sculpture" that says, somewhat ironically: Give Thanks).

Saturday - a tea light candle holder centerpiece thingy that I always envisioned gracing our dinner table, admired by murmuring guests as we quaffed champagne and spoke deep thoughts over a catered meal - no, no, no, no. . . ! (For one thing, to complete this elegant picture accurately, the candles would have to be tapers, held aloft by a number of glittering silver candleabra. You know, like at a princess' dinner table! And butlers. There'd be, like, a dozen butlers. Ah, fantasy!)

Sunday - a fill-in-the-date weekly calendar - easy to pass along, since I already have another, and if I really, really need another calendar, all I'll have to do is wait for the new year's junk mail to be delivered.

Monday - I'm giving away audio books, and I sure hope there are still people out there with cassette players!

Tuesday - More paperback novels are on their way to new homes. Read 'em and pass 'em along!

Wednesday - I purchased these flimsy plastic goblets in a moment of pre-party panic, when I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the drinking/glasses ratio.

Thursday - Icky sticky tape, too tacky to work properly: begone! Who needs the hassle?

Friday - Ditto for the dried-up glue sticks.

Saturday -And so, too, sadly, for the broken crayons of my children's youth. Sure, I know you can melt them in muffin tins, in a slow oven, to make wacky multicolored crayon patties. Or use them to add color to make-it-yourself candles. Or whatever. No, thank you - really! - been there, done that!

xo, Linda

Who am I? Where am I going?

Compasses

Doesn't everyone have three compasses in the same drawer that they keep pens and pencils?

Well, since I now know that the only correct direction to go is "the way of less," I've given away two of them. I have to keep one, though, to help me remember not to get lost in my stuff!

xo, LD

Two Skeins Less

Yarn

Baa, baa, black sheep, yep, I do have wool, even though I don't knit. Back in their elementary school years, seems like the boys always had a need for bits of yarn, ribbon, and string. Not so often, any more. So, into the wonderful, bottomless High School Yard Sale Box go two barely-used skeins of yarn - one, a kind of denim color, and another, black with Halloween-like metallic threads. I hope someone will be happy to discover them, perhaps for their own grade-schoolers' crafts.

xo, LD

Rain-postponed yard sale = more decluttering opportunities for moi

Wednesday - Monday
Scrapbooking albums, decorative flower pot, never-opened model paints, birthday party balloons, random picture frames, CD/Cassette player

Five more days of schtuff for the big box o' high school yard sale items!

Wednesday: A pair of decade-old scrapbooking albums that never did receive any attention at all. I'm tired of being nagged at by these unused acid-free fiends. (What evil mind invented scrapbooking, and why? The same one who introduced the concepts of "some day," and "You really should immortalize all you love, while proving how clever you are!" ?!)

Thursday: Are the flower pots reproducing down there in the basement? Because I don't remember buying this, or receiving it, and I don't really like it. But I'm sure it must be pretty to someone - especially, for the right price!

Friday: Somebody in our house must have bought these paints, for some project, at some point in time (I'm guessing, of course, that it was me!). The moment has passed, I fear. They remain unopened, untouched, and still fresh - perfect for someone else to use!

Saturday: Busted! A packet of "Happy 1st Birthday" balloons, laying (lying?) limply, uninflated but still flexible. . . ready for helium or hot air, in celebration of another infant, or - with scrawled-on additional digits, any other -1- age combo. Nobody here will be involved with any form of "1" birthday for at least two more years. . . so fly away!

Sunday: So many empty picture frames (sigh!). I'll release them back into the wild. The wild world of yard sales, that is.

And a bonus!
Monday: I was chatting the other day with a young mom who's about to take on teaching a music class to small children, and she was wishing she had a cassette player. Ha! Your wish is my command! 'Cause just last week, I was looking at a stray player hanging around in our basement, thinking, "This has got to get out of here. I wonder if anybody I know can use it?" Love it! Hugs all around!

xo, LD