Arc pick-up

I was hoping to have collected more things for the Arc pick-up last week, but I didn't get that far. Although, I realize now that there are clothes upstairs that should have been added to the box.

Anyway, there was a box of baby socks, a snow globe, some kid clothes, etc. I estimated the count at 63 items. YAY!

In the use-it-or-lose-it category, I'm working on dresses, using fabric and patterns that I've bought and set aside.

Well before Halloween!

I hadn't updated my totals yesterday, because it was a post-and-run. The weekend collection brings me over my goal!

So... I need a new goal. Here, this is what I really need to do. I need to give away a BUNCH of clothes. My clothes, Digital's clothes, the kids' clothes- and those are the hardest.

I'm not sure how to measure this, though. Per item? Per box? By weight? I think I can set a goal of 100 items and not be reaching too far beyond my abilities.

Beyond that, I hope I can reach 1,000 by Halloween.

Labor day weekend

What a treat! My in-laws were headed to Kansas City for Labor Day weekend, and I was inspired to ask if they wanted to take the kids, too. They did!
So, my two older girls left Friday at noon, and I didn't see them again until Wednesday morning!
We had the littlest, and THREE WHOLE DAYS without work. Man, that was nice.
I had a list a mile long of things to do while they were gone. Then I came to my senses. heh.
Mostly, we cleaned the garage and the playroom. We also went shopping and played games on the Wii.
The garage- I wish I had before and after pictures! Basically, we have a three car garage, and only two cars. The last bay was holding a few remaining moving boxes, a table we had moved out of the house, stacks of newspapers, but worst of all, toys, papers, clothes and trash that get thrown out of the van and into the mess.
I picked up a whole basket's worth of clothes, threw out SO many boxes and collapsed and kept much more. Oh! I did take video of the pile of trash on trash day. I'll get after Digital to get that done.
I sorted toys out, combined several boxes of stuff into one (to be gone through later). Digital sorted his tools, used a few to fix the van, and we moved the table into the corner to actually be useful.
We threw out two good dishpack boxes (I KNOW! but what could I do?), full of newspaper and packing peanuts. We threw out a good four or five boxes that were packaging for stuff, one full of over 100 items of trash. We moved an unused trash can into the house. I packed up a bunch of things to give to Arc. Of those, a lamp that's never been used, and a snowglobe that our oldest daughter received as a birthday present, and wasn't ever opened. That caused a bit of discussion between us, but the rules stand: it held no sentimental value, it wasn't being used, etc.
And we swept out all kinds of dirt, tumbleweed and brake dust. The garage looks *good* and I still stop in surprise when I walk out.
We're certainly not done yet. One thing we didn't tackle was the pile of newspapers. With any luck, I'll get that done tonight and they'll be out for pick-up tomorrow. There's more, but it all takes time.

I haven't even started on the playroom! Long story short, I got rid of 110 trashy toys, old papers and other trash. The good toys got put away, and so far the kids have been good about returning items to their boxes, and back up on the shelves.

A hard day's work

The house was fairly presentable for the party today, thank goodness. Every time the house looks this nice, I hope to keep it this way. But, inevitably, health problems get out of hand, and it all falls apart again.

I'm so cheerful today!

It was a crazy, wild, noisy party. The kids were sent home, the grandparents are gone, our own little ones (we didn't successfully give any away) are in bed. I'm beat. What do I do?

Purge the "important papers" box, of course. ??!!

It all started like this. I was lounging on the couch, watching Digital play a word game. I couldn't quite see the letters, which meant I was entirely unhelpful when I yelled, "QUAKE!" The E was actually a K. I've been thinking about getting new glasses, but I need to find my prescription first. (This is where Digital reminds me that I could just go... get a check-up?) The Rx might be in the important papers box.

One hour later, I have sorted through the whole thing. I did not find my Rx. I did find...

*old sermon notes
*user manuals to VCRs that are long gone
*energy guide and receipt for our washer/dryer
*insurance packets from our first house/rental
*student welcome packet for Digital's semester of grad school


Lots of other interesting things, too. Some that were meant to be there.

I'll take a stab at the focus challenge, although there's probably a new one for August.
C- credit cards, long expired
L- life insurance quote
U- university mail
T-
T-
E- energy rating for the clothes washer
R- receipts for computer memory

No T, yet.

I actually counted the pile tonight. The number is a bit skewed, I think, because I took things out of the envelopes as I was sorting. This means that it got counted separately as I finished up. I'm okay with that.

The final total?

105.

Thank you, thankyouverymuch.

Bummed

I'm feeling pretty down today, and my go-to ear is a bit stressed, himself.
Dancing Queen's 6th birthday is tomorrow. We have at least three kids coming for a party.

The house, no surprise, is a mess. It's 10am, I've eaten breakfast, showered, and addressed several crises. I have a big list of things to do, and I feel like there's no possible way to get it done. It's an easy enough list, with basic stuff on it- vacuum, do the dishes... things that I'd be doing, anyway.

But when the baby pushes the gate down and interrupts your shower, and when you find the litter box in the middle of the almost-clean room, it's discouraging.

I have to start somewhere, of course. I think things will turn around soon. I just need to get going. I'm starting with the sweeping.

Bonus, there's a lot of throwing-away going on this week. Yesterday, I threw away lots of coupons from the counter (some expired in April!) and a whole 13 gallon bag of stuff from the basement.

Earlier this week, I sorted the pile on the dresser. You know when things have been sitting there for over a year, you likely don't need them. :-P Well, we did need some of it, like the very important document I found, but a large portion of it is gone now.

I'm counting 55 toward those purges. I've also dropped the day count. It's just not working for me.

The kryptonite seems to be the stuff that's not trash, but turns into trash by use. How do you tackle that?

I've been tagged!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, summer of '98. I was working for the church, giving tours of historic buildings. I had met a guy I thought I could marry. We ended up not getting married, but I married his statistics tutor!

Five things on your to do list
Make invitations and mail them
Plan a birthday party
Learn how to make frosting roses
Clean the house
Pay bills

What snacks do you like?
*popcorn, made from kernels in the microwave at home.
*chocolate, preferably dark
*ice cream, usually with brownies
*trail mix- the 'indulgent' kind from Wal-Mart. I make my own and leave out the almonds and white chocolate chips.


What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I would... get debt free, build our own home in the country with a fabulous mountain view, travel to Europe, donate a bunch to charity. Some of it would go to church and humanitarian efforts, some would go to finding a cure for diabetes and JRA.

Three bad habits
*not throwing away items
*late library books
*Digital says that I'm bad about follow-through

Five places you have lived
Illinois, various places
Cleveland, OH
Laramie, WY
Tampa, FL
Colorado, various places

Five jobs you’ve had
I don't know if I've had five jobs total!
'utility clerk' (grocery bagger)
tour guide
admin assistant
data entry clerk
deli clerk
Look, I have had five jobs.

How did you name your blog?
I wanted to emphasize the food take-out habit, but in reverse. Take more stuff OUT of my home than what I bring in. Right now, I am so fed up with all of our stuff that I may get rolling soon and really give away a bunch.

Success!

Look at that. My total is over 365. At least I made it that far! By no means does that mean I'm done, but it's a milestone, for sure.

I want to hit 730 before Halloween. Would you keep tabs on me? Then you can celebrate with me when that happens.

Get moving already!

Already today, I've done a 27 fling boogie. Most of it were craft scraps, baby wipes and kleenexes. NotMe has been to our house, I suppose.

I hope to have more to post later today. Errands seem to make it really hard for me to get work done, because I have to focus on it. That leaves little energy for cleaning.

There are a lot of things that get thrown away every day, of course, and I've not felt the need to report on those. But I do have to mention that I cleaned up two boxes of cereal dumped on the floor. A lot of it got thrown away, but I salvaged what I could. All in a day's work, right?

The bedroom, soon to be a getaway.

I will admit, I think the nature of the bedroom has gotten much better. I used to stuff random things in the bedroom when company was coming. This hasn't really happened in our new home. To me, that's progress!
But, living life leaves messes, too. I cleaned up the bedroom months ago, sometime since Christmas. It's gotten cluttered again. Like a Warm Cup of Coffee is working a 31-day challenge. I was on top of it until it came to doctor appointments and going on vacation. I left off somewhere around "cleaning your bedroom."

All that to say (gee, I'm long-winded) that I cleaned up most of the bedroom again on Tuesday. All it takes is about three minutes of "How Clean is Your House" for me to get moving again. ICK.

Most of the mess was toys and blankets, but I did take out a grocery bag's worth of trash and some newspapers. I'll count 25 items toward that ever-growing total.

A little linky-love, an update and more STUFF!

My goodness, I've gone on nearly a month without a post. We've been to see the doctors in Denver three times, we drove to KC then to Illinois to see family and attend a wedding.

That brings me to one of my clutter-busters. There have been a couple of little birds in my ear about having too much stuff.
Meredith at Like Merchant Ships commented on how packing everything means there's not much left. I also love the link she (and Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer) posted about getting down to 100 things. If you don't need it on a long trip, do you need it at all?
Not to mention, Jeana at Days to Come went to London for several weeks! I think she's gained a lot of lessons from it, and she's spreading it on to me. Jeana, it was such a short post, but it had a BIG impact on me.

So, when we got back from the wedding, all of our toiletries were in a carry-on sized bag. Since this was for a wedding, I really did take nearly everything. I decided to take a look at my bathroom shelves and purge everything possible. I was BRUTAL. My husband and my sister will attest to how many medicines and bottles and vitamins and soaps and shampoos I've collected.
Now I only have one problem- how do I get rid of barely used shower gel and vitamins? I can't bear to throw them away... at least, not without a strong admonition from the internets.
They're still filed away in a corner of the shelves, still cluttering up, but I'm ready for them to go, as soon as I figure out how.
Oh- I should say I DID throw away quite a lot. This is the stuff too "good" to throw away.

Now, I know I should do the same with the clothes. Honestly, we just have SO many, it's too hard a task to tackle. This needs to be a priority in the near future.

****************
Yesterday, a friend was looking for a particular used homeschool curriculum. I knew there was a flyer in a bag of freebies- from a HS conference IN MARCH! Ugh, sometimes I'm disgusted with myself.
So, I picked up the bag, sorted through it, found the flyer, looked for the website, and three almost all of the rest AWAY!

I am FREE! Why didn't I do this three or four months ago?

I threw out... maybe twenty flyers, and probably fifteen misc bathroom items. Add 35 to the count!

Confession

I am one of those people who buys containers, fills them up, and forgets about them. I hate this, but it happens.

Today, I sorted through a container of 'stuff' that had homes, but hadn't seen them in a long time. That's the trouble with crash-cleaning. You burn out by the end, and can't deal with the piles left. Eventually the piles get put together again, and... the cycle continues.

SO! I didn't throw away much, but lots of stuff found homes. Band-aids, hair ties, pliers, sewing items... yuck.

No count increase today, but a huge success for clutter.

Tally Thursday?

(How dumb is it that you can post a totally empty window?)

Where did the week go?
94 e-mail
two bags candy
forty misc items
library books
more trash
newspapers
gift basket

Cheaters never prosper

Never? What a bummer. I deleted 94 e-mails today, all from ebay. That puts my count over 200, not to mention nearly 300 now.

Also, I pulled a box of junk out of the pantry and sorted it. I put old bills away, threw away some old cards, found pictures and curtain hangers, post-it notes and an ornament. I wouldn't even know how much I threw away. A quick estimate would be around forty.

I threw away ANOTHER two bags of candy. (You'd think my family would find all of this and eat it. Apparently, hiding things in the open is effective.)

I guess that makes my count over 300 now, too. This feels like prosperity to me!

book nook no more!

The closest I came today to throwing anything out was taking back my library books. You know when you get a BILL from the library, it's time.

Nothing fancy

But, I did throw away a bag full of trash, found in the living room. Two points (mental, though they may be) for half of it being the packaging from underclothes bought this week, washed yesterday. That trash isn't going to haunt me for months! Yippee!

It's warm and sunny

What should I do? Oh, yeah! Clean out the garage and get rid of the winter's build up of "throw it in there and run away." heh
I don't feel like I made a big dent in there today. I know it sounds strange, but I had over thirty newspapers *still in their bags* sitting around. See, the major paper in the area has been delivering to us, without a subscription. I should just call them and tell them to quit, but then I'll be on THE LIST. They'll call incessently, I promise. I'd rather stay off the radar. (Sorry for that rant.) We bring the paper in every day (and throw it in a pile in the garage), so that we don't look abandoned. In the meantime, I get free coupons.

So... I stacked up thirty newspapers, saving the coupons. I'm about halfway through the coupons, too.

I also threw away various trash things found while I was cleaning, like old fast food cups. I'll put the total count at 35.

I fear the garage will be the focus for some time to come. Poor you.

Someone will smell pretty

... but it won't be me.

Wait.

Well, I'll smell pretty, but not from the gift basket that I put in Goodwill today. Basket, sponge, and two molded soaps. There was a bottle of perfume, but I threw it away. It was already thick with age.

Monday, by accident

Today's trash holds yesterday's item: a little red plastic chair that Dancing Queen broke over the weekend.
Yesterday, we picked up a dance costume and a kitten! I'm more aware of what's coming in the house now, and whether or not I want it to stay.
Today's items should be easy, because I'm sorting through kids clothes. I'm sure there will be some things going out.

A couple of notes

The coloring books were taken to the homeschool end-of-year sale, and put on the free pile. But, I found another pile just yesterday. *sigh* Maybe they will come in handy during these doctor visits.

By my count, the last day I posted an item on the blog was April 15th. I'm going to add 22 days to the end of my challenge.

Back in the game

Dear Dorothy is not out of the woods yet, but life must go on. I've been trying to mentally get back in the game for a while, and yesterday, I had a small success.

I have looked at my bookshelves previously, trying to weed out books I don't need or want anymore. It is HARD! I've never been able to part with any of them.

So, I was looking at them, and happened to spot a couple I knew I wouldn't need. I grabbed those, spotted some more than I don't want to keep. The bonus was that we had a friend visiting, and I gave her two books, too! YAY!

Once the ball got rolling, it was easy.

Five books to donate, and two books gifted.

Apologies

Sorry for the quiet tone here. It's been a stressful week, because Dorothy has had a cast and after it was removed, her knee was even worse. We've been back and forth to the doctor more than I care to think about.

I have been decluttering, I just haven't been able to post it. So, it won't count toward my total. :( Too bad, really, because I bet I'd be close to 200 by now.

Catching up

Saturday, Dancing Queen and I cleaned out the car. Two grocery bags of trash. Ick.
Sunday, nothing.
Monday.... nothing. *sigh*
Today! Nothing yet. :-P Unless you count the garbage, but it goes out every week.

I was under strict orders to take a nap this afternoon (rough night), so I'm a bit behind schedule. It's getting harder to find something because I have to sort through a box or drawer or something. Granted, I should be doing that anyway, but... oh, well.

Color my world

Today's take-out is a stack of coloring books. We still have plenty, but this will pare down the collection quite nicely.

I just counted- TWELVE coloring books! Amazing. I'm thinking these would be nice for a children's ward, but I'll have to research where the closest one is located. For now, they go in the Arc box, where they will be donated if I don't find a better place.

Slow day

I went through a small box in the bedroom today. Honestly, I picked up the box contents from the floor because the Tree Fairy dumped it all out the other day. *ahem*

Anyway, there was some minor things in there that needed to be thrown away. I also snipped the tags off of clothes that I bought last month. They're all for next fall, so I'll put them away and wash them next season.

100 PLUS!

YAY! The sidebar says I've cleared the house of 114 items. I can't wait to hit 200. :)

As I said, last night I told my husband about this project. Also, because we are a very open couple with each other, I showed him every last item going out to the curb tomorrow. We had a good discussion about the things I'm giving away, and why we don't need them. I wasn't surprised, he wanted to keep a few of the things I had put away.

Now, I know this goes against flylady ideals. We're not supposed to look again, we're supposed to get rid of things quickly. I just can't do that. My marriage to Digital is such that we are 100% supportive to each other in everything. Yet, he has a clutter problem, too. For me, this seems to be the best way to achieve my goal and respect his needs as well.

Anyway, he did talk me into keeping one thing. It's a little one-piece suit that my beloved grandmother bought for my first daughter. Honestly, it's quite boyish, and I never wanted to put it on my girls. But, I've hoped that we'd have a boy, and if we do, I want to honor my grandmother's memory by putting on him.

All that typed out, it sounds silly. It may end up in the ARC box eventually. Maybe even tomorrow.

Second wind

You know that extra energy you get when you've been up too late? Last night, I inventoried the things I'm giving to ARC, and then went searching for non-perishables to also give to the VOA. ARC is picking up for both of them.

Well, looking through my pantry gave me some inspiration to clean out my spice cabinet. Let me tell you, the spice cabinet is almost as big as the medicine cabinet. I have a LOT.

Well, quite a bit less after last night. I found a bunch of expired stuff. Now, flylady had assigned this last week, and I blew it off. HA! I use my spices SO often, I'm sure I don't have anything that's expired.

Right.

I threw away:
three gravy/spice packets
six packets of parmasean cheese (like, from the pizza delivery box)
a whole, unopened box of pectin
2 containers of ground mustard
a cream of tartar bottle
powdered butter, which is about three years old
a bottle of nutmeg
and a hot salt sample, which we will never use

I also found a bunch of items that VOA will be happy to pass onto someone else. I didn't inventory those, but I should. There were nine items, including frosting and asian salad dressing.

I went 'public' with this goal last night- more about that later.

Just a bit

There's not much interesting to report today, just a few more socks I found as I do some laundry. I did empty out the other laundry basket, which produced a few of them. Some were matched up and put away, the others were thrown out (maybe five of them).

Now I have a pile of out-grown clothes that need to be boxed up into sizes. I hate that job. Fortunately for you, that's not the topic of the blog. ;)

Kitchen finds

While cleaning up today, I put two baby feeders in the arc box, and threw away a lid that's supposed to fit a travel mug, but doesn't. I also rinsed out a soap bottle at the kitchen sink that's empty, but hasn't found it's own way out the door.

Yesterday, I rescued an empty bottle from the shower and pulled another one out because I don't care for it.

So, I have some trash, some things for arc, some recycling, AND a few things to give to the homeless program when it comes back to my church. That's called Interfaith Hospitality Network, aka IHN for those of you following tags.

Keep moving!

Five pair of shoes to Arc. My own, although I'd like to pitch a pair of Digital's, too. We talked about it on Saturday, I think he'll throw them out soon, himself.
There are some baby shoes I *should* add to the pile, but it's so hard! If I can figure out how to decide what to keep and what to throw away, I'll do it. Any suggestions?

How much? This much.

Folks (all two of you), how much do I need this project? I can't find the camera. heh. It's lost somewhere, either in the house or the car. Easy, isn't it? ;)

So, um... if I had the camera, I'd take a picture of the socks Digital and I sorted last night. Once upon a time, we were newly pregnant with the Dancing Queen. Some friends of ours were done having kids, and they gave us a few boxes of stuff. Blankets, clothes, even a car seat (these were the days before there were expiration dates and we didn't know any better.) There were a bunch of socks. Being the fabulous housekeeper I am (SHUT UP), I used them until they fell apart.

NOT. I used them, lost them, bought more for myself. Lost those. Bought more. Now we're drowning in socks.

I had a box of matched socks, a box of unmatched socks, and a sock mixer. No really. I had the first two boxes, plus a basket that was half full of socks, plus random clothes that were mostly "keep here until I reorganize the sizes."

So, we matched. Digital and I were surprised at the number of matches that were made. We ended up with only a couple of handfuls of unmatched socks. Of those that I didn't like, I threw away (ten, I'd say). The ones that I knew had matches (in the laundry, for instance) got set aside. I WILL work those out or throw them away, I promise.

The matches socks were sorted into "useful" and "so strange I've never used them." The last group (about twenty pair) is going to Arc, which I DO feel bad about- but I think there's got to be someone out there who really needs them, no matter how weird or ugly.

But, that was yesterday! I have to find something else today. Man, this is not easy.

Progress, not perfection

*hangs head in shame* I did not throw anything away yesterday. I have been finding things as I wander around the house, and yesterday, I just didn't notice anything specific.

But, there's a phrase to help me out. "Progress, not perfection." It is a reminder that the whole project is not a failure if I've dropped a day. It's the project as a whole that matters, and this will NOT get me down!

Today is another day. I pick up, start again, and keep going. A year from now, I will still be better off, and that's what matters.

So, today's items are fabulous. I cleaned out the fridge. You DO NOT want to know what was in there. We won't be counting them in my handy-dandy counter over there.

I poked around in the pantry and found... a diaper wipe lid. Oooh, now I remember why I was keeping it- I have medicines in the container a few shelves higher. No matter, I'm sure it will be functional without the lid.

I also found a set of candles that weren't being displayed. I set them up on a bookshelf (usefulness, SCORE!) and THREW AWAY THE BOX.

Yes, you too can free yourself. You will survive if you don't have the specialized wrapping for your doodads. (Now, granted, I keep the ones that are highly specialized.) Your doodads will survive without their boxes. I hear newspaper works well. (Just don't keep the newspaper for wrapping EITHER.)

Not to mention, you have to find a place to store it! Who wants to do that? Then, if you happen to find a good place (admit it, it's thrown in a corner somewhere), you still have to LOOK at it, and it's taking up *empty space*. You could be enjoying that space! You could use it for something that NEEDS to be saved.

Give it a hug... take a picture if you must, and THROW IT OUT.

Randomly...

I've been tagged by my friend Suz at 365 Days of Decluttering. Here are the rules for this tag.

1. Link to the person that tagged you and leave a comment on their blog, so that their readers can visit yours. (Her name is linked above).
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 random people at the bottom of your post, linking to their blog. Let each person know by leaving a comment on their blog.

Alright, you get just the random facts:
1. I have never had a cast. Dorothy got one yesterday. :(
2. I performed as a clown in college. After seven years vacation, I'll be reappearing at church on Sunday.
3. I didn't think I liked steak. I didn't know there was a good way to make it. Now I grill/broil it, and love it!
4. My favorite cookie is oatmeal butterscotch.
5. I've participated in a deaf theater production of West Side Story.
6. I haven't bought a new dress in three years. (skirts, yes. dresses, no)
7. I collect antiques. That seems strange, given the purpose of this blog!

Coincidence!

Today, I got a call from my favorite thrift store, Arc, asking if they could *pick up* my donations!

I've never been called by them before, I hadn't given them my information. Thanks to the 365 day challenge, I could answer with a resounding YES!

Now here's the trick. They aren't coming until the 17th, and I told them I wouldn't have more than 21 boxes. I have 13 days left, and already a few boxes. What to do?!

Germs welcome.

Not much today, just a bottle of Bactin that expired last year. This is another thing I will have to replace, though.

I think I should start another tag for this. "Replace me" sounds good.

Monday

Candy! There is so much uneaten candy in this house, there is NO excuse for the shape of my thighs.
On Monday, I threw out a handful of mini milky ways, a box of peanut brittle from... (two Christmases ago!) and a bag of candy apples. Probably from the Halloween before that.

Good grief.

bathtime clutter

Six bath toy animals. A frog, a turtle, a starfish, and fish. I should say, I've replaced them with three new ones. These are going in the trash because they're gross.

That was yesterday's stuff. Today is yet undecided, but the day isn't over yet!

More baby stuff

Don't even say it. ;)

There was more clutter on the changing table, so it's going out tonight.

I have two expired bottles of meds- infant tylenol and infant tylenol cold/cough.
A cracker. :-P
three dried out markers
A half of the ball and the rattle for a cat toy.
a string
a puffy care bear sticker
a pen
a beaded necklace that I used for a nursing necklace. It broke, at some point.
a receipt
a twist tie


Also going out tonight is a paperback Pooh book that's finally bit the dust. It had a missing page and a missing cover, but now it's in half.

I think I'll keep the pen, probably give the necklace to arc, and throw away the rest.

Cup Chaos

This is crazy. After three kids, we've collected a good amount of sippy cups. I have found brands I prefer as well as brands that ALWAYS leak!
So, I got down the box where I stash spare cups and sorted them out. There were bonus snack cups, too. I kept three snack cups, got rid of the sippies with valves I hated, bottles I haven't *ever* used, etc. I still had a few left, but I'm okay with that, for now.

Off to Goodwill!

changes, and a 'thing'

I added a link to Suz's blog, whose efforts at a forum I visit started the whole movement. Yes, there are more people that are committed to this challenge. I'm not sure how many, though.

Today's declutter item is a "thing." I can't quite define it more than that. It was a flower-picture-frame-bear-stand. This thing came into my house when the Tree Fairy was born (update: I remember that there was a bag of candy on the bottom, too!). I've never put a picture in it, it just sits on her changing table and does nothing. NOT ANYMORE!
I have taken a picture, and I'll post it when I find the cord. (Digital, I need a card reader!)

I admit, the tree fairy wanted the bear, so I cut it out, as much as I could. It (not HE, it doesn't have feelings!) was stuck to one of the posts. She played with it for all of ten seconds, and dropped it. Just now, I stuck it in my lap to throw it away, and she came looking for it! Aaaahhhh. It will all go in the trash, very soon.

Cassette tapes

Today I'm going to get rid of the cassette tapes I have left and get rid of the ones I wouldn't buy on iTunes. I'm fairly picky about what I buy, so I figure if it wouldn't be worth the 99 cents to have a digital version, it's not worth keeping.

I'll be back later to update which tapes I culled.

Update:
One totally BLANK tape!
Two tapes with the "One Fine Day" soundtrack on them???
Mariah Carey, Music Box
Carmen, The Standard
Steve Camp, Taking Heaven by Storm
Steve Green, Where Mercy Begins
and last, but not least,
an autographed copy of an album by Grant Goodeve.

I'll admit to the Mariah Carey and Carmen tapes. The two Steves came from a Christmas when I put "Steven Curtis Chapman" on my wish list, and these guys were close enough, I guess.
I saw Grant Goodeve in concert as a teenager, and I think the excitement of going to a concert overwhelmed me. ;)

It's going out to the give away box in the garage (I do keep a running collection, but it's officially daily, now). The box goes to the local ARC.

Robin's egg party favor

The first official day was April first. So, yesterday I threw out a party favor from a baby shower in 2006! It was a lovely blue robin's egg, in a 'nest' and wrapped up in a bag of tulle. It really was pretty, but it had no use or place in my home. Out it went!

Welcome!

This is my house take-out. Like take-out food, but in reverse. I have joined a 365-day declutter challenge, and I wanted to record it somewhere.
Hopefully every day, for the next year, I will be throwing or giving something away, making my house a happier haven for myself and my family. With any luck, you'll get some pictures, too.

Speaking of my family, I have a wonderful husband, Digital (for his love of all things computer-related), and three children: Dancing Queen (5- always moving), Dorothy of Oz (3- she's going to be Dorothy when she grows up), and Tree Fairy (16mo- who loves the outdoors and will climb anything she finds).