Where's the utility in utility room?

Have you ever noticed how a mess you see every day can become invisible? I walk through my utility room 472 times a day and fail to notice what a disaster the lone shelf is. My utility room is tiny and has almost no storage space, so the one cabinet is loaded with "stuff" just waiting to be purged. So here goes:

• 2 bottles of Tide Mountain Spring detergent. One 50-ounce (almost empty), one 75- ounce (brand new).


• a 77-ounce bottle of Downy Mountain Spring and a 34-0unce Downy refill carton.


• an empty bottle of Scott's Liquid Gold


• a bottle of Old English Furniture Polish (moisturizes and protects)


• 2 boxes of Swiffer Wet Jet pads


• 2 dog brushes


• 5 peat pots


• 1 package of zinnia seeds


• a flashlight


• a hammer


• a screwdriver (not the one with orange juice and vodka)


• a pink dog leash


• 5 pair gardening gloves


• 4 static dusters


• 2 socks without mates


• a mitten without mate


• a rain gauge


• a half consumed rawhide dog chew


• a partial package of lime basil seeds


• a phillips-head screwdriver


• a tape measure


• a roll of electrical tape


• a rubber brush that is suppose to remove pet hair from upholstery (but doesn't)


• a ziplock bag of clothespins


• a gift bag from the Cleveland Botanical Gardens containing 12 sample size containers of various laundry products


• a box of Swiffer dusters


• a 1.40 gallon container of 409 cleaner


• a K-Mart plastic bag containing every mouse catching apperatus known to man (funny story: there was once a mouse in my house and out of desperation and fear I went to K-Mart at 3:00 in the morning to find something that would "take care of it.'" I ended up spending a small fortune on everything available on the rodent aisle. Mouse met its demise by trying to walk across a glue trap. My apologies to PETA, but I cannot abide a mouse in the house.)


• a 12-inch plastic tray for under a potted plant


• a box of Swiffer Sweeper refills


• 2 unopened rolls of paper towels


• a steam iron - still in the box


• a stack of old towels (7) to be used for rags


• a one gallon jug of Windex


• a 128-ounce jug of Bissell carpet cleaning solution

Whoa, this project turned out to be more of a relocation than a purge.

• laundry products stay - I vow to use the sample products next so as to get rid of them.


• empty Liquid Gold container - TRASH


• furniture polish - under kitchen sink with other cleaning products


• all Swiffer products stay


• dog brushes and leash put away with other dog "stuff"


• all gardening paraphernalia moved to potting shed


• flashlight stays - I actually use it quite often when I'm grilling in the dark


• all tools and electrical tape put in tool box


• 3 of 4 static dusters stay - the 4th TRASHED


• I reunited socks and mitten with mates (they were happy)


• half eaten rawhide dog chew - TRASH


• false promises upholstery cleaning brush with cleaning supplies


• clothes pins stay


• all large jugs of cleaning products relocated to cabinet under sink in guest bathroom


• with the exception of one glue trap and one spring trap (in case of future emergencies and to save me another 3 a.m. trip to K-Mart) all mouse hunting supplies going to lake house where the likelihood of need is much greater


• plastic plant tray employed - I've been looking for that


• paper towels moved to pantry


• Iron moved to linen closet where I keep ironing board and other iron - who knows when I might need a replacement?


• towels/rags get to stay until my dogs learn to wipe their feet before they come into the house

So...I only threw away three things, but the cabinet is clean. Perhaps it will no longer be invisible to me.

Sock-It-To-Me 1-30-09

The next logical step on my house-purging expedition, following the cleaning out of the workout clothes drawers, would be my athletic sock drawer.

(Apologies to those of you who want to click on the red X in the upper right hand corner about now.)

Once I embarked on my 1/2-marathon training insanity, I discovered I needed special socks. All of my original athletic socks were 100% cotton. My running socks, however, are some heinous man-made blend that allegedly helps me avoid blisters. So now I have twice as many athletic socks as any sane person should ever admit to owning.

100% cotton low-cut socks - 24 pair plus one stray
100% cotton crew-socks - 8 pair
poly-something blend running socks - 13 pair

This was not really a difficult purge. I tossed:

8.5 pair of cotton low-cut socks
5 pair of cotton crew-socks
I kept all of the running socks - whatever they are made of doesn't seem to wear out

So, thank you for tolerating a sock blog. Hold on to your hats... tomorrow I may clean out the Tupperware Cabinet!

Olympic Hopeful 1-29-09

I certainly don't want to give anyone the wrong idea - I am NOT an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do possess an inordinate amount of workout clothes. Several dresser drawers bulging with gym clothes attest to my experimental philosophy when it comes to exercise. I have joined/quit almost every gym in my town. I have tried running (once I even attempted to train for a half marathon until my knees protested), I've tried Jazzercise, I've tried Tai Chi, even a stint at the YWCA pool for deep water running (explains ski belts from 1/20/09 blog). I've worked out with Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons and Billy Blanks. I've done crunches, step aerobics, and Pilates, and I have the clothes to prove it. This is what I pulled out of three drawers today:

• 9 sports bras
• 5 pair running shorts
• 2 pair of those tight knit shorts you wear under shorts (never knew what they are called)
• 6 pair Capri-length exercise pants
• 2 pair full- length exercise pants
• 1 pair leggings
• 2 pair sweat pants
• 1 sweat shirt
• 3 tank tops
• 3 short sleeve tops (that match 3 pair of the Capri pants)
• 2 short sleeve moisture wicking tees
• 4 long sleeve moisture wicking tees
• 3 pair yoga pants
• 8 bandannas

I bet people train for the Olympics with less athletic gear than this! So, what got tossed?

• 4 bandannas
• 1 pair Capri pants
• 2 sports bras (faulty elastic)
• 1 pair sweat pants
• 1 sweat shirt
• 2 tank tops
• 2 pair running shorts

I realize this is not much of a purge, but I haven't entirely given up my Olympic dreams. I wonder what one wears to train for that ribbon swooshing event?

Hurricane (Katrina) 1-28-09

Now that the top of my refrigerator is clean (see blog dated 1/26/09) I discovered cabinets I forgot were over the top of the fridge. So, house cleaning/purging opportunity for today: clean out forgotten cabinets.



Before I go any further with this entry perhaps I should give a disclaimer for this or any subsequent, or past, Wednesday entries. Wednesday is the day of my weekly family dinner at the home of Big Red, my almost (1 month from today) 102 year old grandmother. We call our weekly dinner Wednesday Winers, because we mostly drink wine, eating dinner is secondary. Just thought you should know.



So, the cabinet over the fridge has been hidden from view for God only knows how long. I opened the doors and discovered:

• A Tab glass - remember those? Hour glass shaped with TaB written in yellow lettering? I am SO keeping that!


• A University of Utah beer mug. The only person in my family to ever attend U of U is daughter #1. She attended one summer for debate camp when she was all of 15 or 16 years old - hmmmm? Better check with her before getting rid of the mug.


• An airpot thermos. I will probably keep, in spite of previous bad experience with an air pot thermos at a Texas Tech University homecoming football game in the late 70's. Who knows when I might need this and I certainly have an out-of-the-way storage place now.


• 4 wicker baskets that went with chili bowls I no longer own. Trash!


• 3 tumblers and 3 on-the-rocks glasses in a teal blue speckle pattern with chicken motif from the 80's when country was all the rage. Why, oh, why did I save these? Why, oh, why did I purchase them in the first place? Trash!


• 4 Pat O'Brien's hurricane glasses - souvenirs of trips to New Orleans. Apparently it took two trips to realize I didn't need to bring home the souvenir glasses. I do have wonderful memories of our annual trips to New Orleans for my husband's birthdays. Sadly, we have not been back since Katrina - which makes tossing the hurricane glasses bittersweet and somewhat ironic.


• And the final thing in the cabinet is the box the air pot thermos or "Pump Pot" came in. Target price $9.99. I wonder what it would cost today.

So the upside to this is I now have additional storage space for more stuff. Should the bread machine work (see blog dated (1/26/09), it may have found a home.

The Gift of the Magi, I mean, the postman 1-27-09

I am not up for a major cleaning/purging project today - it is too cold; I just want to pour a glass of wine and snuggle in for the evening. But, I am committed to this blog so I elected to clean out the beautiful wooden bowl that serves as my Christmas card receptacle every December. The bowl was a wedding present to my parents in 1956. My mother used it every December to hold her Christmas cards for as long as I can remember. When I inherited it in 1994, after the deaths of my parents, I employed it for the same purpose.



The joy I felt every year when I returned to my parents' home for Christmas and read all of the Christmas greetings sent to my parents is repeated years later when my daughters return home for the holidays and catch up on our longtime family friends by pulling the cards out of the wooden bowl.



I have been remiss the last few years and have not sent Christmas cards. I am amazed and pleased that my friends have not crossed me off of their lists. I must remember, this December, the simple pleasure a Christmas card can bring and resume my annual tradition of sending out Christmas cards.



This year the wooden bowl held 45 cards. A slim count by previous years' standards - but considering the economy and 42-cent postage (and my inconsistency as a Christmas correspondent), not too shabby.



I am not such an insane pack rat that I save Christmas cards*, but I do save the photos. Some will earn a place on my refrigerator door, the rest will be relegated to an antique wicker picnic basket that holds beaucoups of photos from Christmases past.



As I work my way through my house this year, throwing away some things (a lot of things) and donating others, rest assured that no photo will be relinquished. I have to draw the line somewhere, and photos are border-line sacred!



So, send me a Christmas card this year (you might get one in return) and it will have an honored place in the wooden bowl. Any accompanying photos will be cherished. Christmas letters - that's another story.



6 cards from people we do business with

19 cards from friends and family

17 photo-cards, or cards with photos included, from friends and family

3 Christmas letters



* I have referenced my grandmother, Big Red, in previous blogs and insinuated that she is partially responsible for my pack rat tendencies. For years she saved all of her Christmas cards, tore off the side with the colorful artwork, and sent them out the following year as Christmas postcards. Her rationale: The card cost her nothing and the postcard postage was cheaper. She was the original recycler.

National Holiday Proposal 1-26-09

The top of my refrigerator has become a catch-all for the "stuff" I don't know what to do with or that won't fit, because of its enormous bulk, into any of my kitchen cabinets. I usually try to clean it off once a year, at Christmas, when daughter #1's 6-foot 7-inch (or so) father-in-law comes for dinner (He's the only one who can really see the top of the refrigerator.) Noticing it today, it appears that I missed the annual cleaning event this year.

Today is "clean off the top of the refrigerator day" - not a National holiday, yet.

This is what I removed from the top of my refrigerator:

• A General Electric Juice Extractor - I haven't used it in over a year, but today I made a delicious batch of apple-carrot-ginger juice. Who knew there would be such tasty advantages to cleaning house? I found a place for the juicer on the top shelf of the pantry after rearranging some of my other "stuff".
  
• A red enameled 1.5-quart pitcher that once belonged to my mother. It matches my kitchen and it reminds me of her and I use it to water my plants. It will get to stay.


• A Wear-Ever aluminum potato ricer, complete with stand and pestle. (I will confess I had to Google mortar and pestle because I can never remember which is which.) I have never used a ricer. It is a semi-antique I bought at an Estate Sale because my grandmother, Big Red, swears that riced potatoes are better than mashed potatoes. I am keeping this on the outside chance that I might one day use it and it makes a nice decorative statement in the kitchen.


• A box containing my irreplaceable and much used "rabbit" corkscrew. This is a necessity in my house, so of course I'm keeping it. I will, however store it in the cabinet under the wine rack.
  
• A wine bottle lamp I purchased in a moment of weakness at a craft mall. It is a wine bottle with clear Christmas lights on the inside and glass grapes and raffia decorating the outside of the bottle. I have relocated this to the table behind the sofa. I may move it around a bit before I realize it is pretty tacky and get rid of it.


• A zip-lock sandwich bag containing granular humate - 70% humic acid. I'm a gardener, what else can I say? I relocated this to the potting shed (yet another purge project).


• Instruction manual to juicer. I put this with the juicer now residing happily on the top shelf of the pantry.


• A broken plastic fly-swatter. Trash!


• A HUGE stainless steel pot only used for making beer (yes, I have made home brew!), and for Cajun shrimp boils. I stored this in the black depths of the corner cabinet by the dishwasher. I am sure I will forget it is there and will tear up the house looking for it the next time I have a hankering for home brew or Cajun food.


• A bread-machine that may or may not work. The last time I used it the bread didn't turn out well. Was it the fault of the machine or the cook? I am going to bake a loaf of bread tomorrow as a test. Once I sample the freshly baked bread I will determine the fate of the machine (or the fate of the cook?)


• Three writing pens; one working two not. Kept one, tossed two.


• A 1/4-inch of dust. Didn't keep that!

The top of my refrigerator is now clean. Perhaps I should have my daughter's in-laws over soon.

1-25-09 Day of Rest

And on the seventh day I cleaned nothing.

Babes in Toyland 1-24-09

I saved a big project for Saturday. I cleaned out the children's toy closet. I felt it was time; my children are 27 and 22! This project caused me great pain. It was difficult to part with the games, toys, and puzzles I have such fond memories of playing with my children. But, really - what purpose was there in keeping Chutes and Ladders without the little plastic boy and girl playing pieces? I finally convinced myself to get rid of everything missing pieces or that was an unpopular toy with my children (A battery operated game called The Generals in the home of anti-war liberals? What was I thinking?)

Another dilemma to purging the toy closet: I've waited this long to clean it out isn't it stupid to get rid of all this fun stuff when I may be just a few years away from grandchildren? I finally realized, that with just a few exceptions, it would be way more fun to buy new stuff for any future grandchildren. So here's how it went down:

Toss or Donate

• Operation
• View Master 3-D Game
• Lite Brite (daughter #2 stole it from give-away pile before it made its way to Goodwill)
• Scrabble for Juniors
• Tinker Toys
• Lincoln Logs
• Chess
• Shuttlecocks (I don't recall ever playing badminton)
• Tri Ominos
• Multiplication Bingo
• A baseball glove (daughter #1's short lived attempt at t-ball when she was 4 years old)
• The Generals (warmongers that they are)
• Numerous jigsaw puzzles 500 count and under
• Paper dolls
• Nick at Nite Trivia
• Chutes and Ladders
• Candy Land
• Travel Monopoly

What I kept

• Trunk full of My Little Ponies
• Jigsaw puzzles over 500 pieces
• Clue
• Monopoly
• Scrabble
• Trivial Pursuit
• Wooden board puzzles
• Jenga
• Discovery Toys - Gears Go Round and Marble Magic
• Spirograph
• Dominoes
• Chinese Checkers (2 - one wooden board and one antique metal board)
• Memory
• Skip-Bo and Uno
• Scattergories
• Pogs (just because)

The closet, once bursting with toys on all five built-in shelves, is almost empty. The toys that survived the cut all fit nicely on one shelf. How naked it looks. The upside to this is I now have designated space for new toys when the time comes. In the meantime perhaps the dogs would like some new playthings.

The Magic Drawer 1-22-09

My Thursday project was to clean out the drawer by MY CHAIR in the den, the chair where I always sit unless daughter #2 is visiting and she sits there. I imagine she usurps my position because a) it is the most comfortable chair in the house. b) it has the best view of the television. c) it is a subconscious play for power. Another, less likely option, is because of the chair's proximity to "the drawer." "The drawer" appears to be just an ordinary drawer, but on occasion I would swear it has magical properties. Only 3.5-inches tall, 11.5-inches wide, and 15-inches deep; not a large drawer by any standard. What is magical about the drawer is it appears to anticipate the every need of the person occupying the neighboring chair.



"You need gum? Here, have some."

"Broken fingernail? Have a nail file."

"Movie made you cry? Just happen to have a tissue."



What a marvelous, mystical, magical, all-knowing drawer

But, alas, last night I ruined the magic with my insane quest to de-clutter my house; I cleaned out the drawer. I violated the sacred secrets of the drawer. What follows are the magical contents of the drawer:



5 pads of paper (some from National hotel chains)

18 book marks

7 decks of playing cards

1 3 x 5 spiral tablet

6 pads of post-it notes

1 pad of post-it flags

26 writing pens

a cabinet pull from daughter # 2's kitchen

13 pencils

2 buttons

12 rubber bands

1 pair of "cheater-glasses" (magnification 1.00)

1 case for cheater-glasses that aforementioned cheater glasses will not fit into

3 Burt's Bees lip balm (2 sticks and one pot)

5 fingernail files

2 pages torn from Wine Spectator Magazine

5 Sharpies

2 cuticle "push down" things

1 bottle of lotion

11 hair elastic bands

a sheet of flower stickers

a metal star

a bag of vitamins

7 binder clasps

lemon-butter cuticle cream

25 paper clips

3 fingernail clippers

1 toenail clipper

a tube of extra-gentle cuticle cream

1 highlighter

a book of matches (Monte Carlo in Las Vegas)

2 hair clips

a purple plastic Easter egg

a mini hair brush

2 calculators

a ceramic tile (once used as a coaster)

a package of purple Hyacinth bean seeds

a package of chocolate dessert mints from Harrigan's Restaurant

Scissors

1 bobby-pin

1 business card (Sylvie Putnam - Pro-Style Optical

A Christmas card

a nail

Stim-U-Dent package

1 plug adapter

1 Texas wine coaster

A Kennedy half dollar chocolate coin

9 safety pins

2 blank books (one with misc. notes, one with with stock quotes from 2001)

8 purple envelopes

1 birthday card

2 blank cards

10 - 21-cent USPS stamps

a tube of Carmex

6 3.5 index cards

a key chain

a monogrammed metal 'sweet & low' holder (monogrammed with "E O" - this belongs to Big Red

a tin of chocolate Velomints

a barrette

a book review torn from a magazine on Graeme Gibson's The Bedside Book of Birds: an Avian Miscellany

Something metal that looks important

a magnet

2 small brass picture frames with photos of daughters

3 High School graduation photos of random people

A "Hunger Action Month" button

a penny

a push pen



Trust me when I say the magic, having been reduced to common, household "stuff", will never return. I suppose the draw of THE CHAIR will now be diminished as well. I'd be willing to bet that daughter #2 won't even sit there the next time she visits.

The Iron Curtain 1-21-09

Took down really ugly curtains in the master bathroom. I should have taken them directly to the trash, no passing GO, etc., but they match the very ugly Ralph Lauren comforter. The very ugly Ralph Lauren comforter that has been folded neatly in its original plastic bag and has been sitting on a closet shelf for some years now. Instead of trashing the curtains I washed them, folded them neatly and placed them in the closet with the comforter.

STOP, HALT, WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE...

This somehow feels like cheating. I'm suppose to be getting rid of stuff - not storing it. The first step is admitting the problem! I guess the logical choice would be to get rid of both the curtains and the comforter. But, they are Ralph Lauren. But they are still ugly. I could use them at the lake house. They are still ugly. I could give them to Big Red (101-year old grandmother who is partially responsible for my pack-rat affliction - more on that later). Still ugly. Maybe one of my daughters would want them? Ugly.

Why is this so hard?

Okay, I'm throwing out the really ugly curtains, but the comforter gets a reprieve, it's Ralph Lauren, remember?

The Ottoman (Empire) 1/20/09

I said I would clean/declutter something everyday, but I was tired, I'd had a couple of glasses of wine and a nice dinner at an Indian food restaurant. I got home just in time to catch the last half of The Biggest Loser - and I love watching Biggest Loser, especially after eating Indian food and drinking a couple of glasses of wine. But the pressure is on - I MUST declutter one thing every day so I can blog about it. As I sat in my big chair watching The Biggest Loser with my feet propped up on the big ottoman it occurred to me that the big ottoman doubled as storage. How long had it been since I had lifted the padded, upholstered lid of the big plaid ottoman? I was intrigued. What could possibly be in there? So I moved the unread Avalanche Journal (the local newspaper), the February issue of Oprah, the t.v. remote control, and my feet from the ottoman and opened the lid expectantly with the story of Pandora's Box and the disaster that that held running through my mind.

In my ottoman I found:
a 550 piece Christmas-themed jigsaw puzzle
a Backgammon game
a Reader's Digest Discovering America's Past book
a 2003 street map of Lubbock
Christmas stationery
a green plastic basket with 3 boxes of Christmas cards
2 boxes of 3x5 index cards holding addresses
a Christmas address book
a pad of pink Post-It notes
a bag of Claire Burke Peaches and Dreams Potpourri
a spray can of Clair Burke Peaches and Dreams Home Fragrance Spray
An Etch-A-Sketch (how fun are those?)
An invitation and itinerary for the Big Red Bash dated 1987 (for my 101-year old grandmother's 80th birthday party)
A transcript of an oral history interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg dated 8-19-04
A transcript of an oral history interview with Geraldine Ferraro dated 8-16-04

(I have such cool "stuff" - no wonder I don't ever throw anything away. But truth be told I never even knew I had those copies of the interviews and have never read them.)

A sheet of gold cap and gown stickers
12 unused high school graduation announcements dated 1999 - daughter #1
2 college graduation announcements for daughter #1
a partial box of name cards to go with daughter #2's high school graduation announcements
a package of latex exercise stretch bands - yellow, red and blue
a Tai Chi Chih instruction manual
an acrylic photo frame
a high school graduation photo of my now 23 year old cousin, Ryan
a one-hour photo lab envelope dated 6-16-03 full of negatives
4 packets containing copies of our cousin family chain letters dated 1986-1988
a black Bic pen
a cat toy (I no longer have a cat)
a 3-ring binder with wine recommendations from 2005

So - What do I toss?
Most of this is good stuff - this is the never-ending dilemma!
So - here goes...

jigsaw puzzle goes to lake cabin, the only place I will have time to put together a jigsaw puzzle
backgammon game goes back in ottoman only after making sure it had all pieces
Reader's Digest book goes into bag to donate to Awesome Books on 34th Street
Lubbock map - trash (I can say my abc's and 123's)
All Christmas related stuff stored in hall closet with Christmas decorations (hall closet is future purge project!)
Post It's - saved
Claire Burke - hello Peaches and Dreams
Etch-a-Sketch in brief case to take to office for slow days
Big Red Bash memorabilia sent directly to Big Red Hall of Fame
oral history transcripts kept for future reading
all graduation leftovers trashed
exercise stretch bands should go in trash because I'm sure I'll never use them, but being the perpetual optimist I am keeping them
Tai Chi Chih instructions trashed (I have the video)
photo frame trashed
I kept photo of Ryan
photo negatives put with errant photos (another future project)
cousin chain letters still waiting their final disposition
Bic Pen trashed (it didn't work)
cat toy trashed
wine recommendations trashed (what do THEY know?)

Whoo-hoo! I actually threw stuff away and only put one thing back in the ottoman. I am beginning to like this.

Brilliant Idea/The Wedding Dress

After being inspired by my good friend, writing buddy, and fellow blogger, I have stolen her idea of entering something every day. In the spirit of getting rid of my "stuff" I have decided to clean, or rather purge one item or area every day. Okay - here comes the fun part, then I will blog about it. Is there anything more exciting than reading about someone else's housecleaning efforts???

So - here's what I did yesterday:

The Wedding Dress

Daughter #1 was married in December. That would be December 2007. Her very beautiful, very expensive, to be worn only one time, wedding dress was "heirloomed" by the local dry cleaner. God only knows what that means, but the result was a wedding dress in a huge box. The box is so big I have no where to put it. (Remember, I'm a pack rat - all of my closets are full!) The box (allegedly containing the dress - who would know - you can't open it because that would ruin the "heirlooming" - what a scam!) has been moved from one uninhabited daughters' room to the other several hundred times over the last year as needs and space dictated. Finally, yesterday I figured out where to store it permanently. There is a huge cabinet over the bathtub/shower in the guest bathroom large enough to hold the colossal wedding dress box. Only one problem. You guessed it - it was otherwise inhabited with "stuff". So, my first opportunity at de-cluttering my living space.

First I had to ensure there was, indeed, enough space for the box. I found the step-stool (not as easy as it sounds) so I could reach the high cabinet, opened the doors and then got sidetracked. Several hours later I was drawn back to the guest bathroom by the smell of burning wood. When I opened the cabinet doors to peer inside I also turned on the bathroom heat lamp in order to see better into the depths of the cabinet. One of the doors was touching the lamp and was seconds away from igniting and burning down my house. See why I don't like housework?

Once the fire was thwarted I began cleaning out the cabinet. This is what I removed and threw away or put in a box to donate:
2 sets of Cabbage Patch swimming floaties, a pair of yellow flippers too small to fit anyone but a 4 year old, a hot-pink water-gun shaped like a fish, an inflatable beach ball still in the package, the box a Fisher-Price potty came in - still with the unused plastic "splash guard - for use with boys", 15 glass ceiling-fan light shades from ceiling fans I no longer own, and a blue, rolled-up, twin-size egg crated mattress cover.

This is what I kept:
An inflatable pool lounge chair, 2 ski-belts (I'm taking to the lake cabin), and a circa 1960 psychedelic throw pillow that will go nicely with daughter # 2's home decor.

The wedding dress is safely put away in the otherwise empty cabinet. I did email daughter #1 to tell her where it is because I will surely never open that cabinet again (fire hazard, you know).

I have begun - my house feels less cluttered already!

Four months later

Okay - so it is four months from the first blog entry and if you recall I did say I would let you know when I began the house cleaning. This is not that alert! This is just an "I'm feeling guilty because I began that blog and never went anywhere with it" entry. My good friend began a blog on 1/1/09 and has entered something every day! What dedication, what focus, what an example to try to follow!! You can follow her blog at http://365photos2009.blogspot.com She is awesome, something to aspire to; if only I could get the aforementioned "stuff" out of my house I know I could focus on blogging every day. So, I will give it a shot - "just for today" I will give it a shot - here goes. I will give a full report in tomorrow's blog. Try to contain yourself until then.