For Sale

iPod Touch (1st gen)

I loved you well, but got a new bigger one for Christmas last year.

Then my boy loved you but got a bigger, newer (2nd hand) one with his birthday money.

You languished on my desk for too long, so you went for sale.

(yesterday someone offered an acceptable $50 and now a 9 year old boy gets to love it)

Chairs

You were perfect at my last house. Strong, easy to clean, perfect size for the eating nook.

In this house you are just in the way... surely someone will pay $30 for a pair of solid wood chairs.

I will hang on until the ad expires, if no one wants them, then off to charity.

 

Polyester Pest

This has been a problem with my wardrobe as far back as I can remember - polyester makes me sweat.

So even a beautiful colour, comfortable, flattering garment has to be rejected because of the fabric composition. It's getting trickier to identify it too. I used to be able to touch the item and tell, but they are getting better at making soft, natural feeling weaves.

Example: I have a nice shirt that I got recently thinking it was that new bamboo fibre. It is so soft and drapes beautifully, some french design brand. But I wore it the other day and sweat buckets! I couldn't figure out what was going on because it wasn't THAT hot out. After I got home, I peeled it off and searched for the tag... it was very faded (2nd hand garment) but I finally saw the cause "100% polyester". It tricked me!

The thing is I still want it in my wardrobe. It's pretty -- AND its comfy -- a hard combo to beat. But I can't be sweating like that everytime I wear it, and I'm not a fan of antiperspirants.... sigh... it's gotta go. So sad. At least I didn't spend a fortune on it.

Like every rule, there are exceptions. I have 4 shirts, 2 dresses and one pair of black slacks that are a polyester/spandex blend because they have a very specific purpose. These are my travel clothes. They are wrinkle proof, pack VERY small, wash up and drip dry quickly and look fantastic on. Its worth the sweat for all those features when travelling. And worth the space they take up in my closet the rest of the time (yes they look THAT good). I got to take them to an out of town wedding just a couple weeks ago, I was the only one in my group that didn't need to iron in the hotel room before heading out.

Sometimes the convenience outweighs minor discomfort, but for day-to-day life the polyester is not welcome in my wardrobe.

Too Full

I was doing so well! But I should know by now that decluttering is an ongoing process, and old habits die hard without due diligence.

This week the cupboards started overflowing again - the game of food tetris was happening any time I was looking for something. And worst of all I able to find what I KNOW I had to make meals!

Today I took action and ripped it all out - one cupboard at a time. With the helpful formula of Julie Morgenstern Sort, Purge, Assign a home, Containerize, Equalize... I reclaimed the SPACE in my cupboards again.

I put things where they belong, I removed expired and unhealthy foods (mostly impulse buys), then I made sure the container (where applicable) was properly filled and an appropriate size for the contents. And the cupboard had only the things it was supposed to have.

Only getting rid of a grocery bag's worth of neglected food, I reclaimed order in the kitchen pantry. My recycle bin was almost filled with plastic bags and cardboard boxes. And the chickens received a bonanza of wheat bread crumbs and stale cereal (and a box of unsalted soda crackers that they can have later moved to the feed shed)

What astonishes me is how fast I lost control.

Obviously I have a long way to go...