Neither Decorative Nor Functional

"Lose It!"

* huge toy purge over the weekend and still more to do this upcoming weekend -- I'll spare you the details but we found plenty to toss and plenty to donate. It feels awesome to have canvas bins be sort of organized and not filled to the brim.

* leather-esque bin, formerly used to store blankets and throws -- If you look at the picture of the ravaged bin, you think, "Well, that's a no brainer." Indeed. Yet, I continued "using" the bin even when two of the sides were hanging by threads and it no longer decorative or functional.

* assorted junk -- from junk drawer in the kitchen. You know, expired coupons, junk mail, and other random junk. The kind of stuff you keep in a junk drawer. Of course, it's starting to fill up again . . .

What are you losing these days?

Straight to the bin, baby.

"Lose It!"
* one inflatable balance ball -- it's supposed to live in the basement, but Bub brings upstairs all the time and nothing good comes of that. Today, he deflated it, and I thought, "This thing is so gone." But I didn't actually toss it and thus, after nap, Bub began throwing a large piece of limp plastic around.

* one music table -- the table has been parted from its accompanying drumsticks for months now, so noise is not an issue. But damn it, the thing is large and cumbersome and I don't need it in my life. I've thrice tried to get rid of it, but it's been rescued from the giveaway pile by Bub and by our cleaning lady.

Guess where I'm heading folks? Straight to the bins in the alley. I'll have an item in each hand.

In other news, I've got lots more stuff I've unloaded or am planning to lose soon. I'm still alive and so is the project. So there.

Backdated.

"Lose It!"
* Ellie's Krieger's Healthy Appetite cookbook -- beautiful cookbook, recipes sound great, but I know I'll never make one of them.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 16 down/37 to go
* light blue cargo pants from 2004 -- they are too short for me and also too tight, have shed illogical thought that if I lost "five or ten pounds" the pants would then be long enough

* eight empty baby wash bottles -- the boys enjoy playing with them in the tub, but I'm tired of pouring stagnant water from them before the next evening's bath. Also, Little Bit has been trying to drink out of them. Gross.

* some more stuff that I can't remember . . .

Confession:
I went to Dollar Tree today, defying (and not for the first time) my 2009 vow to stop bringing crap into my house. I got some stuff to do some crafts around here. Not horrible, but still, crap.

Request:
Give me some inspiration. I'm in the mood to rid of big stuff. You know, to make it look as if I'm really losing it around here. Tell me what to get rid of.

Okay, I'm going to recommit to this blog and this project.

Yum-No

"Lose It!"
* Rachael Ray's 30-Minute GET REAL Meals cookbook -- I enjoy Rachael, and I'm sure I'd enjoy her food if she were to prepare it for me. What I find, however, is that I never feel like trying her recipes when I read them, only when I've seen her prepare them first. Plus, the GET REAL cookbook is a strange, pseudo-low carb thing that seems a little forced. Don't get me wrong though, this is not a diss to R squared.

Cookbook Challenge: 15 down/38 to go

Just Jammin'

"Use It!"
* the freezer jam pectin and plastic Ball jars I purchased in May -- after thrice buying four pounds of strawberries with the intention of making jam (they got eaten not thrown out), today Bub and I made strawberry jam as Little Bit looked on. Easy peasy and tastes just like my Grandma's. I am counting this as a "use it" because I would not have been surprised if the Ball jars and pectin sat ignored in the pantry all summer.

Now, what to do with the glass Ball jars I purchased eight years ago when the hardware store in my neighborhood had a going-out-of-business sale . . . perhaps attempt to make cooked jam of some sort without scalding myself.

Another shirt off my back . . .

"Lose It!"
* actually, two more t-shirts off my back -- note to self, anything of the Sonoma brand at Kohl's does NOT work for you. MEP, you may like the fabric or the color and certainly the price, but you will not really like how it fits.

No Space in the Space Bag

"Lose It!"

I continue to add baby and toddler clothes (30 pieces or so the past two days) to the large donation pile in our basement. While I'm at it, I've been sorting the "keepers" and storing them in the space bags I got at Costco. Have to say I'm impressed with those things, and Bub has really enjoyed using the vacuum to suck the air out.

Next challenge: rearrange/weed through other crap around here so that I can fill the newly-emptied plastic bins that used to house the clothes.

"You've made better."

"Use It!"
*Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook -- followed recipe for Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna which was, well, just okay. I think I can do better with my own improvisational lasagna recipe. Also, I feel like I need to note that I did not have this cookbook when 2009 began, but that I gave away a cookbook when I bought it to preserve stats for the Cookbook Challenge.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 14 down/39 to go

Don't stop till you get enough?

"Lose It!"
* several t-shirts, capris, and pairs of shorts -- many of my summer clothes have been with me for many summers now. I don't care what season my stuff is (indeed, my favorite pair of capris is from May 2003, and I still have a few pairs from the late 90s), but I do feel like stuff I'm not wearing does not need to take up the limited space in my closet and drawers. So, some old and some newish stuff has hit the giveaway pile. In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that some new shorts and t-shirts have made their way into my house. I think though that I have managed to follow the one in/one out policy that organizational experts recommend. I'm going to make another pass through the closet, drawers, and bins and try to make it a net loss of stuff.

"Use It!"
* my cd collection -- I had an idea yesterday that I would go on itunes (have a gift card) and buy my five favorite Michael Jackson songs. I was looking forward to thinking about which five to choose and to listening to them while cleaning up after dinner. I always think about Michael Jackson in terms of my Thriller tape and didn't really think I had any CDs. On a whim though, I decided to flip through my CD case (not easily accessible, but I got to it). I realized I had the Thriller and HIStory CDs so I was all set and effectively made $5. I also realized that I have not loaded 80% of my music onto my itunes. So, there's a little project for my spare time.

What are you using and losing these days?

How could it not be good?

"Use It!"
* two of the eight packages of organic basil purchased for a $1 (total for all packages, not each individual one) when my Jewel closed last week.

* food processor -- worth noting because I keep forgetting I know how to use it now and store it in a hard-to-access place, making it even less likely to get used

* cookbook entitled Joy in Simplicity: Creative Cooking with Artist Nancy Noel -- made Basil Butter (see above). The verdict: see title.


Cookbook Challenge Stats: 13 down/40 to go

Don't count me out yet.

To all seven or so of my loyal Just Use It or Lose It Readers,

I am not giving up on my using and losing endeavor. Please stay tuned!

Thanks,
MEP

Off Target

"Lose It!"
* floor lamp-- yes, it provides light, but it also tilts constantly to one side and looks like crap -- at one point it had a faux stained glass shade, but that broke off . . . that's what $49.99 could get you at Target in 2003.

Foiled!

"Use It!"
* miniature cookie sheet thing
Before our wedding, my husband and I registered for a toaster oven. "We" also registered for two miniature cookie sheet type pans that fit inside the toaster oven. I think someone had told me, "Oh, they're great. You can use them to bake just a few cookies in the toaster oven." Um, I don't have the foresight to have cookie dough just waiting in my fridge or freezer, and I certainly don't have the willpower to limit myself to a few cookies if I've gone to the trouble of making some cookie dough. Anyway, I have pretty much ignored those miniature pans.

We ran out of foil yesterday, and so when I started making my pizza bagel for breakfast this morning, I was like, "Damn, no foil. I'm foiled. Now, the cheese will fall off and burn and the toaster oven will start smoking." But then, I thought about that little cookie sheet, placed my bagel on it, and was good to go. In fact, I don't think I'll need to use foil in the toaster oven anymore. I can use this little pan instead. Woo hoo.

"Lose It!"
* one orange platter -- lovely, but not mine
Speaking of bridal registries, I attended a shower on Saturday. Along with my gift, I brought the bride-to-be a platter that she left at my house two years ago and that I have had ever since in spite of having it washed and on the counter on at least three occasions when she has been at my house and in spite of seeing her person many other times in the past two years.

Garage Barrage

"Lose It!"

Hubby cleaned the garage today and the end result is just beautiful. Parking spots for the strollers and the wagon. All the balls in the box. A special spot for the tailgating chairs. All the fast food bags in the trash.

* many items were lost in the process, and though hubby gave me a yes/no vote on a handful of things, he mostly made command decisions. He tossed more things than I would have but I won't miss a single thing that he tossed. And so, I think he needs to become a more active partner in the JUIorLI project. Sure, most of the crap around here is mine or the kids, but I could use a little push letting go sometimes.

Eat Clean Plate Club

"Use It!"
* Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook -- not sure why I purchased this cookbook, a woman who drinks a minimum of three Diet Cokes a day is not really a clean eater . . . but I used the cookbook to make Herbed Spinach Yogurt Cheese Dip. The end result was pretty tasty, though next time I will learn how to read so that I use lowfat yogurt (as called for) instead of nonfat (what was I thinking? I was thinking that the recipe called for nonfat yogurt).

* cheesecloth, fresh basil, a tub of plain nonfat yogurt, defrosted package of frozen spinach -- these are items I obtained with this recipe in mind, and I am pleased that I actually followed through and used them.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 12 down/41 to go

Little Bit's Little Bites

"Lose It!"
* toy eighteen wheeler -- the tires for this truck can be removed and Bub has removed them all. Once removed, the tires are called "wedding rings" by Bub. I call them choking hazards as Little Bit loves to put them in his mouth when he finds them. I've been tossing the tires one by one for weeks and now the truck itself is going too.

"Use/Lose It!"
* yellow styrofoam blocks leftover from Stanley Steemer visit to our place to clean carpets -- after the carpet dried, Bub and I gathered the blocks and painted them, an activity that offered a solid twenty-five minutes of fun. Bub has now lost interest, but Little Bit sometimes finds one and tries to take a bite. They're off the buffet now.

Little Bundles

"Lose It!"
* approximately 25 pieces of baby boy clothing -- I hope there's another baby in our future, but he/she won't be wearing the items I just added to the donate pile, though the items are clean and in good shape. Sorting through the piles of baby clothes is an ongoing project around here.

I'm not in college anymore. . .

. . . and no longer need hang on to those in-case-I-am-desperate-before-I-have-enough-time-or-quarters-to-do laundry-pairs of socks and underwear.

"Lose It!"
* many pair of underwear-- tossed, not donated, in case you are curious
* socks -- the decent, but rarely worn socks are being donated, but what does one do with all those socks who have lost their mates?
* two pair of jeans -- suspect when they do fit again, I won't want to wear them
* two pair of lounging pants -- sadly, not enough lounging time in my life
* pair of work out pants -- somehow these became flood pants which are for me, as for most tall girls, totally unacceptable
* green fleece -- really enjoy the color and feel of this fleece, but I have finally faced up the fact that the sleeves are a good two inches too short and the length is not doing my high-waisted self any favors
* green blouse -- coincidentally, this green garment is also too short (note to self: continue personal boycott of Ann Taylor Loft).

I don't want to work . . .

"Lose It!"
* loud and dangerous children's toy -- if they're not risking their lives by making music at deafening volume, they are doing so by fighting over/poking each other with the sticks

Bag O' Diversions

"Use It!"
Yet another use for re-usable grocery totes:
* fill tote with as many smallish, safe toys as you can fit/find -- at our house, these can be found covering floor of playroom
* sit tote in front passenger seat of car as you prepare to drive five plus hours with two small children on your own
* toss one toy at a time to needy child
* enjoy periods of peaceful diversion ranging from five seconds to five minutes
* refill tote when you stop for snack, diaper, potty breaks

This system kept me from being tempted to engage in the unsafe practice of reaching backward while driving to pick up dropped toys.

Who would wear Roger Rabbit?

"Lose It!"
* one sweaty Titleist hat (hubby's donation)
* two black leather gloves (non-matching)
* one faux fur white scarf thingy (??????)

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend. Any spring cleaning to report? What have you been using or losing? I need some inspiration.

Down the drain

"Lose It!"
* many, many hotel sized toiletries, free gift cosmetics, and partially-filled bottles of gunked up lotion, shampoo, sunscreen, and aloe

Tip: don't store toiletries in a cabinet inside a closet that you cannot easily access without waking up one or both of your sleeping children

Oink, oink, your time is up.

"Lose It!"
* cracked carcass of Bub's piggy bank -- the piggy bank did not survive (at least, did not survive intact) a recent drop. Its sentimental and monetary value does not warrant attempting to glue the pieces together again. However, it's faceless self has just been resting on top of our china cupboard for about ten days now. I am trying to be better about not overlooking these kinds of the things. Tonight, I am going to transfer the money (and q tips?) from pork belly to ziploc bag. Heck, I might even lose those q tips, or maybe dust my keyboard with them first.

Anyone know where to get an inexpensive replacement pink piggy bank? Bub is clear that the pig must be pink.

Windbroken

"Lose It!"
* two more books -- no desire to reread The Taming of the Shrew or Oedipus the King anytime soon and maybe never again unless Bub or Little Bit need some future homework help, but was reluctant to get rid of these two books because they were new (purchased for tutoring two years ago and then not needed)

* hubby's old windbreaker

Rainy Day Calories

"Use It!"
* Betty Crocker Cookbook, Bridal Edition -- used to make Chocolate Chip Cookies (actually, used the alternative directions for cookie bars).

Cookbook Challenge: 11 down/42 to go

Caffeine Free Free

"Lose It!"
* 21 cans of a 24 pack of Caffeine Free Diet Coke purchased, with best intentions, when I discovered I was pregnant with Little Bit -- I just don't like it, never drank it, and apparently never offered it to my guests. Now, it's been expired for over a year (did you know soda expired? we usually drink it so promptly that it's never been an issue). I just feel sad when I see a can of Caffeine Free Diet Coke, similar to the disappointment I feel when I see the Pepsi logo.

In penance for my wastefulness, I will be emptying each can to ensure proper recycling.

Do you have to let it linger?

"Lose It!"
* the four books featured in this photo -- two of them are from The Lingerers, that group of books I've been carting around for years without feeling inclined to read. I told myself I would use or lose them by year's end. I've decided to go ahead and lose Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris and Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott, but not before telling you how highly I recommend Michael Dorris's A Yellow Raft in Blue Water and Anne Lamott's Crooked Little Heart. Please read those two books.

All of my "Lose It!" books are in one big box in the basement for now. So please, if you are interested in any of the titles, email me at mep at nottobrag dot net, and I can figure out how to get you the title that interests you.

Mirror, Mirror in the wall

"Use It!"
In our main room, we have a built-in set of three, deep glass shelves surrounded by and trimmed with mirrors. There's a light at the top of the built-in. I would not consider this built-in to be a selling point of our home, except for buyers who think it is still 1987. When we first moved in, I used these shelves to display pictures. It was not ideal because the shelves are a bit too deep and because the combination of the glass, the mirror, and the light made the fact that I don't dust my picture frames all that regularly VERY apparent.

Now, we use these shelves for storage and (attempts at) organization. The top shelf houses stuff that I need to keep out of Bub's reach like Desitin, scissors, Sharpies, postage stamps . . . just to name a few items. The bottom two shelves are filled with cardboard magazine holders that I use to store stuff like mail, catalogues, information related to Bub's school, Bub's coloring books, and other stuff that I think I might need but don't have another place to store.

I'm getting bored even describing these shelves so I'll wrap this up by showing you that I used my full-sheet labels from Staples to print free clip art from Dover Designs, which I then used to cover the ugly cardboard magazine holders. The result is some fancy magazine holders more worthy of the "beautiful" mirrored shelves.

Here are some photos.


Please note how the mirrors surrounding the shelves create the illusion of even more magazine holders than there are. Wow.

Receipts, Y'all

"Use It!"

I used my Charleston Party Receipts cookbook to make a Pineapple Pecan cheese ball. I can't give a verdict on it because I was too busy to really dig in. I will say that the two bricks of cream cheese called for made for quite a large ball of cheese, perhaps a bit too large to be aesthetically pleasing.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 10 down/43 to go

Chick, Chicken, and Chick Peas: Part II

"Use It!"
* chicken -- grilled and consumed

* chick peas -- used to make Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzos. They were okay, but I think they would have been better if baked for five or so minutes less and if the sugar would have stuck to them better. I'd try them again with a shorter cook time and more sugar.

Chick, Chicken, and Chick Peas

"Use It!" (Almost)

You know how women's magazines and lifestyle experts give helpful tips about using just a "couple" of hours on Sunday to get your healthy meals all lined up for the week? With the best of intentions, I just did the following in just a couple of minutes:

* threw some frozen chicken breasts into a ziploc to defrost in the fridge -- took about two minutes, but this is a task that I rarely muster the motivation to initiate.

* rinsed two cups of chick peas and put them in cold water to soak overnight -- have two different recipes that involve chick peas that I have been meaning to try, and purchased said chick peas about three months ago with these recipes in mind.

Check back to see how this chick fares with the chick peas and the chicken.

You never even called me by my frame . . .

"Lose It!"
* eleven picture frames -- nothing wrong with them, but I don't have any more horizontal spaces for frames so I took out the smiling faces and will find another way to enjoy them. This particular group of frames has been in a box for at least seven years. I think I was hoping that "someday, when we move and have more space," I would get them back out. I'm okay if these frames never come out of the box. It's the pictures that matter and, more than that, the memories I have of good times with the people in them.

Sin or Can

There are four canisters that rest on the ledge behind our kitchen sink. Years ago, I tried storing things like flour and sugar in them. But then, I found some itty bitty critters in my flour once and gave up on that. Now, they are mostly empty, except for the smallest which houses matches.

I have a bad habit of using the top of the canisters to store things--you guessed it--that I don't want Bub to get his hands on: medicine droppers, infant motrin, antibiotics, Little Bit's toothpaste and toothbrush (Bub is obsessed with it because it is just a little thumb cover thing), prenatal vitamins (dangerous for children you know because they have so much iron in them), and the fenugreek I no longer need (see this post for explanation of why I ever did).

Anyway, it looks like crap up there. So, I decided that they medicine droppers and medicine would all fit nicely inside one of canisters instead of strewn on top of them all. The fenugreek could go inside one as well, along with the pacifiers I was also storing up there. I moved the antibiotics to a corner of the counter Bub tends to overlook because I didn't want to put them in the canister and forget to give them to Little Bit. I tucked the vitamins along the side of one canister for easy access. I left LB's dental stuff on top so I don't forget to brush his lil chompers.

The pictures (again, crappy ones taken on computer web cam) show the before and after. These changes are not amazing, but it is really pleasing me to see these little pockets of tidiness and order around the house.

A Tisket, A Tasket

My focus right now is on attacking the "holding zones" around here. I want to make my spaces more useful and more tidy. On Sunday, I attacked the top of the fridge. I started storing treats up there when Bub started hauling kitchen chairs to the counter and trying to climb up to get to stuff and busted through the safety knob on the pantry to help himself in there as well. Then, it just became my habit to start storing all kinds of food above the fridge: boxes of cereal, multiple boxes of crackers, bags of chips, pretzels, candy, infant rice cereal, leftover Halloween candy. It looked like a bulimic's buffet up there.

On Sunday, I threw out the expired/stale stuff and divided the rest into snack bags and placed them in a large basket. When we're on our way out, I can grab a snack to go. If we eat one at home, I can pour it into a bowl and then throw the baggie back in the basket to be filled again. There's another basket that continues to house potty treats.

I wish I had a before and after shot for you. I offer instead an after (not the best picture, but the best I could do with the camera on my laptop) and a glimpse of another holding zone--the area above our toaster oven. Take the level of disorder and visual junkiness in the above-the-toaster zone and multiply it times fifty and you will have a sense of how chaotic things were above the fridge.

Mommy, you eat the key?

We have a nice-sized walk-in closet in our living room.* A few weeks ago, I set to trying to organize some of Bub's toys in there--things like puzzles, bean bags, paints, play doh, and anything else that has lots of pieces or a high mess factor. The organization is still in process, but a problem presented itself a few days ago. Once Bub realized a lot of the "good stuff" was in the closet, he began going in there and, because he can't reach the closet light and can't reach the shelves housing a lot of the good stuff, he began making even more messes and risking injuring by trying to climb and reach. Plus, he inadvertently unplugged the television and Dish Network box twice.** Unacceptable.

Thursday, I walked to the hardware store and purchased a door knob that locked.

Today, the hubby installed the new door knob so that the closet can be locked from the inside. The key is just one of those little stick things and it is above the door frame, though Bub thinks it is in my tummy because he asked Daddy where the key was and heard, "Mommy ate it."

All of this is just to say that I plan to make better "use" of this closet now that whatever organization I do in there will actually be protected.





*and two of the smallest, most awkward-sized closets ever in our bedroom
**yes, these are plugged into our closet, don't ask

Papa Toile

"Use It!"

* light blue, tan, and brown toile fabric I purchased six years ago at Old Time Pottery

* two wooden chairs (originally refurbished by my great grandfather, who wrote his name on the bottom, along with the date March 27, 1973) that I have been carting around from place to place for most of my post-college life

I moved the ugly, black leather desk chair to the basement. I did not move it because it is ugly (though it is) or because it is uncomfortable (it is not), but because it is too big to fit nicely under the desk the way it should. Plus, our office is doubling as a nursery and the amount of furniture crowding things up in there is starting to get to me. So, I recovered the seats of two of my Papa's chairs and placed one at the desk.

Broom Broom Pow

"Lose It!"
* broom stick -- broom attachment for end of stick is long gone and Bub took to taking the stick and pounding the kitchen floor earlier with an end result of unpleasant noise and possible damage to floors

* more plastic crap as toy bin purge continues bit by bit

* two more books

"Use It!"
* inspired by LAP's comment on my recent post about reusable grocery totes, I did some organizing this evening and used the totes for stuff that needs moved to other locations: one for stuff that goes in basement, one for stuff that needs to be upstairs, and one for stuff that gets hidden from Bub in main floor closet. When I head to bed tonight, I'm going to take the upstairs tote upstairs . . . really I am.

Unsafe at any speed

Alternate Title: Dis"cart"ed

"Lose It!"
* plastic shopping cart -- no longer effectively holds groceries or stuffed animals and is definitely not sturdy enough to serve as a walker for Little Bit

* more plastic toy crap from bottomless pit o' crap in back room

Bag of Tricks, Trick for Bags?

"Use It!"

I don't know about you, but I have quite a collection of the reusable totes they now sell at grocery and drug stores. Indeed, I have enough of these bags to easily accommodate any shopping trip. The problem is that I never seem to have a single one of them when I am actually at the store, likely because I am usually racing to the store when I realize we need milk or Diet Coke or when a convenient child-free window presents itself. I barely remember to bring my wallet and my scribbled list.

Though I don't often use those bags at the grocery store, I do use them. Here some recent uses for my grocery totes:

* diaper bag -- I don't bother with a diaper bag very often these days and usually just stuff a diaper and pull-up in my purse when we leave the house, but if we are going on a more "major outing" (ex., playdate more than ten minutes away, visit to children's museum) then I have taken to throwing diapers, wipes, food for Little Bit, snacks for Bub, and whatever else I can think of into one of these totes.

* surface cleaner -- if you are expecting guests, these bags make nice storage containers for the mail, magazines, and other random papers and junk cluttering your flat surfaces.

* car trip bag -- we drove from Chicago to Cincy today, and I used a grocery tote to hold all our "car emergency stuff" which includes: DVD's, frosted animal crackers, corn puffs, veggie booty for Little Bit, baby bottles, sippy cup, pretzels, and etc.

What about you? Do you use the grocery totes? At the grocery store? Any tricks for remembering to bring them to the store? If you say "keep them in the car," any tricks for remembering how to put them back in the car after you put your groceries away? Please tell.

Navy beans, navy beans, navy beans

"Use It!"
* leftoever ham from Easter -- made some Congressional Bean Soup from a Mabel Hoffman cookbook (but no credit on the Cookbook Challenge because I've made it before).

"Lose It!"
* large ziploc bag full of plastic crap -- Happy Meal toys and other junk revealed when Bub tipped over six toy bins this afternoon (he found his stuffed Blue's Clues dog, so you can all sleep well tonight, and after much prodding, picked up the mess).


There are so many more toys and pieces of toys that need to be purged, but I have trouble releasing . . . Are you able to purge toys? How do you get over the "but this was a gift" and "he sometimes plays with this" or "but he might enjoy this one day for two minutes" feelings?

Butt they don't fit . . .

"Lose It!"

* big Costco-sized sleeve of size 3 Huggies -- Little Bit outgrew them before we used the whole box. I was thinking of holding on to them for the future (don't read anything into that, except that we hope to have another child SOMEDAY), but decided the smarter thing would be to offer them to my sister LAP whose daughter might fit into size threes. What do you say, LAP?

Oxymoronic Mac

"Use It!"

* cookbook entitled Super-Fast Slow Cooking -- was short on oven space for our Easter meal so I tried a recipe for mac and cheese using the crock pot, not as good as the oven baked recipe (my mom's) I usually use, but good enough . . . when butter, cheese, and pasta are involved, it is difficult to go too, too wrong

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 9 down/44 to go

Hip Hop Hooray

"Use It!"
* plastic eggs filled and hidden two years ago at Easter

* adorable Elmo-with-bunny-ears Easter basket

* adorable little chick Easter basket from last year


It's an Easter miracle that I was able to locate these items so as to re-use them.

Clip Artist

"Use It!"
* full-sheet printer labels

* free Dover computer clip art

There's a project in the works . . .

Unpack and Play

We have two pack-n-plays, even though most of the time, we don't necessarily need two or even one of them since Little Bit is out of the stage where we had it set up basinette/changing table style all the time, but it is nice to have the option . . .

"Use It!"
* one pack-n-play -- Little Bit is sleeping in it as he has taken to standing in his crib and sometimes falling and hitting his head. He can't hurt himself in the p-n-p so he's going to stay there for a few weeks until the novelty of standing in one's bed wears off.

* one pack-n-play -- set up like a "play pen" (is that a dirty word now?) for when Mom needs to keep Little Bit safe while she pees, tidies up, or checks her email

I tooted, oops, I mean tutored.

"Lose It!"
* some sub-par tutoring resources -- I tutored for several years in the recent past and mostly really liked it. I stopped accepting new clients in the interest of finishing my graduate degree and taking care of those kids of mine. I have about four hours a week when it would be convenient for me to tutor so if any new clients available during those hours fall into my lap, I would consider doing some tutoring, but not with these junk resources that I've never used anyway.

You "Use It!"
You may want to check out The Clutter Diet blog, which I just recently started reading. Its author Lorie Marrero has some cool things to say. One that resonated with me is that de-cluttering is more about motivation than anything. Mostly, people know what they need to do, but just need impetus to do it. This blog has been my motivation, and I'm thrilled if my feeble efforts are motivational to anyone else. Also, she has a post about thinking about herself in two tenses. Her "present self" is the best friend of her "future self" and tries to make decisions about stuff/clutter that will make life better/easier for "future self." I think this insight will help me when I'm looking at some of the crap around here. The decisions to "lose" I make now will save me time, energy, and hassle later.

sNOw

"Lose It!"
* one sweater that I wore quite a bit after Bub was born but never since

* one ugly winter scarf

Both items are sacrifices to the gods of spring weather. Come on already. The mini hail storm this afternoon was depressing, but the snow falling right now, unacceptable.

Blackout

"Lose It!"
* black fuzzy-type fleece jacket -- purhcased a few years ago, lost and forgotten, rediscovered and worn yesterday over white shirt, ended up with black lint all over shirt, already have enough fleece in my life.

Shredding Makes Me Feel Good

"Use It!"
* the shredder my husband got me for my birthday last year (don't knock him for the unromantic gift, I asked for it) -- I'm not obsessively worried about identity fraud but worried enough not to throw credit card and bank statements away without ripping or cutting them up which, let's face it, gets tedious. Since I received the shredder, I have been using the shredder as a receptacle for to-be-shredded items. I was hesitant to plug it in because I did not want Bub to shred his fingers (though it seems hard to do). Anyway, I moved it to the basement and got to shredding. It takes more time than I thought, but it is satisfying.

The next step is to go paperless on credit card and bank statements. The bank ones I could do easily because I don't usually open them (not because I have so much in my account that I don't need to, but because I keep careful track of my checking account already). The credit card statement will be more difficult to give up because I need the physical statement cluttering up my purse or the area near my computer as a reminder to take care of the charges.

Have you gone paperless on bank and credit card statements? Are you pleased?

Fancy Schmancy

If it seems like I repeat myself on this blog, it's because I am a little slow in learning certain lessons, particularly those lessons that have to do with acquiring stuff and being reluctant to release it when I no longer use, enjoy, or need it. Once again, I need to get un-dressed. Pardon the pun.

"Lose It!"
* four more dresses from 2000-2003 era -- Whether or not these dresses fit now or will fit again is less of an issue than the fact that I don't love them and won't ever wear them again. Just because some of them were purchased for special, fancy-type occasions does not mean that they are worth keeping if, cue the broken record, I know for sure that any time in the future when I need something to wear to a wedding or any sort of formal occasion, I will NOT choose to wear one of these dresses. I know that for sure. I don't know why I've been hanging on to some of these dresses for so long.

Tollhouse in the House

"Use It!"
* cookbook entitled Nestle Toll House Best-Ever Cookies -- We made the original Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies. I was satisfied with the taste and texture (though they are a teensy bit more crumbly than I fancy). Hubby's first assessment was "excellent," but that was in the context of praising Bub for being such a good helper in the kitchen. He later clarified that the cookies were "very good, not quite excellent status, but better than the others you have made lately." Wow, my heart is full. To be fair, I would not call the cookies "excellent" either, but my main complaint is with appearance not flavor. I just don't think they look that pretty, not even on the front of the cookbook.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 8 down / 45 to go

"Lose It!"
* melamine (maybe?) bowl, second biggest in set of five -- the edge of this bowl cracked and broke off a couple of months ago, but I had soldiered on in the spirit of "using it," but I noticed today, when combining the dry ingredients for the cookie dough, that the crack had caused a fissure (?) all the way down the side of the bowl. And so, I lost it, which is too bad because it was my favorite "just right," go-to bowl for mixing things.

Win? Lose? Draw?

When I was in Ohio, my mom had a box of a dozen or so cookbooks that she was "losing." You know where this is heading, right? I wanted some (all?) of them. Now, the old MEP might have thrown them all into her messy car to take back to Chicago (provided hubby was not riding along--if so, she would have taken some of them, but hidden them in her bag or something). New MEP settled for two that looked really intriguing and took up next-to-no room in her newly cleaned car. But, when she got home, she "lost" two of her cookbooks to make up for it. So there. The Cookbook Challenge remains on.

I think I mentioned already that a few weeks ago, my friend E... did this cool thing on facebook where she posted a note listing all the books she wanted to give away. I "called" three of them, which she gave to me last week when I saw her. To atone for bringing more books into the house (even free ones), I added five more to my book giveaway box. That box is getting mighty heavy and soon, very soon, I do plan to work on my own book giveaway for friends and readers.

Trying to bring spring

"Lose It!"
* one cocktail sort of dress that I wore often in the early part of this century -- no longer looks that flattering, and as I've said before on this blog, on the increasingly rare future occasions when I might be called upon to dress up, I'm not going to turn to an old frock -- who wants to go to a celebration and hear, "Oh, you looked so much better in that dress seven years ago."

* several more shirts, including three turtleneck sweaters -- if I purge the turtlenecks, will spring come?

* diaper bag -- I'm not done with diaper bags altogether, but I am done with this one.

"It's like an extension of your purse."

The above is said with disgust by my husband in reference to our car. Encouraged and greatly assisted by my mom, I cleaned out our car this evening. I won't detail it all, but I "lost" a lot in the car clean-out--dvd cases, remote control for portable dvd player that died six months ago, a couple of golf balls that didn't look that nice to me, several happy meal toys, and many, many, many, many, many goldfish crackers.

Inspired by the clean car, I went ahead and cleaned out my purse and "lost" expired coupons of the sort printed out at the grocery story when you check out (coupons are for products I actually buy, but I almost never use them because I cannot find them in my messy purse), old receipts, eight hundred (feels like) Macy's coupons, capless and crusty chap stick, and many, many, many goldfish crackers.

March Sadness

Sorry if it seems I've fallen asleep at the wheel, but it's go, go, go when we're in O-hi-o! Not much time for blogging with a full schedule of visiting and eating too much.

Still deflated by the Muskie loss, I did venture into my parents' garage a few moments ago with an eye toward losing, but it's pretty full and difficult to navigate and I didn't want to open up the garage doors this late at night so I'm settling for a semi-lame "Lose It!"--though every little bit helps.

"Lose It!"
* one of the two copies of Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson in my parents' garage -- doesn't belong to me, but I figure my parents don't need two copies of the same book that is so beloved that it is taking up residence in a cardboard box in the garage. Plus, seemed an appropriate choice during March Madness.

* my copy of Cynthia Voigt's Izzy, Willy-Nilly -- teenage love, drunk driving, "crippled for life" (phrase from the back of the book). Not my cup of tea . . . if only Marco had stuck to tea at the party.

Belting it in.

The boys and I are hanging out at my parents' house this week so it's a little tougher for me to use and lose this week. I will try to be creative though and may even venture into their garage to see what stuff of mine might be keeping them from parking even a single car in a garage that should house at least two cars.

"Use It!"
* belt of mine from years ago found in a dresser drawer

ChiNOs

"Lose It!"
* pair of chinos from 1999 or so -- I have distinct memories of wearing these pants to work when I was teaching high school. They were long, roomy, and comfortable. I liked how they looked with a plain black shirt. I tried them on today because I have this crazy idea that I might challenge myself to going an entire week without wearing sweatpants (just tossing this idea around) and thought I could add these to the rotation. I discovered that the chinos are no longer long, roomy, or comfortable. I don't think I've worn them since I moved to Chicago eight years ago and know now that I never will wear them again.

Clippings, not toenail

"Lose It!"
* decent-sized pile of magazine clippings -- I was going to try to be bold and just toss them, but I couldn't do it. I had to scan them first before deciding to throw away about 75% of them (well, 75% of the one pile of clippings I looked at--there are more piles of clippings. God help me). I did it though.

Wassail Whassup?

"Lose It!"
* lovely picture frame that housed wedding picture of LAP and BB -- picture is still treasured, but the thing that makes the frame stand up was bent or something and so the picture was always falling over. My sister and brother-in-law deserve better. I tossed the old frame and put them in a different (but not new) one.

* First Christmas Wassail Spiced Apple Cider Drink Mix -- I purchased this for 50% off following Christmas 2007. Though I did entertain family for the holidays this past year, I did not bust out the Wassail Mix. If I do any entertaining in the next few months, I can say with certainty that Wassail won't be one of my beverage options. I don't know how long such mixes stay good, but I'm just going to let the Wassail dream die for now.

Shirtless

Not really, but I am trying to weed out the stuff in my closet that I really do not or should not wear. Two more shirts hit the giveaway pile this afternoon. I received a few tops for my birthday so there is more shirt-losing to come.

Take-Out Take-Out

This posted is dedicated to the former Chinalite Restaurant on Southport.

"Lose It!"
* several dozen take-out menus -- we have a really cool, painted wooden box (wedding gift) in which we store take-out menus. It was full to bursting so I decided to go through it. Basically, I had 8-10 copies of menus for the 3-4 places from which we order regularly. Some of the menus included coupons that expired in 2006.

Chow Down Dr. Brown

"Lose It!"
* three barely-used BPA-free Dr. Brown bottles -- Little Bit was not a fan, but my cousin's son likes these bottles and I was thrilled to find them a good home

* one Born Free bottle -- Little Bit was not a fan, but my cousin is getting tired of washing all the parts of the Dr. Brown's bottles (of course, the BF has several parts too)

If the shirt shrinks . . .

"Lose It!"
* five shirts -- one of them was a shirt that I shrank (shrunk?) in the wash. It no longer fits. It never will. I've been holding on to it because I wish it had not shrunk (shrank?), but let's face it, keeping the shirt in my closet will not change the fact that it does not and will not fit. Good lesson.

Didn't take it to the Maks . . .

"Use It!"
* Dancing with the Stars Cardio Dance DVD -- received as a gift several years ago and was thrilled, though not thrilled enough to give it a try until this evening. I'm a bit weary this week so I only did the warmup and the Paso Doble routine with Bad Boy of the Ballroom Maks. Excepting my lifelong coordination/rhythm problems, I enjoyed the workout and think once I get the choreography down, I'll be able to concentrate on making the moves work for me.

I didn't forget about Fitness Week . . .

I'm just too tired from a crap nap day and Little Bit's new early wake-ups to do anything but let you know that I threw away more candy canes today. Good night.

I'm not Gwyneth

It's Fitness Week at Just Use It or Lose It.

"Use It!"
* Tracy Anderson Method presents Post-Pregnancy Workout DVD -- I made it through 35 minutes. Must note that there were several moves that I could not perform. It's not that I could not stand the pain of these moves (did not get a chance to find out if I could), but that I could not physically manipulate my body into the positions required. I cannot and do not want to imagine how much worse it would have been if I had tried this DVD right after my ob/gyn cleared me to exercise instead of eight months later. This experience has been a tad defeating, but I am looking for a silver lining. Here it is: I have suspected that I am woefully out of shape and now it is confirmed. Good news is that I can and do choose to become stronger and more fit from this point.

"Lose It!"
* assortment of greeting cards, notecards, and postcards (pitched, recycled, and donated as I saw fit)-- these are paper products I will never use, not even if I ran out of every piece of my existing supply of correspondence stuff, many of the greeting cards were leftover from an assortment received from my grandma, who got them from one of her neighbors at her old assisted living facility, likely after others at The Waterford had already made their picks -- most of these cards were pretty lame, and I'm not sure why I agreed to take them in the first place, though I'm sure I had the best intentions

* green travel bag -- don't need it

Soon to be as a fiddle

"Lose It!"
* eight more books have gone into the giveaway box -- I am thinking of following the lead of my friend E. . . who posted a note on facebook listing books she was giving away for any takers. Since I will be in Ohio--the home of many of my readers--in a few weeks, I'm thinking of doing something similar here. If I have any book takers elsewhere, I'm willing to consider some media mail as well. So, stay tuned for the March Madness Just Use It or Lose It Book Giveaway.

Exciting Announcement:
The plan for this coming week on Just Use It or Lose It is to focus on fitness. I flipped through the Target ad this morning, forgetting to steel myself with my mantra--"I have everything I need"--before doing so and was thus tempted by the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred dvd, which I have seen several bloggers post about. The idea of a clear track to fitness--30 days--appeals to me, but I had to say, "But wait, MEP, you have several other fitness DVDs that you have not used. You may intend to get serious with Jillian's video, but you had those good intentions when you purchased the others as well." This is the week for making good on some of those good intentions.

Bar None

"Use It!"
I needed to make some baked goods for a school event and turned to an old favorite cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn, and decided to try some bar recipes. Neither "Chocolate-Almond-Coconut Bars" or "Candy Bars" were slam dunks, but they were easy to make and acceptable contributions. Though I wasn't thrilled with the bars, I do want to say that every cake I have made from this cookbook has been fantastic and Byrn provides really thorough directions, which is nice.

Cookbook Challenge: 7 down/46 to go

"Lose It!"
* box of candy canes -- neither Bub nor I needs any more candy canes, not going to hold on to them for Christmas in July.

* 4 boxes of expired tea -- sad for me that I didn't take the tea time for myself before the expiration date, but ah well . . .

Paperless Society?

"Lose It!"
* lots and lots of paper -- Today I set to the task of going through some of my dissertation files, decided there is no need to save earlier versions of my chapters as I know for certain that even if I return to the same topics in my future career, I am not likely to say, "But wait, back in the second version of my first chapter that I wrote in the summer of 2005, I think I had a really great idea." Not going to happen. Some of the pages went into the recycling and the rest . . . well, they're in a box. Bub and Little Bit have a lifetime supply of paper for scribbling and such . . . there may even be paper left when they're old enough to draft their own dissertations.

"Scale" Back Sister*

"Use It!"
* Busy Woman's Cookbook: 3 and 4 Ingredient Recipes -- this cookbook was a wedding gift, and I used it this evening to make "Tasty Pork Chops" (that's the actual, non-descriptive name of the dish) that indeed called for only four ingredients: pork chops, onion, brown sugar, cider vinegar

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 8 down/47 to go

* food scale -- I asked for a food scale for Christmas and received one from my awesome sister-in-law, this is the kind of item that comes into the house with the best of intentions, but I am proud to have now used it for the first but not the last time

Inspirational Story
Took the boys to Staples to spend my $15.89 Staples Reward certificate before it expired. Left Staples without having spent a penny of "real money" in the store, only the reward money (with 23 cents to spare, not to brag) and without having bought a bunch of crap I don't need.


*What if I were to form a band of fellow de-clutterers/recovering stuff addicts like me and we called ourselves Scale Back Sister, kind of like Fall Out Boy?

D-V-Decisions

"Lose It!"
* four DVDs -- made a quick pass through the DVDs and easily identified four that I can lose, will continue this project

* habit of buying previously-viewed videos -- actually kicked this habit a few years ago, but I could kick myself in the face for money wasted buying previously movies at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video instead of renting movies there

* Captain Morgan commemorative shot glass -- found in the DVD basket, no idea from whence it came

Not this woman's day . . .

"Lose It!"
* four issues of Woman's Day -- I've already read them, as evidenced by the pages with corners folded down. Usually, I return to magazines I've read to "deal with" my corners: ripping out recipes, recording titles of books, movies, and websites to check out (on files I keep on my computer for that purpose), and sometimes pulling out workouts that I will likely never do. I am proud to say that I actually read my magazines (except the parenting ones which continue to show up in my mailbox despite my never subscribin and go mostly unread since only 2-4 pages apply directly to my children's ages and the rest make me feel bad about myself or annoyed in general), but I think my obsession with keeping track of all the "great ideas" inside of my magazines needs to be toned down a bit. My guess is I won't know or miss what I'm missing and I know for sure that getting the most of my magazines should not feel like a chore, as it often does.

V-H-Yes and No . . .

I'm trying to get rid of my VHS tapes, but it is more difficult than I thought. I did manage to lose fourteen tapes this afternoon, some great movies among them -- The English Patient, You Can Count on Me -- and some goodies too -- As Good As It Gets, Duets, Happy Gilmore, Truman Show. But even if we did have our VCR hooked up, making time to watch movies is not a priority. If I found or made time for movie watching, I am going to watch a new release or true favorite.

I also let go of a couple of my high school teacher tapes, including a dubbed copy of the pre-Leo and Clare Romeo and Juliet film in which, for a fraction of a second, one can glimpse Olivia Hussey's breast, or rather, one could have glimpsed that breast except that one of my colleagues edited it out and distributed "clean" copies. Yep. If any of you have been wanting to screen that film for your own Shakespeare-loving children, but were hesitating due to the nudity, you have a few days to speak up before I take out my "clean" copy with the basement trash (dubbed tapes were trashed, legit ones are being donated).

There's one tape I'm for sure not losing. It's labeled "Badin J.V's vs. Purcell 2-15-02" but I happen to know the (only) footage from our wedding is on it.

Put a lid on it.

Cleaned and tidied the baby/toddler plate, bowl, and utensil drawer and lost about twenty more plastic Gerber baby food lids. Why? Why? Why? Why would one hoard baby food lids?

Note to self: Stop saving baby food lids, crazy lady. Straight into the recycling.

Sip-e-dee Doo Dah

"Lose It!"
* various lids to sippy cups -- cleaned out the "baby food drawer" and made room for more baby food by tossing about five lids to sippy cups, no idea what happened to the cups -- probably weren't BPA-free anyway

* two dozen plastic lids to Gerber baby food containers -- again, why were these still around? am ashamed to admit that I thought about giving them to Bub to play with and hesitated before tossing them into the recycling, but then realized that with a drawer full of baby food, there's more where those came from

Freezer Pleased Pantry Princess

"Use It!"
* ground turkey from the freezer -- again, any time I use meat from the freezer, I am very proud of myself

* taco seasoning -- another of the Wildtree Products I tend to hoard, turkey tacos were on the menu

* another can of the 12 pack of tomato paste I bought at Costco -- the taco seasoning recipe calls for tomato paste as did the vegetable soup I made this evening

* frozen chopped onions -- thought I was going to go without onions in my soup because I threw some out yesterday that were starting to sprout, but then I found a bag (actually two) of frozen chopped onions, nice surprise


What has your pantry or freezer pleased you with recently?

Tour de Pants

"Use It!"
* recumbent bike -- used to ride it frequently while watching television in the basement, but I have not been on the bike since this time last year. Since I really want to be able to fit into the jeans and pants I already own, I figured it was worth a try to take a spin. I only had fifteen minutes, but better than nothing, right?

Double Feature

No time for a post yesterday. After a few delays, we arrived home from Florida late last night. We walked in our front door about 10:40, and both sleeping boys were awake by 10:45.

"Lose It!"
* Belkin ipod charger purchased at O'Hare on way to Florida -- both hubby and I were sure we would be walking so much during our trip that our respective ipods would need to be re-charged while we were there. We took a few walks in attempts to get one or the other boys to nap, but nothing that I would characterize at exercise. Is it exercise if the walk ends at Dairy Queen or with the purchase and consumption of a huge caramel apple? So anyway, last night when we passed Brookstone on our way to baggage claim, I returned the charger. Not a big thing, but something that the old MEP would not have bothered to do (would have rationalized that I could use the charger sometime and it's only $25 and blah, blah, blah).

"Use It!"
* In part because, in the spirit of vacation, I ate more than I exercised last week, I made a new recipe today out of the Weight Watchers Turn Around Program Cookbook: Broccoli Waldorf Salad. Great texture, great flavor, and very easy to prepare, especially if you use broccoli slaw instead of chopping broccoli.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 7 down, 48 to go

Rebel without a jacket . . .

"Lose It!"
* A month or so ago, I was still thinking about whether to give away my turn-of-the-century (phrase borrowed from blogger friend cake) leather jacket, and now I am doing it. It's no longer stylish and it can no longer accommodate my rack. Gone baby gone.

Scrap Metal

"Lose It!"
* Several years ago, my mother-in-law came for a visit and brought a pan of lasagna. She left behind a metal rectangular thing with holes in it that I assumed was part of some kind of pan. I put it on top of our toaster oven, and it has lived there ever since. When she visits, I always mean to ask her if she needs it. I always forget. I just asked her now if she needs that piece of metal. The short answer is "no" and that she had not even used it for the lasagna, but rather to help support the pan when it traveled to Chicago. So anyway, soon it will be leaning against our garbage cans in the alley where the men who drive the scrap trucks will surely nab it.

My mother-in-law thought the scrap metal was sort of a lame "lose it!" so suggested that I also lose the old fry daddy that she bequested to us a few years ago. Homemade donuts would be divine but also dangerous so consider it lost.

Oh thank heaven?

Holiday Edition

"Use It!"
* read two issues of People and one of InStyle, borrowed from the community library in my in-laws' condo complex -- there are some Reader's Digests as well, but I don't think I'll need to go there unless I finish all the novels I packed

"Lose It!"
* 7-11 habit. Last year in Florida, my pregnant belly and I went to 7-11 for a Slurpee and other impulse buys every single day. I'm not saying I won't cave and get a Slurpee this week (I am on vacation after all), but I know that the new and improved MEP of 2009 will likely spend less than $10 at 7-11 this trip.

Flip Flopper

I'm not near my closet as I write this, but I know there are at least two pair of high, wedge-type sandals -- one black and one brown. They live in the basement closet and have for at least three years now. I keep them there because I don't need to access them. I don't need to access them because I never choose to wear them. I never choose to wear them because they are too high, great shoes for helping one turn an ankle. I especially don't want to turn an ankle while walking with Little Bit in my arms. So, why am I keeping them? I'm not. Welcome to the "lose it!" pile, wedgies.

"Bin" there.

The boys and I were hanging out in the basement yesterday, you know, chilling on the "ferris wheel."** I saw a half full clear, lidless bin in a closet and set to losing.

"Lose It!"
* scrapbooking scraps -- bunch of scrapbooking paper with random shapes cut out. Yes, I did toss some full sheets as well and, yes, I suppose I could have cut more shapes from these scraps and glued them in a collage on a shoe box that could then store more junk**, but instead, I just scrapped them.

* deck of Peanuts playing cards -- may have had 52 cards, but with Bub around, it was better just to toss them before he found them and, well, tossed them.

* a playbill from the musical Winesburg, Ohio -- was a great show, and I know I kept the playbill for the same reasons I have saved others: the idea that I might someday frame and display them. But really, I won't ever do that so I am now vowed to toss the rest of the playbills when I across them, except for a couple that remind me of special times and people (Les Miserables and Avenue Q).

* a bunch of other, little stuff that I don't need and won't miss


What are you losing and using these days? Please share.


**In the world of Bub, the guest bed is a "ferris wheel."
***I used to do shit like this before I had kids -- decorate shoeboxes with scraps of paper. I'm sure to unearth one soon and will share a pic.

The Elephant in the Room

I am proud to report that all of the "Lose It!" items since this blog's inception have finally left the house. Since I began, all the donation items have been piling up in front of the basement crawl space. The past two weeks, hubby had taken to asking about their final destination fairly frequently. I think he fully expected the pile to remain until we could no longer access the basement. But no, MEP is on fire this year. I loaded the car on Monday, drove around all week with a huge box sitting shotgun, and this afternoon finally put my hazard lights on in a bus lane so I could drop off the stuff (5 bags of clothes, 1 bag of shoes, 1 box of home decor items, and an artificial Christmas wreath) at The Brown Elephant. Feels good to clear some space. I look forward to starting a new pile soon.

In the spirit of full disclosure, all my giveaway books are still in a big box in the guest room as I try to decide whether (and where) to donate them or take them to Half Price books where I might earn as much as $4.00 (based on past experience).

Bubbing Artist

Here is a photo offering a glimpse of Bub's Valentine handiwork from yesterday's "Use It!". He started out strong with the glitter paint ("Pink my favorite color"), but was less than enthusiastic about the stickers. The crayon period was a chaotic time for him. As the card-making continued, his aesthetic became more minimalist and even a bit brooding (see black crayon card).

That's all I've got for today. Hubby's flight is delayed after two nights away from home, and it is a miracle I have not lost my mind yet.

Sealed With a Kiss

"Use It!"
* card-making supplies, paint, and crayons we already had in the house to produce some Bub-designed Valentine's cards (photos to come tomorrow when he can show them off to the Mac PhotoBooth himself) for grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Here's hoping I can get them addressed and in the mail on time.

* Sesame Street valentines purchased two years ago with the good intention of sending them out from Bub -- his classmates will be receiving them on Thursday at their party. I was tempted to take him to CVS to pick out his own Valentines, but I thought, "He has years to pick out his own Valentines. Use the ones you already have."

Testing the waters . . .

On Saturday, we're leaving for a week in Florida. Due to pregnancy and childbirth, I did not wear any of my regular summer clothes this past summer. I went through the summer clothes bin today. I have a large pile of "start getting with the program so you can zip these capri pants by summer" clothes; a small-ish pile of "these fit and I can wear them next week in Florida" clothes; a "let's move these to the fourth trimester bin"; and a pile of "whether they fit or not, I don't see myself wearing these clothes ever again." So, end result is "Lose It!" of about eight items. Plus, after having pawed through the boys' bins, I also found some Florida clothes for Little Bit that used to be Bub's ("Use It!"). Then, I pushed all but two bins back into the closet, creating a more convincing appearance of order.

Assuming I can fit into the clothes in the "start getting with the program so you can zip these capri pants by summer" pile, I will have to use this blog to answer the question of how many pairs of capri pants one woman really needs. Any thoughts?

Don't let the bed bugs bite.

"Lose It!"
* three sleep books -- I read many when Bub was a baby. I really did not care when he slept through the night, but I was desperate for him to begin taking regular naps that did not involve motion. In my experience, no parenting book "fits all." When I consult them, I tend get start a cycle of reading hoping for solutions and reassurance and often end up feeling more anxious and obsessive than when I started. I ultimately found a sleep book that was a keeper for my family. I know people who have had success with the books I'm tossing, but I know I probably won't need to consult them again.

If anyone out there is interested in these books, please let me know. I would be happy to send them media (super snail) mail. Leave a comment or send an email to mep at nottobrag dot net . . . If any mom is desperate as I once was, I hate to think of her being desperate and spending more money than she needs to.

Bunch of tossers?

"Lose It!"
* large red plastic tumbler-type glass with crack on side -- seems an obvious candidate, but has taken up valuable shelf space for years now where we weren't using it because, you know, it was cracked . . . it's still cracked but now it's in the trash


Obviously, I'm losing a little steam or, more accurately, shying away from "losing" things that are more difficult to let go of . . .

I'm pretty close to losing all my VHS tapes, but have been wondering whether or not they are good items for donation or not. I worry that Salvation Army and Goodwill personnel everywhere are tired of tossing other people's donated copies of Weekend at Bernie's and Mannequin.*

I'm also considering losing the response cards to our wedding. What do you think?

I'm counting on you all to help me out. What kinds of things should I put to the lose it/use it test? What are you losing of late?



*I do not own either of these movies.

Not the "other one."

"Use It!"
* I used Anne Byrn's What Can I Bring Cookbook and made "Tex-Mex Chicken Spaghetti." I found it quite tasty and asked my hubby to give his review, "It was good, but I think I like the other one better." I asked some follow-up questions and determined that "the other one" is Chicken Tetrazzini, a casserole I have only made once, at least as far as I can recall. All the same, "good" is a very strong review.

* three pounds of chicken -- only noting this because any time I can use proteins (do you like my Top Chef-speak?) before they need to go in the freezer, I am pleased with myself . . . once items enter the freezer, there are no guarantees they'll make it on to a dinner plate -- also, I ended up with eight pounds of chicken, due to a sale at Jewel and now it's (almost) all been used


Cookbook Challenge Stats: 6 down / 49 to go

Scrap it.

"Lose It!"
* two craft books -- one about scrapbooking and one about photo crafts. It's all I can do right now to take photos, upload them, and try to share them online. The next level for me is deciding what's next: photo DVD with music? design an album on Kodak Gallery? place in album with clever captions? create and frame a collage? I don't lack inspiration or ideas, just time.

For the record, I made the executive decision to stop scrapbooking before Bub was born, and I'm okay with that choice for me.

That's a Wrap

"Lose It!"
* overly complicated wrap sweater -- have had it a full year and tried to wear it the other day, attempted to wrap myself in it and kept ending up with an extra 16 inches or so of belt no matter what I did -- hope it finds a good home with someone who is smarter or possesses better dexterity than I

* turtleneck with horizontal stripes -- not doing me any favors, especially with postpartum rack

* Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor -- I started reading this book, one of The "Lingerers", but I wasn't feeling it. I've read and enjoyed two of Naylor's other books and that will have to do me. Plus, the cover is seriously bad. Now, I'm judging the book by the twenty pages I read, not by the cover. It might have gotten better, but sometimes life feels too short to gamble on that.

(Re)Discovering Dayton

I'm not a Junior Leaguer, but I do have two Junior League cookbooks, both of which I really like and use. Every recipe I've tried from the Cincinnati one -- I'll Cook When Pigs Fly . . . and they do in Cincinnati! -- has been fairly successful, especially the Hot Bacon and Swiss Dip (which I affectionately refer to as "Fat Dip"), oh so easy and cheesy. Causing a Stir, from the Junior League of Dayton, has also served me well, most notably for its Proscuitto Pinwheel recipe, a great success at a wine-tasting party in 2005.

Causing a Stir also includes favorite recipes from Discover Dayton, an earlier JL cookbook that my mom used quite a bit when I was growing up.

I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies this weekend and happened upon a recipe in Causing a Stir. "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" were soft, which is how I like my cookies, but not crumbly or insubstantial. I liked them enough to eat at least a dozen myself, and my husband dubbed them "fine" (fairly high praise around here).* I gave half the batch to our nephew, who was sweet enough to babysit for us last night.

The special ingredient in this cookie recipe is a 1.7 ounce package of instant vanilla pudding. I had pudding on hand, but only in 3.4 ounce packages. Do they even make 1.7 ounce packages? The 3.4 ounce box yields 4 servings of a .5 cup each, which is really not a lot of pudding. Would one really buy a box of pudding that makes 1 cup of pudding? I'm not buying that.

Do you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie? Which of your cookbooks have you used lately?

Cookbook Challenge Stats for anyone keeping track: 5 down / 50 to go.
I have the rest of 2009 to try one new recipe in each of the cookbooks I don't want to "lose."

Pedomination

"Use It!"
A few years ago, I was really into wearing my pedometer and trying to get my daily 10,000 steps. I liked having the extra incentive to move more throughout the day. When I heard Dr. Oz* recommend getting more steps in to the obese teens on this week's Oprah, I thought to myself, "I need to start wearing my pedometer again." I found it (miraculous) but discovered it did not work. I thought it could be a battery problem, but wasn't sure. I was tempted to order a new one from Amazon. A new pedometer would cost about $15, but a new battery might cost $9 (exorbitant cost of special-sized battery purchased to put in the Barney Piano book of Bub's that cost a quarter at the church toddler sale). I hated to think that I would shell out for the new battery and find the pedometer problem had nothing to do with the battery. Anyway, I looked at CVS and realized the battery I needed was only $5. Sold. I put the battery in, and the pedometer is up and running . . . or rather walking.


*I am kind of annoyed by Dr. Oz but am not quite sure why.

Craft Machine Dreams

My nieces Swiper and Fancy are self-proclaimed "craft machines" and their mother LAP has already described. They have a new baby sister and have been stuck inside for almost this entire week due to snow and ice; plus, they were coughing and snotty for a good portion of the preceding week.

I've had baby's (waiting on LAP to help assign a blog handle) present for several weeks now. Along with the baby gift, I am sending a selection of crafting supplies for Swiper and Fancy with the hopes that these items will make some long afternoons at their house a bit shorter. For the record, I received LAP's permission before moving forward on this. I am not trying to pawn my stuff off on unwilling recipients. LAP knows she is free to "lose" anything she deems crap, though I tried hard to fill the box with good stuff. (I'd tell you what stuff, but I don't want to spoil the surprise). The box is ready for UPS tomorrow . . . and when Swiper and Fancy open it up and get down to crafting, I hope a beautiful convergence of "using" and "losing" follows.

Read My Lips: "No New Books"

"No New Books" is actually a promise I cannot keep, but I am trying to use the library, be thoughtful about my book purchases, and to "lose" the books I do not need to keep in my home. I mentioned "The Lingerers" in my initial Just Use It or Lose It post -- some books I have had on my shelf for more than five years, have moved with me at least once and yet still not read. I could give a history on how and why I obtained each book, but I won't bore you with backstory. I have other unread books on my shelf, but these titles are on the clock. I read them in 2009 or lose them. Without further ado, I present "The Lingerers" . . .

(the black book is You Shall Know Your Velocity by Dave Eggers -- backstory because I couldn't resist: purchased at a cool event in Chicago that I attended with my friend E . . . -- Dave Eggers, other writers from McSweeneys, personalities from NPR, and They Might Be Giants performing)

Do you have lingerers? Give me your titles and consider yourself on the clock.

Fourth Trimester

"Lose It!"
I have a bin of clothes labeled "Fourth Trimester" from after Bub's birth. I peeked inside of it this morning. Due to the differences between having a baby in January and one in June, none of my fourth trimester clothes for Bub did me much good after Little Bit (generously-sized pale blue cords or pink velvet jeans (for real) are not quite the thing for the Chicago summer). I ended up getting some fourth trimester duds for the summer. Several items from the 2006 bin went straight to the give-away pile. I kept others since we would like to have one more baby (though not in the near, near future). I'm thinking now, however, that I shall go through the bin once more. I don't plan to be as large as I was post-Bub ever again, and some of the items in the bin are just not good. The fourth trimester is a sensitive time when one is not feeling so confident about one's appearance so I'm going to take a look-through and ask of each item: Will this item make me feel better or worse about myself?

Sell By Success Stories

As I have mentioned on my other blog, I am a grocery store addict. Even though my neighborhood Jewel store pales in comparison with my beloved Kroger, I still fill my cart regularly. I add trips to Trader Joe's and Costco to mix things up. I recognize that my love for choosing groceries stems, in part, from more of those good intentions of mine -- I always intend to be cooking healthy, hearty, delicious, and creative meals for my family. I often fail to do so and thus also shop to keep up our stock of Lean Cuisines (me), Lean Pockets (hubby), pasta, sauce, and frozen pizza. I also take pride in selecting snacks and treats that will make my hubby and Bubby happy. I have trouble going to the store and leaving with "just a few things."

I am proud of my progress at the grocery store this year. I have been trying to use a list and stick to it. I have thrice remembered to bring my earth-friendly reusable bags with me. I have tried to have a real plan for what I buy instead of vague inklings that such and such ingredient goes in such and such recipe that I might make if I could locate it in one of my 55 cookbooks. The result is that I have spent less money at the store and had fewer temptations stocked around the house.

I have also been making an effort to "use" the food I buy before it expires. Sounds simple enough, but I often fail to use perishables and even pantry goods before their sell-by dates. When perishable goods go bad, typically the cause is poor planning. The pantry goods get tossed because I hoard them for that proverbial rainy day rather than use them. Can't say why.

So anyway, today I kept riding the wave of yesterday's successful use of beef from the freezer with some more culinary concoctions.

"Use It!" (I have starred the items that might easily have been tossed)
* Bubby and I made some instant pudding* (seems a no brainer to use a box of pudding mix before its expiration date, but I know from purging the pantry before Little Bit was born, that I hoard pudding and jello -- in June I tossed boxes that expired in 2006).

* I made a breakfast casserole with bread* (almost stale), eggs* (sell by date of Friday), cheese, basil* (leftover from weekend panini bender), sliced grape tomatoes*, sausage* (sell by date of Thursday), and milk. Now I have breakfast to eat for the rest of the week, which means I can continue hoarding my Lean Cuisine pizzas (default breakfast item).

Freezer Diving

"Use It!"
Some beef from our chest freezer was turned into a lovely stroganoff-type affair thanks to my trusty slow cooker -- husband "really liked the dinner, honey," which, around here, is equivalent to, "You should open your own restaurant." So, I'm feeling pretty pleased . . . pleased that the meal was good and pleased that I used the meat.

Also, those of you aware of my tendency to obsess over foods, will not be surprised to know that I ate seven paninis over the weekend.

Back in Bin-ness

I was so bone tired last night that I turned in at just before 9:00 p.m in the hopes of catching up on my sleep. Those hopes were dashed when Little Bit woke up at 5:00 a.m., ready to party. As I was checking my email in the six o'clock hour, I realized I forgot to post yesterday. Ah well, I guess I will just have to "lose" the idea that I have to report on using or losing every single day in order for this project to be a success. I've been working on letting good enough be enough for years now . . .

Tonight during Big Love, I attacked a medium-sized yellow bin I keep in the downstairs bathroom closet. This closet is important, as it houses both boys' pajamas (they take their baths downstairs) as well as my toothbrush and toothpaste (I have been getting ready for bed downstairs ever since Bub was a baby for fear of waking him up -- the upstairs bathroom is right next to his room -- note that my husband fearlessly brushes his teeth upstairs every night). The bin was full of junk, and I gave it a good sort, which resulted in the following list:

"Lose It!"
* Items from yellow bin in bathroom: dried up travel package of make-up removal wipes, three toothbrushes (mine?), a spray bottle of water with defective sprayer, a candlestick (seriously), lid to type of baby bottle we no longer have due to BPA concerns, tube of Target diaper rash cream (oozes odd, yellow, soupy goo that I fear to put on my boys' bottoms), expired generic infant Tylenol, tape measure (not "lost" but relocated), package of staples (again, not "lost" but relocated), and some feminine products gunked together with globs of toothpaste (TMI?)

I am tempted to lose the sensitive teeth toothpaste I have because it leave behind the worst aftertaste EVER, but I'm going to hold on to it as I still intend to do a better job of maintaining the health of my teeth and uber-sensitive gums.

Okay, I'm off to brush right now.

Fanfare Friday: Panini Party

"Use It!"
I finally busted out the panini maker that I asked for and received for Christmas 2007. My hubby, who had no idea we even had a panini maker, combined ham, swiss cheese, and aioli garlic mustard sauce (from Trader Joe's, of course). I delighted in tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil (yes, I am still obsessed with basil) and brushed my bread with roasted garlic grapeseed oil. I had a few negative flashbacks to the George Foreman Grill (hated it and its grease trap and still hate thinking of the smell of chicken grilling on the Foreman) when I got it out of the box, but our paninis tasted awesome! I will now work on finding some more "lose it!" items in the kitchen so as to clear space for easy access to the panini maker.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I will add that I also crafted and consumed a second (albeit smaller) panini: tomato, swiss cheese, and the aioli garlic mustard sauce.

These photo booth photos from our laptop will you a glimpse of our paninis and of the exciting Friday nights we have around these parts.

Okay, it's Fanfare Friday, what have you been using and losing this week? Please share.

On Target

"Lose It!"
Several items in the freezer that are expired, several freezer burnt items stored in gallon bags that were apparently not freezer bags, some hamburger buns that, let's face it, I'm never going to thaw and use.

Inspiring Story:
Yesterday, I made my first trip to Target in 2009. I spent less than $10 on two natural cleaning products that I adore and have only seen at Target. Then, the Bub and I sat down in the old Target cafe (while Little Bit slept in infant seat) and had a snack. Note to self: All those times in the past when I took the boys to Target just to get out of the house, I could have done so without spending $100 or more. Good to know.

Tomorrow is Fanfare Friday. Prepare to share your tales of using it and/or losing it.

House of Cards

"Use It!"
I got out the greeting cards that are going to go in the file I am going to use to organize them. As it stands now, when I need a card, I do one of the following:
a. run to Hallmark or CVS (where I am tempted by other items--candy, scented candles, etc.)
b. try to turn a notecard into an appropriate card or otherwise "tweak" cards I own
c. send the card very late
d. neglect to send a card at all

When in doubt, choose D. I used to stamp my own cards and send them out. I hope to "use" my supplies to craft my own cards again. Besides stamping, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

It's been a tough few days around here so that's all I've got for today.

Britastic Fridge Factor

"Use It!"
I admit I haven't done a lot of research about water quality in Chicago, but tap water on ice tastes fine to me. We do have a Brita pitcher, which I enjoy for a nice class of chilled water sans ice. I am not all that vigilant about filling the Brita pitcher, a shame because the pitcher takes up prime fridge real estate, front and center, and it occupies this spot whether or not it's filled. That's right, I am sometimes so lazy that I will place a completely empty Brita pitcher back in the fridge. If it's going to block my view of other stuff in the fridge, it should at least be filled. Also, if it's filled, I use it and thus drink more water. Anyway, the past few days I have been really good about keeping the Brita filled.

"Lose It!"
* half gallon of half and half from December -- the expiration date says February 2, 2009, but the carton also mentions that you should use within seven days of opening and this half and half was opened before Christmas

The more I police the fridge, the more aware I am of what we have in stock and the less likely I am to buy duplicate items and to let items waste because they were obscured from view.

Wait for the tone.

Today's post is brief because mostly what we have been losing the past 24 hours around here is SLEEP! The Bub was up a good portion of last night with an extremely painful ear infection, and Little Bit added to the excitement with his typical two nightly wake-ups, plus one extra prompted by Bub's crying.

I did find a moment, however, to toss a book entitled Amy's Answering Machine into the books-to-go box. It's a small hardback book containing transcripts of loony answering machine messages Amy's mom left her. I remember finding it amusing, but I know I won't read it again and don't need it on my shelf to remind me of a past, positive reading experience. This volume was housed on one of the basement guest room shelves, and when I grabbed it, I noted that I will need to revisit those shelves for more losing.

I love books and do not feel any particular urgency to rid myself of the majority of my collection, but I am definitely starting to think more carefully about which books I "need" to have around and to buy in the future. Just curious, do any of you have a book policy?

One more thing, I am proud to report that the only two things I purchased at CVS today were: antibiotic for ear infection and children's motrin. I had to wait for the prescription for 20 minutes, and I didn't even peek at the Christmas stuff, now reduced to 90% off.

Roo hoo Roo hoo

I took a pass through my closet today and was able to prepare a large bag of clothing for donation. I won't detail all the items, but I am getting more realistic about what things I might wear someday and what things I am just kidding myself about. I moved a few items I was not ready to "lose" front and center in my closet, and I'm going to give them a month or so. If I don't wear them by March, they're out of here.

Though my hubby is still preparing his (S)Hit List of items that he would like to see put to the use it or lose it test, I know that one hot button issue of his is my many pairs of athletic shoes. I tossed one pair of shoes today and bagged six others for donation, including three pairs of Roos. One pair was a no-brainer "Lose It!": yellow with hot pink and purple accents and never worn outside the house. One pair (teal and aqua) I used to sport with a maternity sweatsuit I call "Big Teal" but I have not worn them in two years now (not even this past pregnancy when Big Teal made a few appearances). One pair I will miss sorely (light blue, navy, and a small orange accent), but they are very worn and pretty filthy now; indeed, I think I best move them from the donate pile and into the trash . . . actually, my stomach hurts a little thinking about giving them up, and I perhaps I will try to clean them up and give them a one-month stay of execution as well.

Hubby wants another gold star for cleaning the junk drawer.

Minimum at the Maxx

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I have been repeating the following mantra as part of my efforts to use or lose the stuff crowding my life: "I have everything I need. I have everything I need." One way I can justify "losing" so much stuff--some of which, to be honest, will not be going to a good home, though I am trying to recycle and donate whenever appropriate or feasible--is by committing to STOP buying and acquiring more stuff.

To date, these efforts have been successful. I have not visited Target in 2009. I have been to CVS two times, but only to purchase necessary items like toothpaste and prescription eye drops for my son.

Earlier this week, I did have to visit two stores to make returns. On my way there, I reminded myself that "I have everything I need." At the first store, I was returning a sweater that did not fit. The sweater was a gift and so I received store credit. I am proud to report that I left the store with a sweater that did fit and NOTHING ELSE. However, in the spirit of this blog, I will be taking a pass through my clothes tomorrow with an eye toward "losing" a few sweaters/tops to make room for this one.

The second return was at TJ Maxx: a hastily chosen pair of shoes I thought I might need to wear to a holiday party. The sad news is that I was unaware of the 30-day return policy at the Maxx and thus received store credit instead of a credit to my Visa. TJ Maxx is the mothership for crap-magnet-but-recovering-stuff-a-holics like me so I knew I was on dangerous ground. I also knew that if I were to save my store credit for when I needed to buy a gift or something specific at TJ Maxx, it was fifty-fifty that I would have "lost" it in the meantime, and not purposefully. So, I did buy some stuff and feel the need to confess it: a plastic cover for my ipod, a fine strainer, a pair of black workout pants, and a Vera Bradley accordion file in the Java Blue pattern. The ipod cover was something I needed; the strainer something I have been seeking for rinsing small grains like couscous and rice that slip through the pasta strainer; the file folder is just "stuff" but I hope to make good on my good intention to sort the greeting cards I own already or can craft myself in some sort of file so that I can use them instead of running to Hallmark or CVS for cards; and the workout pants are LONG (very hard to come by) and have been worn twice already. Rationalizations aside, I am disappointed in myself for bringing more stuff into my house. However, I do want some props for not spending a dime at TJ Maxx and, in fact, walking out of the store with three cents of store credit left, not to brag. I will be looking to lose some seldom worn workout pants tomorrow when I take a crack at my closet.

"Lose It!"
* various rusty, broken, or underused items in my kitchen utensil drawer -- for example, some "steak" knives from my hubby's college apartment that can barely slice through bologna (not that I buy bologna), two ripped rubber spatulas, and 7 pair of disposable Chinese food delivery chopsticks (I can't use them and am typically too hungry to bother trying and really Bub should not get a hold of them).

"Use It!"
* two items from the deep freeze--ground turkey and corn from giant Costco bag--that were blended with some other pantry staples for an improvisational, but quite tasty turkey/corn/taco/chili soup


And, finally, my hubby receives a gold star for his "losing" today. He sorted through a closet and then lost two boxes of college files and books, business school cases, and job search materials. There's more losing on tap for tomorrow, so please stay tuned.