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.