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.

Fanfare Friday -- Going Wild

"Use It!"
* Wildtree Satay Sauce -- I attended a Wildtree tasting party last December, hosted one last March, and attended another a couple of months later. I love all the products, especially the varieties of natural grapeseed oil (which I cook with all the time), but have a tendency to "save" some of them (they have sort of an aura about them since I did not buy them at the regular grocery store) even though the products are meant to help you make healthy, tasty, easy meals. I save them in the same way one might save a nice bottle of lotion or a special bar of soap. Anyway, we enjoyed noodles with satay sauce and chicken for dinner tonight. It was nice to have a hot (warm and slightly spicy) meal on a cold night.

In other news, "'Fess Up Friday" has now been renamed, drumroll please, "Fanfare Friday" . . . What have you been using and losing this week?

Treadmilling again . . .

"Lose It!"
* two coffee table books -- we don't even have a coffee table

"Use It!"
* The YMCA -- we joined the YMCA in December after realizing Bub was going to continue getting shut out of swim lessons if we waited for non-member registration. Hubby has gone several times to work out in 2009 whereas, until today, I had opted for the workout that is getting a toddler dressed and undressed--including swim diaper--for swimming lessons in the middle of the coldest January in recent years and with an infant in tow. The steamy conditions in the Y's family locker room, coupled with my own winter wardrobe, add to the intensity of that workout. It's like hot box yoga or whatever the hell it's called. But today while Bub was at school and Little Bit with our babysitter, I used 45 of the approximately 100 minutes a week I have completely to myself to walk on the treadmill at the YMCA.

Remember, tomorrow is Fess Up Friday (or, maybe I should call it something like "You're Fabulous Friday" because I want to celebrate using and losing and "fess up" suggests shame or something) . . . I'll work on the name; you work on preparing your list of the items you've been using or losing this week. I want to hear about them in the comments tomorrow.

Fitness Challenged . . . Who me?

"Use It!"
* I just want to point out, belatedly, that in making yesterday's banana bread, I used four blackening bananas of the sort that usually get tossed despite the fact that our babysitter always comments, "You should use those for banana bread." I always nod and agree that I should and then admit that I likely will not. Then, I ask if she would like to take the bananas home for banana bread. She is yet to take me up on it.
* Though it is getting in the way of my plans to "lose" weight in 2009, I did "use" yesterday's holiday meatballs today; indeed, I ate meatballs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, this does not really count as a "Use It!" as those meatballs are the kind of leftover that would have disappeared around here anyway. There are still many meatballs left, but I am going to "lose" my meatball habit tomorrow or at least go easy on them.

"Lose It!"
* With the good intention of making fitness a family affair, I purchased a board game called The Fitness Challenge a few years ago. Developed by an engaged couple trying to get in shape for their wedding, the game involves setting up a system of fitness goals, logging exercise time, choosing rewards, and then engaging in friendly competition with your loved ones. It is fine, but honestly, I think most people could come up with their own creative system for that kind of thing and tailor it to suit their needs. Plus, though I always want to develop elaborate structures of tasks and rewards (something like creating a blog to keep myself on task for de-cluttering), my hubby would rather just, you know, exercise. If anyone is really interested in The Fitness Challenge, speak up as the Salvation Army Express will not be leaving until Sunday.

Also, for those readers who are interested, the hubby's (S)Hit List will be posted soon. A few items I know for sure are on it include: holiday dishes, my teapot collection, and excessive picture frame-age.

Up Tempo

"Use It!" -- The Cookbook Challenge is heating up . . .
* I made Easy Banana Bread from Masterpieces from our Kitchen, published by the Fairfield (OH) Tempo Club -- twas easy and tasty, if a bit overdone (blame user-error, not the Tempo Clubbers)

* I also used the old crock pot for Holiday Meatballs from Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining by Phyllis Pellman Good and Dawn J. Ranck -- I sampled a meatball and found it to my liking, but on this day when I prepared two different things in my own kitchen . . . I went out to dinner, which is why this post is so brief.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 4 down / 51 to go.

It will be put to good use.

"Use It!"
* the little cards that we ordered with our wedding invitations and used for our thank you notes -- I've held on to them, but not used them for anything but wedding thank you's because I had the idea that recipients would think, "These are their wedding thank you's" and feel slighted or something. Who knows? Now, I'm thinking, so what . . . I don't want to "lose" perfectly lovely notes with our names on them, so today I started using them for my holiday thank you notes (which I've been too occupied using and losing to send out yet).

"Lose It!"
* several smallish decorative boxes from my Harry and David Tower of Treats (I've already eaten two pears this evening and am tempted to finish the other four tonight--so, so, so good). In the past, I would have held on to these boxes with the idea that I could use them to box future gifts. I have not yet put the large box that housed the pears (now ripe and in my fridge calling out to me) into the recycling bin, but I will work up to it, unless I find a legitimate "Use It!" for that beautiful box.

De-noted.

In preparing to carpet their upstairs, my parents emptied the closets in the former bedrooms of me and my siblings. They asked us kindly to go sort through our stuff.* I sorted my stuff and had winnowed it down to one (large) bin, but then with holiday gifts and bags and kid stuff filling our car, I had to leave that bin behind. Before 2009 began, I made the decision to lose my Sweet Valley Twins books, my Babysitters Club, and various others (I saved Beverly Cleary's works, my All-of-a-Kind Family books, and some others that were favorites of mine growing up. I also lost a large pile of 5x7 notecards that I had made to prepare for various exams in college. If someone ever wants to quiz about Theology 100 or Plants, Food, and Society (a science class for non-science people like me), I will now be sorely unprepared. I will spare you an account of all that I lost or not . . . a couple of items will likely need to be tossed again once the bin arrives in Chicago (I promise, mom and dad, I'm picking it up, next trip) and I have to ponder what is worth storing under my own roof. I was very close to throwing away a large box of looseleaf notes, often quite artfully-folded, that I had received in high school. I reread a few of them and they made me smile and I had the idea that I could read them all once more and then toss them. At the same time, I kind of knew that would take hours and was not necessary. Anyway, my parents were hauling my bin into their garage this afternoon and called to figure out what to do about the box of notes. My mom thought I wanted to toss them; my dad thought I wanted to save them. I am proud to report that I called back and authorized tossing the box of notes ("Lose It!"). Sure, I will never again be able to reference just how bored my friends were during fourth period, how tired from football practice, nervous about Homecoming, or annoyed by other friends . . . but I think I will survive. After all, I'm on Facebook now.

So, fess up, did you save your high school notes?


*I want to say that my parents are incredibly kind about storing stuff, considering that they are currently unable to park a single car in their multi-car garage, thanks to that sort of kindness.