Friday, August 31, 2012

Day 12/365 It’s time to go picture on the wall.


     We have pictures all over the house. There’s hardly a space to hang a new one, so lately I’ve been looking around for those whose time it is to go. This one is a sure bet.


My sister gave it to my husband during his typewriter collecting days. Most of the typewriters have been given away, but this print has remained on the door (in the upstairs bathroom) to the attic. It is faded beyond restoration but maybe the frame is still useful. (I trust that my sister will appreciate that it’s time for her gift to go.)

    The space looked very empty but not to worry, I found this print that I’m not ready to let go of yet.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Day 11/365 It’s time to go, stuff from the put-and-take


      I’m dealing with a little glitch in this letting go of stuff--kind of treading water. You see, my husband sometimes brings home more stuff from the put-and-take than I can get rid of on a given day. He’s good about passing it on, or even taking it back, but sometimes when I look out window and watch him open his car trunk, I think, ‘Oh, no…..’
        We solve the problem by giving most of the stuff away as presents.  In fact, we haven’t purchased a gift from a store in a couple of years, which many not be great for the economy, but it sure supports the environment (and our budget).
      
      Here are the gifts for our grown son’s birthday, which we celebrated last night. Without a doubt he received more gifts than we would have bought, certainly more interesting ones. and better than anything we would buy.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Day 10/365 It’s time to go, junk in a box


    It’s turned out to be rather easy to deal with the junk in this box. We've saved some batteries in hopes are still active, although it seems we need fewer and fewer of them these days. Um, I wonder when batteries will be totally obsolete? 

     When our son was in high school he used the little tape recorder, so we’ve wrapped that up as one of his birthday presents. The other junk in the box, mainly playing cards, is ready for the dumpster.  

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Day 9/365 It’s time to go, boots


Anne Lamott coined the phrase ‘bird by bird’ to help us when we become overwhelmed by seemingly impossible tasks. ‘Shelf by shelf’ is my way of thinking about letting go of stuff. Yesterday it was a shelf in the pantry, what we call the mudroom. 

Not much to let go of, or so I thought, but that was because I completely ignored the two boxes sitting pristinely at one end. 
 


    What to do with the box of boots that I’ve been missing, and done without, for three years? The good news is that they still fit. The bad news is that I can’t let them go. I’m going to give them one season to see if I ever wear them. Today’s challenge is the other box, which is full of junk. Stay tuned.