Day 182/365 It’s time to go, coffee pot.

     

 Well, not really, not yet. I’ve been living with a somewhat disabled coffee pot for over a year, ever since a little plastic piece, about a square centimeter, broke off. It left the coffee compartment swinging away, which was mighty inconvenient as far as clean up was concerned and a bother to bandage up before brewing each morning. I got tired of applying new duct tape bandages and so considered giving into purchasing a new one. But then I found a big rubber band and decided to try that. It works and is more secure, especially when applied along with tape. So for now, I’m saving at least $50 and feeling satisfied with this simple solution.

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Day 181/365 It’s time to go… to the yard sale.

     My daughter and her husband have been visiting for the Memorial Day weekend. They came to see us, to relax, to visit Boston, and to take a carload of stuff back to Pennsylvania for their neighborhood yard sale. 

     I don’t know if this is distressing, so I’ll just leave it as a comment: almost all of this stuff is from the put-and-take. That translates into the stark truth that we haven’t really gotten rid of anything. 

 

 

Day 180/365 It’s time to go, stuff in the freezer.

     I bet most of you can understand how pleased I am with myself about this one. I cleared out and cleaned the freezer. No easy task, and not much fun, but I had been on a mini-crusade to use up some of the stuff, so it wasn’t jam packed. Most of what was left, however, was pretty pathetic. 

     I won’t bore you with everything I threw out—your list probably wouldn’t be very different from mine. As much as I hate wasting, I made myself get rid of a chuck of ice, two packages lamb and pork, each a couple of years old, a container of very old chocolate chip cookie dough, and some pancetta stuffing, dated May 2013.  

      I couldn’t toss the popsicles that the grandkids love—at least not yet. Maybe I’ll change my mind about them. Maybe my son and daughter will see them and say, “Really, Mom, time to let them go!”

     

 My freezer is old but I never thought of getting rid of it. I bought it from Sears forty years ago and still has a lot of life in it. Besides, there is the nostalgic factor. 

Before

After

Day 179/365 It’s time to go, more dust.

Before

    I’m mighty pleased with the little shelf on my desk in the AR (Angel Room). It’s clear of dust and the pile of papers is now another pile of paper, but now on the floor. Not good, you might say, and I suppose you’re right. But I culled it down, throwing out some envelopes and little scraps of paper, and most importantly, now I know what’s in the pile. Somehow knowing what the stuff is becomes a stress reliever in itself. 

After

Pile of papers