Thrillsville
I don't know if "giddy" is how you feel when you purge house junk, but I am practically sailing. I posted a few days ago about starting a dejunking contest with my friend Bonnie. My goal was to "drop" 100 pounds of clutter by July 31st.
Well, folks, please cheer for God as He has motivated me and sustained me so far. As of 4:30 today I have trashed or donated 117 pounds of junk. One hundred seventeen. This was only my second day since the contest started! Saturday Purple Heart came and got my first 62 pounds.
The hardest test came when I saw enough room in a box for a few more items. Sarah told me to get rid of some mugs. I have done this fairly recently,so was opposed to it. I grabbed two mugs I didn't like all that much. Sarah told me to get rid of the six black mugs, too. They are small and I've used them only for a Ladies' Christmas breakfast and a few times to melt butter in the microwave, but I like them. Too much. Sarah was ruthless (but gentle). I said, "But I could use them on display in the dining room with my white collection. I could accent some black and white pictures with a shelf of my white teapot collection and black mugs," I reasoned. " She told me that was a creative way to keep hoarding. Ouch. The mugs are at Goodwill now. Thank God for a daughter like her. She didn't give me a hard time. She just kept cross-stitching and counseling from the far end of the family room.
When Paul got home, I was aglow with the litany of things I had parted with. Clothes, storebought Christmas balls, baby linens, a couple of books, an old VCR player, an archaic printer, mini-blinds, stuffed animals, and much more.
He questioned whether they were "gone-gone" or just waiting to be taken away. I said, "Two bags went to the garbage truck. This afternooon Joel accompanied me to Goodwill with another bag and a big box of stuff. Fifty-five pounds and a $77-dollar charitable deduction." He heard the words that tickled his ears today.
I think that's why I'm giddy. I have pleased my husband, not just myself. Funny thing is, he "applauds" with a nod, and I sit down and blog about it.
Well, folks, please cheer for God as He has motivated me and sustained me so far. As of 4:30 today I have trashed or donated 117 pounds of junk. One hundred seventeen. This was only my second day since the contest started! Saturday Purple Heart came and got my first 62 pounds.
The hardest test came when I saw enough room in a box for a few more items. Sarah told me to get rid of some mugs. I have done this fairly recently,so was opposed to it. I grabbed two mugs I didn't like all that much. Sarah told me to get rid of the six black mugs, too. They are small and I've used them only for a Ladies' Christmas breakfast and a few times to melt butter in the microwave, but I like them. Too much. Sarah was ruthless (but gentle). I said, "But I could use them on display in the dining room with my white collection. I could accent some black and white pictures with a shelf of my white teapot collection and black mugs," I reasoned. " She told me that was a creative way to keep hoarding. Ouch. The mugs are at Goodwill now. Thank God for a daughter like her. She didn't give me a hard time. She just kept cross-stitching and counseling from the far end of the family room.
When Paul got home, I was aglow with the litany of things I had parted with. Clothes, storebought Christmas balls, baby linens, a couple of books, an old VCR player, an archaic printer, mini-blinds, stuffed animals, and much more.
He questioned whether they were "gone-gone" or just waiting to be taken away. I said, "Two bags went to the garbage truck. This afternooon Joel accompanied me to Goodwill with another bag and a big box of stuff. Fifty-five pounds and a $77-dollar charitable deduction." He heard the words that tickled his ears today.
I think that's why I'm giddy. I have pleased my husband, not just myself. Funny thing is, he "applauds" with a nod, and I sit down and blog about it.
posted by Zoanna at
5:03 PM
5 Comments:
Great job!! I'm starting to feel inspiration to go sort through my basement. Now I just need to feel the energy to go along with it. :-)
By the way, I really enjoy reading your posts. You have a nice, entertaining writing style that makes me feel like you're "talking" to me.
Great! That's wonderful and exciting. BTW, what's Purple Heart? Your conversation sounds like the ones I used to have with my mom . . . or Josh (who keeps everything!).
Thanks for the feedback. Ashleigh, I have had regrets to the tenth power about giving you a sponataneous grammar lesson the other day. Please forgive me!?! You didn't ask for it, didn't pay me for it, didn't hint around for one. I just up and did what oozes out of my DNA. I'm sure it's as annoying as a persistent cough.
Thanks for the compliment on my writing style. An English prof in college emphasized giving one's writing a "voice"; she would be pleased to read your comment.
Danielle: Purple Heart is a charitable organization similar to American Vets. They have thrift stores where donations are sold to benefit veterans of foreign wars, I think. I'm on their call list, so about every 6 weeks or so I can donate a bag or two of stuff. They pick up from my front porch and leave a receipt. Works great all the way around.
Zoanna, don't worry about it. No regrets needed! :-) It took me off-guard at first, but I'm fine. Never hurts to have some sharpening when it comes to grammar -- which I've always had problems with.
Anyway, a bit of an explanation ... the reason I deleted my other comment on your Abba post (that had the link to my personal blog) was because the publisher of "Stupid Parents" visits my Orchard Grove blog several times a day to see if I've said anything new about their products (I see them on statcounter). I thought they might link on your name and find my personal blog through my comment (they did a bit of hunting to find out other info about me and a couple other people). I just didn't want them on my personal blog. Anyway, so I deleted that comment since you now know how to find my other blog, but when I went back to add the other part of what I'd written I couldn't remember what I said. As I said, it was definitely one of those days! :-)
Way to go, Zo. And, way to go, Sarah. I'm a bit more like Sarah...hate having stuff, but that's mostly b/c I lack any serious creativity to know what to do with it.
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