40 Bags - bag #25 (for real) and #26

"Upcycling" is a word and a concept that I like. It means to make something that has become useless or worthless into something new that has as much value as the original item had when it was new. As opposed to recycling, which produces items of lesser quality than the original. Like plastic bottles or paper made from recycled plastic or paper isn't as nice or as durable as the original.

A while ago I think I wrote about how once I realized how much paper we throw away, I wanted to do something about reducing that amount. We were going through lots of paper towels with all the kids living here, and thinking about how every single paper towel was used only one time and then thrown away started to make me sick. Many times a paper towel would be used to dry someone's freshly-washed hands and then be thrown away - clean paper going in the trash! What a waste of money and landfill space!

In January I bought dozens of good-quality white washcloths that were so cheap thanks to a combination of a great 30% off-coupon and a good white sale going on at Kohl's. I found a big basket at Garden Ridge Pottery that was 50% off. I keep the cloths in the basket on the kitchen counter and so far it is working just fine. If I have to replace the washcloths every year, it will save me $120 per year. If I can get two years out of them, then I'll have saved over $250. It does cost something to launder them, it's true, but I'm already washing whites and towels every week anyway. There are a few "gross" jobs that I will continue to use paper towels for - patting dry raw chicken pieces, covering bacon while it's microwaving, wiping off paintbrushes - but for everything else we've been using these cloths.

On to the next thing-

My kids don't like to have a top sheet on their beds. I don't get it - it feels so much nicer and cleaner to me to get into a bed that has a fitted and a flat sheet. But they don't feel that way. Fine. Consequently I have a few flat sheets that have never been used that match fitted sheets that have been worn out and thrown away. I had the brilliant idea that I would make napkins out of these never-been-slept-on sheets. I cut them into big squares with my rotary cutter, hemmed them on the sewing machine, and put them in a cute wire basket that I found at the Goodwill for $2.99. This isn't as big a money-saver as the paper towels but it's still something, and there's also the reduction of paper products that were getting thrown away after a single use. Plus I've been wanting cloth napkins, and they aren't cheap to buy. Now I don't have to.

On to the next thing-

You know I love that show Hoarders. One thing I've had to come to grips with after seeing some episodes is that craft supplies can be clutter. These crafty hoarders had big plans and wonderful intentions but somehow it all got to be too much for them. In order for me to not end up like that, I'll have to make as many things as I have the materials for or get rid of some of it. I have sentimental reasons for keeping it and I have lots of good intentions and ideas, so all the necessary ingredients are there for a potential problem. In the last couple of months I've finished a few projects that used up some of my supplies. By making one full-sized afghan, one baby afghan, 3 pairs of mittens, and 3 hats, I've used up 18 full skeins of yarn and lots of little leftover balls of yarn. These are all being given away as gifts.

The crazy thing is that all that yarn has been used up and it's not even made a noticeable dent in the pile. I have a lot of yarn.

Bags #25 and 26: two sheets and 18+ skeins of yarn are outta here. (Well, the sheets aren't technically "outta here", but they have been made over into something useful and are no longer taking up space in a drawer where they had been waiting for...what? I don't know, perhaps a sudden, emergency shortage of flat sheets in various sizes?)

40 Bags - bag #25

Re: the candle cabinet, which is where I keep all my scented candles, votive glasses, lighters, and matches. I went through it mostly to straighten it up, and remembered when I found them that I had saved for the future dozens of short pillar candles that are white, unscented, and already partially burnt up. I know that I saved them because there is still plenty of use in them. I saved them because I spent money on them, and it seems like a waste of that money to throw them away. We used them as part of some decorations for an outdoor wedding last year.

Reasons they are out of here now:

• They are white, which means they don't add a splash of cheery color to my white kitchen counter (where I set all candles while they are burning), which wouldn't be so bad except that
  
• They are also unscented. The reason I light a candle in the first place is to bring some fragrance to the house. To counteract whatever funk is coming from the boys' bedrooms.
  
• They've already been burned for a few hours. Which means that when I go to use them again as decor for another wedding or other event, they won't seem good enough.
  

Now that I'm thinking about it though, they would be perfect for use during long-term power outages such as we get during a hurricane. Hurricane season starts in 2 weeks. I think I'll dig them out of the trash and put them back in the candle cabinet. I'll put them in a box though, instead of rolling around creating havoc and falling down onto my head every time I open the cabinet.

I guess that means I'm still looking to fill up bag #25!

freezer organization

When I straightened up the medicine cabinet last week I ended up with some extra baskets. I had said that using containers in the freezer seemed like wasting space to me. I also didn't like the idea that I would have to take out the basket that contained all the frozen vegetables just to find the one bag of broccoli I needed. It can't be good for frozen foods to go in and out of the freezer multiple times, right?

Since the extra baskets were in the kitchen by the fridge I figured what the heck. I had done some soul-searching and had admitted to myself that because I generally use the first package I find of whatever it is that I'm looking for, there is more than one opened bag of frozen spinach in the freezer. There might also have been more than one opened bag of broccoli cuts, and a couple of opened bags of frozen peas. I had admitted to myself that when I'm looking for a roll of sausage I nearly always end up in some sort of arctic expedition to the back of the freezer that involves taking everything out of the freezer and laying it on the counter, only to have to put it all back when I discover that, in fact, we don't have any sausage, so I can't really use the excuse that it's not good for food to go in and out of the freezer. I admitted to myself that I buy frozen vegetables and fruits because I don't know what we already have on hand.

Typically I would call this extra "food storage". But since our freezer is a freezer/fridge, freezer space is at a premium. There has to be balance in our freezer.

I put all the frozen veg in one basket, and all the frozen fruit in another. Tonight when I was making pork fried rice for dinner I took the veg basket out of the freezer, found the peas & carrots, and put the basket back in. It took approximately 3 seconds. Although the baskets do take up more room that just shoving everything in, there was actually a lot less hassle than doing it the old way. A nice bonus was that I didn't end up with frostbite.

I also know that I don't need to buy frozen spinach next time I'm in the store. I have a few bags in there already. And really, it's nobody's business if they are all opened.

I can see myself gradually over time containerizing the rest of the items in my freezer. It actually does make finding things and keeping an inventory much easier.

Who knew? Live and learn.

something to ponder

I had a wonderful visit yesterday with a person I don't yet know very well. Part of my Relief Society job is to visit the women who have recently moved into our area.

• To get to know them better.
  
• To find out who they are.
  
• To understand what's important to them.
  
• To learn what is happening in their lives.

It's one of my favorite parts of the job, which is funny to me because I consider myself shy and unable to think of anything interesting or engaging to say to other people.

Which is part of my problem with my blog.

Anyway.

One of the things she said struck me as something I could do improve my life. One of her goals right now is to make more meaningful memories. It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I feel like my life is currently in flux. I can't get a grip on all the different lives and people swirling in and out of my life and my home. Everything feels temporary.

I find myself waiting for it all to resolve itself so I can get "back to normal". Which I think might be a mirage. I don't know. Does life ever get "normal"? Or will it always seem this way from now on, and I will someday find myself standing there thinking, "Wait, what? Why didn't anything happen?" and I will realize that I waited till the end to actually notice that I wasn't doing anything. Because there was something on tv or the internet that I was sitting there passively watching while life was moving on without me.

I want more meaningful memories. I don't want to look back and realize that I didn't have enough good times. What those good times are going to be I don't really know - I'll have to find something. There is a discontentment in my heart that cannot be filled with things.

40 Bags - bag #24

The "medicine" cabinet before. We call it the medicine cabinet because that's where the medicine belongs, but there are other things that live here too:

• bottles of lotion, insect repellent, and sunscreen
• first aid supplies
• vitamins
• small tools like tweezers and nail clippers

and on the very top shelf (because I don't use them very often) are all my baking "fancies". Things like:

• sprinkles, jimmies and colored sugars
  
• food coloring liquid and gel
• decorating bag tips
• a cookie press

I clean out this cabinet about once a year but it gets messy again pretty quickly. What's wrong with it is that it's hard to find what you're looking for. I think that happens because there are so many different categories each with their own large and small tubes and bottles. There's a lot of stacking things deep in this cabinet. When things are stacked deep it isn't evident where a thing goes when you want to return it to its place, so items get shoved anywhere that seems more convenient.

Stacking things deep is a problem for me. I should remember this about myself and try to stop doing it. Do you think there might be a 12-step program for people who stack things deep? I have things stacked deep in every cabinet, closet, and drawer in this house.

While purging this cabinet I combined opened multiples into single bottles (throwing away the empties), took away the things that were here that belong elsewhere in the house, discarded all expired pills, potions and elixirs, and generally put the place to rights again. I didn't get what would normally be called a "full bag of trash" but I'm calling it bag #24 anyway.

I'm learning about containers from the organizing blogs . I didn't "get" it for a long time because it seems like adding containers to cabinets make less room in there for your stuff, and it doesn't seem efficient to pull out a whole bin - filled with baking supplies, for example - when you only need the baking soda. It might work for this cabinet though, but it will take some getting used to and the retraining of myself and my family to grab the "first aid basket" instead rifling through the whole shelf to come up with only the box of band-aids and tube of ointment. The top shelf is so high that I have to drag a chair over, and even though I had the stuff there somewhat contained, it still wasn't easy to pull things out or put them away. I've bought some deeper baskets with handles on the front hoping that will make it easier. Another thing I'm learning about containers is that they make a reliable boundary - you can only have as many bottles of sprinkles as will fit in the sprinkles basket. Even after re-organizing this cabinet I have too many sprinkles. Maybe we will make cookies this weekend and use up the excess?

It makes me feel bad when I see my poor Mr. Dub trying to get his vitamins out of the cabinet every morning. As you can tell in the picture they are all just pushed together on a shelf. I've put them all on a lazy susan. I think it will be more convenient for him. (It will only be convenient for him once he gets used to it being different from how it's always been. There might be an adjustment period to be borne. He hasn't ever complained about how it was, and there is risk in organizing a man without his consent.)

Here is the medicine cabinet after:

40 Bags - bags # 21-23

I spent about 15 minutes working in the garage yesterday afternoon.

One bag of trash, one "bag" of plastic grocery bags that are going to the recycling bin at the store, and one "bag" of cardboard boxes, which we broke down and put in the bin. Remember the other day when I was lamenting because I'm not a hoarder? I was getting a good laugh at myself yesterday gathering together all the small shipping cartons and old grocery sacks that had been stuffed or stacked or piled around or otherwise stashed away in the garage because - and here's the funny part - I might need it someday! And also because for whatever reason it couldn't be dealt with at the very moment I had to get it off the kitchen table and so I shoved it into a pile in the garage. Where it has sat. And sat. Remember my new year's resolution to deal with things in a more timely manner? This is a perfect example of why I need that more to the forefront of my thoughts and not lurking around in the back of my head somewhere.

The garage looks remarkably better already, but I still have quite a bit to do. There are things I want to do out there but can't because of all the clutter:

• I would like to park my car in the garage for one thing,
  
• I would like to have the room to refinish some furniture (which is currently being stored out there) in the garage for another.
• I would like to be able to sweep out the leaves and pine needles that get blown in under the garage door but there is so much stuff in there that I can't really sweep except for around things which totally feels pointless and isn't very effective anyway.
  
• I would like to have an exterminator come and kill all the Daddy Long Legs spiders that are all over my garage ceiling but I'm embarrassed by "the mess".
  

To Do lists, who knew?

A few weeks ago, while cleaning out a drawer, I found an old journal-style notebook that I had written in a little but was mostly unused. It was too good to throw away, but I'm doing my "journaling" on my blog now, and I know that I won't use this notebook for that anymore.

So I turned it into a sort of daily planner, or a list of things I need to do. That list is quite lengthy most of the time, and I think my brain must be turning to mush or something because I keep forgetting to do some of the things that are on the To Do list that I usually keep in my head. It's helped me not lay awake at night worrying that I'm missing something vital that I should be doing but can't remember what that vital thing is. I write down in my little book whatever pops into my head that needs attention.

I've been writing the date and the list of tasks that need to be done. I cross them off when they are finished, and it makes me feel good about myself. I like that it's not a real daily planner - the kind with a separate page for each day - because some of these jobs might take me a week or more to finish, and this way it doesn't matter if I finish it that day or not. When I'm done with something I just go back to the page I wrote it on and cross it out. I don't have to re-write the unfinished jobs on the next day's page. In it I can write grocery lists, addresses or phone numbers that I need, directions, recipes, and notes to myself. There's plenty of room. There's no calendary pressure.

The phrase "Calendary Pressure" is my own invention. It means the anxiety you feel when February 22nd's list won't fit on February 22nd's page but bleeds over on to February 23 or 24. At the same time, some days are completely empty, so it feels like a waste when you the year is over and you're throwing away a half-empty planner. This way, some pages can have 2 or 3 days worth of list on it, some days' lists might go on for 2 or 3 pages.

I do still have Calendary Envy, which is what I feel when I see people who have a "real" daily planner and seem organized and perfect and "put together". I've tried it in the past and I have made my peace with the fact that I don't have that kind of life. Or personality. Or whatever it is that those people have that I don't. Which peace, incidentally, doesn't cure Calendary Envy at all.

At any rate, I've found something that works for me. I like my notebook because it's spiral-bound which means that I can open it all the way and spin the front around to the back, which you can't do with a stitch-bound book. No trying to write in the crease, and the book lays open perfectly flat. I also like that it has a hard cover, which makes it easy to write on when I'm not at my desk or some other good writing place. I can write in it when I'm sitting in my comfy chair or in my car. The only thing that would make it a little bit better was if it fit in my purse. When this one is full, I'll look for one that does.