Elimination: Round 1

I said I was going to do it and I am…Spring Cleaning! I’m getting dangerously close to the official start of summer, so I figured I better get myself moving. In following Sister #1’s routine, I decided to get rid of the following between June 6th and June 13th…

10 articles of clothing
9 books/magazines
8 excess bathroom items
7 unloved DVDs, CDs, etc.
6 expired fridge/pantry items
5 useless pieces of kitchenware
4 to-do list items
3 chores (delegated)
2 dreaded obligations
1 time-hogging habit

Here’s what I’ve managed so far:

The ten articles of clothing were no big deal. I got rid of the rest of the size Medium shirts I’d been hanging onto (in the unrealistic hope that my boobs would go back to their pre-baby size)—that was 4 articles gone, POOF, just like that. I got rid of 3 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of pants and 1 dress.

Nine books/magazines? Ummmm...I’d been keeping all of the old issues of Better Homes and Gardens. Those are now gone.

Eight excess bathroom items…I stopped counting after 23. I cleaned out the linen closet and cabinets. Got rid of everything that was expired and/or unneeded. I also found a Linen Closet Troll between some sheets, so I threw him away, too.

Seven DVDs, etc. I wasn’t able to accomplish this the way I wanted, simply because we sorted through all DVDs, tapes, CDs, etc. last year before the garage sale. The movies that didn’t sell were donated to the senior center and we sold a bunch of tapes and CDs to a resale shop. There are some leftover in the basement that I just realized I can donate to the day treatment program at my job.

Six expired pantry/fridge items was also difficult because I’m pretty good at maintaining that. I did do “super giant heavy duty” grocery shopping this past Sunday, so that forced me to get rid of some things. I ditched some open items (an old bag of pretzels, a long-open can of powdered lemonade, a box of stale cereal), as well as some cans of vegetables that I don’t even remember why I bought in the first place.

I’m working on the useless pieces of kitchenware this weekend and gradually working on the last four, too.

I’m feeling better already!