Stuff Control

When we first bought our house, I wondered how we were going to find furniture and decorations enough to make it look homey and lived in.  That didn't last long.  Skip to a little over three years later when I am stretching and squeezing and sucking in and moving chairs to get from one end of the room to the next.

Don't kid yourself, that's the smile of
an element of entropy and havoc.
Photo: Katie Gandy

To be fair, I had not considered how much space a kid takes up.  There is so much that goes with having a infant, toddler, kid:  excess laundry (including the basket), play pin, extra drawer space, diaper table, toys, toy bins (this may seem redundant but if you're a parent you realize the toys are rarely ever in the toy bins), baby gates, books, diapers...I mean the list goes on and on.  And I can't even get rid of the things Toddler has already grown out of because then we'd have to buy it all new for the next kid.
Then, of course, there are adult things, and I love a good project.  That means scrapbooking, crocheting, cookbooks, journals, photos, class notes, books, and, again, on and on and on and on and on.
One day, it was like a light switch came on, and I realized, Holy Cow, I have 

Way Too Much Stuff.

Too much, too much.  Something had to be done, and it didn't seem as simple as needing a yard sale.  

I started clearing out the house piece by piece.  I actually worked off of a program, that I can't for the life of me put my hands on now, to help me get rid of everything we didn't need or cherish.  I went drawer by drawer organizing and letting go of all the duplicates in our kitchen.  I threw away stacks of paper that were years and years old.  I think I might be Goodwill donor of the year, as I have literally loaded up the van time and time again and let them unload it.  I began thinking all the stuff and how much space it took up.  Forget all the stuff I have given to Goodwill, and think about all the stuff I have thrown away.  Think about all the stuff we all throw away.  Or better yet, how much stuff we're not using that is piled high in our homes.  Meanwhile, more stuff is being created.  More and more and more stuff.  

A more organized thought process is this:

1. We have a lot of stuff.
2. A lot of the stuff we have no longer serves a purpose in our home.
3. More stuff is being created for consumers like us.  
4. We make room by throwing stuff away and buying new stuff.  

None of this makes any sense in the long term. As a planet, we're going to end up with so much stuff we don't have space for the people.  I hear all the time about population control, but my call is for stuff control.  Here is my personal recommendation to rein in the stuff on our planet.

Stock the local Goodwill

1. Donate the stuff.  Don't just throw it away. Find secondhand stores, Goodwills, or other charities like shelters.  Swap meets are also awesome.  This goes for anything you haven't used in a year and won't use for a long time.  This way, not only is it not in your home or a dump, someone else is getting excellent use out of it.  
2. Use products that are reusable.  Cloth diapers are an excellent way to reduce the 82,000 tons of plastic thrown away each year on disposable diapers alone.  
3. Buy from secondhand stores.  Think about it:  The more you buy used, eventually the less new will be produced.  Voila, less stuff taking up space on our planet.  
4. Rotate among friends and family. I have maternity clothes that bounce between my cousins and me.  It means less money spent and less storage space wasted. 

How do you control your stuff?

Speaking Nicely To Do

I've decided that while a normal "To Do" list works okay for me, I need something a little different.  When I ask someone else to do something, I try to ask nicely and simply .  I also tend to give a general explanation as to why something needs to be done. I think it improves the quality of effort someone puts into what you're asking them to do.  That being said, I have decided to try speaking (or writing) to myself the same way I would to someone else.  Check out my "To Do" list.  Do you think it will help me do more?



Good morning!
Drink a cup of your new herbal tea.  Enjoy it thoroughly.  Get yourself ready for the day.  When you’re ready, start cleaning the kitchen.
When E wakes up, get him dressed.  Give him some breakfast while finishing up the kitchen.
Load the Good Will stuff, and get rid of it!! The more space you have, the more new projects you can take on.  How awesome will it be to make your Christmas gifts this year?  You could do that if you had some creative space!
Take basket over for the Produce Co-Op.  You have been granted a day of grace because you were suppose to do this yesterday.  This is the only time for gruffness on this list:  Don’t screw this up.
Stop by the store to pick up milk, bread, and Pizzabites.  J will love you for it, and you’ll have something on which to spread that dark chocolate peanut butter.
Pick up J dog from Mom’s.  He’s super sweet, and also, as a boxer-pit mix, will make intruders hesitant to invade your home.
Enjoy some time with E.  Practice naming body parts and play with wooden letter blocks.  These are sweet times.  Soak it in.
Make dog treats for the dog that gave Marla the blood transfusion.  If you do it today, you can be sad for a while, but then feel better.  You can let a piece of her go.  You will feel better after.
Put on a load of laundry.  Preferably jeans because you’re almost out.
Start dinner.  Everyone likes to eat.

Exit Facebook

January 31st I will be off of Facebook.  I'm pretty excited.

I used to love Facebook.  I remember when it was exclusively for college students.  I was so excited to sign up for Facebook when I received my college email address.  This was back when there was a delay between when you signed up and when you were approved.  It turned into a great way to connect with classmates and friends.  It was better than email because everything was organized for you.  And let's be honest, it was so much less creepy than Myspace.  Which we were all on anyway.  Because all the cool kids did it.  Even though we secretly hated ourselves for it.  Ugh.  On to the more positive.

Facebook soon evolved to include everyone.  This was super awkward because all of a sudden everyone's little sister could see all the garbage you were posting and the fact that you cussed slightly worse than a sailor.

Then there was tagging pictures.  Not cute, done up pictures, either;  No ma'am.  We're talking those super classy, skanked out, drunk photos you didn't know were taken until they were on Facebook.  I actually had a lecture in college where a professor said, "If you've shared pictures of your drunk escapades on Facebook, you might be in this slideshow.  Due to Facebook being on the internet, I have used people's drunk pictures in this slideshow to demonstrate my points."  It was funny until several classmates left the room in shame.  Then it was hilarious.  It was less hilarious when the school put people on probation because of Facebook evidence that showed them drinking underage or in dorm rooms.  No bueno, friends.

When you finally learned, way too late, where the "Untag" button is, you were looking for a job.  There are jobs now who search your Facebook account.  I guess this bypasses the illegality of asking about your marital status and children.  Heck, they can just check your Facebook.  So then, you learned how to make your Facebook private.  You even finally deleted that old, outdated Myspace account.  Good for you!

Then, for whatever reason, you start working with kids, youth groups, tutor students, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc.  Not little kids, teenagers.  Teenagers who are way more tech savvy than you because that's the nature of the next generation.  They are always technologically better off.  I started learning to type in the second grade.  My 18-month-old has a baby laptop.  At any rate, these teenagers all have Facebook because, after all, it really is the top choice of communication and networking online these days.  Why call someone when you can hit them up on their Facebook wall?  Much less invasive.  Inevitably, one of these teenagers you love so much comments on an old status or that one skanked out picture that you left up because you were having that good of a hair day that it was worth a little ridicule.  Then you realize you must spend hours searching through your profile with a fine tooth comb to make sure you aren't the bad example.

Once you edited your entire profile that now misrepresents you entirely, all was going well.  Yes, Facebook organized your friends from everywhere you've lived and visited, every crummy job you worked to get through college, every roommate you've had- even the super aloof ones you wouldn't recognize in a lineup.

It was a beautiful story.  Until an election year when you began to hate 50% of your friends.  We were all there.  It was a poop storm.

In the days following  the end of the election there was a glitch that made all of your so-called "Private Messages" public on your wall.  When you found out about that, you found a new relationship with God, praying that no one had seen the real gem of an email you sent your best friend about your other best friend's fiance because it was just rude.  But, come on, they were never going to work out anyway.  You had never clicked "Remove Content" more times than on that glorious day.

In all honestly, I find a lot of value to Facebook.  It's an excellent networking tool, particularly if you own a small business.  It's great at organizing and keeping people in your life, but I think the days of trying to keep in touch with everyone I have ever met are in my past.  I figure I have blog.  I'll keep in touch with people via the blog and email.  Which brings up another point-  I used to use Facebook to promote my blog.  This will be the last time I do that because it's not worth it to me.  Frankly, it means a lot to me that people keep up with my blog, but I am not concerned with the visitor counter.  I am super excited to know only the good things about my friends.  I am excited to have my time back.  And I am excited to not worry about the pornographic pictures that sneak into my home via Facebook.  So. Sayonara, Facebook.  It's been real.