MORE....closet space, that is.

So, I live in an old house.  Not 100 years old, but around 50.   It's a great house for the most part, in a safe area with a large yard and hardwood floors.  It does have its drawbacks, though.


I'm sure that at the time it was built, it was considered to have pretty good closet space.   Nowadays, not so much.  All of the closets in my house are reach-in closets with a single bar and one or two wooden shelves above the bar.   None of the closets have been updated since the early 1960s.


Until now!!!!

Yes,  I got the "I am sick of staring at this thing" bug again.  I was tired of struggling with my closet every time I opened it.

Here is what it looked like before (doors removed)

During:

And after:

Can you believe how much more space we have!!?  The after picture has 85% of the same stuff as the before picture.  I took the time to find other homes for the strange things that had accumulated there, like a sitz bath and a meat grinder  (err...it's crazy how those elves move things around my house....darn elves!)

We were able to get this project done in a day.

As a part of this project, I added the following things to my house:

Closetmaid shelf set
Set of drill bits
24-inch level
3 Fabric cubes

All of them were needed, but they still count, so I will have to go through and get rid of some stuff.  I also bought a cookbook (eek....see this post   but I have REALLY wanted this one cookbook FOREVER) and a movie for my son.  That will be another post because this chica is tired.

Why I hate Target...

Note:  I don't really hate Target.


I hate my behavior when I'm IN Target.  You know the joke about the kid in the candy store?  Well, I'm that way at Target.


I went in today to get a new dustpan and broom set.  That's all.  They sell them at the dollar spot for $1.




I walked out of the demon store $22.78 lighter.  Yep, I fell for their clever floor plan and nifty aisle end-caps.


Most of my purchases were food, cleaning supplies, or toiletries (not included in the Year of Less tally), but  I did manage to bring 5 new things into the house.


Here are the offending 5 items:

All cleaning oriented (this year, I am including Less Filth as one of my things to strive for), but they are still items that count towards my total.




So, as penance I had to find six things around the house to get rid of.




Here they are:

Sayonara suckers!


In addition, I am sending four (of my 28 rocks glasses) and a dinosaur sandwich cutter to my sister.  







She needs the glasses and her kids love sandwiches and dinosaurs and my son is ambivalent about both.  Of course, I need to find some packing tape as the open but packed box has been sitting on my kitchen table for the last week...


someday I will get it together I swear. 

Less pink. AKA the great kitchen redo.

Have you ever just had it with something?  I hit my breaking point last Thursday with my kitchen walls.


They were pink.  Pepto-Bismol pink.  Part of the pink was covered in maroon sponge painting.  It was hideous.


Here is what it looked like before:

Painting the kitchen is one of those things that we have always been meaning to do but could never get up the energy.  Well guess what, I found the energy!


Did I mention that the valances on the windows were green gingham with vines and berries?  Totally not matching the Pepto, BTW.


Here's a close up of the sponge painting if you were still on the fence about it:

Very 1989.


So I went to town painting over the Pepto pink.  Here is the same view with the new color:

It's amazing what a little paint can do.  I used to hate the counter tops, but now I realize that the pink was unfairly coloring my opinion of them (pun intended).  I kind of like them now.


I got rid of the three valances as well.  I mentioned to my son's teacher that I was going to repaint the kitchen and she said she was also painting her kitchen this weekend.  She was painting it green to match a wallpaper border that was green gingham and vines with berries on it and she just needed to find some valances.  If that wasn't a sign from God, I don't know what is.  I brought the valances to her when I picked up my son and she was thrilled that they would match what she was already planning to do.  Win-win!


The best part is how cheap it was. I went to Home Depot and was surprised to find the perfect color in their clearance/mixed wrong paint section for $12, regularly $25.  Add $8 worth of painting supplies and masking tape and this was a $20 redo.


AND, it was such a small job (two backsplashes and one small wall) that we have enough to paint our master bath the same color as well.  It is currently a turd brown color.  I will post again when that project is done.


Dont get me started on the vomit orange that the hall bath was painted.  We fixed that three years ago thank goodness.  The people before us must have had a lot of stomach issues, that's all I'm saying...


On a side note, the countertops looked so good without all of the stuff on it that we also decluttered most of the kitchen.


We got rid of 34 pieces of rubbermaid storage containers with and without lids, 3 ice cube trays, a pitcher and 6 glasses, empty jars that we were saving for no reason, dull knife sets, old tongs, old baskets, old spatulas, gadgets and gizmos that we never use, and bunches of expired food and spices.


It looks awesome and it feels great!

One Less Purse...

Just got rid of a purse.

The cat peed on it.

That was a pretty easy decision.

Eating healthy while eating out.

Mr. YOL and I just spent a lovely weekend together at a hotel.  We did not come home with any souvenirs unless you count one of the mini-soap bars that we didn't use.  But, of course being on a mini-vacation necessitated us eating out every meal.  Not wanting to eat myself into oblivion, I tried to make good choices.  After all, I had my newly purchased "Eat This, Not That" book to look at while at the restaurants.  We were gone a little over two days, so that meant six meals eaten out.


Which of the following menus do you think is better?




Breakfast Day #1(McDonald's):


Diner A:


Egg McMuffin with hashbrowns, coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars


Diner B:


Pancakes with no butter and one syrup, yogurt and fruit parfait and small orange juice




Lunch Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):


Diner A:


Original Chicken Sandwich, Waffle fry and sweet tea


Diner B:


Chargrilled chicken cool wrap, cole slaw, and lemonade


Afternoon treat (it is vacation after all people!) Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):


Diner A:


Fudge Brownie and Ice Dream Cone


Diner B:


Small chocolate milkshake




Dinner Day #1 (Applebee's):


Diner A:


Caesar salad, large house sirloin and loaded baked potato, water


Diner B:


Oriental Chicken Salad and Diet coke






That was it for day #1.  So, which of the two diners ate better?  (Hint: one of them ate almost 600 more calories than the other one)


Now, on to Day Two!



Breakfast Day #2(Dunkin Donuts):


Diner A:


2 chocolate frosted donuts and a small cappucino


Diner B:


A reduced fat blueberry muffin and a small cinnamon swirl coffee




Lunch Day #2 (Chipotle Mexican Grill):


Diner A:


Burrito bowl with beans, rice, tomatillo salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole--1/2 order of chips and salsa


Diner B:


Chicken burrito with beans, corn salsa, and cheese --1/2 order of chips and salsa




Dinner Day #2 (Olive Garden):


Diner A:


Salad and one breadstick, stuffed chicken marsala and a bottle of Michelob ultra


Diner B:


Salad and one breadstick, chicken and shrimp carbonara, and a strawberry bellini




Ok, so who did better on day #2?  Diner A or Diner B?






Now.  I have to make a little confession.  These menus are not what we ate this past weekend, although it very well could have been.  We tend to eat at non-chains if we can to support small businesses, and our hotel had a free breakfast so we didn't have to eat out.  I think when all was said and done, we did better than these two.


I made these menus to show you how you can go in radically different directions eating, and how sometimes things seem healthy (or seem unhealthy) but really aren't when you are eating out.  In the spirit of Eat This, Not That, here are the calorie counts for the two diners for the two menus I created in red.  I got nutritional information from the restaurants themselves.  I didn't include anything but calorie counts, but if anyone wants me to, I can post the sodium, fat, proteins, and carbs later.  





Breakfast Day #1(McDonald's):


Diner A:


Egg McMuffin with hashbrowns, coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars (520)


Diner B:


Hotcakes with one syrup (no butter) , yogurt and fruit parfait and small orange juice (840)




Lunch Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):


Diner A:


Original Chicken Sandwich, waffle fry and sweet tea (820)


Diner B:


Chargrilled chicken cool wrap, cole slaw, and lemonade (940)


Afternoon treat Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):


Diner A:


Fudge Brownie and Ice Dream Cone (540)


Diner B:


Small chocolate milkshake (600)




Dinner Day #1 (Applebee's):


Diner A:


Caesar salad, large house sirloin and loaded baked potato, water (1190)


Diner B:


Oriental Chicken Salad and Diet Coke (1310)







Breakfast Day #2 (Dunkin Donuts):


Diner A:


2 chocolate frosted donuts and a small cappucino (540)


Diner B:


Reduced fat blueberry muffin and a small cinnamon swirl coffee (560)




Lunch Day #2 (Chipotle Mexican Grill):


Diner A:


Burrito bowl with beans, rice, tomatillo salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole--1/2 order of chips and salsa (945)


Diner B:


Chicken burrito with beans, corn salsa, and cheese --1/2 order of chips and salsa (1085)




Dinner Day #2 (Olive Garden):


Diner A:




Salad and one breadstick, stuffed chicken marsala and a bottle of Michelob ultra (1375)


Diner B:


Salad and one breadstick, chicken and shrimp carbonara, and a strawberry bellini (2160)






Grand total Diner A: 5930 calories in two days, (3070 day #1, 2860 day #2)
Grand total Diner B: 7495 calories in two days, (3690 day #1, 3805 day #2)


Although a lot of what Diner B ate seems healthier, at the end of the two days Diner B actually ate 1565 more calories than Diner A. That's nearly half a pound! And both people ate more daily than the 2,000 calories recommended.


Pretty unbelievable, huh? 

Mesozoic era medicine cabinet...

I just went through my medicine cabinets and all of these medications and supplements were expired.  The worst offender expired over 5 years ago.

Do yourself a favor and dispose of your expired vitamins and medications.  Even if they won't kill you (which some of them can), do you really want to be chewing on 4-year-old Rolaids?

Five things.

I needed a quick way to breathe a little easier today.  I was in the mother of all cluttered rooms (computer room/exercise room/music room/craft room/AKA junk catch-all room ) feeling a little claustrophobic

Here were my rules:

1. They had to be within my sight-I could not go through drawers looking for things.

2. Paper items (other than books) didn't count.

3. Once identified, I could give them away, donate them to charity, throw them away, recycle them, whatever.  They just need to be out of my house by the end of the day.

Here are the five things that I chose:

Clockwise from top left:

A brand new scrapbook.  I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am just not the scrapbooking type.

A puzzle that I got for Christmas 5 years ago in a gift swap.  Never been opened.

A metal bucket with floral design.  Given to me by a coworker at my old office.

A collapsible dog bowl.  Got for free with something.  I don't have a dog.

Never-been opened set of four martini glasses.  Again, a gift.  Tried unsuccessfully to sell them on Craigslist, which is why they are in the office in the first place.

Five things gone and donated to charity!  I can breathe a little easier.

Are you feeling claustrophobic in any of your rooms?  Find your five items.

Now do that again every day for a week.  You'll feel a difference, I promise!

Why I need two Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbooks

What is wrong with this picture?

Your eagle eyes may notice that the photo above shows two different editions of the same Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  One is from 1976 and one is from 2005.


Why do I have two?


Well, at first glance, it seems redundant.  They have pretty much the same categories of recipes (breads, vegetables, cakes and pies, main dishes, etc.).  Within the categories, the recipes listed are pretty similar, although the 2005 edition mentions aspic a lot less, and the 1976 one does not have a healthy eating section.  The 2005 has more pretty pictures and consequently fewer recipes, although I doubt anyone misses the recipes for Swedish pickled shrimp or chopstick tuna in the 1976 edition.


The basics are both there.  Fried chicken, denver omelet, macaroni and cheese, banana bread...


But wait a minute.  The recipes aren't the same at all!


When you hold them up side by side, the banana bread recipe from the 1976 edition has less calories, literally half the sugar, less flour, and less fat than the recipe from 2005.  Same size pan and everything.


The 1976 banana bread recipe doesn't make as tall of a loaf as the 2005 recipe, but I think that is probably a good thing.    Banana bread is a treat, I don't need a slab the size of my fist every time I walk by it.   I don't need the extra calories, fat, sugar, and carbs of the 2005 recipe.  I have cooked them both to see if the 2005 was worth the extra calories, and frankly I like the old banana bread recipe better.  It is subtler.




Back to the cookbook.




Between 1976 and 2005, the macaroni and cheese recipe difference is even worse than the banana bread one. The 2005 recipe has slightly less butter than the 1976 recipe (but double the overall cheese, cancelling out any fat advantage), and worse yet, the recipe now says it serves four people instead of six.  So fat, carbs, and serving size have all increased, a triple whammy.


What is the deal?


I thought that we were supposed to be getting healthier as a society!?  Wasn't the 1970's when everybody smoked like fiends and drank like fish, all the while stuffing pate and fondue and any number of gout-inducing dishes into their mouths?


The sad truth is, overall we eat less healthy now than we did at any time in the 1970s.


My guess is that recipes have been tweaked over 30 years as our society has changed.  As we have developed tastes for higher levels of fat, sugar, and seasonings, the recipes have been changed to reflect that.   


This is not to say that the 2005 version of the cookbook is bad.  I keep it because there are some recipes that don't appear in the 1976 edition, good recipes.  Some of the 1976 recipes are too rich for my tastes, with more eggs and butter, and I may use the 2005 version in that case.  But for the most part, if I have to go back to basics, I check the old book first.  It seems counterintuitive, but many of the recipes really are healthier.  And simpler.  And cheaper.  Less fat and sugar, less time-consuming, less expensive.


It makes you wonder what else has been tweaked over the years.  I wonder how the Oreos and Wonderbread of today would stack up against the Oreos and Wonderbread of 30 years ago?  I am betting that the ones from the 1970s would win...

Cookbook Overload

I am in a sort of cookbook overload.  I have a lot.


When I started writing this post, I assumed that most people suffer from the same malady as me, but after talking to my sister (who doesn't own a single cookbook apparently), I realized that the problem may not be as widespread as I first thought, and may simply be me.


If you suffer from the same problem that I do, here's how to get rid of them, or at least whittle the pile down a bit.


Gather all of your cookbooks in one place.


Here is what my before pile looks like.  There are 33 cookbooks in it (some are very thin so it is hard to see them--ignore the craft project gone terribly wrong that they are sitting on).

OK,  Here is the magical guide.  You will be thinking "Fran is a genius" once you read this one (<sarcasm>)  Take your pile of cookbooks.  For each one, ask yourself, have I ever, even ONCE, cooked a recipe out of this cookbook?  I am talking about actually putting ingredients together and eating the resulting dish (or giving the food away if you used it for Christmas candy or whatever, but if you are trying to tell me that you made a batch of Christmas candy and didn't try it, you are such a liar!!)


Wanting to cook a recipe from the cookbook, tabbing a recipe in the cookbook, buying it for a recipe that it contains, none of these things count.    The food in your mouth (or someone else's) is all that counts.


Now, I'm telling you to do that with every cookbook that you own.  Make two piles.  Cookbooks that you have actually ever cooked from and cookbooks that you have not.


Here are the cookbooks that I have actually cooked something from:

There are twelve of them.


You have my permission to keep any cookbooks that you have actually cooked from, but if the one dish you tried wasn't too tasty, you might want to consider getting rid of it anyway, you know?  If you have cooked out of it more than five times, it is a definite keeper (Such as my Joy of Cooking and both of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks pictured--yes I need both of them and I'll explain why in another post)


We are going to focus on the "never cooked from this cookbook" pile


Take a deep breath.  Focus and hear what I am saying.  They need to go or you need to cook from them.  Tonight.


But Fran, you say, you are being too harsh.  I will get around to cooking out of those cookbooks.  There is a lovely recipe for fillet of sole with white wine and quince reduction and asparagus two ways, with a lemon curd and bearnaise sauce that am going to cook, I swear.  I will cook them for my next dinner party (or book club or state dinner or whatever type of festive gathering you are planning on having).


I totally understand where you are coming from, I really do.


You are talking to the queen of wishful thinking here  For example, in my "never cooked from" pile, I have this fabulous book on essentials of classic Italian cooking. Actually, that is the name of it, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.   It was given to us as a wedding gift.  The price listed on it is $30, and I am certain it cost every penny of that.  It is 688 pages long.  I have only opened it twice in the six years that we have been married.  Once when we got it-it was so dense (no pictures, only drawings) that I was immediately intimidated and closed it back again.  And I am a girl who knows her way around the kitchen.


I opened it again about four months ago to see if it had gotten any better, but alas, it is still chock full of amazing recipes with a lot of prep time for each one.  Did I mention that the food from it is gorgeous?  I mean, I haven't actually tasted anything from it and there aren't any pictures, but the fact that it has so many recipes with so many  ingredients means that the dishes must be to die for, right? Lists and lists of ingredients that must be washed, chopped, braised, sauteed, whipped and separated before you even put them into the dish.


This cookbook is amazing.  The woman who cooks from this book will live in an Italian villa, eating fava beans and liver while sipping a nice Chianti.  She is thin and wears large brimmed hats and scarves and sunglasses while having her morning espresso on the terrace of her palazzo overlooking the Mediterranean.  If I cooked these recipes, I could be that woman.  There would be opera music playing in the background, and I could watch my hunch-backed serfs harvesting the fields of grapes and picking olives in the orchard while the golden fields of grain flutter in the summer breeze.  I could be that woman.  I could serve three course meals with a flip of my wrist, and have my friends ooh and ahh over my cooking prowess.


Oh right, my house is too cluttered to have anyone over right now and the meal would cost me $150 if I bought all the ingredients not to mention take me five hours to prepare since I am noticeably serf-less.  Hmm....so maybe I'll just keep this cookbook on my shelf instead and the fantasy can live on in my mind.


DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER!!!


Because, when you keep a cookbook that you don't cook from, you are holding onto a fantasy of some kind.  Or you just feel bad getting rid of a gift.




Here is my "never cooked from this book" pile.

I have to take a moment to apologize to anyone who has ever given me a cookbook that they now see in the "never cooked from" pile. Especially a cookbook with words in the titles like "Healthy" and "Fresh" and "Whole Foods".   Being given a cookbook like that seems like an indictment of me and my cooking, although I am sure it isn't intended that way.  "Fran, you obviously eat like crap. If you would only cook from this book your problems would be solved!"  I know I should cook from scratch more, but it has to be on my terms and fit into my lifestyle.




Most nights I have a two-year old trying to plug headphones into electrical outlets when he is not chasing the cat around the house and locking himself into bathrooms and I don't have time to mince the ten capers, four cloves of garlic, two small onions and half a dozen fresh herbs that these cookbooks call for.  And I have to make sure to serve the meal immediately, so we get to eat standing up because I still haven't found time to clear off the dining room table.  Oh, and half of the ingredients in those cookbooks have to be purchased at specialty stores at least 20 miles away (dragonfruit?  baby octopus? za'atar spice?  really?).


Anyway, back to the point:


I like the idea of cooking out of the Italian essentials book, I really do.  And I have no doubt that the recipes are healthy and delicious, but they don't fit into my lifestyle right now.  So this cookbook has to go.


For those of you in similar quandaries, you have two options here.  You can either copy the one or two recipes from a book that appeal to you onto an index card OR you have two weeks to cook a recipe from that book if most of the recipes appeal to you.  Those are your options.  At the end of two weeks you get rid of the cookbooks you haven't cooked from.  Donate them or sell them.


Can I just keep the book rather than copying the recipe from it?  Nice try.  Do you really think that you you will find time to cook that recipe if you can't find the five minutes to copy the recipe onto an index card?


Keep dreaming!  And use those cookbooks or lose them!


Hubby and I spent a good portion of last night looking through the unused cook books and picking out recipes to try or eliminating cookbooks entirely from contention.   I will post an update two weeks from now with my "kept" pile.




Year Of Less tally:


I bought two things today.  Ack!  The book "Eat this, not that!" and a new pair of workout pants.   I will definitely use both of these.  The book is going to live with me in my purse so I will be good when out and about.


Since two things came in, at least 3 must go out.  Otherwise it wouldn't be a year of less.


I threw away a pair of ratty workout pants that are too long and drag the floor when I wear them.  Also old, ugly, and too big.


I put a collapsible dog bowl that we got free somewhere on the donate pile.  It isn't quite out of the house, but will be tomorrow when I take a trip to the charity thrift store.


Also, my son shattered a Christmas ornament this morning when he jostled the tree (that I later took down- after the ornament broke I felt guilty because I yelled at him but really I should already have had the tree down).  I am counting the ornament as my third item since it did go in the trash.

A tale of two scales...

So, last fall when I joined a gym, I bought a new digital scale to track my progress.  The old one was lacking for a number of reasons.  For some reason, I didn't get rid of it.

It looks like this:

It was lacking because:

1. It could not weigh a member of my family with its weight capacity (this person shall remain nameless but  is related to me by marriage and is the father of my child).

2.  The display screen did not light up, so if it was slightly dark in the room I had to stand on it and then crouch down like a madwoman to read it before it shut off to save its lifetime battery.

3.  It did not have any sort of memory, so I had to remember what I weighed previously and subtract (or add) pounds to see how I was doing with my weight.

4. It was inconsistent depending on where it was.  I could weigh up to 1.5 pounds different depending on where the scale was in the room.  I live in an old house so there are uneven places in the floor.   Right by the closet was always the lightest weight, so guess where I kept it??

Anyway, by any rational account, the new scale is light years better than the old one.  It looks like this:

1. It is capable of weighing anyone in my family.

2. The display screen lights up for any 3 o'clock in the morning weigh-ins that I may want to do.  Or in case of total eclipses or other dark events.

3.  It stores weight profiles (with BMI) for up to five people.

4.  It is very consistent with its weights.  I have tried several times to get it to weigh me lighter the second time and it isn't falling for it.

But the old one is still sitting on the floor of my bedroom, mocking me.

Why do I still have two scales in my bedroom?  Laziness?  Practicality? I just don't know.

I mean, it shouldn't really be a hard decision at all.  I'm going for the whole "less" thing this year, and you really only need one household scale.  The old scale doesn't have half the features of the new one.  But, the old scale is perfectly....well....FUNCTIONAL.  There is nothing overtly wrong with it (apart from the fact that it is only capable of weighing 2/3 of my household).

It doesn't hold up to five people's profiles and keep track of weight, giving you that nice green light when you have lost weight.  It doesn't track my BMI like the new one--which is probably a good thing now that I am thinking about it.   No judgments at all from the old scale, simply a "here it is, your weight".   It doesn't give you that nasty red light when you have gained weight.   Or even a "well, at least you didn't gain weight" yellow light.    Hmmm...this old scale is looking better and better to me now that I think about it...

I think that is part of the problem.  No accountability.  With the old one, there was no need to strive for anything different. I weighed what I weighed, and that was it.  I didn't have to acknowledge when I had overindulged and put on a few pounds.  Family member who shall remain nameless couldn't even get on the thing, so he didn't have to acknowledge his weight fluctuations.

Sometimes a little judgment is a good thing.  The scale goes in the donate pile.  May someone who has no intention of tracking their weight enjoy it in a brightly lit room with a very even floor.

Donated to charity (out of house and gone baby gone)

1 scale
11 shirts
10 pairs of pants
2 purses
2 pairs of shoes
1 dress
1 bra NWT

Less junk.

So, I have a confession:


I am a bit of a clutterbug.  Ok, more than just a bit.  But I'm not a hoarder.  Not like an A&E Hoarder. I can see my floors most of the time--although the same can't be said for my kitchen counters.  I have actually had people over to my house for a dinner party, and I am capable of getting the house clean enough for houseguests with adequate notice, preferably 2-3 weeks.


Over the years, I have probably read two dozen books on cleaning and decluttering, most of them from the library, but occasionally I buy one if it has a splashy cover. In fact, my favorite book on conquering clutter, It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh, is missing right now, probably because it is under a pile of clutter somewhere.  Or elves have stolen it.  They seem to steal a lot of stuff around here.


Borrowing from Peter Walsh, my clutter takes on many forms.  Lazy clutter, like the two catalogs that are on my coffee table right now that I have no intention of ordering from.  And the drinking glass from last night that is on top of them.  Sentimental clutter, like my great-grandmother's drop-leaf table that is too big for my space and has water marks all over the top.  Project clutter like my Bedazzler and associated gemstones, my chenille yarn for all those scarves that I have been meaning to knit for gifts, the box of frames that I have been meaning to spray paint gold and turn into beautiful wall art.  


Then there is "I might need this some day" clutter like the empty 3-ring binders that I used in graduate school.  At least I had enough sense to throw their contents away during shredder day at my bank last year.  Inherited clutter, where family members have discarded their rejects and Aunt Mary's art project on me and I was too nice to say thanks but no thanks and so I get to become keeper of the heirloom.


In reality, I need to get this under control.  I have too much stuff.  I think that this epiphany occurred since I started working from home last year.  Before, when I had my regular office job, I was too tired to think about doing anything about it after I got home, and I just wanted to spend time with my family.  Cleaning?  Forget about it!  But now that I am staring at this stuff all the time, the walls feel like they are closing in on me.  I mean, do I really need 28 rocks/whisky glasses ? (yes, you read that right, 28!!)   I had to look up what these glasses were even called.   It's not like this is Madmen and we host 2 cocktail parties a week.  They look like this:

Some of them are leaded crystal, or have fancy etchings on them. We got almost all of them as wedding presents.   Apparently the people who came to our wedding thought we were alcoholics.


So, during this Year of Less (YOL), I am going to keep a tally of everything that comes into and goes out of my house.  By the end of the year, I hope that more has gone out than come in, a whole lot more.  But, I am going to set some ground rules about it so it doesn't get too crazy.


Things that will not count towards my tally:


Food and Cleaning products that can be used up
This includes groceries, take out, etc.---but if for some stupid reason I keep the takeout container, I will count it.


Health and Beauty products that can be used up
I will not count things like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc., but if I buy a new hairbrush or curling iron, I will count that.


Mail
Yeah, yeah, I know, I mentioned up above that the catalogs are clutter, but you will just have to take my word for it that I am getting better at tossing them out.  I am not going to list every piece of mail I get or throw out because it is boring and less is more, especially when it comes to blogs.


Things that will count:


Anything not listed above. 


I reserve the right to change the rules, but as of right now, these are the rules.

A Year of Less

2011 was a year of loss for me.


I want 2012 to be a year of less.


What exactly do I mean by less?  Well, as I have heard many times, "Less is more".  I have decided to see if that adage holds up to a year in the life of me,  Fran.


Less drama.  Less weight.  Less bitterness.  Less envy. Less whining.  Less physical junk cluttering up my house and less emotional baggage cluttering up my heart.


I'm hoping with less of some things comes more of other things.  Things that matter.  More empathy.  More patience.  More health.  More time. More meaning.


Please join me on my quest for less.