This One Goes Out to Cincinnati Angel

I was having a post-dinner hang out with some friends tonight and the topic of this blog came up. We talked about the five things (Does it count if you're just returning things to friends? Yes, it does. Can I bring you things so you can get rid of them? Maybe at the end of the month, when I've run out of stuff I actually want to get rid of). We talked about other resolutions I could work toward. One idea, pitched by Lisa, has been to embark on a "no-spend" month. As in, no money exchanges hands the entire month. No credit cards are swiped. Nothing. Mortgage and all utilities would be paid ahead of time. Groceries would be purchased prior to the month starting and would require some creativity. Gas? Maybe I would put some in gas cans for a fill up, mid-month?

I mean, you can see how this would be a challenge. And it brings to mind how much of my routine revolves around spending money. Socializing with friends regularly means meeting up for lunch or coffee. If I'm not sure what to do with my kids for the day, we might walk downtown to "run errands" (and buy things). I'm not sure how that would work out for a whole week, much less a whole month. Worth considering long and hard before I commit to it, that's for sure. And no j.v. version where I pre-purchase Starbucks gift cards and swipe the mess out of them all month. LAME. I would want to go all-out and do it up totally. If I can convince myself to try it. I mean, that's a pretty big one, right?


Here's the round-up of a few things that left the house the past couple of days:

1. Camping equipment. It had been sitting in the corner of our dining room for a few weeks now. Prior to that, it had been stored under our bed. I'm not sure how it ended up in the dining room, or why, but it was time to find it a better home. I took it out to the shed. Much better.

2. Bike helmet. See number one. Why does a bike helmet belong in the living room? It doesn't. It is also residing in the shed tonight.

3. Pajama pants. I got a new pair for Christmas, so the old capri pj's are on their way to the Goodwill. An easy decision, since it is currently January. And they are capri's. I tried to rock the capri jammies and boot-style slippers, but it looked ridiculous.

4. More baby clothes. I feel like this one will be the struggle as long as I have small children. I want to save them, in case we ever have more, but good grief where does one find the space? And do I save every little onesie or just the special outfits? I don't want to repurchase onesies and clothes when I have perfectly good ones right here, but I also don't want to store massive Rubbermaid containers of clothes for years and years. I can't tell you how many onesies I have that "would look cute under overalls or something" because they have a big old stain right in the middle. Or "it would be a good paint shirt". I have probably busted out the paints with Chicken twice in her lifetime. I don't need 6 paint-shirts. But the little sleeves are so cute! Look, there's a little flower on the shoulder! Come on. I have to draw the line somewhere. Anything stained or worn got tossed.

Does the "she could wear it under overalls" thing sound familiar to anyone else, or am I the only one? "Paint shirt"? Anyone?

5. Hair accessories. Has anyone seen me wear anything but a barrette, a rubber band, or this one scarf band thingy for the past five years? No? Then why do I have several weird black stretchy headbands? Who knows. One of them got repurposed to keep the hubs' cribbage game closed. The rest got tossed.

This whole 5 things thing is a great motivator for getting things done around the apartment. Today I raised Monkey's crib mattress so I could access the storage underneath- a task I have been putting off because accessing the storage meant dealing with (yes) more baby clothes that were stored underneath. Both kids were running around half-naked and unfed, like little feral children, but DANG IT I WAS GOING TO ACCESS AND DEAL WITH THAT STORED CRAP. And I did. Thanks, 5 things.

P.S.- The picture is a visual of some capris. Imagine those with fuzzy Ugg-type boots. Me trying to really pull it off. Sigh.