Tudoring My Own Horn (Not)

What:  DVDs, Seasons 1-3 of the Tudors
Origin:   A friend really wanted me to watch them.
How long kept:   Maybe 4 months?
Usage:  Not at all.
Why kept:  Should Have Said "No"
Destination:  Return to Lender.

Confession:   My East Coast family, the family of my college roommate, has been so great to me.   Many (or all?) of the sisters love this series.   I returned it when I went over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Last year, we were hanging out and watched the episode where Henry VIII's second wife is executed.   As a dweeby teenager, I fantasized that I was the reincarnation of Anne Boleyn.   I have no idea where that thought came from, but I loved that tragic story.   I found watching this episode very disturbing!   And didn't want to watch the rest.   I know how it all ends.

(Maybe it was bad enough the first time around!)

Confession, part deux:   I've been trying to post at night, instead of the mornings, just to work better with my work routine.   But aargh, this is the 3rd time I've forgotten to do it.   I've got to figure this out.

This One's Booking

This One's Booking
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Worthy Book.
Origin: A friend wanted me to read it.
How long kept: About 4 years. See confession.
Why kept: See Confession.
Destination: Return to Lender.

Confession: Should Have Said No. I'm sure it's a great book, but not on topic for my business reading.

Confession, cont: In my defense, my friend and her husband moved to the UK for work about 3 years ago. Any attempt for me to repatriate this one, so to speak, would have been both difficult and inconvenient for her. She didn't need to carry it back there, nor did she need to store a book she had already read.

She and her husband moved back last month, and are settled. It's on its way out, as I'm seeing them today!

I'm sure it's a great book and worth reading. On the day I decide to do this, I'll get it out of the library.

Skirting the Issue

Skirting the Issuew
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Sweet sari-inspired silk wrap skirt.
Origin: Bitch & Swap. (Should Have Said No.)
How long kept/usage: Almost a year; never worn.
Why kept: Good Crafting Intentions Gone Bad. See Confession.
Destination: Vietnam Vets clothing donation.

Confession: I took this brand-new, never-worn, undamaged skirt from the Bitch & Swap because I liked the fabric, and because of its construction -- essentially two long rectangles of fabric sewn together. My intention was to use sewing magic to remix it into something new. Since then, I've pulled it out of the stash several times, "auditioning" it for various projects, and coming quite close recently: I had it on the cutting board with the rotary cutter inches from the fabric. And when I realized that I didn't really like the color for this project, I also realized that I didn't want to cut up this skirt. After all, It's Perfectly Good.

Confession, part deux: I'm traveling for a bit, so some of what you see will be "real time" releases, others are in fact already gone, "banked" for vacation time!  (An acceptable transgression of The Rules.) So on my way out the door, I actually stuck this skirt in my suitcase, and it will be released in a location that is not lower Manhattan!

Get The Fork Out!

What:  A very nice set of To-Go Ware, bamboo-ware that you can carry in your purse and use instead of plasticware.
Origin:  Someone gave me a gift.
How long kept:   About 2 weeks.
Why kept:  I didn't know what to do with it.   And it would have been rude to refuse the gift.   (Maybe I Should Have Said No.)   I knew that they Might Be Useful, for someone, but I couldn't think of anyone who'd use them who didn't already have them. 
Destination:  A yoga friend...someone else was using a set of them, and the friend remarked on them and said, where do you get those?   I 'fessed up to our project and offered up the To-Go Ware, which I didn't have with me, but offered to pop into the mail.   She was delighted.

Confession:   The photo is a set of To-Go Ware that "M" and the Hubby got me for Christmas, I believe in 2008.   No, I didn't give them away!   This was an extra set.   But I neglected to snap a photo before I packed them into the (recycled) mailing envelope.

Confession, cont:  I didn't really think too hard about who I should give them to...I probably would have stuck them in a bag of items destined for Housing Works had this conversation not come up!

Comment:   How much do I love the post office?  It cost me $2 to pop these in the mail to her, and she'll have them in a day!   That's really a bargain.

Jetsam

Jetsam
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Various denizens of the kitchen (current and former).
Origin: Also various.
How long kept/Usage: See confession.
Why kept: Ditto on the variety, but mostly, Out of Sight Out of Mind (they were in kitchen cabinets) and I Might Need Them.
Destination: Housing Works.

Confession: Wine glasses, I probably bought the set in the mid-90s, and have picked them off one at a time. I really loved them, but I only had two left, and have since collected a slightly ragtag assembly of not-quite matching but nice glasses, none enough for a full set. I decided to see which set can actually be completed, and I'll release the rest.

Why, in the last weeks of my employment at a soon-to-be-defunct firm, did I take the corporate logo mug offered by our exec assistant -- she had found an unopened box of them as we packed to leave.  Should Have Said, "No." Aargh.

I'm particularly proud of the silverware sorter. In the spring, I repurposed my kitchen "junk" drawer, which now holds towels and napkins...the contents have been moved or blogged. But I kept this for probably 2 months: It Might Be Useful. Once I noticed I was moving it around, I resolved to release it...

Bonus:  This went over in one of the many shopping bags in my "bag of bags" collection that is slowly being blogged.

I *heart* hand-me-downs

I love love love hand me downs.
What: Some of the clothes that were in the Evil Storage Boxes
How Long Kept: let's just round it up and call it a year
Why Kept: They are perfectly good, they might be worth something, The Kid will wear them (in two to four years, but in the meantime I have to store them in my small little 50s ranch). I should have said no, but couldn't.
Destination: Some will go to my friend "Q" and the rest Goodwill or Amvets or the like.
Confession. I organized what I loved from the boxes and placed them in a plastic bin for safe keeping until The Kid grows into them. Both children have been blessed with WONDERFUL hand-me-downs from my very generous friends.

Traveling around

Traveling around
Originally uploaded by DeClutter

What: travel scrabble (possibly incomplete)
Origin: our brother picked up about 5 of these at a garage sale. He made some full sets. I received them because a friend was looking for tiles for a bridal shower invitation. You had to buy a gift that starts with the letter you received. She found another source but I took them anyway
Why kept: I tried to sell them at the garage sale but they didn't go. I was trying to figure a good outlet for them
Destination: to "A" for crafting. Hopefully you won't see these again as "good crafting intentions gone bad" :)

PS. I'm playing catch up with blogging! Sorry it's been a crazy week.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Bread, But No Circus

What:   Two dinner rolls.
Origin:  Sent home with me from a very nice dinner at a friend's house.
How long kept:  Overnight.
Why kept:  They Might Be Useful.
Destination:  A man I see often in my local subway station.   He looked a little puzzled, but accepted them gratefully.

Confession:  Maybe I Should Have Said No when my friends wanted me to take food home, but I thought it would be more polite to accept it.   I ate the rest of the delicious food they gave to me.   It was a great meal, and then several additional wonderful meals!

Ho ho no

Ho ho no
Originally uploaded by DeClutter

What: adorable santa hat and mittens. They are so cute but when I put them on The Boy, he looked like a little girl. I should have said "no" because I knew the red was more pink. Oh well, The boy enjoyed playing with them around the house
Why kept: guilt, it was a gift (hand me down) from X. The Boy may wear it
How long kept: about 6 months
Destination: garage sale pile unless "Q" wants it for her daughter or "L" for her niece :)

Tribes and Tote (ems)

Tribes and Tote (ems)
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Another one of the tote bags, this one bearing the tribal brand of my b-school...plus some random books, CDs, a soap dispenser and a few other thises and thats.
Origin: Various. (And on the tote bag and the CDs, Should Have Said No.
How Long Kept: I'm guessing that the oldest items in the bunch are the CDs, which I took from one of those piles of stuff from a friend who was moving in around 2002 ("hey, do you want any of these?") Maybe one of the books was from the 90s.
Why kept: Might partake of the books or music...might dispense some soap...might carry something. In other words, It Might Be Useful.
Destination: Housing Works.

Confession: After seeing the beautiful workspace chez "S", my items feel a bit scattered! But one thing, one day, one breath, one step at a time!

Confession, part deux: I resisted an impulse to take all of the remaining totes over to Housing Works. I know They Will Be Useful in toting other stuff over there.

Coffee (Un)Clutch

Coffee (Un)Clutch
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Old coffee.
Usage: Some, including some fairly recent.
Origin: Thanks, Mom!
How Long Kept: Um, not sure...one expired in March of 09, the other in August of 09.
Why kept: I might drink more of it, and thus It Might Be Useful.
Destination: Compost (and trash for the packages).

Confession: Every summer, my mom and I sit by the lake and drink yummy coffee. She often says, "would you like me to send you some of the (this year: organic summer blend)?" and I always say yes. Hence several partial bags of coffee.

Note to self: Just Say No to coffee!

Confession, part deux: I stash my compost in the freezer between periodic drops at the Union Square Greenmarket. Because of the weather, I have a larger stash, ready to go in compostable Bio-Bags, hopefully this weekend. I fear that when I unload the freezer, I'll unearth some more undrunk coffee.

Low Hanging Fruit, Juiced

Low Hanging Fruit, Juiced
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Sample sized earthy organic beauty products.
Origin: SWAG from a yoga benefit.
Usage: Until this morning, not at all. Unless gathering dust counts as usage.
Why kept: They Might Be Useful.  I probably could have given them to someone else who attended and would have enjoyed them more.  (I Should Have Said No.)   They're lovely, but now it feels like a job to use them up.
How Long Kept: 4 months.
Destination: Contents, being used. Containers, trash.

Bonus: I also threw out some expired lip gloss that I loved, but seemed too old. And a single tooth whitening tray that expired in August. (Again, does peroxide actually expire?) The pine and sage scent from the first package of shower gel, yummy. Remaining packets being used in the next day or so...perfect for an overnight business trip I'll be on tomorrow.

Bonus, cont: I'll use these up before they go bad. As earthy as they are, they probably don't contain preservatives.

Confession: I'm starting to run out of the easy items to shed -- low hanging fruit, as the consultants would say.

The good news is that I'm noticing stuff like this and getting it gone quickly.  (#5 Plastic takeout containers from Sunday dinner -- already dropped off at the recycling bin at the market, rather than saved because They Might Be Useful.)  And I've got a folder with a list of things to get rid of, so definitely no dearth of items.

The bad news is that some of other stuff feels very graduate level and intimidating. As we say here at 365 Things, "sticky."

I just have to keep on taking that next step! How did I learn to balance on one leg? I kept asking myself, "Can I stand here for one more breath?"   One more breath.

Bonus, update:  I totally heart the  Pangea Organics Turkish Rose & White Tea Eye Cream For all Skin Types and might need to order some right now. Coming in second, Pangea Organics Canadian Pine with White Sage Shower Gelwhich smells like the clean woods of northern Minnesota. (I'm not big fan of shower gel, in general, though. I may not get that one.)

Days of Whine and Woeses

Days of Whine and Woeses
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

Ok, someone stop me with the funny. I'll never get any work done today!

What: Two rubber bracelets from www.acomplaintfreeworld.org.
Origin: Grassroots morale effort at the office.
How long kept: Hmmm, I guess mid-year 2007.
Usage: I participated in the project, which was started by our office manager.
Why kept: Out of Sight, Out of Mind.
Destination: Trash.

Confession: This was a good project, well intentioned, but it fell on many deaf ears. The office was populated with mostly good people, incentivized to offer average performance, in a highly political and extremely large organization that no longer exists.

While the group's output was definitely an example of mean reversion in the workplace, we were a Center of Excellence for a number of things, including complaining. The point of the project is to wear the bracelet (one, not two, see last paragraph of this "confession") and to take notice when you complain, with a one day at a time sort of ethos.

Just like 365 Things.   When you start to notice something, you can transform it!

Some people wouldn't participate. (Hence I had two bracelets thrust on me. I couldn't say no. Sigh.)

Good Bye, Pain (Free)!

What:  Borrowed Books
Origin:  A student wanted me to look at them.   I tried to say no...I failed.
Usage:   I scanned them when I brought them home, and really looked at them yesterday.
Why kept:   Aaaargh.   Mostly out of sight, out of mind.  And I might read them, so They Might Be Useful?
How long kept:  Less than a year.   (Close enough, though.)
Destination:   Return To Lender.

Confession:  I took these because the student looked a little crestfallen when I explained that I had a lot of other reading to do.   (This was the truth.)   He responded that I should keep them as long as I liked.  (Based on that, I should have brought them back the next week.  I have pretty good boundaries, but have a hard time telling my students "no".   That's how I wound up on Facebook, too.   Sigh.)
Bonus:  The information contained in these books looks like biomechanically sound advice that might work for the person in your life who might not ever find himself in a yoga class.