I don't know how else to phrase it, but I have a ton of work to do around the house. I have totes that need to go out to the shed filled with Christmas decorations, wrapping papers, trees, etc. I have filled boxes that need to be donated, I have filled another box that needs to go to my inlaw's house, I have another one that needs to go to my best friend's house, I have a cooler that needs to go to my Relief Society president's house (because in all reality, it is her's! It just so happens that I have had it for about six or eight months), I have toys to donate to our church nursery. I also have clothes for every.single.child. I take care of. (Boys ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and girls ages 3, 4, 7, 8, 12) Plus, I have additional clothes that I just need to donate. Right now, all of these items still taking up space in my house is driving me just a little bit slightly insane! It's time to start a new project on here, one that I started and completed last year, but just did not blog about in it's entirety. And now, I'd like to present:
Challenge 2013
The challenge is to get rid of 2013 items in 2013.
You know, like, apart from regular household waste. This is the stuff that is taking up residence in your residence that you'd rather have used for other purposes. The rules are pretty loose. You can count individual items or you can count boxes or bags. But the idea is to get it OUT. We live in a society with so much excess that we don't even realize how much extra we have!
For instance, somehow this past winter, I went from having one set of dishes to having five sets. We have our normal set of dishes that we use everyday, but we were wanting something that was white and simple, so we found these plates at the Dollar Tree that we really liked and we bought 12 of them. $12 for 12 plates, not bad. But then, I found this other set of dishes that someone locally was selling for $10. Two complete dish sets (service for 8) for $10. Even better, right? Then, my mother-in-law bought us two complete dish sets (also service for 8) for Christmas. And then our friend who was moving out of state decided that he wanted to give us one of his dish sets. So now...if I need to plate, oh, let's say somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 meals at once, I could. But here's the crazy reality - I don't need to. The most that I need to plate at any one point in time is like 20, give or take. And most of the time, it's not more than 10. So I have decided to keep the plates that we got new for Christmas, the ones that we were using full time anyhow (at least until they all break or something) and maybe the simple set of 12 plates from Dollar Tree. I really do love them! I plan to sell or donate the set that I bought for $10 and to keep one of the plates from our friend to use on my plate rack. So, that would leave us with roughly 30 plates. Still more than we need, but in all reality, we lose one plate from our regular plate set about every month or so. We have kids and lots of extra kids around. They get used a lot. It happens.
I also inherited about $900 worth of yarn recently from one of my husband's co-workers. His mom had been a stockpiler and had purchased SO much yarn! Most of these skeins of yarn were probably about $3 each, so I ended up with roughly 300 skeins of yarn. Plus sewing patterns, supplies and notions, crochet patterns, stuffing for toys or pillows or something, Just lots and lots and lots of crafting materials. I had Bree come over and I sent her home with all but one (minor) sewing project, all of the crochet patterns and half of the yarn. But that also means that I still have somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 skeins of yarn. I do plan to make LOTS of scarves and hats this year to donate to the those who are on the tree at our church at Christmas time. And if I make enough, maybe some to give to a facility for seniors in our area. I'm not quite sure yet, but I do have lots of ideas! But whatever I haven't used, I plan to donate at least 50% of it to an organization that can use it. I might even make some prayer shawls a hospice facility that I am familiar with and which is very dear to me.
There are lots and lots of other items that I am wanting and needing to get rid of, because in all practicality, we don't use these things often, if at all and I'm just done with it. I don't want our home to be overloaded or for me to be overwhelmed by caring for all of this stuff that doesn't really matter.
So, here I am starting this challenge for myself (and for any who may want to join in) of making 2013 items disappear from my home this year. Although, in actuality, I would strongly prefer the number of items to be at least double that figure. If you're in and would like to participate, leave me a comment and I'll make a button (I'll make one anyhow, most likely) for you to place on your page as well, if you want to join in.
