The Last Two Days

9/16/13:  From the bathroom cabinet 1) large glass decanter, 2) a dusty bottle of Richlife Aloe Vera Gel, 3) Herbal Essence hair spray with broken anatomizer

9/17/13:  Top of the Frig 1) salad spinner, 2) English tea pot, 3) small plastic tray

Today:  4 boxes of sanitary napkins of various sizes and absorbancies.  This is probably WTMI (Way Too Much Information), but it's mind boggling that I kept these since I had a hysterectomy 34 years ago.  These 4 boxes have been replaced with 1 package of Poise. 

Journey into the Storage Room

• A bag that says "60 Quarter Coin Wrappers."  Judging from what's left in the bag, I'd say about 40 are left.  I used to save quarters, wrap them, and take them to the bank periodically.  The bank hasn't taken wrapped coins in many years.  You have to use their wrapping machine to the tune of a 10% charge for your own cash. I said, "No, thank you," but kept the wrappers. 
• One straw beach mat last used in the last century.  A towel is easier to carry.
• One shoe box on which is written "Kitchen Junk Drawer Overflow."  It contains various and sundry items including shower curtain clips.  My shower has a glass door.  I must have thought they would come in handy someday for something. The only thing I'm keeping from the box is a Ziplock bag of five different knobs to match each of the knobs on drawers and cabinets throughout the house in case one breaks.  Hasn't happened yet, but one never knows when such a catastrophe might happen. This is another case of "just in case."

Back to the Frig

I was going to get rid of two flat belly products touted by as seen on Dr. Oz, but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to try them even though they've been sitting on my kitchen sink unopened forever. The problem is I forget to take them before I eat.  I'll start with the Green Coffee Extract. Took one already this morning. The second is Garnica Cambogia.  It needs to be taken 30 minutes before each meal.  This one may be a little harder to deal with because by the time I'm hungry, I eat.  I don't stop, put some drops under my tongue and wait 30 minutes.  I suppose I should give them the old college try, though.  One of them just might work.  I'll let you know.

So, instead of products from the sink, I decided to strip three more unsightly pieces of paper off the refrigerator.

• 5 easy homemade potato salads.  I love potato salad and really believed I would try these:  curried, classic dill, buffalo blue cheese, Tex-Mex, and Italian. The source was Woman's World magazine.
• Eat like a Mediterranean. There they go with the vegetables, fresh fruits, and legumes again.  I already do that!  Just not all the time.
• 4 moves for a healthy heart with pictures of four yoga poses.  It's the pictures that make me feel guilty every time I look at it. 

O M G - The Sequel

Last night after playing around with the blog, figuring out how to edit an entry, and seeing whether I remembered how to add pictures, I thought a picture would be enough. This morning I have second thoughts about that.

The electric curlers date back to the 70's and haven't been used since.  I am fortunate enough to have many cabinets in my bathroom which means I can have stuff I forgot I had.  These were in a bathroom cabinet I rarely use.  That's my excuse.

The chopsticks, well, everyone has too many chopsticks don't they?  No explanation necessary there.

That leaves the candy dish of rocks.  They've been sitting on the hearth for a very long time.  At one time they were used for a stone massage, so I kept them just like I keep everything else--just in case.

O M G

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Hoop Earings Anyone?

I have 14 pairs of hoop earrings of varying sizes.  I only wear the smallest one, so it doesn't make sense to keep the rest.  A young lady at church wears hoop earrings.  I'll ask her if she wants 13 more pairs.  If not, they go in the Goodwill bag. 

Three from the Boudoir

I have, strike that, had four robes and a caftan hanging on the back of my bedroom door.  That's too many.  I know that because I don't wear one of the robes and the caftan.  They're almost new.  I'm sure Goodwill will find them a good home. 
 
Item three is a boar's hair hair brush.  It's the kind of brush the women use in the movies while sitting at their dressing tables brushing their hair one hundred times.  When they finish, their hair looks beautiful.  When I finish, my hair looks flat.  Used it once a few years ago.  It's been an item on my dresser ever since. 

Get Rid of Belly Fat

Swimsuit Slimdown Drink - Dr. Oz
1 cup orange or pineapple juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
~Drink before each meal.
Didn't like it.  Actually, I think it's the vinegar that kills your appetite.  The rest of the ingredients cover the vinegar taste.  My mother used to sip vinegar.  She said it was good for you.  It killed my appetite.

Boosts Metabolism Drink - Dr. Oz
~Toss in infuser:
   4" cinnamon stick
   1 tsp. black pepper
   3 tbsp. mustard seeds
   1 peperoncini, dried  (calabrian pepper) available at Amazon .com
~Boil 6 cups vegetable broth and toss above ingredients in an infuser available at Amazon.com.
~Simmer 10 minutes.
Tastes terrible and has a consistency to gag a maggot.

The Lean Belly Prescription - Dr. Travis Stork (The Doctors)
Floss Daily
Eat breakfast
Use stairs
Stand while doing tasks
Take breaks instead of sitting  (Get up during commercials)
Drink water with ice

These were three hand scribbled notes on my refrigerator.  Knowing I would never make Dr. Oz's drinks again, I kept the notes anyway.  He would do us all a huge favor if he could figure out how to give us an omentumectomy instead.

Potpourri

• A book from AAA with rules of the road.  Since I'm now over 70 I needed to take a written driver's test again.  The book was a great help.  I passed with flying colors.  Only missed one--the one with two good answers, only in the eyes of DMV, one answer was better than the others.  That was last March, but I kept the book until today.
• Four glass coffee mugs.  There was a time that I thought drinking coffee out of glass was really cool.  That was back in the day when I said things like "really cool." These mugs, however, have seen their day.  After daily use for a very long time, they didn't clean up very well anymore.  Not even with Bar Keepers Friend.
• How many of you out there keep party favors?  I have one a granddaughter gave me from her party.  I thought it was pretty.  Except the tissue paper in it is faded, and the mints in the tissue paper are stale.  I was tempted to toss the paper and mints and keep the glass, but . . . .

Four is the New Three

I came across four old address books.  I mean really old.  Two were mine, and two belonged to my mother.

Mine:  Not much to say here except that one of them dated back to when I was married.  That would make it over 40 years old.  The other probably dates back about 20 years.  It got replaced with an organizer, which I still have.  Nothing exciting here.  Just addresses and phone numbers.

Hers:  These two are harder to let go of.  My mother's makes interesting reading.  Hers contain more than addresses and phone numbers.  She had quotes from Einstein and Will Rogers, notes about the benefits of lemon juice, how to say "cry baby" and "bloody nuisance" in Japanese, (She worked with some Japanese women for 35 years.), and much more.  She also had grave sites of those who had passed. She and I would go to four different cemeteries on Memorial Day every year and put flowers on all the family graves, even her ex mother-in-law whom she wasn't too crazy about.  She's been gone 25 years, so her books are as old as mine.  It's time to let go.

Fun in the sun

One baseball cap.  I don't wear baseball caps, but I must have at one time.  It says SWOOSH 18 on it, whatever that means.  Out.

One faded, blue sunvisor from Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa.  Wore it only one time.  I bought it when I was there because the sun was getting in my eyes and I didn't want to walk around squinting all day.  Otherwise, I don't wear suvisors.  The elastic around my head gives me a headache. Haven't worn it since.  Out.

One pair of sun glasses--sort of.  They're not real glasses because they don't have any arms.  They just clip on regular glasses.  They look like something an old man would wear.  These were under the two head coverings mentioned above in a small basket on my clothes dryer by the back door.  I put them by the back door thinking I would put them on on my way out.  They've probably been there a few years.  Out.

As an aside, I am keeping one Justin Boots baseball cap that's real cute.  I may need it for a bad hair day.

This is a test

It looks as if the test worked.  I can now add pictures to my blog. 

The top picture is of those fake ice cubes I told you about in an earlier blog, and the bottom picture shows the costumes of the Easter Parade girls.  I'm the one on the left whose slip fell down around her ankles--after the performance, thank God. 

See you tomorrow with a picture.

Some Odds and Ends

I picked up three things yesterday just walking through the house.  Three items of no use to me, but I have kept them around because "they're still good." 

1. Three 3-inch carabiner clamps.  They were in a small basket on my clothes dryer by the back door along with various other gems which will no doubt be tossed in the very near future.  I don't remember what I bought them for or how long they've been there.
2. A small bottle of PRO CLEARZ  antifungal liquid with vitamin E.  While it may work just fine to combat toenail fungus, Tea Tree Oil and Vicks VapoRub work better.  Lesson learned--use what you already have on hand.  Grandma did and we all survived just fine.
3. This last item came from a Brookstone catalog.  It tells the indoor and outdoor temperature as well as the humidity and a forecast.  It even has a light on the top to color code the weather:  blue is rain, white is snow, yellow is clear, etc.  I can look out the window to get that information.  It even tells the time, which reminds me, I need to get rid of some clocks.

Yoga Anyone

• "Yoga for the Rest of Us" and "More Yoga for the Rest of Us"  by Peggy Cappy.  I'm sure you've seen her on public television.  I used to do the former pretty regularly, but when I bought the latter, I quit altogether.  Maybe I'll get the first one on DVD and try it again.  (When I try to talk myself into keeping something, I know I have to throw it out.)
• Two unused Yoga for Beginners on DVD with promises to increase strength + flexibility and improve your health and vitality.  Since I bought them, I'm intimidated by the pictures on the front.  I could never do that.
• One "Beginner's Manual" from The American Yoga Association.  A fully revised and updated difinitive guide from the nation's preeminent yoga center.  Wow.  Sounds impressive. 

I will throw out the videos today, and give away the DVD's and book.  (Still thinking about going to Amazon.com and buying that first Peggy Cappy DVD.  I think I used to enjoy it.)

What Was I Thinking?

Sorry, but still no luck with posting a picture which means you won't be able to enjoy the beautiful shades of blue of 30 fake ice cubes.  Another catalog purchase that seemed like a good idea at the time.  Don't know why.  I rarely use ice cubes since I like my drinks room temperature, and guests have all turned them down when offered.  They have been in my freezer for about two years. 

The other two items are also "what was I thinking" catalog purchases.  One is a small plastic bottle with a spritzer on top called NuBrush.  When spritzed on your toothbrush it's supposed to keep it clean.  From what they don't say.  It's  been on my bathroom sink, next to the toothbrush holder of course, for a very long time.  Used it once.  I usually soak my toothbrushes in a small glass of hydrogen peroxide when I think they need it.

The latest acquisition was a battery operated fingernail file.  I know you're chuckling because I am too.  All three gone.  Out, out, out. 

Drawer No. 1

I got fed up with my bras.  They weren't doing their job anymore, if you know what I mean, so I bought some new ones.  Easy.  The old me would have shoved in the new and pushed the old to the rear, only it didn't work this time.  The drawer was too full.  Not so easy.  Thus, my three-a-day choice was made for me.  I tossed:

• 9 bras
• 3 exercise bras hardly worn because it takes a contortionist to put one on, and
• 8 half slips which I almost forgot were there.  No one wears half slips anymore.

There is a story, however, about a 9th half slip, which I did throw away not so long ago after it fell down around my ankles right after a performance.  While the chorus sang Easter Parade followed by A Pretty Girl is like a Melody, five of us dressed to the nines wearing long dresses and large Sunday hats with parasols in hand slowly walked down the two aisles of the theater and across the stage.  The audience loved it.   After the concert was over and everyone was leaving the theater, I left the stage to greet my family.  That's when the slip fell to the floor.  Luckily the audience was leaving the auditorium, so their backs were turned.  Only my girls saw the mishap.   

P.S. Sorry, but I've spent the last what seems like an hour trying to upload a picture of us five Pretty Girls in our Easter Bonnets to no avail. Pictures will have to wait. 

465 Daily Inspirations

• A tablet of 365 Daily Teachings of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• Inspirationl cards from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
• A box of positive affirmation cards by Louise Haye

I remember only one out of all 465 quotations, and it has helped me overall.  "When you do what's easy, life will be hard.  When you do what's hard, life will be easy."  That one is from Eker.

I don't know what I thought I needed by keeping these around.  I really believed that I would read one each day--and do what?  Your guess is as good as mine.  These are going to church. 

Today is paper

Instead of three things to tell you about today, I got rid of a lot of paper, so there will be three categories instead in keeping with my Toss-Three-A-Day intention.  If I counted each individual item as one, the blog would be agonizingly tedious and would reach into the next millennium.  Lord knows there's enough paper in my house. 

Eighteen mail-order catalogs which I have kept "just in case" I might want to go back and order something I missed with the first order.

Seven travel books from AAA.  One was for a trip to Yosemite I took over 30 years ago and another for a trip to Yellowstone some 20 years ago.  Souvenirs I never looked at afterward.  I don't know how I made it to the Grand Canyon without an AAA book, but I did.

Fifteen maps of Los Angeles and environs.  (Did I happen to mention I like maps, too?)  I had the pleasure of doing my duty as a good citizen to serve jury duty every 2 years in L.A. for 14 years, circa 1979 to 1991.  During the long 2-hour lunch break on the first day of each 10 day stint, I would go to the gift shop at the New Otani Hotal in Little Tokyo and get a visitors guide map of the city.  Sometimes I wouldn't always remember to bring the map, so would get another one.  Kept them all.  Souvenirs or, better yet, "just in case" I might go back again I wouldn't have to stop at the hotel. I would already have one. 

So much for maps.  I have a GPS on my iPhone now.  (If my parents could come forward in time and read this last sentence, they would have no idea what I just said.) 

Brand New Blog

WHY I'M HERE

An article in the September, 2013 issue of Reader's Digest inspired me to write my own blog.  The article interviewed Vivienne Palmer about her blog "Process of Elimination" in which she chronicles her getting rid of 10 things a day for a year=3,650 items donated or sold in one year.  I've chosen a more realistic number for me--at least 3 things a day for a year culminating in roughly 1,000 items gone.  I'm energized just thinking about it.