serendipity

It's funny how sometimes when you start thinking about something, it pops up everywhere. Maybe these things are always there, but you just don't notice them until you start noticing, ya know?

On my last post, I talked about all the stuff in my grandfather's house that were packaged up and never used.

Strangely, last week, I was talking to a friend of mine who told me a story about a home care patient that she had. This poor lady slept in a giant, threadbare tee shirt every day. "It was more like a rag than a shirt" my friend said. So my friend went out and bought her a nice, pretty, comfortable nightgown for this lady. When she brought it to her, the woman said "Oh, how beautiful! Could you put it in the dresser in the spare bedroom?" When my friend went to the spare bedroom, she found a dresser FILLED with brand new, unworn nightgowns while the woman continued to wear the old tee shirt.

I think we all tend to do this to some degree. We have the "good china" that we only use when company is over, the special occasion outfits that we wear once or twice a year, the good champagne that sits around waiting for something fitting enough to warrant it's opening.

With me, it's homemade soaps and fancy body lotion. I have tons. I've acquired them as gifts or at craft fairs over the years. And they sit under the sink or in fancy baskets on the shelves in the bathroom while I use on-sale body wash and unscented lotion.

Last week, as I moved to the bathroom for decluttering, I tackled this problem head on. It kind of helped that I ran out of a lot of things this week -- I used the last of the shampoo, body wash, mouthwash, toothpaste, and lotion all within two days. All the previous decluttering in the bathroom has left me with a better idea of what I actually have. So instead of going out to the store and picking up more on-sale toiletries, I busted into the "special occasion" stuff. (exactly what special occasion warrants the opening of handmade soap, I have no idea)

July 20: Went through the under sink area and took out all products from "multiples" packaging (you know, when you buy three tubes of toothpaste and it comes in a giant box for all three?) For some reason, I had been keeping everything in the big boxes. I removed all the boxes (recycling) and opened up alot of space down there.

July 21: Went through a basket and put some hair clips I haven't used in a while to the goodwill bag.

July 22: Busted into the soaps! The lotions! The new toothbrushes! And even though technically didn't get rid of something, I prevented myself from bringing more into the house, so I'm gonna let this count.

July 23: Finished a book and put it in the book donation bag.

July 24: Laundry day! Put a tank top in the goodwill bag.

July 25: I have a little zip up bag with perfume samples (how this came into my possession, I have no idea). I put them aside to give to my niece. I will never use them, but she can use them when her friends play beauty shop.

July 26: tossed some sunscreen that was over a year old.

Next week, I 'm moving on to the entry way.