The LBDDiaries.com Blog

(This is part of an on-going series Momma’s Soapbox and I are doing on Keeping Our Inner Aloha/Peaceful Life. See here for the Aloha lowdown and here for the Peaceful Life reason!)

Have you ever taken a $50 and run it through the trash compactor?  Or churned it down the drain using the garbage disposal?  How about taking a handful of money and throwing it in your trash can?  No?  Well I have.

Oh, I haven’t literally taken the actual cash-money and done this but listen to this tale.  It is an on-going one in our household.

I decide to clean the freezers out.  I pull out several containers and zippered baggies full of unidentifiable frozen food objects.  I say to Alpha Hubby, “Do you have any idea what this is?”

His response is always, “No. What does it look like?”

Me: *Huff* of frustration.  

“If I knew what it looked like, I could probably figure out what it is,” I say showing, I believe, great patience.

“Well I don’t know what it is.  Why don’t you thaw it out and see?” he says, wisely.

So we do.  We leave all these containers and baggies in the sink or on the counter.  Much later we will come back to take a peek.

I say to Alpha Hubby, “Do you have any idea what this is?”

To which his response is always, “No.  What does it look like?”

Me: MAJOR *HUFF* of frustration.  

“If I knew what it looked like,” I respond very patiently, “then I could figure out what it is.  Why don’t you taste it and see?”

This brave man who used to say he had a cast iron stomach and could eat anything always replies, “I’m not eating that. We don’t even know what it is!”  

At this point the entire conversation spirals downhill pretty quickly.

Does this sound like a merry-go-round conversation to you?  Me, too.  And we have it every time I decide to defrost the freezer.  So all that food always ends up down the garbage disposal or sealed in the baggie and tossed out because we usually can’t figure out what it was.

When this happens I always think that I should mark the container somehow (ya think???).  I should become organized enough to buy those stickers or use one of my millions of Sharpie permanent markers.  I mean, how hard is that?  It’s NOT!

But I never do it.  Somewhere along the line, I failed Suzy Homemaker* 102, the class about organized freezing of foods.  And the one for sewing.  And the one for organized homes.  I am a Suzy Homemaker failure.  Oh, the shame.  My only excuse is that I am a crossroads generation – raised by the 50′s generation that believed in Suzy Homemaker and living in the 70′s that threw Gloria Steinem, NOW, and bra burning in my face!  I didn’t know who I was.

To save myself a lot of frustration and work next time, I’m just going to take the grocery money and throw it on the burn pile.  It will save a lot of time, trouble and merry-go-round conversations!

And you want to know why Momma’s Soapbox and I are starting a bi-weekly blog about being better organized when there are so many blogs about it out there???  We need it. Desperately.

Peaceful Tip:  Invest in a magic marker or Sharpie pen and write down, ON the container or baggie, the name of whatever food is in it.  Write the date, too, so you will know how long it has been in the freezer and then will understand why there is fuzz and green hair growing on the food.  It will make you feel oh so much better organized!

Copyright © 2010 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved

This is part of an on-going series Momma’s Soapbox and I are starting on Keeping Our Inner Aloha/Peaceful Life.)

Disclaimer: This posting is going to require Alpha Hubby to BITE HIS TONGUE and hold on to his fingers so he won’t comment and comment and comment.

I’ve been systematically getting rid of stuff for several years now. It isn’t that I had a lot of stuff. Really! It’s more that each time I did a pass through the house I’d decide to get rid of something that I thought I absolutely could not stand to get rid of just a month before.

I am a firm believer in donating. When I was a single parent, I lived in Salvation Army (SA). Back then, I had to and SA served me well. But it was so bad there was a time when my son said, “Oh NO! Please don’t tell me we’re going to SA again!” (And he was only 6!) I think the boredom of waiting while I dug through racks and piles and shelves looking for amazing deals gave him SA phobia. It is a testament to his strength that he is now a generous donator, too. I’m so glad I didn’t scar him for life back then.

You would think that after several years of donations I would have this amazingly organized, Zen-type house with no clutter or mess to deal with. Yeah, you would think that, wouldn’t you? It just ain’t so. And I don’t know why (and NO Alpha Hubby I do NOT need your input on this!). Truth is, I know but I am not going to tell-all today. You couldn’t handle it!

One thing that contributed to my delinquency is that I come from a long line of hoarders (& no that above picture is not a house I know, just from internet). My mom rinsed paper towels and dried them on the wood stove.  She had piles and piles of them she’d reuse until they just plain bit the dust.  She had every packet of fast food catsup and plastic wrapped plastic utensils she’d ever not used.  Dad was as bad with his nails, screws, boards, bits, pieces, parts, and whatnot.

The worst were the zippered baggies. We ALWAYS had to wash and reuse them – in the summer hanging them on the clothesline and in the winter, propping them open over glasses to dry. I SWORE when I could, I would THROW AWAY ANY BAGGIE I HAD USED WITHOUT EVEN CHECKING TO SEE IF IT WAS RELATIVELY CLEAN. It is freeing, I can tell you that. I do NOT reuse zippered baggies. Amen. That’s why you see so many in my new pantry. (Below, sadly, are only part of the boxes.)

 
Back to my non-Zen house. I am learning not to hoard. I am slowly learning to let things go and to give away anything I haven’t used in a year or 5. I THOUGHT I was doing a great job until we moved.

Why? Because as I unpacked I discovered everything I had saved and hoarded without realizing it. Take the zippered baggies. I thought I was out so purchased several. Then while unpacking, I came across the ones I’d packed up when we thought we were moving last year. THEN I also came across the ones I had stored in the laundry room in the old house. I don’t want to talk about it. 

This happened with all sorts of products – beauty products, cleaning products, candles (well, you can NEVER have too many of those) kitchen towels, and MORE. It has bordered on the ridiculous which is why Momma’s Soapbox (& her companion posting about this topic) and I decided to take a little journey into developing Better Me’s: get better organized and disciplined, simplify our lives, developing the “less can be more” concept, taking better care of our health, etc.

Alpha Hubby’s saying is, “There’s always another one.” I wanted to hit him when we were first married and he’d say that. It was usually after I lost a bid at an auction or something but I soon discovered, HE WAS RIGHT (please don’t tell him I said that).

The “organized theory” really is that if you haven’t used it or worn it in a year, GET RID OF IT. It may make you feel like you are giving away your first born child sometimes, but you can do it, sniffing and crying. It takes a while sometimes to get into the swing of it but it can be done.

I truly believe that Keeping Your Inner Aloha (see Momma’s Soapbox posting HERE) and living The Peaceful Life require organization and getting rid of excess.

So a little Peaceful Life tip is this: go through your house with an HONEST eye and start boxing up excess and things you haven’t used in awhile, if ever (yes, I had a lot of THAT, too – never used or new with tags still on it).  Remind yourself it is going to a good cause – helping those who can’t afford to shop at regular stores. Been there, done that and am so grateful for places like SA and Goodwill.

I’ll let you know a little more after I’ve finished unpacking and getting rid of as I do! I’ve had to really dig in and get rid of since this new place doesn’t yet have the storage capacity of the old place. It’s challenging but I finally had that epiphany – there’s ALWAYS another one and if I truly need it later down the line, I can buy a NEW one!

Copyright © 2010 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved

My blogger friend Stephanie, over at Momma’s Soapbox, and I are going to start a weekly posting about – hmmm – how should I say this? We don’t quite have a name yet but it will be about our Finding or Keeping Our Inner Aloha.

Steph just spent a month on Maui. Her main goal when returning to the mainland was keeping the inner peace she found living there a month.

We have both been working on improving our lives and becoming Better Me’s – to get better organized; simplify our lives; live the “less can be more” concept; take better care of our health by eating right, exercising, drinking water; get a better handle on finances through budget (and again, organization); protect that romantic side of marriage; and other things.

May sound like a lot to bite off but most topics we are dealing with in our lives are inner-related so when you get the main topic – like organization – it will help fix under topics like finances, housework, etc.

Then I am going to add a weekly thing – don’t know what it’s called – but a blog entirely dedicate to gratitude – thankfulness – saying what you are grateful for.  Too many people focus on the negatives in life and totally miss the most amazing things.  We take so much for granted – our sight and seeing beautiful sunsets – our hearts and their capacity to love so many and so much – our loved ones, and more.  So I want to have one day a week where we simply list things we are grateful for.

I can’t think of any other changes right now – but I hope you will join Momma’s Soapbox and me on our journey to more peaceful lives – and also in thanksfulness! We will be posting our first Aloha posting in a few days! Stay tuned! And yes, all this has everything to do with my LBD journey – didn’t you know? Life can kick you in the teeth and send you straight to the chocolate (unless you learn how to deal with it right)!

ALOHA!


Copyright © 2010 Nan C Loyd
All rights reserved