50 things

AFter being inspired by this post from Niki I decided that I too would declutter 50 items from my home.  I was a little daunted by the thought of getting rid of 50 whole items but once I got started-WOW!  I could have kept going all day.


1. An expired discount card from Jiffy Lube
2. An old comb
3. A stack of envelopes whose cards have long since been sent
4. A ziploc full of broken watch parts
5. Shadow boxes that I received as a shower gift but never hung
6. 5 year old dog treats
7. 16 cookbooks
8. two candles
9. A 10 foot long telephone cord
10. A dead bamboo plant and pot
11. flower seeds
12. nuts, bolts, other assorted junk drawer paraphenilia
13. knobs to Conor's homemade changing table that we never put on and that was given away more than two years ago
14. 2010 advent calendar
15. magazine clippings with great ideas that i will never implement
16. mostly used sticky note pads
17. pens
18. pencils
19. spent hi-lighters
20. breath mints
21. an apron that I've never worn
22. three homemade cans of salmon that I've had for over a year and never eaten
23. A cardboard popcorn box that held only a few packets of popcorn
24. A dog toothbrush
25. 2 finger thing-ys that you use to brush your dog's teeth (we take Tucker to the vet to have his teeth cleaned)
26. A receipt for a pair of shoes that I plan on keeping
27. Expired coupons
29. a thing for bubble blowing
30. lighters
31. Eductional materials that conor is too young for and that I will forget about when he gets old enough
32. an old blush brush that Conor occasionally uses as a microphone but most often ends up under the couch
33. window clings
34. A souvenier pencil
35. A dog nail file
36. a single used ear plug - disgusting
37. OSU coasters
38. UO coasters
39. Old Weight Watchers materials that are no longer useful as the program has been revamped
40. A tape cassette adapter for my ipod
41. A candle shaped like a mini ear of corn
42. wine corks for a cork board that has already been completed
43. a cleaning cloth for sunglasses
44. A golf tee
45. An empty bottle of hand sanitizer
46. A food scraper for the George Foreman Grill we no longer own
47. A bunch of plastic utensils that I have been collecting but not using
48. An extra corkscrew
49. A votive candle
50. A jar of unused relish


The great thing about throwing out or donating these items is that I already feel so much lighter.  I have cabinets with space in them, drawers with room for the next round of junk.  FEeling inspired by my 50 things I went through my bookshelf and was able to weed out what must have been 15 books that I borrowed from other people over the last two years.

Inevitably I will acquire more useless junk over the course of this year, but now, at the beginning of January, it feels so good to be a little bit lighter.