The “Great Closet Clean-Out of 2011”

I cleaned out my closet last night.  And my dresser for that matter.

Between my semi-annual need to purge EVERYTHING in my house (I blame my OCD tendencies), our upcoming move and my recent weight-loss (again, yay!), I figured it was time.  I had wanted to wait until I lost the last five pounds, but I was running out of pants that fit…

This is what I came up with:

  I love cleaning things out.  There is just something about de-cluttering something, anything, that brings me great joy.  It’s is so cathartic it isn’t even funny.  If I ever slip into depression, all you’ll need to do is hook me up with a hoarder and tell me to go to town.

Here is the “pants” section of my closet:

  All of those hangers had had jeans or other pants on them.  They don’t fit anymore!  (And to be honest, the three in the middle you see hanging here are too big, but not falling off yet.)  I packed away the best of them (for, God-willing, I gain the good kind of weight that begins to come off 9 months later…) and will donate the rest to Goodwill.  I found some great Gap and Nine & Co. jeans and pants yesterday there, so I’ve been able to re-populate some of my closet with size 8’s–HOORAY!

  *A moment about Goodwill:  Before you write it off and think you’d never shop there…give it a chance.  Obviously, some Goodwills are better than others, but you never know what you’ll find.  I have a friend who has gotten multiple pairs of Lucky jeans for herself and her family, and there are tons of Gap, Banana Republic and J.Crew gems out there just waiting to be discovered.  The trick is to go often (up to a couple time a week) and get to know your store.  Once you know where your size is in all the sections, it doesn’t take long to buzz in and see what treasures are waiting.  You would not believe what some people give away, with the tags still on them!

  I do have two pairs of dress pants I may try to get altered.  I just can’t bear to part with them (they are almost brand new since I never wear them) and one of them has a matching blazer.  And I did have some great pants…a pair of Lucky jeans (tear) and some J.Crew khakis…  It’s almost sad.  Until I put them on and am in shock at what a difference 10 pounds makes.  And I guess I’ll just have to replace my favorites 🙂

(In case you’re a pessimist and think I’ll just put the weight back on…think again!)   I’m pretty determined, self-motivated, and I can’t wait to change my goal in Livestrong to “maintain,” instead of “lose.”

  For Goodwill:

  Yay for purging!

A little bit of the tropics in a freezing house…

This is what my thermostat said this morning:

  I was freezing!  It didn’t help that Hadrian had OD’d on water last night and had me up at 4 AND 6 a.m. to pee.

  Because it’s Thursday and that’s the day I don’t go to gym until 9:45 for yoga, I could actually sleep past 6 a.m.  But no, not with Hadrian’s bladder.

  Anyway, I had a very ripe mango on the counter, so I’d been planning on making a smoothie in the morning for a light breakfast.  Not this morning!  I wanted to get warmer, not colder!

  So, I pulled a Kath and made oatmeal.

  I still wanted to use the mango, so I came up with a “tropical” theme of sorts.  I used rolled oats, a splash of OJ, milk, lowfat cottage cheese (for protein), half a banana, about a third of the mango, flax seeds and a little honey.  I threw in a bit of Jamaican Allspice as well.  I topped with just a bit of sweetened, shredded coconut.

  Yum!  It was a bit sweet and weird (there is a reason mango isn’t a favorite topping for oatmeal), but not bad at all.  It was a bit watery as well…maybe less milk next time?  It definitely kept me full until I had lunch around 12:30.

Thankfully, we have a break from the rain today AND tons of sunshine, so I’m planning on taking the pup for a nice long walk.  Other things on the agenda:

-a complete closet clean-out!  (my jeans are too big–yay!  scored FIVE pairs of size 8 pants at Goodwill today, and with the move coming up, I just want to PURGE all the old, worn-out stuff I’ve been hanging on to)

-errands: grocery store, Auto Zone (Andrew has to change my brake pads while he’s home this weekend), and the Fairborn city  offices to get our garage sale permit

-Bible study (I’m in two different ones, so I do Esther in the morning with coffee, and the other one with tea whenever I can fit it in!)

-the neighbor kids will be mowing/weed whacking our yard–thank goodness we have a break from the rain–it’s a jungle out there!

A List

I haven’t had time to post in a couple days…(hard to believe, I know.)  Crazy amounts of rain (which means dealing with our almost-fixed-leaky-basement-window), showings, errands, the gym and other randomness has taken over my life!

Heather and Maggie left A WEEK AGO…why don’t I feel like I’ve had much a break yet?

Anyway…

Because I keep forgetting my camera and because I can’t think straight these days anyway, here is a list:

1.  Susy and I spent Sunday in Cincinnati for the Flying Pig Marathon.  We woke up at 4 a.m. for this.  Our friend, Nicole, ran the full and another friend, Kathy, ran the half.  This would have been an excellent time to bring my camera.  We got to see them both at mile 5 1/2 and Nicole again at 25 1/2.  Susy and I even got our own 4-miler in to kill some time.  We ate at Maggiano’s and browsed at the mall before heading home.  LONG DAY.

2.  Andrew bought me Essie nailpolish in “Jazz.”  Isn’t he sweet?  (He also bought me Bare Minerals foundation primer, but I’m not sure he knows that yet…)

3.  I went to Waynesville with some ladies for lunch today.  This also would have been an excellent time to bring my camera.  While there I bought a really cool, colorful picture to put in our kitchen.  I will take a photo someday.

4.  The house has remained incredibly clean all week.  Yay!  However, it’s still a chore to pick-up and get Hadrian squared-away in the car each time we have a showing (we’ve had like FIVE–yay!).  And with the price of gas these days, the LAST thing I want to do is drive around aimlessly for an hour.

5.  It’s not supposed to rain again until tomorrow night–PRAISE GOD!

6.  After a 5 a.m. basement window debacle (in which it was pouring rain and I was in flip-flops), I told Andrew I was overnighting LLBean wellies.  I didn’t overnight them, but they should be here in time for the next downpour.

7.  Our house is FREEZING.  (I blame the rain.)  However, I refuse to turn the heat on.  It’s MAY.

8.  I’ve lost 10 pounds.  TEN POUNDS!  Where, you ask, did it come from?  (My waist, hips and butt.)  Seriously though, I am on cloud 9 and don’t intend to come off until the last 5 pounds do as well.

9.  Did you know rhubarb was in season now?  I mean, I guess I did…  Anyway, Andrew loves rhubarb and is coming home this weekend (yay!), and I have two homemade pie crusts in the freezer.  Hence, I’ll be making rhubarb pie.

10.  Speaking of my freezer.  It is FULL.  And the outdoor freezer.  MUST. EAT. FOOD. IN. FREEZER. BEFORE. WE. MOVE.