New Year's Resolution #1

When I was in high school, we had to watch "Sybil" starring Sally Field in health class. You remember that one, don't you? The woman with, if I recall, 17 different personalities. One scene I've always remembered is Sybil frantically repeating, "thepeoplethepeoplethepeoplethepeople" over and over again.

Picture me now, if you will, pacing around my house, hitting myself on the head with the palm of my hand and frantically repeating, "thecluttertheclutterthecluttertheclutter".

That is my day.

Okay, it's not that bad but there are days when it surely feels like it. Hence, New Year's Resolution #1:

Thou shalt not bringeth any new items into thine household for a period no shorter than six months.

Basically, I'm going to cut out the nonsensical, frivolous, unnecessary shopping. *eek!*

My friend, Debbie, just spit her water out all over her computer screen. No, really, Deb. I'm going to do it! I might be over at your house from time to time rummaging through your store bags as you come home from the mall and live vicariously through you for awhile, but that's okay. You don't mind, do you?

I'm not going to bring anything new or unnecessary into this house for the first six months of the year. The only exception to that rule will be new shoes for the kids as they tend to outgrow them at an alarming rate of speed. They may be getting A LOT of new shoes come summer time. Heck, YOUR kids may be getting new shoes if I don't handle this self-imposed restriction very well.

In addition to not adding to the fire hazard mess around my house, I will be getting rid of quite a bit of it. I already have the Goodwill and garage sale piles started. Anyone in need of a children's table & chairs set adorned with half-torn off Hello Kitty stickers and pieces of dried Play-doh stuck to it? Or an old Pampered Chef baking stone that has burned on food stuck to it is well seasoned? How about a never-been-used manual breast pump? Okay, it's not exactly "never-been-used". I attempted to use it once before throwing it across the room in a tear-filled, postpartum, exasperated fit before stuffing it back into the box. But, seriously, good as new!

Also up for grabs:
- half a bag of don't-need-that-size-anymore diapers
- Some Yes-they-still-fit-Punkin-but-they-show-your-belly-so-we're-getting-rid-of-them little girls shirts. Size 3T.
- two pairs of what-was-I-thinking 3" heels.
- Eleven different diet books, all coincidentally subtitled, "The Last Diet You'll Ever Need".
- various balls of yarn, several crochet hooks in a variety of sizes and a beginner's guide to Simple Crochet. You must provide your own cuss words.
- Three large boxes of scrapbooking supplies, that even though I'm sure I'll use "someday", I'm willing to part with it all for the right price.
- And, one book titled, "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern. (you see the humor in that last one, right?)

Lots of good stuff here, people! First come, first serve!