Decluttering -- can I really be having fun??? Part 2

Today I took six boxes of stuff to a consignment shop -- and did not come back with anything new. They took everything but about 6 items. Fantastic to me!!!!!! I even let go of a punch bowl set that I had bought in 1986 as a preteen. I don't know why I bought it then (at Woolworth and with my saved allowance money), but maybe it was something that I cherished and that made me feel more "grown up" to own -- sounds crazy but that's the only thing I can remotely think of. Like owning it really made me any different. I've used it since then, but not recently, and I have punch cups that go with my vintage party tray sets. I don't need it to tell me that I am all grown up now (my two munchkins do that quite well, thank you!) so.... off it went.

I called a collectibles place in town to see how interested he was in our vintage Fisher Price toys. He wants to see them, and seemed quite interested, so now I just need to find a date to take those down to him. I'm hoping maybe he will want the NASCAR collectibles that D is ready to part with. If we can clear those three categories of items out, I will have "reclaimed" (that's how my mom terms it) about 28 cubic feet in our house -- at least 12 for the stuff gone to the consignment shop, 6 for the vintage Fisher Price (maybe more), and about 10 for the NASCAR stuff.

In addition to all that (yes, we have been working hard to get things organized), we have placed all the outgrown or not needed kids' stuff in an area to price and "unload" at the kids' preschool consignment sale. If it bugs me too much before then I will take it to the consignment shop or the kids resale clothing place just to clear it out. At present, that pile is (no joke) filling up the room underneath a curved staircase in addition to a 5x3 area in our basement. Maybe another 60 cubic feet????? You know, the smaller the child, the bigger the equipment -- why is that?

Then there are some items that are going to be Freecycled. Things like collectors tins, gardening chemicals (not keeping these around since I have little ones!!!!), mismatched glassware, craft supplies, etc. I think I honestly have three or so paper ream boxes of those tins to get rid of...... and a big bag of fabric/yarn...

Long Time No Blog

Sigh -- I guess I've been far too busy.... life got busy, I guess. A high school friend emailed me a week or so ago and asked me if everything was okay -- she missed reading my updates. I took that time to mentally note that I needed to get back to blogging, so here I am.

This was the month for dentist visits and thus bills. D went in for his regular checkup and has had to veneer his tooth that he chipped while a child. That takes two additional appointments -- three if you count the appointment to get the color matched. C went to the dentist for a checkup and had to go back to get a cavity filled (a tooth did not form correctly in utero, he chipped it on something hard, and a cavity set in). I had a checkup and had to have a filling (first one in about 20 years, if I remember correctly). That makes seven visits to the dentist .... not to mention we think P is teething. I guess only time will tell for that, huh?

We recently got back from a visit on Hilton Head. It was our last leftover banked week from our South African timeshare, and it was SO well worth it. D's parents came from Nebraska, and his "East Coast sisters" came for part of the time. If you ever get the chance to stay at Island Links, do it!!! This is the second year we have been there, and I can honestly say that I am so tempted to buy there. Well, except for the $995 annual maintenance fee for the three bedroom unit. OUCH!!! It's a good ways from the shore itself (about a 25 minute semi-brisk walk) but that is no problem. The walk is beautiful and almost 100% shaded. Possibly the best part about it, though, has to be the pools! There is a fountain-thingy for the kids (the one that shoots streams of water randomly), a large pool that has a kiddie area that has a sloped entry (like walking into the ocean) that also has cool water features and neat "big pool" areas, and a smaller "lap pool" that is mainly for adults. What is absolutely amazing is that the pools are so warm that you have absolutely no adjustment when you enter them. You could almost work up a sweat in the pool if you swim. You think I am joking, but try it yourself and you will know I'm not. Of course, another highlight for me is that we were there during the gardenia blooms that encircle the pools and hot tub. At twilight, the experience was heavenly. The air temperature was just right, the slight breeze blew the fragrance of the gardenias across the pool as you leisurely swam. See http://www.rebamanagement.com/view_resort.php?ID=06222005054625 or http://tinyurl.com/3t5bx4 for pictures/description.

OK -- that's enough in this posting.... More update later...... honest......

Priceless Pasta

Early this afternoon, C got into the pantry and found an open box of uncooked ziti noodles. After telling him "no" and "put those back" about three or four times, he disappeared into the other room, so I thought it was safe to turn my back to the pantry. I was wrong. He had disappeared into the other room to get his sand bucket (never been used for sand). He proceeded to pour all the ziti noodles into the bucket.

My first thought was to fuss at him. After all, that was a "good 44 cents' worth" of food that he had gotten germs all over and that I would not be able to cook to feed the family. And then I thought about the mess that he would likely make with them that I was going to have to clean up. Albeit, he did not drop even the first noodle on the ground!

I chose to react on the outside differently than I was feeling on the inside. I wanted to shout; I wanted to yell; I wanted to grab everything from him and put it back in its rightful place; I wanted to throw away the "ruined" noodles and have a slight pity party about how my child was not minding me.

Instead, I did the opposite. I hugged him, sat down on the kitchen floor with him, dug my hands into his bucket of noodles, and made the loudest noice I possibly could, swirling the pasta around, picking it up and letting it fall back against itself and the bucket, and pouring it from hand to hand. He loved it, and it was a wonderful time of mommy/son bonding. He even decided it was a time that HE could use to teach Mommy about counting and sharing!

So what if I can't serve that pasta tonight? (OK -- I probably could because I would be boiling it long enough that it would likely kill the germs, but I'm not going to....) So what if I did not intend to have spent less than 50 cents on a toy that wasn't really a toy? It's like those credit card commercials -- that time with my son really was priceless.

C's Singing

C is so funny! He is in the stage where he thinks he knows the words to songs but doesn't. Right now he sings, "Bringing is the sheeps," instead of "Bringing in the sheaves" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_in_the_Sheaves). It's cute, to say the least!

P's appointment today

Whew -- our "little bit" has gotten a little bit bigger.... by almost two pounds since he was last seen at Dr. P's. He's gone from 12.85 pounds to 14.65 pounds. He's still not on the chart, but he seems to be making up ground on the curve. I also got a slight surprise when the doctor told me that he really did expect them to find something when he referred us to the specialist, but he was glad that everything came back normal. Of course, he is not even half as glad as we were!!!! We're scheduled for another appointment in four weeks. Keep eating, Little Guy!

Photo Shoot

OK -- It's official... or close to it. I've now taken my pictures for my modeling comp card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comp_card) with Carolina Talent (http://www.carolinatalent.us/home.htm). Today was a long day but I had a blast!!!! I had to bring lots of outfits (three per season and then some others "just in case") and they only chose three from all of them. I think that was perhaps the hardest part. Then makeup (by Chris Lanston -- see http://www.chrislanston.com/c1.html -- a real hoot to work with!) and hair -- LONG waits due to the number of people waiting -- followed by shoots at the various locations. I'm anxious to see how the final product turned out. In particular, I am interested in the shots that were taken with P as a prop. I'll post some here when I get the proofs back. The most surprising thing may have been that the stylist straightened my hair. I hadn't seen it that way since 7th or 8th grade! (Of course, then he could not get it to do what he wanted for the 2nd or 3rd looks!)

Haircut.... finally!

OK -- I finally got my hair cut! I was just pregnant the last time I got it cut, so that is about a year ago..... It was getting just way too long. I thought about all the possible Jeff Foxworthy-type comments... "You know your hair is getting too long when .... " (you mistakenly tuck it in your pants instead of your shirt tail, you get it caught on door handles, you look up and wonder who just brushed against your "bum", you have to change your arm position to finish braiding it, etc.). I found a group that I will be donating it to (http://www.beautifullengths.com/en_US/wigshelpingwomen.jsp) instead of Locks of Love. They need about six ponytail donations to make their wigs (compared with 20-30 for wigsforkids.org and 6-10 for Locks of Love). Their wigs go to women fighting cancer who have hair loss. Part of me feels a connection to these women based on my grandmother's leukemia and D's Gma's former breast cancer. I also want to give it to a group that doesn't do just children's wigs.....

Enjoy these pictures.... before, during, and after.....

Oh -- funny...... Mom told our hairdresser that I might cry. Yeah -- whatever!!!! I mean, it is a little sad to think about since it is pretty much one of the last three things I have from the pregnancy. The other two are the scar and P himself! I have this sneaking suspicion that I don't need the hair to remind me of either of those! Still, I am glad that I can give this to a group that will use it.... It's REALLY healthier than I even realized it was. It feels good to me to run my fingers through it, so I can only imagine what someone who has lost their hair will feel about it when they can do the same.