2023 - Declutter #5 - Small Steps Forward Are Still Heading in the Right Direction

I was on a roll for a while, but the past few weeks have seen more things enter my life than leave. Rather than get frustrated, I'll share about a small declutter. 

 

Last fall, I got seven boxes of items that had belonged to my father-in-law and mother-in-law. My sister-in-law had intended to go through them, but hadn't found the time and was getting ready to move. It takes a fair amount of time and energy to go through things like that and it's never a high priority. So I'm trying to take a little at a time. Last week, I took out a small bag and put a few little things in a Goodwill bag. I laundered and put a "Lone Ranger" bandanna on Louie's dresser. (I wanted to try selling it online. I'm pretty sure it's from the 60s or 70s, but my husband wanted to keep it.) 

 

And there was a bag with some pins. 

The ones on the right I threw in the garbage. I'm not sure what they were for, but they didn't look worth keeping or donating.

The ones in the lower left I added to a donation bag. The "Winnipeg" pin is probably from their honeymoon in 1957. (That's what Louie thinks.)

The "Lillie" pin (pictured below) probably belonged to Betty's mom, Lillie Mohr. It is so beautiful! I thought about giving it to a family member and Louie suggested his cousin Lisa's daughter Lily. Perfect! I'm going to wrap it carefully and get it in the mail to Alaska.

 

 

In addition to these pins, I took photos of Lou from his old yearbooks. I visited him (and took a 12 minute video of him talking about high school) and asked if he wanted the books. He doesn't and so I'm going to contact Grand Island High School in Nebraska to see if they want yearbooks from 1946, 1947, and 1948.
 

It's not much, but it's something!

2023 Declutter #4 - punch glasses

I have decided to keep my punch bowl and ladle, because I like making and serving punch several times each year. I discovered, however, that I had four different kinds of punch glasses. And I rarely use ANY of them. So I set them all out and Marco Polo'd Jenifer. She recommended that I get rid of ALL of them, but if I must keep some, I keep the ones that match the punch bowl. 

 

Here's what I had in total:

9 that match the bowl

3 crystal (beautiful!)

12 cute  

9 bigger and sort of cute, but I'm not sure I ever used them.

I decided to keep the ones that match the bowl and the three cute crystal ones (not pictured) and get rid of the 21 other glasses! 

None of this decluttering is dramatic, but it isn't as painful to chip away slowly at it. I also got rid of some cookie cutters and a veggie tray that I don't use. I keep a "Goodwill" bag or box available at all times so I can just put things in there right away when I decide I don't want or need them any more. 

This is getting fun!

2023 Declutter #3 - Morgan's art work

As I was looking for something else in my room, I saw a cardboard portfolio that had "Morgan's art work" on it. I hadn't looked through it in a long, long, long time and I knew it was time to say goodbye to it. I felt kind of bad about bringing something I'm getting rid of to someone else's house, but . . . Morgan just laughed and said, "I'm proud of you, Mom." He's so sweet! 

 

I told him and Angela that I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane (for him) and an insight into her husband (for her). I didn't care if they recycled, tossed, did a burn . . . but I didn't want to house them any more. I looked through and was surprised at what I had saved! From preschool through at least middle school, I kept dozens of pieces of his work. Here are two I snapped pics of:

 

 

 

Yep. From Christmas THIRTY-TWO years ago! Alex was almost a year old, so this must have been from Morgan's old preschool before we moved to Jordan.

  Morgan created the magic dream bunny story. In ninth grade, he used the story as his children's book. I hope he still has it! This was on a giant piece of paper (at least 2'x3' . . . ) and sounds like a kindergarten or first grade thing.

 

There were also a few really cool architectural-type drawings from when he was older. I had to resist the urge to capture everything digitally! Even my digital world is pretty cluttered. But I'm making progress. . . and I love my kids and their creativity, kindness, intelligence, humor, . . .

2023 Declutter #2 - books

I thought I'd do a post a week about this topic, but I'm on a roll today! I've done at least two book "mini-purges" before, but I realized that I've intended to bring some Christian / inspirational books with me to a Minnesota Quilters meeting for a while. We meet at the same location as The Recovery Church, which has a shelf that's like a Little Free Library. Well, I have plenty of books just sitting around! Donation time at this week's meetings . . . 

 

As I looked through these books, I kind of wanted to re-read the Ortberg one . . . but I have so many books on my shelf! I hope and pray these will bless someone else. 

 

I have a few (many) books for my daily devotions time. As I finish them, I will donate them. Progress means moving forward . . .

2023 Declutter #1 - Brooches and Pins

This is minor, but it's a start! I haven't worn brooches or pins for a long, long, long time. I decided to keep the top three (far right in this pic . . . ). The books pin is with my quilting stuff. If I ever make an "all about Jeanne" quilt, books will be a key part of it. The two dragonfly pins will go to Strawberry Lake and be added to a small wall hanging I have there. I love dragonflies! They eat other bugs and they look cool.

All the rest of these pins will go to the next MQ meeting for the "free" table. The ones that don't get taken will be put with my Goodwill stuff. Why I've held on to them for the past few decades . . . no idea. I'm not sure how many of them I've used since the 1990s. Seriously!

Rent (aka La Bohème)

I watched La Bohème in September out of curiosity. I've had Rent DVDs from the library since then but finally watched the movie version this morning. It seemed quite timely to talk about rent, evictions, and starving artists. But as much as I can see how it was inspired by La Bohème, it was definitely modernized.

There are same sex relationships and a transgender character. There's drug addiction, a cinematographer, and protests. 

The cast was simply amazing. Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, etc. I confess that I was working on a sorting project as I watched, so my attention was divided a bit.

It was longer than I anticipated (135 minutes), so I only watched the intro of the version filmed on Broadway. I'm sure the stage production is also amazing, but there are so many things you can do in film that you cannot do on a stage. 

The story made me sad and a bit reflective. I have a better understanding of the story now, so when I see  and hear references to either La Bohèmeor Rent, I will "get it." Time to return these to the library!

Opera

I had requested La Bohème on DVD from the library because I was curious. I'd never seen it, nor have I seen Rent (yet). I read enough to have a sense of the story and to know that Rent is loosely based on La Bohème.

The library kept renewing it for me because I kept not watching it. I was pretty confident Louie wouldn't be interested in seeing it. Finally, my renewals are up and it must be returned! I watched it last night.

1. I'm super glad it automatically had the English subtitles. Italian opera is relatively incomprehensible to me.

2. Not everything that was being sung had a subtitle . . . 

3. What? What happened between the second and third acts?!?! How did Rodolfo and Mimi go from being madly in love to jealous and fighting? Did I look down at a project for a crucial few moments?

Most of all, watching this made me think of my mom. Every once in a while, she would listen to opera on NPR. I would complain and ask her why she liked listening to "people screaming in Italian" so much. She pretty much brushed me off. I wish I could ask her genuinely now . . . what about this appeals to you?

I don't regret having watched it. I enjoyed seeing Pavarotti and the other performers. I have a deeper understanding of the story (so when it is referenced, my cultural literacy is improved) and now I can watch Rent. Win!

I also have to say that I had a positive opera experience. High school friend Leslie invited Jenifer, Connie, and me to see a show when she was involved with Minnesota Opera. I mostly admired the costumes and read the words on a screen to the side of the stage, but I also remember that Alan Page was there! Thanks, Leslie, for sharing that experience.