Week TWO, February….

I missed Sunday’s blog. I admit it, I’m slacking. But, I did say you needed a shredder for this fling, and mine had died.

It took me till Saturday to get to Staples to buy one. (Yes, I work next door. I know.) But I was gearing up for the task, gathering my thoughts, and purchasing my new file system.

I also got mildly distracted by my photography, which doesn’t usually happen in the middle of the winter. But between our two weekend snow storms–(The first a home run, 8-9 inches, pretty; and the second that really was a non-issue after all)–HERE. I know that DC and northern Virginia and other places are digging out from 26-38 inches. Mine mostly melted yesterday. You can see the muddy, bare ground in the front yard again. Yay.

In any event, one of the photo places I hang out at virtually was running a challenge on ‘Doors and Windows.’ How could I NOT participate? Wednesday before work, I drove to Petersburg, and avoided the snowy ground and got some wonderful photos. I am so excited and energized by them; they make me happy.

“ONCE WHEN I WAS YOUNG….” The rest of the shoot is posted for viewing (and purchase) at my Smugmug site.

But on Sunday, before the game, I plugged in the shredder and got to work.

 

Two 13-gallon trash bags later, I had a new and organized file system!! (Please note, this does not include half of the paper in the house. Timmy has not yet begun participation, so all the house files and such—his purview—have yet to be touched.) All the utilities I pay, all my personal stuff –up to and including my college transcripts and tax life pre-marriage were gathering dust here.

No longer.

The newest Fling is rather broadly scattered through the house. You may run into pockets of un-flung other stuff while there. FLING it. It will be ok.

This week is “Knick knacks/Home decor.”

This may end up being the hardest to do, simply because this is where emotion and history and memory and sentimental gentle winds blow through and force you to save, save, save.

The sad fact is, we can’t save everything. I watched one of the HGTV shows the other night. It was the Messiest House in America Contest. (Why would you ENTER that contest? Especially when they were SO resistant. And seriously? MESSY. Filthy, gross messy.) But I digress. Watching those shows isn’t a healthy thing to do, I think. It makes you not see your own issues because theirs are so overwhelming. But the lesson that is learned (sometimes) is that everything can’t be saved.

I am not of the opinion that you don’t need touchstones from your life. I don’t think a photo of your lovely china collection is the same as Christmas dinner eaten off the china; I don’t think taking a photo of a cherished teddy bear is the same as being able to let your grandchild hold him some day.

Your grandchildren won’t want your entire moth-eaten menagerie.  This is where saving versus hoarding versus collecting balances on a very fine pinpoint.

Think on it. Don’t fling with wild abandon here. Gift these things now, with lovely notes explaining their provenance. If you believe Sally will appreciated something someday, but her parents might look at it as trash, package it carefully, write Sally a note, and leave it for…later.

I am ending this now. More on these thoughts soon. Just don’t make rash decisions with this fling. (Mostly burned out candles? Easy fling. The candleholder? Maybe not.)

I love paper….

Paper is my weakness. (Well, ONE of my weaknesses….chocolate, fabric, and pretty boxes being some of the others.)

I have finally learned how to walk PAST a stationery shop, or if not past, out with empty hands.

I LOVE paper. Pads, notebooks, pretty envelopes, calendars, greeting cards— well you get the idea.

I don’t love bills. I do love magazines, and newspapers, however. And scrapbooking paper. And organizers with pretty covers.

And the funny (sad funny, not funny ha-ha) thing is, I don’t USE them nearly as much as I should.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hoard them, but I am very reluctant to use these papers. It pains me to cut into a pretty scrapbook page, I am loathe to write on (and possibly run out of!) a cute note pad. I forget to mail out ‘snail mail’ greeting cards.

Therefore, the majority of my grocery lists are on the backs of envelopes, or the clean side of a piece of printing paper I scrounged from work when I thought of something that needed noting.

Yes, it IS the more ecologically sound way to do things. But if I am living off of randomly sized scraps of paper, why do I keep buying such cute little note pads?

This is a result of LAST year’s attempt. I keep my papers here, next to my computer in the studio. All of the household files and all of Timmy’s stuff is in a file drawer in the den. And on the dining room table, and in the pile next to his monitor. The remainder of mine is sitting stacked, in both vertical and horizontal piles, somewhere.

So, lets get to FLINGING. Below, you will find links to a series of internet articles that should give you a bit of comfort and confidence that you can, indeed, throw out most of what you have saved.

What you will need to get flinging this time:

• A shredder. Only shred things with personal info. No sense in burning out the motor.
• A large paper grocery bag, for all the envelopes, junk mail and marketing inside your bills.
• New file folders, unless yours are relatively clean and not all rough around the edges, with 5 or 6 crossed out categories already. Splurge, live a little. Buy some colored folders at Staples or Office Max, or go into Michaels Arts and Crafts—in their Dollar area right now they sell pretty file folders (about 4 in a pack)… If you don’t have them all tucked away, make your area a bit less—Forbidding? Uninspiring? Brighten things up.
• A Sharpie, in a color that you like. (Not one of the almost dried out ones from the back of the junk drawer. Fling that one! Again, treat yourself right.)
• If you don’t have a drawer, or filing cabinet already, buy something. It doesn’t need to be industrial sized, unless you truly need something that big. It can be a rectangular wicker basket, kept on a bookshelf, or a nice magazine holder, or a plastic tote. The choices are endless, and yours. Just make sure it fits where you want it and that it holds your file folders.

Next, gather as much as you can bear, and settle in somewhere with a flat surface, and an outlet. Turn on some music, or put on a movie you’ve seen before, plug in your shredder and start flinging!

EVERY piece of paper that goes into the shredder or the garbage bag counts.  Keep note of how quickly you surpass 27! When it becomes too much, walk away.

Come back later, fling another 27, or 27 and 27 and 27… as the pile on the table shrinks and the pile in the bag increases, you will probably feel compelled to keep going!

If you do use the backs of old paper as your notepaper of choice, that is fine, and laudable. BUT, it is not an excuse to stop flinging, or to just leave things as they are.

Gather those that are up to the job—(BLANK on the back), and cut/tear them in thirds along the fold lines. Staple 20 or so of the same size together to make note pads. Once the pile of note pads is over an inch tall, start flinging the rest. You KNOW you will receive more paper in the mail today. And tomorrow. And the next day.

Filing Systems…

Get rid of junk mail…

Retention of paper…

More retention of paper…

(Now, a caveat— If any of the links above indicate you NEED to own something THEY SELL in order to accomplish this Flinging task, be aware that is not my intention; I am not recommending any specific file organization purchase via these sites. They are simply the articles that seemed to have the breadth of answers to make Flinging a bit easier.)

One month in…

How is your 27 Thing Fling working for you? Are you looking at things differently? Do you find yourself flinging from a spot that we haven’t even started? (Or do you want to leave it solely to be able to count ‘later’? If so, fling it and add it to whatever place you are counting. )Are you questioning your purchases?

By the way, this is NOT a ‘no shopping’ exercise. What it is is a ‘Do I NEED it’ exercise, ‘Is it worth working another 5 hours of my life away’ exercise, an ‘Am I buying it because it’s easier than looking for the old one’ exercise, and a ‘Where am I going to put it exercise’….  (Ok, officially exhausted. Haven’t exercised that much in forever!)

I have purchased (other than food, etc) a few pairs of pants, a nice stack of CD’s, some sweaters/tops in colors that I found worked well with my leaner, more organized closet (All from Goodwill. I just LOVE my Goodwill!!!)

And, some Christmas stuff on mega clearance that I KNEW I could use. (Like wrapping paper. Once I make it into the guest room, where the wrapping paper lives, I will be flinging some things there, and HOW could you turn down 90% off?)

Yes, faulty logic, and possibly how my house got to the state it is in. But, being that my Christmas things were just out….

Ah, see how easily we can delude ourselves? (Gotta watch those KNEW/HOW equations. But in this case, I feel confident.)

I bought a few house decorations too. My father was selling this tea set on his site and I couldn’t resist buying it. Its precious, isn’t it? And so me!

So, we are all on the same page, right? This is not about denying yourself, but about trying to find yourself, amidst all the ‘stuff’.

The next category is: File cabinets. Yeah, this one should keep you busy for a while. And what perfect timing, as Tax Season is upon us.

Is your shredder up to the task? And by the way, you don’t get a pass simply because you keep your financial and paper life in something other than a filing cabinet. Any box, basket, drawer or pile otherwise unnamed counts here. But, I will give you a day or so to contemplate this next project.

Because I believe I promised a little deviation to the list.

Its computer clutter. It’s digital images. Let’s grab the bull by the horns, ok? (This is not about past behaviors. We will get to that. Photographs have their own category! We are going to establish new behaviors.)

Tomorrow is February 1. What needs to occur is this: (And for some of you, it’s so much a non-issue, you may not believe I am bothering.)

Get your cameras. All of them, phone too, if you use it as a camera.

FIRST. Have you uploaded all the images you took in ‘JAN 2010’? If not, do so. Create a folder with that date, put everything there. After you take whatever photos you may plan on taking today, Jan 31. (Happy birthday, Andrew!)

NEXT. LOOK at the images. Are there blurry, dark, or other obviously bad images there; images that are really meant for the recycle bin? Then FLING them. Right into the recycle bin.

THIRD. Rename them. I don’t know how to do so particularly in your program or your computer, so I will tell you this–Name all the images 2010-JAN_ Or JAN 2010_ or whatever suits you best. But get the date in there. (If they are all pictures of the cat, then possibly 2010- CAT….) What I am suggesting is ESTABLISH a naming system, and NAME every file in your JAN 2010 picture folder. But only the ones worth keeping.

NOW. Is there any image you would like to print? (If you do photo editing, then insert this step here.) Print them. Order prints. Today. Sign up for Kodak Gallery, or Shutterfly, or Snapfish or load them back onto a card and take them to Target or to wherever, but get them PRINTED. After all, WHY did you take the picture in the first place?

LASTLY.  Burn a CD. Back up in some fashion. Create a second set of these images. Grab a fine point sharpie, LABEL the CD in the center, 2010-JAN, photos. 1 of … . Put the CD into a jewel case, and create a spot to store it. Create offsite storage online for additional backup protection. Use the online gallery at Kodak (about $20 a year IF you don’t order photos from them) or whichever place floats your boat… (Smugmug is my choice.)

Because it is only January, it’s a DOABLE number of photos. Most people take very few images in January. But we are establishing something that is going to be important later in the flinging.

But before I do that, I am heading outside with my camera to take pictures of the snow!!! Looks like a foot or so!

Going out strong…

As of last night, I had flung 342 items. Not 27 a day. But at least 27 each day I worked at flinging. How are your numbers?

For this last week of January, we will finish off the kitchen flinging.

8.  Refrigerator/freezer

9.  Kitchen cabinets/pantry (Moved from way down on the list, since we are in the kitchen)

You CAN fling food… Just, no food fights, ok? Systematically, shelf by shelf. Look at the items in your fridge. Do you have four opened bottles of one salad dressing? Soy sauce packets, dying green peppers in ziplock baggies, left-overs left over from last year?

If all 4 bottles of dressing are almost full, gather them together at least, and erase them from your mental grocery list! And, I would suggest adding salad to your menu for the next week or so! (My mental grocery list forces me to buy spaghetti sauce repeatedly.)

When you get to the freezer, take a pad and pencil. Were you aware you had that many frozen pork chops?

Can you go through the pantry as well, and create a menu to get you through the first few weeks of February without having to do a major shop?

This isn’t about depleting your stockpiles or anything along those lines. To those of you who have a clue, and a handle on this, realize some of us are clueless!

Do you shop, and then wonder what on earth you are going to cook for dinner because there is no food in the house??

One of my failings is I want for dinner to be a meal. Not just dinner. So, I am perfectly capable of hosting a meal for 6 –12-20 people. When it comes down to having dinner on the table? Again? I mean, didn’t I just make dinner last night?

You should be finished flinging the bathrooms, the bedroom and the kitchen by Sunday. Note, I did only the master bedroom. Tackle EACH bedroom as a separate entity, following the flinging rules above.(Or don’t, no one is checking on you.) Doesn’t need to be done by Sunday. There will be a LOT of year left by the time we finish one complete round!

Monday, February 1 we are making a small deviation in the list. (More to come in Sunday’s blog.)

And, since I am posting this on Tuesday, and will not be posting again this week, let me say “Happy Birthday, Daddy,” one day early!  You can go to Country Joe’s to wish him a happy 65 yourself. (Daddy is probably not following this flinging blog. He is so NOT a flinger.) 

Aunt Gael, Daddy, and me, Oct 2009

Yesterday’s progress….

…and a little Yippee….

Yippee first.

One of my credit card companies finally gave in and sent me the 0% APR balance transfer offer that I have been coveting. (They were probably missing my monthly electronic transfer to them, since I paid off my card in October.) I knew they would see reason. I’ve checked, month after month, and until the mail yesterday, the best they could do was a transfer that “enjoyed the same rate as my purchase rate”…. Umhm, ya see, somehow, transferring to 17.9 % isn’t all that exciting. But, if you wait long enough, they CAVE. (See October’s blog for more details.) It couldn’t have come at a better time, either, as the low ‘special rate’ I was enjoying at the other company expired on Jan 2. For 20 days, they thought I would enjoy my new, (ridiculously) higher rate.

Huh. They are toast. Card will be paid off as soon as the transfer goes through.

Now, back to flinging….

Look at that! I have the pots and pans drawers, and the dreaded Tupperware cabinet finished as well.

What I flung yesterday were memories. I had a nice walk through many a Saturday afternoon with my friend in New York, when we would be literally climbing around wooden pallets at Fish’s Eddy warehouse in St. George, creating table settings out of the piles of china stacked everywhere. It was a great place to rummage, and we always had a blast! The memories, they are still on the shelf. But some of the dishware is going to Goodwill. (I can still serve 22, as long as you aren’t looking for matching 5 piece settings. Seating, however is BYOC.)

Today, we are flinging under the sink. Fun.

How’s the Kitchen going?

That was the question we heard for a month, 4 years ago this spring. When we bought this house in 2003, the most unsatisfying thing about it was the kitchen.

So, in 2007, Timmy and I ventured to IKEA and designed my ‘dream kitchen’….Dream in the way that a small budget allows you to dream, and the lack of additional space and all that, you understand, right?? (Go to THIS LINK to see the before-during-after images.)

Since we did this only 3.75 years ago, I don’t expect my kitchen to be as hard as it might have been. That’s not the same as it will be for everyone else. I understand. I feel for ya. Really, I do. Don’t be hating. (If it makes you feel better, the spring before last, I Flung my mother-in-laws kitchen for her. She lived there for over 20 years. Ok, better? )

I haven’t gotten much done this week; battling that “I almost feel like I am about to come down with something” blahs that don’t turn into anything, but still somehow sap energy beyond staring at the computer screen after work. Yay, January.

My kitchen drawers are done. I didn’t (couldn’t) fling a few of the obscure implements that you KNOW you will need the month after you fling them, even though you hadn’t even realized you still owned them…. However, the drawers are not over-whelmed. They are neat, they are visually clear enough to find things without injury.

With that under your belt,the next category of Flinging is–

Dishware/cookware. One full set of dishes, to serve the number above. Or two coordinating sets, one in your ‘out of the way’ storage. ONE holiday set, but ONLY if you are the host of said holiday most years, AND use USE them then!

Do you have china in your china cabinet and still serve guests on paper plates for a holiday? Who will be worthy of using it, if not them? When will be a special enough time, if not then? (I have visions of my grandmother coming after me if I were to serve Christmas dinner on paper plates.)

And I recall this one Easter, after all of us stuffed ourselves and the women decided to take a long walk, to allow food to settle (to allow room for dessert.)  We came back in and found Daddy Gus standing at the sink, the COLD water running over the sides of the porcelain onto the floor while he ‘washed’ our dishes for us, sans soap. Good memories!

Here, we use my entire cabinet of mis-matched but ‘real’ plates, glasses etc, whenever I have company over. I don’t even have a dishwasher. (No, not even after the dream kitchen.) However, paper plates and cups etc, are in a cabinet and when we have a BBQ, I use them. (No offense meant to my in-laws, btw…)

 

This is what came out of the cabinet this morning. We are a COUPLE. Two people live here. ONE drinks coffee. This may be a bit more difficult!! I had already culled the mugs down to the ones that I “loved” last time.

Glassware /mugs.  Wine glasses, soda glasses, juice glasses…  What do you use? How many people live in your house? Three glasses per person seems reasonable. Maybe 4?

A friend of a friend once went on a minimalist kick. One complete place setting per person in the house, and that was IT. (Ouch. Extreme. But the sink was probably always clean.)

Is your kitchen stocked for your potential life, not the life you are living currently? If so there are two choices, either change your life (entertain more? bake more? etc…) or accept you are NOT Julia Child, or the Hostess with the Mostess…

27 gizmos and gotta have’s

Ok, our next 27 things to fling:

Kitchen utensils, gizmos, and gotta have its. Those one shot wonders. What is that gizmo for, anyway? What possessed you to buy it? Is it missing a part? Have you EVER used it? Can you do the job adequately without it? Is it one of those “who thinks up these things” things? A “people will buy anything” thing? Or a “Wow, why didn’t I think of this” thing?

Justify it’s existence in the cabinet or shelf or drawer. No gadget overflow into drawers where they don’t belong in.

Silverware. The largest number of people you have (not plan to or expect to in the future) hosted for a sit-down meal, plus 1. If you host that number only once every 24 months, move most of it to out of the way storage. Leave out enough to set the table properly. (Kitchen, all seats, or dining room, all seats, if you use it.) If you haven’t created this out of the way storage location yet, box it, bag it, move it out of the home location, and we will find a place later. HINT: It needs to be in the way ENOUGH for you to remember you own it!.

Dishes/ pots/ pans pantry shelving is all for another day.

Limit yourself to those locations where ‘gadgets gather.’ (Junk drawers, too!)

I have had four different people at work mention 27 things to me in the past week.

I hope you, too are finding this helpful and good encouragement!!!

27 things…the Reality episode

Name the 27 things you simply couldn’t live without.

Since we (I) are flinging 27 things a day, in an attempt at a new year, organization and all that fun stuff, can you whittle your list down to 27 things?

That’s right. List them, go on. Your cell phone, your computer, your Blackberry, your nice car, your….

Ok have you got your list?

All 27 things?

How many of these showed up?

Shoes. Pants. Or shirt, socks, mattress, blanket, pillow, cup, plate, fork, clean water, food, bandages, medications, electricity, a safe, dry place to lay your head. The knowledge your family was alive, and whole.

If these items are on your list, how far down are they?

How many Haitians would like to be able to even say that they possessed 27 things tonight?

I cannot watch the news. It’s not only that I rarely have the TV on, or that I can’t handle the images of the devastation in Haiti, but even more than that, I can not listen to how this is a political bonanza being manipulated for one side or the other, or how it is religious retribution.

I have no tolerance for anyone calling themselves ‘godly’ or ‘good’ or ‘god-fearing’ or ‘righteous’ or ‘just’ (or whatever religious term applies) and then saying that the God they believe in and worship would think that the images we see, the lives destroyed, are all justly sacrificed because of a 200 year old pact with the devil (by slaves, wanting FREEDOM,of all things…)

To publicly call out such backward nonsense, to use the power that they have for reaching people and asking people to give, to be donors, to help, to pray, to come together; to use that opportunity instead to be petty and to sound narrow and idiotic….

I can not tolerate the bickering about whether or not the President of the United States of America has the right to ask us to donate to a cause such as helping our fellow human beings. That by doing so, he is merely attempting to win people over. Or harvest emails.

Politics be damned, already. The suffering in Haiti, these human beings, are your fellow travelers in this world.

Whether or not their government was corrupt, or will remain corrupt, should be of no consequence right now.

Honest, desperately poor people are this very night mourning the loss of thousands and thousands of their family and friends.

ETA: Read THIS and tell me that we should be bickering over whether these fellow humans are worthy of our assistance.

Text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 on behalf of the Yele Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean.

Text “Haiti” to 20222 to donate $10 on behalf of The Clinton Foundation (former President Clinton is Special Envoy to Haiti)

Text “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 on behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.

Text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 on behalf of the Red Cross in the U.S.

Donate to Catholic Relief Services, or to Doctors without Borders or Salvation Army, but donate.

We are blessed by the number of possessions we have,  (many times 27), the comforts we take for granted, and the warm, dry safe places we will rest our heads tonight.

27 thing Fling, Spices…

My completed categories are THREE. My Flinging total this year is 274. (People who have never been in my house may be amazed. Visitors, not so much.)

Moving into the kitchen for a bit, today I will fling spices.

Unless you are a gourmet cook, are there even 27 spices you should own? Have they expired? Is there less than a 1/4 inch left in the bottom of the container?

Tomorrow is my day off, but instead of continuing the Fling, I will be removing Christmas. I never take Christmas down before the Epiphany, and then after, well, it lingers. I like all the sparkle.

When I pack this year, I will be looking to assure myself that I am not packing anything better sent to Goodwill, or anything broken.

I am also going to do this. All those Christmas crafts (half finished, or purchased post-Christmas for next year) are going to stay in the studio, so that over the year, as I find inspiration lacking, I can work on some of these crafts.

Then, my good intentions to give hand crafted items next year will not get swallowed in the abyss of the pressure of Christmas once again.

“But I paid good money for that!!”…

Or, “My aunt So and So (God rest her soul) gave this to me at my first wedding…”

Or, “This color may come back into style, this lipstick matched that sweater so perfectly…” (Did you already Fling the sweater??)

Or, “Of course I will host a sit down dinner for 28. One Day. And I will NEED this. How can I possibly get rid of this?”

Flinging, de-cluttering, purging, downsizing. Call it what you like, but what it is mostly about is learning to accept the life you ARE living, as opposed to the one you dream to live.

(Which is not not the same as a life you strive toward.)

Loving something is different than simply acquiring it because you believe you SHOULD have it….

If it means something to you, you keep it. It makes you happy. Happiness IS it’s meaning. But understand happy, too. If it doesn’t make you happy, you need to let it go.

How is your Fling count?? As I expected, working the past four days, I only put in a minimal time. But my number is up to 155 for the year.

(Remember, when flinging, that the purple lid that doesn’t fit anything gets flung into the trash, and counts toward your 27! You are de-cluttering, not sacrificing things that you use, and need and like. You are flinging the detritus of your life, the things that make your world chaotic.)

If anyone is playing along and wants to share their experience, by all means, join in!!!

 

Balance—

Remembering my word for the year, I am trying to not obsess over the Flinging to the exclusion of all else. That is how burn out will happen. So…

On the quilting front, I have restarted a quilt that sat as a U(n)F(inished)O(bject) for years and years, because I just couldn’t find the inspiration to do anything to it.

Here is the quilt, before:

And after I had an epiphany, here is how it is going…half done, but well on it’s way to being something I love! (That’s Rory, my Quilt Safety Inspector, checking to see if this quilt may be slippery on a hardwood floor.)

I have one other UFO that I am hand quilting while watching TV. I want to start only ONE quilt in the meantime!

27-thing Fling…Toiletries and makeup…

I am back to work this afternoon. Dreading it. Ugh. Stay-cations have a lot going for them! I accomplished a lot, fling and quilt-wise, spent time with my hunny and haven’t felt pressured!

In any event, here is category three, which will probably carry me through the weekend, as I work until Sunday.

My toiletries and makeup reside in three locations. The vanity and drawers of both bathrooms and the travel kit I have. If you carry makeup in your purse, don’t forget to fling from there, too.

Fling anything that is in it’s ‘old style’ packaging, and anything that you used at your wedding (unless you just got back from your honeymoon). ‘They’ say anything older than 6 months… (does it pass the smell test?) Have you even USED it lately?? In the past year?

Is it a color that makes you look ill but it cost a lot, or its a good brand? If it makes you look ill, you aren’t going to use it. Ever. Fling it!

A perfume that is too overpowering for you, makes you sneeze? Fling it (or Goodwill/give to someone who will like it…. probably the only item in this category you won’t simply fling into the trash can.)

Tubes and bottles that have only a squidge left, make a shopping list and fling them. Fling your toothbrushes too, and you will be good for a few more months. Don’t forget nail polish.

If you keep cleaning supplies under your sinks they count, too. And the medicine cabinet, wherever that may be. Everything that has expired, fling it. Left over prescription antibiotics, fling!

Once done, can all of the keepers fit comfortably where you would LIKE them to be stored? (basket, drawer, etc.) If not, can you do a second round of flinging to make it work?

(Oh, by the way—Do all of this before you hit the tail end of the Big Sale at Bath and Body Works. It will save you money when you realize you already have 6 bottles of shower gel in reserve!)

Balance…

How did your clothes flinging go??

I have had a (RARE) 4-day stay-at-home, and because “I” am the person leading this, I figure I needed to lead by example.

Combining clothes closet and drawers, my flinging number is up to 92! (Remember, ANYTHING you fling counts. The extra hangers, the hole-y pair of socks, the ones that don’t stay up  -count as one- the orphan socks EACH count as one…)

I can purchase a pair of new khaki’s and a pair of black jeans without feeling excessive! My clothes match. There are no holes, or stains or missing buttons.

I lean toward blues, turquoises, teals, olives, and black. That is proven in my closet. So passing up a fuchsia sweater should be easier, right? Not foolproof, but easier.

But my word for the year is BALANCE.

So therefore, I have not dug deeper, and made more mess, trying to cross off even more of the list while I am home. I could have, sure. But I think it would have lead to resentment on my part for my ‘wasted’ time off. I want to create, too!

I have quilted. Played with my fabrics would be a more apt description. But today, I have quilting at the library, and I have a few things to work on.

I have UFO’s.—(quilt speak for Unfinished Objects.)  Many of them. My goal this year, is to finish twice as many things as I start. A great balance. I won’t feel like I am swimming in old things, but will accomplish great amounts! (I hope.)

If you go here, you can see the quilt projects in all their unfinished glory.

Question: Is it time to buy more hangers?

It is January, after all. All the stores are selling “Organization”. As if.

Answer: It isn’t time to buy more hangers when you can’t fit your clothes in your closet. It’s time to fling your clothes!

The first two of my twenty seven categories of flinging.

1. Clothes-Closet and drawers. I work 5 days, sometimes 6, so 7 work outfits is more than enough (I have specific work attire, not a uniform per se.) I do not attend dressy balls. I do not attend church where I am required to dress up. I do like to have clothes that look good together. Does it seem a certain color thing is happening?  Work with it! I should have two dressy outfits, (skirt, blouse, slacks, blazer/sweater,) for both winter and summer. Is there something appropriate for a funeral? For a wedding? (fill in the blank) Try on everything. Make sure anything in the keeper pile can pass —it fits well, it’s comfortable, it is in good repair (if not, what is the likelihood that you WILL repair it?), it’s not dry-clean only,(if this is an issue for you) it matches at least two other objects well. Jeans/tee-shirts—One week solid of jeans, sweats and tees, for knocking about in, and for being seen in public in.
2. Clothes-undergarment/socks/beclothes. One set of undergarments (bra/panty) per day for 14 (?) days. Socks– athletic, dress, stockings/tights. Are there specific outfits they go with? Do any of the bras exist only to go with one dress? (hang it with the dress!) General rule, if you remember those panties as pre-child, and you have a teen, into the trash.

This may take more willpower or less, depending on YOU. There is no magic to the numbers I came up with above, except if I use them, my closet will be less packed tight, and I will be Flinging 27 things –AT LEAST!

27-thing Fling. Super-size me!

Happy New Year!!!!

Have you ever heard of the 27-Thing Fling? It’s like a low impact de-cluttering project.

In my version, you make it a part of your day, or make it a concentrated effort, to eliminate 27 things each day…(or period of time you allot, or each time you decide to conquer clutter…)

Fly Lady came up with the name, but she has all these rules, lol, like getting dressed every day, first thing, and keeping your shoes on in the house and -–and, well, it just isn’t happening….

However, with the new year here, and the piles growing again, and the desire to accomplish something, my brain started wandering….(I am far better at brain wandering than say, cleaning…)

What if I were to try to find 27 categories for potential flinging, instead of simply flinging 27 things a day? And here you have the number one reason WHY I can’t accomplish things:

Here is a proven method, and I MUST complicate it. (Like the time I decided I would design my own cross-stitch pattern. On 18-count Aida cloth. Never mind the fact I had never completed a counted cross-stitch in my life, I was making one from scratch. It’s not finished, in case you were curious.)

Anyway, these are the categories I came up with.  All categories subject to change. I will post details on them a few at a time.

Clothes-closet and drawers

Clothes-undergarment/socks

Toiletries/makeup

Spices

Kitchen utensils

Dishware/cookware

Under the sink

Refrigerator/freezer

File cabinets

Knick knacks/home decor

Linen closet

Cat toys/supplies

Shoes

Jewelry box/hair do-dads

Quilt fabrics IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Quilt books HARD!!!

Quilt patterns HARD!!!

Art supplies HARD!!!

Paintbrushes/paints HARD!!!!

Glues and adhesives HARD!!!!

Papercrafting/scrapbooking HARD!!!

Jewelry making HARD!!!

Magazines HARD!!!

CD’s HARD!!!

Books HARD!!!!

Kitchen cabinets/pantry

Photographs HARD!!!

But I Work, you say. Yes, I do, too. 40 hours, quick commute. No kids at home, but still there isn’t time in a day, is there? There really aren’t any hard and fast rules to this. 27 is just a number. It’s the ‘Thing/Fling’ that rhymes! Remember these things:

• You do not need to sign up, or even let me know you are flinging, but it would be nice to know I am not alone. If something is working for you, do share!
• I am NOT coming to check up on anyone… (unless you live somewhere warm, with beaches, and send me a plane ticket).
• No one is going to check your piles/bags to see if you cheated. If you really can’t find a 27th thing to throw out one day, dry your hands with a paper towel and fling that!
• I don’t need to see photos of piles. (I’ll show you mine if you show me yours??? Well, maybe I will post some….) There are no rules, there is no prize, there is no timeline. You can make up your own categories that suit your needs.
• There is no deadline. You don’t need to do them in order. You can even keep going after you hit 27 at one time…(54, 81)
• Motivation by accountably? Telling the world I am doing this makes it real. So are you telling, too?
• This task is not supposed to supplant general housekeeping. Don’t get so overly motivated by the counting or the flinging that dinner is forgotten, or laundry ignored, etc…
• Try to do one category a day(or one round of 27 on a big category) Or one each day off. Or every Tuesday. Some areas may be quick. Some torturous.
• Hint: Do not clean (which in my world would be using a sponge, vacuum, spray bottle, etc) while you are in the middle of counting to 27! The cleaning thing is a whole different ballgame. You figure out when to fit that in, but don’t let it break your stride. Part of why the clutter built up in the first place is probably because you got sidetracked anyway.
• Even those whose houses are clean, organized and ‘clutter-free’ tend to be able to throw away another 27 things…(Which EXPLAINS how it is their house is clean and clutter-free to begin with!!)
• How you dispose of these things is up to you. Many things–empty envelopes with someone’s old phone number shoved in a coat pocket count for an item, by the way– are obviously trash. If you do yard sales, if you KNOW cousin Sally would want to own it, or Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist, Freecycle; if you prefer, Goodwill. This is up to you. Just make it leave.
• (Subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss a thing…. look to the sidebar for two easy ways.)

Know this: This is a “Do as I SAY, not as I DO” kind of blog!  Look, I am not an organizer, I don’t play one on TV or on the internet. I am probably ADD. I am not the person to prove anything to, yet I am more than happy to encourage and tell you keep it up! You are taking advice from me?? It’s worth about this (.) much, ok?

The the longest journey begins with a single step… Put one foot in front of the other….(insert whatever motivational ditty works for ya, ‘k?)

I have commenced the flinging. You may begin when you are ready.

And again, Happy New YEAR!

May 2010 be the best one yet!

Words. It’s all about the Words.

Words. Language. Semantics. I am not always the most eloquent (the post previous to this being a prime example…my husband’s blog regarding the new year was far more all-encompassing and descriptive…)

…but I LIKE words. I like to read them–far more than one book a week– I like to write them–(last year, my second 178,000 word (fan-)fictional story, someday, the great American novel…. :})

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.  ~Mark Twain

And I understand the power of words. One of the most important skills in my job is being able to choose words appropriately, to convey a variety of (mostly positive) feelings and descriptors.  Think of how many online “wars” could be avoided would that the words ‘spoken’ were chosen with more care? (Not to mention how many real wars, how many families ripped apart)….

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or evil.”
Siddhartha Gotoma or Buddha (563-483 B.C.)

I have chosen a WORD for the past few New Years Day. (Insight, Inclusive, Deliberate are past words.)

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character. Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.(unknown…)

Announcing this year’s word: BALANCE.

Today, on my quilting list, everyone (well, almost) is choosing a word! And oh, what wonderful words, what personal words!

I hope to see that we all focus on the best our words can bring us!

(edited for clarity) AND, I just received another word! I am joining a quilt challenge, where we create an art quilt every two months, utilizing that word….January/February is PUZZLE…

hmmm….

It’s a WRAP. Cut….

…fade into black (a starry night)….

Happy New Year!

2009. –Time really does go faster when you are having fun! And yet, some things seem a lifetime ago!

Over all, the year was a good one for me. I hope it was for you, too!

I actually accomplished some of my—well, I wouldn’t call them exactly resolutions—but some of the goals I had set for myself.

I have started to become a bit more serious about the photography; got my website up and running. (www.rteest42.smugmug.com)

I actually started, finished and entered a quilt into a challenge! (didn’t make it, but I entered!!)

I finished writing my fan fiction story, started in 2007; 178,000-ish words later, The Big Chill got its Happily Ever After.

We traveled, and I met new cousins and caught up with old friends…

(You will note the eat less chocolate/exercise more types of ‘resolutions’ are not featured here, nor will they be in the future, lol!!)

This new year, I would like to get back to writing, I would like to FINISH some of the over 35 quilt projects I have started, I would like to concentrate more on genealogy, and cataloging/scanning family photos. As well as take more photos, sell more photos, and organize the house, the studio specifically, and probably do some more cooking, and spend more time with friends and family and and and and….

None are really resolutions, because they only seem to put undue pressure on you, and untold, unnecessary guilt, when you are unable to hold to it…

And that seems a pretty negative way to start a new decade!

Balance. My word of the year…..

I hope that 2010 brings you only the best of everything!!!

(and I am headed to bed…work awaits at 7:30 am….)

Things, Glorious THINGS…….

I read somewhere… and my head is like a sieve, I admit… but in this article, ‘they’ spoke of saving things for a rainy day as another way of telling yourself that someday, you were going to be EVEN WORSE OFF than you are now, and you would not even be able to afford to buy yourself a new (GIZMO) for $5.00 so you mustn’t throw out said (GIZMO) that is cluttering your life now. It was a bit on the thought-provoking side. (But not so much that I can retrieve it. I know, I know…It’s lost in the clutter of my computer history somewhere.)

It struck me as very jaded, and very consumerist. Which isn’t particularly shocking, being that we live in America, the shopping capital of the universe. But with the economy the way it is, it almost felt like a little backlash against the genuine efforts that people are making, ratcheting back the acquisition of MORE MORE MORE.

Our world is such a throw-away society. Products that in my childhood would have been considered worth saving are now meant to be tossed when they break. When you step back even one generation from there, well!

A simple example: Phones. Remember phones? When they used to come from the PHONE COMPANY?? With a Cord. And a plug into the wall. And you had to sit at a chair, in the kitchen, and spin this spirograph-like thing, and your mother would holler every 5 minutes to get off the phone because she was expecting a call? And you bought a service contract for them? Oh, and one extension, upstairs, and everyone used the same number!

Now, if you even HAVE a landline, you buy the phone at Target for $20, and when the battery finally gives up the ghost, its easier to buy a new phone than find a new battery in the right size.

Your grandparents probably received a toaster, or a blender, or some other kitchen item as a wedding gift, and they probably were still using it when you came into the world. Now, the Kohl’s or the Macy’s ad comes on Sunday and waves this new, shiny, red toaster under your nose and you need it. You probably do, too. If your toaster is over 3 years old, its probably reached the end of its life; you can’t have one repaired. Designed obsolescence.

(Do you even know where there is a shoe repair shop?)

I am a consumer. But I do not think I am a ridiculous OVER-consumer. I definitely over-consume (chocolates, mostly), but when I watch people shop, my jaw hits the floor.

What do they do with their “disposable” income? Purchase disposable clothing, disposable toys, disposable electronics, disposable everything.

Clothes go in and out of style, and what really looks good on you always looks good on you…(Or not. Just because you THINK it looked good on you the first go round… Well, dig out those photos from 1986 before you do your spring clothes shopping. If your kids LAUGH at what you wore then, you may want to forego new clothes this year…)

But should you trash everything every year? Do you know I wore the same dress on Christmas this year as I did on Christmas of 2002? I wasn’t hunted down or taken away in cuffs. (I was indeed the only one who dressed up for the day anyway.) I LIKE the dress. It’s comfortable, casually dressy, not dated, and it still fits.

The color of the pillows on the settee in the foyer, the flower arrangements changed seasonally, this mise en scene, this movie set, is it really your life? Will owning everything that you see in a Pier One magazine ad make you a better person? A happier one?

Is your bath-time a better experience—(is the water warmer, or wetter, do you get to hide longer without interruption?) –because the towels are all the exact shade of sage, (not olive!) as the stripe of wallpaper, which was carefully chosen to highlight the patina on the new sconces surrounding the mirror? You have been led to believe that this, and only this, will make you happier.

But in that house with the corded phone, and limited phone privileges, the couch was probably not a perfect match in color, texture or scale to the arm chair, and the lamps may have belonged to your grandparents, and once they were brought into the house there was no longer the need to go lamp shopping. 

Indeed, in that house with exactly one bathroom for a family of five, and three bedrooms the size of what today would be considered an inadequate walk-in closet in a starter home, wasn’t a family raised? (Hey, I am talking rhetorical families, ok? NOT mine. Mine was far more dysfunctional and non-nuclear and… well… And.)

Some people believe more stuff is good, therefore even more is better. In some instances, sure! I’m not about to whittle down some of my things to the bare essentials!! And there are those to whom clutter is truly a problem; I am not even willing to watch those hoarder programs…the clean sweep ones shock me badly enough.

My Aunt Gene’s kitchen counter never met an empty cottage cheese container it couldn’t house. They never threw anything away. I’m not advocating that.

There must be balance.

Anyway, some thoughts to ponder. I work retail. I don’t want you to quit shopping cold turkey!

See where this takes us in our next installment!

thoughts of new years, and resolutions and…

I wasn’t really going to do it. A New Year’s Resolution type of message. (But, it’s this or cleaning the house. You understand my dilemma don’t you??)

We can call it something else if you like, as it is NOT New Years eve yet.

Ok, so instead, some thoughts floating about, based on the ending part of years, and decades and the fact we are now 1/10 done with the 21st century.

We can all agree that world peace– now more than ever, tops the list. That we (anywhere on the planet) do not experience another 9/11, something that shaped the decade we leave.

Global warming– the things we can control in only the smallest of ways. But can, one by one, make impact.

The Economy—well, I spent many, many years living the “frugal life”, never having the ability to really tighten the belt any more than it was tightened. It can be somewhat discouraging to read a list of “easy ways to save money” tips that included “cancel your cable, eat out less” when you didn’t HAVE cable to cut and Wendy’s was eating out!

Yes, now we have the cable, but if we didn’t we wouldn’t be watching TV…(I don’t really watch TV. Timmy does. We are not now at the place that this is something necessary to cut, thankfully.)

Eating out should be trimmed around here, and mostly for the ability to save calories.

So, to that end, the first ‘resolution-type’ idea will be to try one new dinner-ish recipe a week. And maybe even one new baking recipe. (And eating at home will give us the chance to utilize that cable even more!!!) You are all welcome to send along your favorite recipes for us to try!

More ‘resolution’ kind of posts to follow over the next few days.

Maybe STATING it to the entire world (ok, the 11 people who read this) will be motivation enough. Don’t forget to ask, “What’s for dinner?”

The Christmas rush is Through…

The Christmas rush is through –(but not over) Doing a mini-Christmas thing-y with girl child #1 on Monday and girl child # 2 Jan 2/3 in NJ, where we will also connect with brother #3 and his partner who are flying to the east coast, brother #1 and his fiancé coming down from the island, Dad and his Jan, and ultimately end up in Manhattan for the day to spend time playing with best friends #1 and #2!

So, not not over. Breaktime.

Time to ascertain exactly where this year went, (and WHY!?!?) what to regret, what to celebrate and what to do differently (or not) in 2010. (How do you say that? “two thousand-ten?” or “Twenty-Ten?” I prefer the second)

What? You expected resolutions TODAY? Come on. For the last two years, what I laughingly referred to as ‘resolutions’ showed up sometime around the end of January. (hmm. Something to ponder. Maybe I am shorting myself an entire month of the year that way…)

This is an exercise for YOU to ponder! You don’t need to share, unless your want to.

But can you find 10 things to celebrate and only half that many to regret, or do differently? I think that would provide the right balance.

December 25…

Part ONE—Merry Christmas!!!! Thanks for taking this journey with me these past 25 days!

I hope I have made you smile!

This is one of my Christmas presents!

My husband refinished (and enhanced structurally) this credenza, that was owned by my great-great grandparents. I don’t know how old it is, but they got married in 1890; I would think maybe they bought it when they moved to Staten Island from Brooklyn and bought the house on Amboy Road. I inherited it in 1985 or so, when my Great Aunt Gene was moving out of the house to retire to South Carolina/Florida.

It moved from Ellicott Place to Colonial Heights with me in 2002, but when we bought our house in 2003, it moved into the garage as it was no longer willing to stay upright and hold stuff. Since then, I have been waiting patiently (smile) for Timmy to get up the nerve to tackle this project! I told him I wanted it for Christmas this year, and that seems to have been the push he needed!

This picture shows my great-great grandparents, Soloman and Rachel Frank, seated, at their 50th Wedding anniversary party, with a friend of the family, son in law Everett and my great Aunt Gene, sister of my great Grandmother Miriam.

I hope everyone got the gifts of their dreams!!!

Part TWO—CHRISTMAS CAROLS:

Your answers were fun and varied, and I am sorry to say I haven’t tallied it all up…will do for next year!! Here are MY answers!

1. Favorite RELIGIOUS song/Hymn—O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Enya
2. Favorite STANDARD–  Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy Bing Crosby and David Bowie
3. Favorite Novelty/Child Song Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Perry Como version.
4. Favorite Instrumental Christmas Eve, (Sarajevo 12/24) Trans-Siberian Orchestra
5. Favorite Romantic Song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) U2
6. Favorite Pop Song Father Christmas, The Kinks
7. Favorite Christmas song that no one knows– Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses
8. The song that is farthest back in your mind, the one that SAYS Christmas to you, evokes the best of your holiday memories….Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

and 10….a song that you couldn’t make fit in the above!

Old City Bar, Trans-Siberian Orchestra

In an old city bar
That is never too far
From the places that gather
The dreams that have been
In the safety of night
With its old neon light
It beckons to strangers
And they always come in
And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night
Christmas Eve
And here was the danger
That even with strangers
Inside of this night
It’s easier to believe
Then the door opened wide
And a child came inside
That no one in the bar
Had seen there before
And he asked did we know
That outside in the snow
That someone was lost
Standing outside our door
Then the bartender gazed
Through the smoke and the haze
Through the window and ice
To a corner streetlight
Where standing alone
By a broken pay phone
Was a girl the child said
Could no longer get home
And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The bartender turned
And said, not that I care
But how would you know this?
The child said I’ve noticed
If one could be home
They’d be all ready there
Then the bartender came out from behind the bar
And in all of his life he was never that far
And he did something else that he thought no one saw
When he took all the cash from the register drawer
Then he followed the child to the girl cross the street
And we watched from the bar as they started to speak
Then he called for a cab and he said J.F.K.
Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away
And we saw in his hand
That the cash was all gone
From the light that she had wished upon
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
Then he looked for the child
But the child wasn’t there
Just the wind and the snow
Waltzing dreams through the air
So he walked back inside
Somehow different I think
For the rest of the night
No one paid for a drink
And the cynics will say
That some neighborhood kid
Wandered in on some bums
In the world where they hid
But they weren’t there
So they couldn’t see
By an old neon star
On that night, Christmas Eve
When the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
And in case you should wonder
In case you should care
Why we’re on our own
Never went home
On that night of all nights
We were already there
THEN ALL AT ONCE INSIDE THAT NIGHT
HE SAW IT ALL SO CLEAR
THE ANSWER THAT HE SOUGHT SO LONG
HAD ALWAYS BEEN SO NEAR
IT’S EVERY GIFT THAT SOMEONE GIVES
EXPECTING NOTHING BACK
IT’S EVERY KINDNESS THAT WE DO
EACH SIMPLE LITTLE ACT

December 24…

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; 

 

(I claim this quilt as my own. The intended recipient can NOT have it. I can NOT hear anyone telling me otherwise, because I have turned my back on the ceaseless noise about moving. Therefore, they no longer see me on the quilt and I win it!)

 

 
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

(I wish I knew what my name looked like. But since I don’t, I will claim ALL of this as my own!)

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap—

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

December 23…

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world."
~ Calvin Coolidge

December 22…

 

Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given–when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes."
~ Joan Winmill Brown

December 21…

Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity. To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

–Oren Arnold

December 20…

I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become… but there are always a few saving graces, and finally they make up for all the bother and distress.  ~May Sarton

December 19…

Live from the front (and back) porch reporting!

Snow in Virginia for Christmas?? Or not? Its only the 19th, it could easily go back up to 62 degrees and melt it all…But for now, we are covered in snow. (It’s raining now, but we had about 5 inches of good, heavy, snowball snow starting yesterday evening)

The weather report claims it will get colder shortly and turn back to snow, with another 2-4-6 inches before its over…

December 18…

 

There is a chance of snow tonight!!! Possibly 3-5 inches by tonight and up to 6-10 by tomorrow…(I will believe it when I see it, they love to get our hopes up for a white Christmas, and then DASH them!!!) It’s awfully early for snow here…
However, I will have my camera at the ready!!
This time next week, everyone should be unwrapping gifts!
So, that means, counting today, 7 shopping days (well, 6.5, everything closes early on Thursday)….I don’t think there is TIME for a quote! We need to get busy getting busy!

December 17…

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  ~Dr. Seuss

 

Happy Birthday to my godson, Matthew!!!

December 16…

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown

Keep the Christmas Carol lists coming!!! I am loving the variety and am being reminded of some wonderful songs! (the list is in yesterday’s post…)

December 15…

The Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardenfest of Lights (2008)

Today, lets try something a bit different.

What is your Favorite Christmas song?

To make this a little less unwieldy, name the song that best suits each category. I will tally up and share answers by Christmas. (Answer today, tomorrow, whenever…there are no winners, no prizes….The Songs I have listed are EXAMPLES!!! NOT my choices! And you can give more than one for each category, but try to stay under 3 per category…)

1. Favorite RELIGIOUS song/Hymn—(for example, O, Holy Night, Joy to the World—a particular version??)
2. Favorite STANDARD (For this, lets say anything recorded before 1965 or there about-Bing, Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, etc. It can be religious, or semi-religious, but name an artist; the artist’s interpretation is what makes you like it.)
3. Favorite Novelty/Child Song (For example—Frosty the Snowman, Dominic and the Donkey, The Hanukah Song by Adam Sandler)
4. Favorite Instrumental (name the musicians –Mannheim Steamroller, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, etc…)
5. Favorite Romantic Song (Baby its Cold Outside, 2000 Miles)
6. Favorite Pop Song (Rock, Pop, Country—something that hasn’t quite made it to a Standard yet—like Feliz Navidad,Christmas All Over Again, Little Saint Nick)
7. Favorite Christmas song that no one knows (Elfs Lament by Barenaked Ladies)
8. The Song that puts you into the Christmas mood!
9. The song that is farthest back in your mind, the one that SAYS Christmas to you, evokes the best of your holiday memories….

and 10….a song that you couldn’t make fit in the above!

I look forward to hearing about lots of new music to find some songs I don’t have! (241 Christmas songs on my IPod at the moment…)