Saturday, December 4, 2021

TO DO, or not to do?

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES DEPARTMENT:  Yeah, well, listen, Reds and Readers. As my sister Reds will attest, there was a brief but stunning meltdown around here last night, created by software which went rogue and then apocalyptic, and prevented me from uploading photos.  When Julia and Jenn  and Debs tried to help, it went crazy on them, too.
Basically, the photo uploading is not working.  And it's a bigger deal than any mortal Red can fix.
I will, therefore, describe the photos you would have seen if equilibrium had prevailed.
And let us all hope the software recovers. Tomorrow will be a surprise.
But for now:


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So I just made the huge decision to throw away the rest of the leftover turkey. And I realized that this is what I do every year. I hate to throw away food, even if I don’t think anyone is going to eat it, so I just put it in the refrigerator and leave it. I leave it until it is so grotesquely and dangerously poisonously old that it is a pleasure to throw it out.

Then I think: Wow. I should clean out this whole refrigerator. I should throw everything away. I should collect all of the sticky and virtually empty jars of duck sauce and mustard and horseradish and garlic chips and all the condiments that have been in there for 27 years and dump them. And wouldn’t that be fun?

PHOTO: We see unidentifiable glass jars (of various sizes) with multi-colored lids stored close together on the top shelf of a white refrigerator. The shelf is crowded, and nothing is quite recognizable. 

So that’s definitely on my to do list. Very soon. (But I am waiting for my edit letter for STILL NO TITLE and I need to focus on that.)

Another thing I will do, certainly, very soon, is alphabetize all the books in my bookshelves in the exercise room. Look at this one, how nice it is!  

PHOTO: We see two shelves of an obviously larger wooden bookcase. The authors of the hardcovers are nicely alphabetized: Atkinson, Atkinson, Bayard, Belle, Bowen, Bowen, Bowen, Brown.  And then the photo is cut off. In the shelf below: Finder, Goldman, Glass, Gruley, Hall, Hallinan, Hamilton, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Harding, Harris. And then the photo is cut off. 

 I could easily find anything on that shelf. It would be so much fun if I were actually looking for any of those books! But hey, it’s the principle.

Now look at this shelf. Not so great. 

Photo: We see one shelf from an obviously larger wooden bookcase. The titles of the hardcovers are random: Winspear, Winspear, Goodwin, Tappley, Finder, Benioff, Connelly, Gross, Eskens, Child.


Hmm. I should do all of our bookshelves. I will definitely put that on my to do list. I had planned on doing it at the beginning of the pandemic, but I guess there wasn’t exactly the right time. But yes, that’s on my list.

And another thing. Look. 

Photo: We see the edge of a pristinely white terrycloth Fieldcrest towel. The edge is fraying, so we see the individual threads hanging loose.

I am beginning to see that some of my towels have these little frayed sides. I know this is not how they should be, and it’s beginning to annoy me. Should I just cut off these little frayed ends? Or will they just fray again?

But you know, if they do, hey, I could just cut up the towels and use them for dust cloths and things like that. Whatever things like that are. But I would probably have to get some new scissors to cut them properly. And then, would I have to hem them? I need to think about that, and yes, this is definitely on my to do list.
 
What do you think, Reds and Readers? What’s on your definitely-going-to-do-this-absolutely-someday-soon list?

109 comments:

  1. Shame on blogger, making things frustrating and difficult for you . . . but I loved the photo descriptions!

    What’s on my definitely-going-to-do-this-absolutely-someday-soon list? Well, I don’t have to worry about the turkey [we had chili] and I’m not alphabetizing my books . . . I’m just looking to get them all on a shelf somewhere. Some day . . . .

    However, I do keep promising myself I’m going to defrost the little freezer in the garage, so I may get to it . . . soon.
    And I need to send a box full of toys to the littlest grandbabies . . . that will definitely happen later this morning . . . .

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  2. My books shelves will never be alphabetized. I have certain authors in certain places and like it that way. Of course, those are the books I've read, so it's not too hard to find what I'm looking for. I do wonder a little about my TBR shelves, if alphabetizing those wouldn't help, but that's not going to happen either. Now, the refrigerator is something that I do hope to address someday very soon. I know it needs a good clean-out, and I can see it coming over the horizon any minute.

    What's on my absolutely in the next few days list is putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree. It's pre-lit, so the lights are there, but it's been up since Thanksgiving and remains ornament-free. I feel an "Annie" song coming on. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow."

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    1. That's so great--did you watch the live version that was just on TV? It's definitely a good song for feeling determined. And now I am singing it, too!

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  3. I have a pile of bills, financial statements, etc that I absolutely must file or shred. Someday. Yep. I'll get to it. Soon.
    My spice cupboard is a disaster, again, and I really need to rearrange things. Again. I did it alphabetically last time and that was helpful. But it appears some folks don't know their ABCs as well as they should. So one of these years I will redo those shelves. But no hurry.
    I need to see what I could get rid of in the hall closet. That would be a really good project. But as long as those doors are shut I don't have to think about it. If I can't see it it isn't there.
    The only things on my absolutely must do soon list is some Christmas shopping. I did some today. I need something for my godson and then I can make the dreaded trip to the post office to mail my godchildren's gifts.

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    1. I am dreading the PO too Pat, always trying to guess when the line might be shorter...

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    2. Oh, completely, if you can't see it, it doesn't count.
      And here's my spice advice (!!): just do one half of the alphabet on each side. Then as you find things and return them, you can perfect it.

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  4. I need to clean out the coat closet and the bedroom closet. I use to see the closet floor, but no longer. In the coat closet I can't see the ceiling.

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    1. Just take EVERYTHING OUT. Then it will be really fun to toss/donate, because you won't have to put it back. Good luck! xxxx

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    2. My coat closet is a disaster too!

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    3. I joined a Buy Nothing donate group in my Byward Market neighbourhood this summer and cleared out half of my coat closet items to those who can use them. In exchange, I have received many items I needed for free including 2 floor lamps, a Shark vacuum and numerous food items. One person's junk/unwanted item is another most needed treasure!

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    4. At least you all have coat closets! Old house here, not enough closets to go around. Coats have to live on hooks in the hall...

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  5. HANK: Duck sauce? Explain. Of course, I focused on your cleaning out the mystery jars in your fridge first! One benefit of having the smallest galley kitchen is also having a small refrigerator. I don't have room to put my regular condiments inside let alone long forgotten containers! bTW I ate a yummy duck page with truffles last night in Montreal.

    I cleaned out my kitchen and bathroom junk drawer and hall closet a few months ago.

    So the big task is scanning/going through the old family photos I brought back from my Dad's apt in October. And choosing which ones will go in the set of a new dozen picture frames I recently got.

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    1. I hate autocorrect! Duck pate not duck page!

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    2. And since I have 22 bookcases and am anal in nature,of course all the books are in alphabetical order. The only exception is my TBR mountain where books are triple-stacked. Guess what happens when I can't see all the titles? I buy duplicates, which are being dropped off at the Little Library in my neighbourhood.

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    3. I wondered about Duck Page Grace, a new dish!

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    4. Blogger changed it to duck page 3 times, even twice in my correction above!

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    5. My computer doesn't autocorrect but my phone does. And the result sometimes is downright insulting. Oh, the ones you don't catch before you hit "send." OY!

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    6. YUM! Duck sauce is the sweety orange stuff you can put on egg rolls. And wow, you have the most elegant food! LOVE duck pate.
      And autocorrect is the devil.

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    7. Judy:Same here. My laptop does not autocorrect but I am posting today using my Samsung tablet andbthe autocorrects are so weird. I mean why does duck page make more sense than duck pate? Or ice blends instead of spice blends below.

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    8. Awww, thanks Hank. I don't eat egg rolls so I guess that is why I have never tried duck sauce!

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    9. Hank, in this part of the country that's called "sweet chili sauce."

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    10. OH! SO interesting! It's not made of duck, it's sauce FOR duck. Or eggrolls.

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  6. I think you may have invented a perfectly delightful graphic-less way of writing our blogs. (glad to see that the font changer was working at least!)

    Turkey for 2 (a week later) is a problem. I generally make soup on about Day 4, which clears out all the nearly dead carrots and sad celery and half onions and fresh herbs I've been stockpiling. All of the other projects you mention give me heartburn but I get it, believe me I get it.

    Yesterday I noticed dark smudges on my kitchen miniblinds. One touch and I realized it was kitchen grease, that kind that you need a special cleaner to clean. Which I turns out (who knew?) haD some of on the basement stairs. I found a Youtube video of how to take down the miniblinds, schlepped them up to the bathtub, gave them a soak and a cleaning, and put them back up. I DID IT!

    But when I put the cleaning solution away I noticed the basement really needs a clean-out... overwhelming. Close eyes and hum.

    Wondering have any of you ever consulted a professional organizer or used one of those junk removing services?

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    1. Hi Hallie, I am a pro organizer though retired. I do a little org for friends on the side! Of course I’m laughing with you all. But as Blogger won’t allow me to post most of the time you may or may not see this. You’re right about the turkey. Though Julia is the smart one. With 4 of us plus pooches for dinner, she provided the turkey and left it with me. Victor carved and stripped down the carcass. So turkey stock frozen, Turkey cold cuts to share and the rest - turkey curry, eat or freeze.

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    2. Maybe you could travel from house to house Celia...

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    3. We have some friends in the process of getting ready to sell Hallie. They were told to pack up everything they wanted to keep and then move out. This week the outfit will set up an estate sale that runs three days. Then the Salvation Army comes for the rest. They were told people will buy ANYTHING, including the old spices...

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    4. Even old spices, Lucy? Wow, that's AMAZING! What a fantastic way to up and leave the house one is selling.

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    5. Replace my old spices is on my to-do list, sometimes soon ?

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    6. Yuck,I would have throw out the old spices before the Salvation Army came by.

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    7. SO much here! Hallie, yes, for our basement, Ii called a junk service. They were brilliant, and fun, and experienced, and jolly but emotionless, and it was the best day ever. (If you have a low bar for bests.) I got very enthusiastic about letting things go, and it was GREAT. And it is SO much fun to dump the old spices. I have twenty-seven million half-jars of cinnamon..

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    8. I do believe that expiration dates on stuff like spices are just there to get you to buy new spices. Because otherwise a jar of say, ground cloves, is pretty much a lifetime supply.

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    9. Yes, I wonder about that! I really do! Until it gets, like, fur on it.

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    10. Yeah, Hank, toss the furry ones. But otherwise, I am with Hallie on this. I have spices from the last century that still smell great when you open the can!

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  7. I had a friend who emptied and disposed the contents of her freezer and refrigerator the first week of January: frozen mystery meat, jars of condiments, limp celery and carrots, the leaky can of frozen OJ. I was in total awe. What a system!

    Hallie, yes, my neighbors have used a 1-800-got junk company to haul away old refrigerators and non-flat screen TV's. Our local St. Vincent de Paul takes furniture, cars, and kitchen ware in addition to clothes and toys. Ask around. We also have furniture consignment shops and "Everything but the house" which is like an on-line estate sale.

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    1. Sad that your friend had to throw out all that food! Does she have a full disorganized freezer/fridge again 11 months later?

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    2. I truly am vowing to label all the stuff in the freezer. Mine are full of pandemic food, and I definitely need to re-organize. Someday. Soon, really soon. Ish.

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  8. Cleaning and organizing my office is at the top of my to-do-someday list. Every time I'm asked to post a picture of my workspace, I manage to conveniently (a-hem) LOSE the email. Or maybe I should use your blogger fix and just describe it. Writing about piles of notebooks containing research and describing all the assorted sticky notes with curled corners sounds so much better than looking at a photo of them.

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    1. It can work! (Or just take a carefully staged photo of a very cute corner of the office....)

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  9. Hank, I hear you. I too, am a bottle hoarder. But I find I organize spices etc by family! Curry spices on one turntable, herbs on another, condiments, again turntabled together. It’s how I think. So same for my books. I think the urge to get organized will vanish after the holidays. I do find I ‘love’ to pile on the to do’s when the going gets tough.

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    1. Interesting how you organize your spices. The anal me has the spices on one rack, the dried in another, all in alphabetical order. The ice blends are in a bin in the cupboard, all in alphabetical again.

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    2. Really blogger? Two autocorrects above:
      Should read "dried herbs in another" and "The spice blends..."

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    3. By family! That makes sense. Sort of, well, no, actually, because um, you have to think of TWO things then. I need turmeric. That's in the_____ family. For me, that's just in the right side of he cabinet somewhere.

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    4. I separate my spices by what I call sweet and savory. The sweet ones go in pies and cookies and waffles and things. All the rest are herbs and peppers and dried things like that. In a completely separate drawer. So they're by purpose but they're definitely not alphabetized and the chili powder spilled in the drawer once and I never cleaned it up...

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    5. I have a drawer for my spices, all in same-sized bottles (except a few oddball ones), and labeled on top, in alphabetical order. So much easier to find stuff with such a system, and it's the first time in my adult life I don't have two bottles of three or four spices.

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    6. In a drawer! That’s kind of brilliant! WOw.

      And Edith, that makes a lot of sense!

      Grace, spice blends, that’s a whole different experience!

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    7. Karen, that's how mine are done, too. And then I have a cabinet with turntables for the bigger spice-type/seasoning stuff. And I organize the turntables by "family," too.

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    8. My spices are in drawers. I have one drawer for "these are ingredients I use in cooking" and "these are ingredients I use in baking". I know the difference such that, if a COOKING recipe calls for cinnamon, I'll know where I find it. And yes, I have them roughly alphabetized within each one.

      I have a separate area for "Seasoning mixes my husband seems to like to use for meats when he is grilling" so that, um, he stays out of my organized spaces.

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  10. Hank: When I saw your post on Facebook about Blogger not allowing you to upload photos, I immediately tried it myself on my own blog and, sorry, but I had no issue. I am mystified about what is happening on JRW. Hmmmm...It sounds like maybe a 'reboot' of some kind is needed, though I'm pretty sure we can't reboot the Internet as a whole, can we? LOL

    As for those organizing tasks that would be so great to actually get to...the shelving unit in the garage comes to mind (it's way too cold now to even think about that chore); and the multiple shelving units in the basement -- not too cold for that, it's cozy down there, but it's rather daunting; the junk drawer is always calling and consistently being ignored; the list goes on. And the spices here have NEVER been in alpha order!

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    1. Maybe part of the problem is Blogger is OLD web software.

      I know Lesa Holstine switched from Blogger to WordPress this year because of technical problems, and her daily blog has been running as long as JRW!

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    2. Good point, Grace. I've signed up for a webinar about Wordpress, as I think that's where I need to migrate to.

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    3. Aw, so sweet of you, thank you! And yes, none of he Reds could make it work, not on ANY of our computers, and I am hoping it fixed itself overnight.

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  11. On Tuesday we have men coming to move furniture for us. Dressing table from dressing room to bedroom, table in bedroom to dressing room to use as desk, all mattresses turned, and then beds made back up -- yuck -- Secretary moved from sun room to dining room when the etagere is, etagere to that empty corner in living room. And whatever else we can think of. This might sound as if the men will be doing all the work, but prior to their arrival, all the big pieces of furniture need to be emptied, and all that unused for decades mascara and eye shadow and dried up miscellany must be tossed. There goes the landfill neighborhood.

    Was it two years ago that Hallie's last book came out? Anyway, Hallie, you inspired me to have a look at Marie Kondo. I lasted thru one program. But I organized my chest of drawers per her suggestions. My undie drawer has survived the change, and I continue to roll every thing, have baskets for socks, bras, and panties, and I can reach in and see just what I want, all neat and accessible. I did the same thing with night wear, but that effort has gone by the way. In the spring I put the warm weather nighties on the top of the pile. Now the flannel Lanz of Salzburg (!) is at the top, along with the Winter Silks -- do you know they've gone out of business?

    The sweater drawer just works better with flat-folds instead of rolled. But I did get rid of all those I never wear. In fact I've done that with all my clothes. I have dressy outfits for each occasion, funeral, wedding, whatever. I have an assortment of acceptable outfits for going out to dinner if I ever do that again. And then I have the requisite jeans, tee shirts, crops, etc., for everyday activities. Everything else is gone. It was life-lightening. Or lightning maybe.

    In my next life I shall be a minimalist. I promise.

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    1. During the pandemic and while working from home, I have discovered just how many clothes I have that I no longer wear or, actually, need. That old office/home distinction has, essentially, disappeared. I must get down to brass tacks and clear out the closet and the totes.

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    2. SO agree--the "Clothes I no longer need" are truly haunting me, almost disturbingly, and I am madly pretending I WILL need them. And I have donated lots of things, since gee, I only a few different outfits I wear at home. And "clothes shopping" is a very different thing. And sometimes, I still change clothes--and I have "work" clothes for the day and "relaxed" clothes for after work. Even though it's home.

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  12. Hank, sorry about Blogger being so stubborn but your fridge description made me laugh.

    I always empty the entire refrigerator before Passover, wash all the shelves and drawers, then the bare inside, then put the whole thing back together. It takes an hour or two. Otherwise, I do regularly toss food that's been there too long every week. I hate to throw away food!

    Everything in my freezer is labeled. Irwin won't allow us to have a stand alone freezer, he knows all about my hoarding genes, so our little freezer gets rearranged every month by necessity.

    The dining room table is groaning with Mail from hundreds of organizations that want donations. Some of the ones I've never given to are the most persistent. I must receive 40 calendars every year and most of them are gorgeous. Audubon, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation are 3 of the most spectacular. If I took them apart, I could wallpaper the whole house with new photos every year!

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    1. FORTY CALENDARS!! Ahhh.

      And your Passover idea is brilliant. Wonderful. Like--a lovely ritual.

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    2. Judy, the solution for all that unwanted mail is to sign up for Catalog Choice. It's really easy to ask that your name be taken off mailing lists of all kinds, from catalogs to charities to credit card/bank companies.

      I save the ones I don't want in a pile, and sit down with the CC site for 15 minutes and input the codes on the address panel on each one. We used to get five LL Bean catalogs a week in the last quarter of the year, and five credit card solicitations a week before I started using Catalog Choice. It's free, but you can also give them a donation.

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    3. I'll go to the Catalogue Choice website to see if I can figure it out. Thanks, Karen!

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  13. Ooohh....that to-do list. There's the guest room closet, but since I rarely go in there, it can wait. Or not, since the kids are coming for the holidays and will need the space. How many days do I have till they arrive?

    We won't talk about the shelf in my closet. Eventually, daily use will reorder the piles from t-shirts and shorts to sweaters and turtlenecks.

    But now that we're (ahem) older and on a growing list of maintenance drugs, what do I do with the stacks of empty pill bottles?!

    Minimalism sounds delightful, but I'd probably have to walk away from everything and start over to make that happen.

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    1. Yes, the "daily use" system is always successful. And I was saying to Dru, the "take every single thing out" system is infallible. I take EVERYTHING out of my top closet shelf and dump it on the bed. Then I have to put it SOMEWHERE--keep, toss, donate--before I can go to sleep.

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  14. Your fortitude is unparalleled, Hank! Do you think Blogger was editorializing your post and refusing the pictures as clutter? Maybe there’s more AI going on there than we realize!

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    1. HA! Maybe! Or maybe it was trying to keep us from having dinner. We arrived at the dinner table at 10:30 as a result of this chaos. Ahhh.... THANK YOU for your help!xxx

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  16. Ha, we were SHAMED (yes, caps are necessary) about having long expired items in both the refrigerator and the pantry! So now we gleefully ask people to check the Expiration Date (current) as they pull that bottle of mayo out of the fridge. And no more spices from Kroger in Indianapolis, IN that date back to the year we were married.

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    1. Oh, that is a great idea! have you seen that television commercial about that? Where aunt someone starts throwing things out of the fridge? Saying expired expired expired!

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  17. So many must-do projects, so little time.

    Sorry about the blogger issue! Software can be bigger pain than it's worth sometimes.

    I definitely need to do the spice drawer, my closet, and the coat closet floor, but the worst part is the boxes of unalbumed, unscanned photographs. Gah! Plus, they are in the basement, so they make me sneeze...

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    1. Put on your N-95 mask, Edith. As my husband so kindly said to me when I had an asthma attack after cleaning out my closet...

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    2. I know I shouldn't be laughing out loud here, but all three of you got me in the funnybone!

      Edith, technology is only helpful if it works. Back in 1979 my new boyfriend (Irwin) and I were heading out on vacation in my car. We dropped the dog off at my brother's then the car wouldn't start. It seems the seat belt mal-functioned and since that car couldn't start if the seatbelts weren't buckled, and it wouldn't recognize that they were buckled, we couldn't turn that car back on!

      Hank, yep. Singing "Tomorrow" again.

      Your husband suggested a mask, Debs? How helpful! (Ga-faw.)

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  18. Your photo description solution was brilliant, Hank!

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  19. So wonderful to know that I've found my tribe :-) Fridge got cleaned out in the spring and I almost took photos, it looked so clean and organized! The chest of drawers in my closet needs purging, but it's out of sight most of the time. Basement? Well, the way is still open to washer/dryer.... but I'm making progress one bag out the door at a time. My desk is inundated with paper; the easiest way to clean it is to stack everything neatly then move the stack off the desk. Ta da! Clean(er) desk!

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  20. Hank, I so identify with this, because I had to get my dinging room ceiling re-done. Which meant everything on the dinging room side had to be shoved into the living room side, pictures taken down from the walls, and everything removed from a china hutch I'd been shoving things into for years.

    Naturally, this is an opportunity for deep cleaning and getting rid of stuff, right? And I should wash down the walls, because how often does that happen? (Never.) I threw the dining room curtains in the wash, but now they're clean and dust free, won't they make the rest of the curtains look shabby unless I wash those as well? And maybe a quick ironing?

    And meanwhile, I can't put up any Christmas decorations in that room, which means why bother to get them down from the attic until its ready, which means the days grow shorter and shorter until guests start arriving, expecting (not unreasonably) a house where the dinging room table isn't leaning against the living room sofa and there are a few acknowledgements of the season.

    My solution to this snarl of to-do's? I streamed HAWKEYE last night. I felt much better.

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    1. You completely win for auto correct . Xxxxxx

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    2. Yes! Autocorrect strikes again, Julia!! We'd all be happy to eat in your dinging room:-) Is that a soft or hard G, as in a ringing bell?

      Looking forward to Hawkeye! We watched the penultimate episode of Invasion last night so are on tenterhooks for the finale!

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  22. Ah, I've mentioned the St. John Valley tradition of Grand Menage (known elsewhere as spring cleaning). That's when I tackle those icky jobs like "Wonder what this was when it was even semi-fresh?" and "Wow, could this be the cure for cancer?" It's also when everything comes off the shelves, gets date checked, dusted or wiped down, and organized. It takes a full week to do this in my 1,200 sq. ft. house and it takes about ten days to undo it all!

    Word to the wise, Hank - I did alphabetize my books by author one year. Then B&N had a book sale - I bought 6 Cobens. You know what's coming next, right? I had two choices, bump every book down to make space to have the new books in their proper place, or...stack 'em where they fit!

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    1. Exactly! Exactly! So I say: why begin the whole thing anyway— it is inevitably ruined by itself.

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  23. I have a husband who puts leftovers into glass jars. Identical jars. So every week or so I go through the fridge and sneak out baked beans, green beans, curry all in various states of inedibleness! Rhys… in case Blogger calls me Junglereds again

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    1. That is hilarious! But at least he will never know what is gone, right?

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  24. Do you remember that sister I told you about a couple of days ago? It seems that I always have refrigerator full of "dead" food when she visits. I think she times the visits just right so she can lecture me after she cleans it out. :-) Since I moved last year, I took my time and did my best to match up all my books by author. The only ones that currently not in order are the books in my TBR pile.

    Cut up terry towels are great for apply polish to shiny things. Final buffing is done with cut up flannel nightgowns and pjs, of course.

    Technical difficulties: Thursday, I sat down to create a short video for friend's birthday. His son is going to edit together a digital card. I had a nice little set up, props, sat down, hit record and created my message - FIVE times - before it was short enough to attach to the email.

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    1. To apply polish to shiny things. Why why why would I ever do that? :-) it is, indeed, on my to do list!
      And yes, timing is always difficult! That is one of the things I learned during my 40 years as a TV reporter… You tell me to talk for a minute, and I can do that perfectly. (That and a nickel…)

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    2. That would assume that one actually polished any shiny things...

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  25. Software has the mind of a two year old. Sometimes it is brilliant and sometimes it just needs a nap. Our dog seems to think that this pile is a great thing and I've yet to see a reason to dissuade him. Maybe when we move.

    Our frig died while we were away for a weekend this summer. I figured it was penance for choosing to risk two days away from home during a pandemic. Cleaning out the gunk wasn't nearly as hard as finding a new appliance. Remember the barge stuck in the Suez Canal? Apparently the refrigerator supply line was a casualty. We've had the new one 6 months and the harvest of herbs and garden stuff haven't had time to decay, so we're good there. Condiments, though. I keep telling myself it is time to have a good clean out so that things don't get bad. I keep telling myself that.

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    1. Oh, good for you for embracing adversity! and a new refrigerator is a thing of beauty, that’s for sure. and I hope yours had fun in the port of San Diego. And you can clean it out, someday, pretty soon.-ish.

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    2. Somehow an entire paragraph of that post went missing. The paragraph that makes sense out of "Our dog...."

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    3. Yes, I wondered about that...I see below. Okay, amazing.

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    4. And yes, the "software needs a nap" is ridiculously true. It's working perfectly now! (Knock on wood..)

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  26. We have a room in our house called "Later." Clothes that need sorting into give away, rags or compost find their way into Later. Our dog seems to think that this pile is a great thing and I see no reason to dissuade him. Maybe when we move.

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  28. Hank, first, your no-photo post was brilliant, and I don't even want to think about how late you were up doing that last night.

    I have no desire whatsoever to alphabetize my books. The only way you can keep them that way is to NEVER BUY ANY MORE BOOKS. Ha. I do like to group them by author or "families", but even that system breaks down after a while. Unless you DON'T BUY MORE BOOKS. (Is there a subliminal message in this somewhere?) What I really want to do with mine is take piles and piles of them to Half Price Books. I didn't do it during the first year of the pandemic because I didn't want to stand in the store while they sorted them, and now the whole mess is overwhelming. But, soon!

    My biggest get-to was my closet which, like the books, got completely out of control the last couple of years. I kept saying, "I just need a whole afternoon." Last Saturday (desperate for something that wasn't baggy yoga pants and ratty t-shirts) I actually started on it. One week and counting, I am still working on it.

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  29. I have a "Room of Requirement" sign on the spare room, full of stuff that might come in handy, including the sewing machine, which I do turn to when I need to fix or invent something. Paper stacks on the table tend to get moved when I'm having company (seldom these days) or want to change the tablecloth to fit the season.
    I haven't been able to upload photos for quite a while; I like your description solution. <3

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    1. YAY! And thank goodness for company (whatever that was..) or nothing would ever get organized.

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  30. Thanks to everyone for the very good laughs today! I'm still smiling.
    Loved your descriptions of your photos, Hank. But you are a famous writer, so of course you are good at describing things!!

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  31. As a professional organizer, I have so many thoughts on this post and comments 😂 But I will share that when I do my annual Clever Girl Organizing Challenge, which we start right after New Years, the first thing we ALWAYS do is a fridge and pantry cleanout! We talk about all the food clutter-culprits hiding in there:

    - "I bought this cream of tartar because i was making cookies and couldn't remember if I needed it so I picked it up. I'll place it here, next to the containers I bought the last 3 Christmases with the same impulse"

    - "Wait, *I* don't eat these. I thought YOU liked these?"

    - The aspirational ingredients: "I want to be the kind of person who makes recipes where Tamarind and Saffron and gochujang are ingredients"

    - The "I guess I need to own a whole jar of this since I needed one teaspoon of it" ingredients

    - The "I definitely can't remember the last time we used this" food

    - The "I know it's expired but do spices really go BAD? Like, this nutmeg isn't going to make me sick, right?" (Fun fact -- it may not make you sick, but it may not taste the way you dreamed it would when you used it as an ingredient, so, why are you committed to owning it, and feeling obligated that you MIGHT use it some day?"

    I get it. Wasting food feels AWFUL. It tells us subliminally that we made bad choices in what we acquired or how we consumed it along the way, and it makes us the villian in the story of the leftover turkey.

    But I promise, wasting your space, wasting your time, and wasting your energy wondering what you have and whether it is still good is JUST as wasteful, and impacts our daily lives even more. <3

    Think about what you own and why you own it, not whether or not something has failed you so miserably it finally earned an eviction notice.

    Go forth and DECLUTTER, my friends.

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    1. STANDING OVATION!!!! THIS WOMAN IS A GENIUS, REDS AND READERS, and has has changed my life (and closets) in so many ways!
      (Aspirational ingredients! The best book title I have ever heard.).
      And it is CleverGirlOrganizing.COM Check it out! And can you write a blog for us with directions after New Years??
      (And I totally have 3 cream of tartars.)

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    2. Happy to write a blog after New Years about this! And thank you for the kind words <3

      Now, go have a chat with those cream of tartars, (Creams of tartar?) please.

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    3. Tossed. And yes, you are ON, thank you! I am honored and more to come...

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  32. PS - For future reference, November 15, every year, is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. While Hallmark doesn't acknowledge the majesty of this event, I know I do.

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