We're Back!

We're Back! (You know from the children's book?)  Well actually its just "I'm back" but still pretty exciting.  I loved this book as a kid!  I think it was Tyler's book but I remember reading and rereading it. 

Made a delicious potato soup based on this recipe and have been spending my time cleaning out my apartment getting ready for the Cub Scout Yard Sale.  They are earning money to go to day camp this summer and it is the perfect time for me to get rid of those things that I have been hanging on to for no good reason.  My apartment is just under 500 square feet but I am surprised with all the stuff that it has be holding within its walls.  After getting rid of 2 bags of cloths (I hadn't worn any of them in at least a year), a coffee table, and 4 boxes of stuff I am feeling a bit more like its mine again.  Still have at least 2 more boxes to go.  I'm surprised with the amount of time I seem to have now that I'm not taking care of my stuff.  Most everything has a place and all those things that I just "had" but haven't used in the almost 2 years I have been living here are going.  There are a few things that I haven't been able to part with yet so I have made a deal with myself.  If I use them at least once before the yard sale it can stay for another 6 months.  This is the most interesting with kitchen gadgets and things in my bathroom.  The bathroom things pretty much just went into the trash because they were old but the kitchen things have been interesting.  I find myself cooking more when I have to use my pots and pans and I have notice that I really just like to use 2-3 of my cooking utensils.  Same spoon and spatula every time.  So why do I have 3 of each?  When I pay attention I see what I really actually use daily and which things have been in my cupboards but never touched.  When I started this deal back in February I placed something I wasn't sure about in a box and closed it up and just last week opened it again after I couldn't remember what was in it.  The box then promptly went into the yard sale pile.  In cleaning out my space I have also found quite a few things that I have "borrowed" from other family members aka Mom so she has been getting things back steadily.  Pajamas I borrowed when I came to visit and somehow made it back home with me, books and magazines that I have gotten decorating ideas from, Pyrex containers that I got leftovers in and other similarly interesting things.  I have also been finishing up some projects and letting go of some that I am realizing I have no interest in finishing.  Finally finished my college tee-shirt lap blanket (I will post a picture soon) and it is much smaller that my high school tee-shirt blanket but I have enjoyed using, seeing, and remembering.  Still working on my tee-shirt rug but hope to finish it soon and have been really enjoying a bunch of extra jeans that I got from Aunt Teresa.  I have almost finished 2 denim pot holders and look forward to getting rid of my old ones that have seen better days.

Wow that was a long paragraph but really therapeutic to write out and exciting when I can look back and see what I have been working on since I posted last.