Saturday, September 12, 2009

The best part of today was being able to declare that two more places in our home are now "clutter free zones!" One of them is the kitchen counters (yowzah!) and the other is the laundry room (woo -- ee!)

These will not be easy areas to maintain because we all have the habit of leaving things in or on them. I anticipate having to police these spots for an extended period of time, but that's alright by me : ) I'm still joyous!

The funniest thing that happened today was when I was boxing up some things. I had cleared off the top of our incoming mail slots area and placed everything into a Banker's Box (labeled on the outside with the date that I put it in the box). Since the box was not full, I decided that I would add the bag that was hanging on my pantry doorknob.

This particular bag had been hanging on the doorknob for over a year (maybe closer to two ?!!)
It contained things that were left in our vehicle one time when I cleaned it out. This was a bag of
things that were not trash. I suppose that when I hung it up I told my family what the bag was and that they should look in it to see if any of their items were inside .... before I threw it away.
I may have said there was a deadline ... I probably did. I'm sure I intended to.

Anyway, this bag has been on that doorknob all this time. It has haunted ME (just me) because I'm the one who knows what it is. It may have been inconvenient to the rest of my family. But then again, they probably got to a place where they no longer even noticed it. I always knew it was there.

Today, I decided to free myself from the torturous feelings and put the bag into a box. First I had to unwind the bag (it had twisted round and round and tighter and tighter so that it couldn't be taken off). After it was unwound all the way and I lifted it off the knob, the contents fell to the floor (the old plastic grocery bag had ripped).

I could NOT believe what was inside: a knitted beanie, one glove, a felt tipped pen, one feminine hygene product, a very outdated Truck Trader magazine and some old flyers. All this time I assumed that whatever was in the bag, I would have to find a place for or make some gut wrenching decision about ...

The magazine and flyers went into the garbage. I put the rest of the items away (in less than 5 minutes). The most tedious thing I had to do was cross out where I had listed this bag on the label I put on the outside of the Banker's Box.

Note to self: do not label a box until you actually put the item(s) inside of it.

One Woman's Hoard IS Another's Treasure

Once upon a time Princess House Crystal was all the rage with my circle of friends. I attened and even hosted some in-home parties in an effort to build my collection. There was one particular set that captured my heart ... the hand blown punch bowl set. The bowl was set on a pedestal base and included twelve matching glasses. How I longed to see it in my china hutch!



I don't remember the requirements to obtain this magnificent set, except that it was available to hostesses ONLY. It could not be purchased by just anyone who wanted to have it.



Eventaully I was triumphant in acquiring this crystal treasure! It was beautiful and I had the perfect place reserved for it. Not only did I delight in seeing it in my dining room, but guests would be transfixed on it's intrinsic value and offer adoring praise as well.



Since the punch bowl itself, was handblown crystal, it was very fragile. I brought it out and used it once but was so very anxious when I washed it after the party, that I did not care to use it again. In the china hutch it sat for many, many years.



That all changed on Monday. The magical hold that this inatimate object had on me was broken. I was ready to release it for someone else to enjoy. I posted a listing on Craig's List. Several inquirers responded immediately. One man was persistant. I am so happy that he is the one who bought this set.



He told me that his wife had seen the Craig's List ad last Thursday. She wanted the set as soon as she read about it. She asked her husband to respond. He didn't. They were going out of town and he didn't want to ask me to hold it for him. His wife could not get it out of her mind. She hoped he would contact me as soon as they crossed the Arizona border again. He didn't, but he had a plan. He had saved cash from their trip. He had the exact amount stashed away in his wallet. He contacted me first thing when he got to work on Monday in the hopes that I still had the set. I did. He wanted to surprise his wife. I wish I could've been a fly on the wall to see her face.



I am incredibly blessed by the work that the Lord is doing in me and in my heart.