Clearing out

I spent most of the weekend sorting and clearing out and throwing away. I don't know if that counts as "cleaning," but I guess it does. I washed all of the salt and pepper shakers on my shelf, dusted the shelf, and put most of them back. I don't dust them very often, but when I do, I switch them out, and put different ones out, put some of them in storage.



My grandmother--my mother's mother--collected salt and pepper shakers, and some of these were hers. She received most of them as gifts, souvenirs from relatives and friends when they returned from trips, and she tried to write the giver's name on the bottom of them. Most of them are unreadable now. When I posted the picture on Facebook yesterday, one of my cousins mentioned that my other grandmother collected them, too, an said that the picture reminded her of Grandma's house (Great-Grandma, in her case). I like that. It's a connection to another generation.

I also cleaned the glass shelves of my etagere, and the things that were on it, and a server that sits in the dining room. So many things to dust! I'm trying to put things away, and get rid of things, but it's hard. I also spent a lot of time today going through books and CDs, checking on Amazon to see if I could get a decent price for them, and if not, if Amazon wanted to buy them. They don't pay much, as a general rule, but sometimes they do, and they pay for shipping. I came up with about $40 worth of stuff that I'll send to Amazon, and they'll deposit a gift certificate in my account. It makes me feel less guilty about all those ebooks I buy . . .

I filled a big bag for one of the charities that comes through the neighborhood periodically, and I also put a few things on eBay. Oh, and I sold my Bluetooth keyboard on Amazon, about 30 minutes after I posted it. I just found that I didn't use it as much as I thought I would (not at all, really), so I priced it at 5 cents less than the lowest price, and it sold. It'll be out the door tomorrow, along with a package of rubber stamps and the box of books for Amazon.

It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. I probably would have done more, but my back scared me this evening. I got a twinge that let me know I needed to stop, or I was going to throw my back out. I definitely don't want to do that, even more than normal, because Bob's out of town. It's happened a few more times when I move, change position (sit or stand), but I think it'll be okay as long as I quit the bending and lifting. I've got a big pile of stuff that needs to go to the basement, but I won't do it tonight. I'll leave it for another day, or maybe next weekend if my back doesn't feel better. I'll take some ibuprofen when I go to bed tonight.

Going like hotcakes

Bob is in a fishing tournament tomorrow, and he was down in the basement getting his fishing stuff together and I went down to tell him something. I was looking around and saw my old rubber stamps -- he had said something about them the other day, about whether I was ever going to use them again, and if I should sell them. I kind of hated to, but I haven't used them for years, and I don't imagine that I ever will. So I hauled a box of them upstairs, took photos, and started posting them on eBay. I had a bunch of Winnie the Pooh stamps, and I apparently was posting them at the same time that a Winnie the Pooh fan was searching for rubber stamps, because I coudn't post them fast enough. As soon as I posted one, she would buy it. She must have been sitting there on my page, refreshing it every couple of minutes. She ended up buying ten twelve of them. I still have a bunch to post, although probably not any more Winnie the Pooh ones, but I stopped because I hit the 50 free auction limit. I'll wait until the weekend and post some more, after the first of the month when they're free again.



If anyone is interested in rubber stamps, there are still a bunch up there, and more to come. willaknits is my eBay handle.

Blessing

Bob had to work all weekend, but since he went in early today, he got off at 3:00. When he got home, he said, "How about going out for a drink and appetizers somewhere to celebrate Memorial Day?" We hadn't done that for awhile. He had originally suggested Joe's Crab Shack, but I told him that I had eaten a late lunch and wasn't hungry, so we ended up at On The Border for Margaritas and queso.

We sat and talked for awhile, then ran a couple of errands and came home. Later in the evening, after dinner, we went out and drove through Dairy Queen for ice cream, then drove around while we ate it (a chocolate malt for him and a strawberry cheesecake Blizzard for me). We laugh at ourselves sometimes, say that we act like old people, but we enjoy doing small things together. I'm so glad that we still enjoy each others' company. It's a blessing.

Things you can do today to improve your happiness

I have a tendency toward depression, and while I try not to talk about it too much, I find that keeping things inside makes everything feel worse. I was having something of a bad time this weekend, and did a few of my tried-and-true happiness boosting tricks, and thought I would write some of them down here.

It mostly comes down to do something. I'm not going to suggest that you get out and exercise. I don't do that, either. But I do find that just getting up and actually doing something will improve things tremendously.

Clean something. A drawer, a closet, the bathroom, the kitchen sink. Some happiness gurus suggest that just making your bed will improve your whole day, or there is the Fly Lady axiom of cleaning your kitchen sink as the last thing you do every day. I don't always make the bed, and while I don't leave dirty dishes lying around, having a sparkling sink doesn't do a lot for me. What helps me is throwing stuff away. It's really hard for me to do, but going through a drawer and tossing useless stuff, or cleaning out a pantry shelf and throwing away expired food makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

Also, it drives me nuts to have a bunch of stuff on my computer desktop, or have my email inbox full of junk. I try to clean both my desktop and my inbox every day. It makes me less crazy.

Eat something. Even if you aren't hungry, don't forget to eat, and pay attention to what you eat if you have a tendency toward low blood sugar. I found that out the hard way a couple of weeks ago when, stressed and upset, I had chocolate milk and a granola bar for breakfast and nearly passed out at the beauty salon.

Sell something on EBay. I was cleaning out a closet and found a twenty year old "Epilady" that I used maybe once. I saw that the same item was selling on eBay for around twenty five dollars. I priced mine at $24.95 and it sold within a couple of hours, and now I have some money in my Paypal account to do something fun, like buy breakfast at Wendy's on my way to work.

Make something. I have an Etsy store, so I have an outlet for selling the things I make. You can do that, too, but even if you don't sell what you make, the act of making something is worthwhile and will boost your spirits. Last night I had an idea of making a beaded badge holder lanyard. I made it, took photos of it, and posted it on Etsy. Then I posted a photo and the link on my Facebook page, and someone bought it this morning.

Read something inspirational. I spent some time this morning reading David Alchuter's blog and it inspired me to write this blog post. Do NOT read something depressing. I would advise against reading the news. Or you could always look at some cat videos, like this one. Or there's always this one.

Get some free stuff. I love keeping track of the free Kindle book blogs. Keeping my Kindle full of Books makes me feel rich. I don't download every free book, but if it sounds like something I might enjoy, I do. Unless it's a topic that I'm sure I will want to read about, I don't usually download free nonfiction books. I don't need the guilt of seeing them in my library but not reading them.

Hallmark has a "Gold Crown" program where you get points for anything that you buy at a Hallmark store. I don't do much shopping at the Hallmark stores, but I do occasionally, and a couple of times a year I'll get a free coupon for $2 or $3. $2 will buy a package of stickers. It isn't much, but it's something, and I love getting things free. Oh, that reminds me, I filled up a loyalty card at Jason's a couple of weeks ago -- I could go there for a free lunch today! I think I will.

Get on some mailing lists, but only for things you love. Beauty Brands sends out emails showcasing their specials. Occasionally there will be a coupon for a free product with purchase, and a couple of times a year they send out a completely free $5 coupon good on anything in the store. $5 isn't a lot, and I know they do it to get you in the store, but hey, free $5! I got one a couple of weeks ago and bought a small (handbag size) tube of expensive handcream and only had to pay about a dollar for it.

Conversely, get OFF some making lists. If you're getting emails that you consistently delete, get off the list! Or set a rule in your email program that throws it away before you see it. Not having to delete junk mail will save you a few minutes every day, and a lot of aggravation.

Write something. Like this blog post. If you don't have a blog, write in a journal.

Keep track of something. I use Evernote as my adjunct brain. Use your smart phone to take photos of your prescription medications, and mail them to your Evernote account. I did that this morning. Save a conference schedule as a PDF and save it in Evernote. When you pay a bill online, take a screenshot of the receipt and email it to Evernote. It makes me feel efficient and is an easy place to find things, because I invariably get flustered when I'm trying to find something like a schedule or a list of medications. Evernote automatically syncs to any device that you have it on, i.e., iPhone, iPad, computer, etc., so once information is in there, it's available to you anywhere, and it removes some stress from your life.

Get out there and do something.

Things I love today

Food

• Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Banana Greek Frozen Yogurt
  
• Orzo with butter and Parmesan cheese
  
• Market Pantry (Target) Lime Margarita Sugar Free Powdered Drink Mix
  
• Panera Bread Asiago bagels
  
• True Lemon
  

I read a book a long time ago that had a character in it who "only ate yellow food," i.e., Twinkies, bananas, macaroni and cheese. I fear I'm falling into the same rut, but I think it's kind of a comfort food thing.

Music

One Republic "Secrets." I rented "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" last weekend from Amazon. It was an okay movie, not great, but this song played a couple of times, and I had to Google it and figure out what it was. I don't think I had ever heard it before, but it plays in my head now all the time.

Books

Greyhound by Steffan Piper. I had noticed when this book came out, but never read it. It was the Kindle Daily Deal today, for $.99, so I got the sample, and before I even finished the sample, I went and bought it. It's a story about an eleven year old boy whose mother needs to get rid of him so she can keep her current boyfriend, so she puts him on a bus from California to Pennsylvania, where he is to live with his grandmother. The story is about his adventures on his cross-country bus trip. It's written in first-person in the boy's voice.

The Amazon Kindle app (check out Pixel of Ink and Books on the Knob for links to free Kindle books)