I’m a hemmer.
Not the kind who follows through on the logic of buying a way-too-long pair of pants for a bargain price.
I’m a hemmer/hawer.
Like, I take a while to do things that shouldn’t take any time at all. Because I hem and haw about it.
So I’m (ridiculously) proud to announce three things I’ve pitched lately. Things I pitched (almost) right away. With (almost) no hemming nor hawing whatsoever.
1. A calculator that doesn’t work. It’s not solar. It was a freebie I probably picked up at a fair. I was only trying to use it because I didn’t feel like walking ten feet to the next room to grab my phone.
2. A broken shoe of Hubby’s. I pitched it right away, so let’s celebrate that. We’ll conveniently ignore the fact that it was at the bottom of a pile in the master bedroom and had been there for a long while and that I have a vague memory of lamenting the general awfulness of that shoe with Hubby.
3. Liquid Paper.
This one was hard. I was SO PROUD of the fact that we had some. That we found it when we needed it to add the “r” to the can of Fat Free Refried Beans my seventh grader was taking to school to use as a prop for a commercial he’d written for an imaginary product that solves an everyday problem!
But the Liquid Paper was completely dried up. We used white paint.
So I pitched the dried-up, useless bottle of an item I had to explain to my children who’ve never written a formal paper without the benefit of a backspace key.
Are you a hemmer/hawer? What have you pitched this week?
Oh. And did you figure out the imaginary product my son advertised? I’m 41, but I thought it was hilarious.
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--Nony
Tanya says
I have a 13 yr old son so my first thought is that ‘r’ is going in the word ‘Fat’ (I’m 44 and I think it is funny too).
Dana White says
Yep. You got it right!!
Amanda says
His product is not only funny it’s genius as well and may very well be the first step to world peace
Dana White says
Hahahaha!!!
meggin says
I just want to say your blog posts have helped me so much. I am so proud of myself for going through my daughters toys today and her clothes and packing them up. I also scheduled purple heart to come and pick it up thursday. They ask you how many boxes/bags you are donating and instead of picking 1-3 I picked the 4-10. It is my absolute priority today and tomorrow to Continue to fill boxes and bags of cra-stuff to get rid of. It’s amazing the amount of stuff you collect over the years and then add two small children in to the mix. My name is meggin and I am a keeper of ALL things useful or not because I MIGHT need them in the future. My husband hates it haha. And I’m afraid I’ve passed it on to my 3yo who finds things laying around and hoards them in her bedroom. I found a plastic fork, a bag of string (no idea where it came from) a bowl of shredded cheese (lord only knows how old it is)….we have issues haha.
Thank you so much for sharing your struggles. They make me feel like I can get rid of stuff and the world won’t end. (Like my graph paper notebook with algebra notes from 10 years ago….I might need it if I decide to go back to school lol. Or not)
Dana White says
Love it!!!
Laura says
Yup definitely a hemmer/hawer. But your advice about it getting easier definitely applies. It has become easier lately after I recently decluttered and threw away 4 huge garbage bags full of useless stuff.
Dana White says
Love hearing that! Decluttering Momentum is a real thing!!
Sherri says
I threw out a package of file folder labels today. It was in a little box at work, it had a name on there for someone who worked there 20 some years ago. The labels were meant to go into a labeling machine. The outside of the roll was crusty with age. The inside ones probably could have been used, but what for? I closed my eyes and tossed them. The person in the position before me was there for 10 years and hoarded everything. Some things were easy to purge, files from 1959? No problem, no way anyone will ever need those again or even think to look for them, but labels… in a school? That’s a hard thing to toss. I was proud of myself because no doubt, I never would have used them, just liked knowing they were there in case someone wanted them. LOL
Theresa K says
I was sorting some boxes last year and came across some big Mother’s Day cards my boys made in first grade. This time around… I pulled off the cute pictures and recycled the cards! Progress, right?
Sarah says
I pitched half a dozen tiny (possibly useful) empty jars after I used the powdered eye shadow for a craft project.
Jessica says
I have two containers of white out that I got for free at the Dollar Tree with a coupon. I don’t use it are there any other uses rather than the traditional use for it? I wanted to keep it but didn’t know what to use it for. Thanks.
Dana White says
As far as I know, just adding the “r” to make Fat Free funnier.
Amy says
I’m doing a lot of this lately! I am cleaning out my storage unit and found a box of old linens. PERFECTLY GOOD curtains that looked great in my old apartment but I don’t want anymore. Also a stack of older hand towels I *must* have been saving for something but I just can’t remember. Off to the animal shelter, and some old doggie toys that my old dog turns her nose up at.
And as I go through lots of boxes of craft supplies and projects that are either half finished or packed together to do one day, the most common question that pops into my head is “If I needed this item, would it occur to me I already had it?” And the answer is usually no! Thanks for the inspiration!
Susan says
I just threw out 2 large containers of broken crayons. Sigh, it was hard. Was saving them for craft projects to do with my 4 kids. The youngest just turned 18!!!
Robyn Gaffel says
I do hope you hadn’t planned those crafts for when you had time after they were all at school. I have those projects – and my youngest is 30 at Easter!!
Yes, Slob is me in every way except she is working better on her journey.
I have my Mother’s household here as well she was a very great hoarder and I have trouble letting go of old clothes from the sixties and the like. Lost too many of my family and I can’t see how nkt having these things tangibly will support me. Oh, well, maybe a therapist is in order for me.
Becky Ussery says
Last week I threw away old notebooks that were half written in. It really hurt. I kept saving them, thinking, that someone would use them because there are still good pages in it. I’ve had them 6 years!!! It was tough, but I knew I had to do it.
I also threw an old calculator and dried up white away (I think everyone has this somewhere in their house) 🙂
I also threw away some of mine and hubby’s school papers from 5 years ago. I kept all of his art class papers, but threw the rest out! I went from 2 full cabinets, to one (half full) cabinet !!!!!
Reba Cloud says
Yesterday I decluttered my medicine cabinet and a kitchen cabinet. I threw out some old vitamins, several empty pill bottles, a bunch of medicine cups and syringes (that come with the medicine bottles), and a set of beaters that go with a mixer I know longer have. It feels so good to rid myself and house of things like that!
Reba Cloud says
*no longer have. I really do know the difference in my no/know usage. 🙂
Dana White says
Hahaha!! I’m a total apostrophe snob but made a HUGE mistake recently on something printed for church. It happens!!
Aisling says
Yesterday I began decluttering my & my husband’s bedroom. Went through a pile of shoes I collected and actually threw out three pairs of my shoes that were pretty much falling apart. That’s a big deal for me because yes, I’ve hemmed & hawed about keeping those shoes longer than I probably should have because I loved those shoes. I also put away our sandals so they’ll be out of the way until warmer weather comes around. Yes…in the middle of February…I finally managed to get the rest of our summer things put away…that have been cluttering up our room for months!
Karen Hertberg says
I threw out a bottle of jam that I had thought of using for a cheesecake. Never mind that I’ve never made a cheesecake in the six years. I’ve had an instant pot much less one with the fancy jam. Looking at that Jim was a reminder of how much money I spent on it and that I never made it. I feel much happier with it gone.