Sunday, January 19, 2025

Wait - There's More?

Due to some house projects, we've had to do some rearranging in the kitchen and dining room. One result was that R asked me to move my tea, coffee, hot chocolate, yerba mate, etc. from the cabinet it's been in the past three years to a different cabinet. 

A kitchen cabinet absolutely full of tea and coffee

And so on Friday night, I pulled things out of cabinets, did some wiping down of shelves and did some assessment of what I actually have at present. 

It's ridiculous. Like I don't really have another word beyond that. I threw a couple of things away -- mostly extremely expired hot chocolate -- but generally the tea is still in sealed bags or other air tight containers. The coffee comes in sealed bags as well. Will it be the Most Perfect Freshness ever? No, but it's still perfectly fine to use and drink. 

I tend to make one 34oz French press of coffee, typically in the morning, and one pot of tea in the afternoon or evening depending if I'm working from home. If I finish the first pot of tea, I'll just pour over more hot water, the leaves are fine for a second or third steeping. I have specific flavor preferences and I can't drink rooibos but beyond that I'm not much of a tea snob. Boil water, toss in the tea, and I'm there. Possibly with a little bit of sugar or lemon depending on what the tea is. Coffee gets cream, though the amount of that gets less over the course of the press. 

While that amount of usage certainly uses up a not-insignificant amount of dried leaves and beans over time, at the rate of what I currently already have.... not so much. 

And while drafting this I just remembered that I have an entire advent calendar that was delayed from December that will be arriving here shortly. 24 more bags of delicious, you should take some extra time and enjoy these kind of blends. There's absolutely not space for that, if you couldn't tell.   

As I was moving things and putting them into sections and sorting things out what I kept saying to myself was "wait there's more?" That's been a theme recently as I've been trying to prepare for the new year, sort out what projects I'm working on, finding overdue library books, planning what moves to the top of the to-be-read pile. Wait, there's more? How is there more? 

Some of this is visual. I put things away or on shelves very nicely and it blends into the walls or disappears. It's part of the usual routine to see it and so therefore it has always been but it is also therefore no longer new or as interesting as the package in the entryway.  It's why every summer when I deeply re-sort and rearrange my yarn I find things I have absolutely no memory of. 

This has definitely been an issue with the tea -- it gets put into careful storage places and then absolutely disappears from memory. I'm hoping the different cabinet and the new awareness might help me sort things and make a slight dent before the forgetfulness sinks in yet again. 

On average, I drink about a half pound of coffee a week. At present, I should be set until about Memorial Day.  The tea is likely to be until about the end of forever. 

Drink the good stuff, get it out, use it up. It's there to be enjoyed and you bought it for a reason. It's supposed to be consumed. 


Friday, January 3, 2025

Setting Up to Use Up Successfully

Because we're launching into a fresh calendar, I - like many of us- am trying to review the round of habits I currently have, identify things that I've already committed to or would like to complete this year, and doing a little strategic planning for myself to figure out how to set Me up for success. 

A few things that I've done so far

  • I have two small boxes in the hallway outside my office. One for books that I'm done with and which need to go either to Thriftbooks or a donation box. My goal is whenever it looks full-ish to run things through the TB page and see what they will give me credit for and anything else is off to the BetterWorldBooks box at the local public library.  No, none of these books will be moldy or things that I think should just go in the recycling.  The other box is for things that need to be donated -- clothing and "stuff."  I've already taken one large trash bag to a donation center by having this box in a path where I can just drop things.*  

  • I pulled out 12 skeins of sock yarn for 2025. Now, granted, I presently have at least three pair of socks underway in various project bags at the moment. But I'm often scrambling for the next skein and what was it I was going to use and oh is that something I need to save for another. Nope, here are the skeins and as the previous socks get finished, I will have bags and needles available. It's also a pile for "you've had a bad day and need a treat, cast on something from this bin to get some joy."  The bin also contains yarn for another half dozen Honey Cowls and a few other projects I'd like to do this year so all of it can be started whenever I like.

  • Go through the full to do list and see what is lingering that needs to go or what's duplicated. I have a running work to-do list that is a brain dump and unfortunately often means I repeat myself because I didn't scroll. Clearing that down will help. 

  • Review my habit tracking apps. Having a small reminder daily/weekly etc prompts me to do things that I want to do, including using things up like the good tea.  One of those was "write a blog post on one of your blogs" and so here I am. 

  • Reading just a chapter. I've been struggling with a lot of the Meaningful Books that I buy -- most of which I really do want to read but I fight with my brain on the idea of needing to read it in one shot or have it DONE instantly. I read fairly quickly but slowly is also a way to progress through things. I know, it's a shock. Anyway, I gave myself 15 minutes this afternoon and read a chapter. I am fairly certain this book isn't going to live up to the hype I saw when I checked it out from my work library but I will at least be better grounded in the terminology and then it leaves my house permanently.  Might start another book later. 

  • Wearing the new clothes. I tend to buy multiples of things when I find something that fits because yes I will wear it in five colors. There's a box of clothing that is brand new as a result. I got a few items out and put them into a drawer. I can wear them, it's okay to use up the clothes.  And if I put one on and decide no, this style doesn't actually work for me anymore, there's that hallway box and someone else can have a brand new top. 

Are you doing any plans for clearing? 

*I got the most recent reminder of using a dedicated box for donations from from https://www.instagram.com/downsizeupgrade/ -- she's definitely more minimalist than I ever aspire to be but is generally on the gentler, space serving you rather than hyping a moral failing if you own things.