Operation PURGE: Bras, Belts, and Baby Stuff

I embarked on yet another organizational venture this past weekend (not much else I could do while home with a sick little boy - more on that later). I was putting away clean laundry and came across a nursing bra and a couple of nursing tanks. I decided it was time to do one last sweep through my wardrobe to collect all remaining nursing paraphernalia so I can put it all into storage (in case there's ever a "next time"). In the process of pawing through my bra drawer, it occurred to me, I have a LOT of bras. As in, too many. I did a rough count, and I'm kind of horrified to admit that I counted 42 bras. Forty. Two!! That is just an outrageous number. Who needs 42 bras?? No one. Certainly not me. Especially when you consider that I only wear about 4-5 of them on a regular basis!

And therein lies the problem. The vast majority of these 42 bras are not ones I wear often (or ever), which means...I am a bra hoarder. I find it extremely difficult to get rid of bras. Not because I am emotionally attached to them or am saving them for future use, but because it just seems wasteful to toss them. But what else can you do with them? I could maybe sell them privately (i.e. in a garage sale), but I don't have the time or energy to do that. I might be able to donate some, but let's be honest, some of the bras I'm holding on to are in no shape to be used (or seen) by anyone else. This week I'm forcing myself to take a hard look at my bra hoard, and here's what I'm finding:

• Bras from smaller days gone by (when I was a 34A, circa 2004)
• Sports bras from my more active youth (yes, from high school) that have no shred of elasticity remaining
• Fancy bras (a.k.a. lingerie-style with matching underwear) from the early days of our marriage when adult play time was all about fun (and not about making a baby)
• Low quality, barely-worn bras, purchased during my post-college days when I was living on ramen noodles and thought I was saving money buying cheap (until I realized how awful they were and had to splurge on more expensive, better quality ones after all)
• Bras purchased on a whim that never really fit right or wound up being incredibly uncomfortable
• Well-loved, often-worn bras that have since been "retired" from my daily rotation due to condition (tears, stains, failing elastic, etc)
• Nursing bras of all varieties (everyday, sleep, exercise) both huge and medium-size
• Special occasion bras (strapless, multi-configurable, seamless) in varying sizes and colors

It's time to let go. It's time to part ways with a lot of these. Worn out, poor quality, or uncomfortable bras will be tossed. Bras that no longer fit must go. I badly need new, good-quality sports bras, so I'm going to ruthlessly limit myself to 2 for now (the only 2 that fit, sadly); I may donate a couple that I bought in the wrong size and hardly wore, but the rest will be thrown out. I will look at (and maybe even try on) the fancy ones, and choose some favorites to keep. Likewise, I will re-evaluate the special occasion options and cut back to 1 or 2 at most. Nursing bras will go into storage with my nursing tanks and a couple of nursing tops from my early postpartum days (except for the one sleep/lounge bra that I absolutely hated, which already has a hole in spite of being barely worn... that one will be tossed). When it's all said and done, I hope to have no more than 10-12 bras remaining in my dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I'm also tacking belts. Of the dozen or so currently hanging off the corner of my dresser mirror, I'm pretty sure only 1 or 2 actually fit. Couple that with the fact that I'm not much of a belt-wearer to begin with, and it just doesn't make sense for me to hang on to that clutter. Belts can be donated and most of mine are in good shape, so I'll be adding to the Goodwill bag for sure. I think mostly I'm excited about the prospect of a cleaner-looking mirror!

Lastly, I'm slowly working my way through baby stuff. Not baby clothes (although I am donating a few things that we just never used or liked), but more like infant toys and bottles and other things that we don't need to have sitting around anymore. I'm finding this to be harder than I expected, so I'm taking less of a harsh approach with this than with other areas. I'm only forcing myself to toss things that I know can't (or shouldn't) be used again, like bottle nipples or pacifiers or anything broken/worn out. Things that we a) didn't use, b) probably won't use again even if we have another baby, and/or c) don't have strong emotional attachment to will be donated (if in good condition). Otherwise, everything else is being packed up for storage for the time being. Not a complete purge, but just having it out of the way will make a difference and allow space for the next phase of life... toddler-hood!

Mini Goal Update

Just dropping by to update on a couple of my goals from my previous post...

Organization
I absolutely HATE paperwork. Even with requesting electronic bills and statements for the majority of our accounts, I still feel like I am always drowning in paperwork. I used to be really bad about it - there would be piles of miscellaneous mail, documents, and forms laying around everywhere (the table, the desk, our bedroom dresser). Rather than address the piles, I would just try to keep them looking neat and tidy. In recent months, I've gotten a little better about eliminating the piles. I went out and bought pretty, cardboard filing boxes and labeled them. Now everything (mostly) gets stashed into one of the following: My Box, Paul's Box, Keepsakes & Cards, or To Be Filed. I also have envelopes or folders for daycare info, receipts, coupons, and income tax stuff.

Sounds like progress, right? Don't get me wrong, it's better than how it used to be. But now, my To Be Filed box has become my new "pile" that is even easier to ignore because everything is nicely contained and hidden from view on a shelf inside our entertainment center. When I first started using the boxes, I designated Mondays as my day to clean out the To Be Filed box; everything got sorted and either tossed for good or filed in the appropriate hanging file for records in our office. That was fine when I was only working 4 days a week and had Mondays off, but since coming back from maternity leave, I'm back to 5 days a week (2 of which I work from home). I could probably still do my filing on Mondays, since that is one of the days I work from home. However, I just haven't made it a priority and it's time to change that. Starting now, Mondays will once again be my clean-out-the-To-Be-Filed-box day. I have to remind myself that if I do it weekly, it won't be such a huge job and I could probably realistically have it done in 20 minutes! What I don't want is for it look like this every time:

This is our bed... covered in papers that had been shoved into the To Be Filed box for up to 4 months (yikes!). What you cannot see is that the headboard, dresser, AND chest of drawers were likewise also covered in papers. Completely unacceptable.

Fitness/Healthy Eating

After years of refusing to be one of those people who count their calories on a daily basis, I've given in and decided to do it for the short term. I don't think my issue is knowing what is healthy food vs. junk food (that's fairly obvious and I don't, in fact, eat a ton of junk food). I think my issue has more to do with recognizing portion size (paying attention to how much I'm eating), as well as my tendency to not acknowledge the sneaky calories that add up throughout the day (a latte here, a handful of M&M's there). Even healthy foods have calories, and it's probably time I start paying attention. I want to lose weight, I need to lose weight, and to do that, I need to focus more on intake (food) vs. output (exercise). I've downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and I'm going to commit to using it for at least 30 days. I might do it for longer, although I don't really see myself doing this in the long-term. But for now I think it's a good idea. In fact, I've already had a couple of wake-up calls in regards to my food choices (560 calorie breakfast? 400 calorie snack??). 

Ultimately, I'm trying to make a lifestyle change. I haven't shared my long-term goals yet (mainly because some of them are still taking shape). But I do know that fitness and healthy eating are not things I'm going to just give up once I achieve my desired weight. And right now I'm super motivated. The straw that (finally) broke the camel's back and convinced me to do something more drastic than just "eat better"? Yesterday, I ran into a former co-worker who still works on campus (just in a different department). I was wearing a sort of loose-fitting top, and she pointed at my stomach, smiled, and exclaimed "Oh! How wonderful!" Yes, that really DID happen. No, it was NOT an appropriate thing for her to do. And no, I don't really look pregnant (or so my other co-workers and husband have assured me). But that doesn't change how I felt in the moment: embarrassed and horrified, but more importantly, motivated.

Education

I don't have lots to report with this yet, but I did email the program coordinator and request a list of current faculty from whom to choose a new adviser for my capstone project! Hopefully I will have more to share soon...

Updates, Highlights, and Goals

This will be a combination post because there's just too much going on and not enough time to dedicate to individual posts right now! We just returned from a mini-getaway to Michigan with my husband's family. Unfortunately (as with most vacations/getaways), the return home means jumping right back into our crazy routine, which is made even crazier by having to catch up on what didn't get done while we were away. I wish I had enough vacation time to be able to take an extra day off each time to at least get caught up on stuff at home before going back to work! Anyway, here's the latest:

Updates

• No additional progress in the kitchen (yet) but all I really have left to do in there is finish putting some things away. I'm hoping to do that this weekend so I can say that at least one room/area is done!
• We are seriously considering doing our house remodel this spring/summer, and are in the process of having people come out to give estimates for both time and money. I will probably have to do an entire post on this at some point, as the prospect of doing this both excites and terrifies me!
• Nathan is jabbering up a storm these days, but so far the only word he uses consistently in the correct context is "uh-oh". Ha! The other day I said "What does the puppy say? Woof woof!" and he looked at me and responded "woof woof" as clear as day. I've been trying ever since to get him to do it again, but no luck yet :) He does, however, understand the question "where's the puppy?" and will look for/point at our dog when asked. He is also signing consistently for both food/eat/hungry and drink/bottle/thirsty.
• He is officially a walker! For the past month or so, he's been able to take a couple of steps at a time on his own. But just this week, something clicked and he figured out he could take several more without holding onto a hand or the couch or one of his rolling toys. It's so fun to see him go! He looks so proud and pleased when he does it :)
• I've started doing biweekly meal planning and grocery shopping again. I did this for a few months last year and it really helped with time management and budget planning. This time though, I'm using a phone app that my co-worker showed me (Pepperplate) and it has completely revolutionized the process! In the beginning it's a bit time consuming because you have to manually enter all of your recipes (unless they are from certain supported websites, in which case they can be directly imported into your account). But once they're in, you can assign them to specific days and meals; then you can select "add to list" and the program adds ingredients to a shopping list that you can print, share, or save on your phone to take to the store. I love it!

Highlights
It's so easy to complain about things, but how bad do we have it, really? Besides which, all that negativity gets tiresome. I want to be better at focusing on (and remembering) the special moments as a parent, and recognizing them for the blessings they are. Here are some recent highlights that I want to soak up and relish:

• When Nathan is drinking his bottle at night before bed, and he's starting to zone out a bit and playing with my fingers while he stares at his ceiling fan... and then randomly pulls the bottle out of his mouth, looks up at me, and gives the biggest grin ever. Pure joy in those little moments.
• Any time he puts his little head down on my shoulder, squirms around until his little butt is sticking up over my arm, reaches down with his little hand to grab my finger, and sighs contentedly... Snuggles like that (from my typically non-snuggly baby) are sometimes all I need to feel better after a rough day.
• The first time Nathan walked, on his own, across the room to give me a hug... 

Goals
In my last post, I mentioned wanting to set some goals and figure out plans to achieve them. In the past, I've had a tendency to write out big, long lists of goals and then become overwhelmed trying to implement and achieve all of them at once. This time, I'm going to start small, with just a handful of goals that can hopefully be achieved in the short-term. I've divided these goals into categories to help ensure that I don't take on too much at once in any one area:

1. Fitness. My goal here is to work out at least 5 days a week. At this point, I'm not going to specify a length of time, or even the type of workout (cardio vs. strength training). What matters for me right now is that I get moving and get back in the habit of making workouts a priority. I'm going to give myself a month of doing some kind of workout 5 days a week, and then see where I'm at weight-wise. I will then set a new goal in this area based on my progress after one month.
2. Healthy eating. I'm going to continue using the Pepperplate app to plan my meals on a biweekly basis. Having a plan, and buying only what is needed to fulfill that plan, will help eliminate spur-of-the-moment decisions that often result in poor diet choices. I'm also going to allow myself one (reasonable) indulgence per day, because I don't believe in being super restrictive :)
3. Education. I am 90% finished with my Master's degree, and it's about time I tackled that remaining 10%. I took a hiatus from it while going through all the infertility tests and treatments. And then I got pregnant from IVF. And then I had a baby. And now I have a one-year old and I really need to get back on track and finish this degree before we start thinking about the possibility of trying for #2! My short-term goal for this is to find a new adviser for my project (my original adviser has since left the institution). I also plan to schedule some chunks of time (2-3 hours each) to devote to researching my topic and beefing up the proposal for my capstone project. I'm giving myself one month to do all of this, after which I will evaluate my progress and set new goals for the following month.
4. Organization. I really want to keep the momentum going that I've started with my whole kitchen overhaul. My goal here is to spend at least 1-2 hours per week sorting, de-cluttering, and/or organizing something. That something could be an entire room or maybe just a drawer or two (depending on the contents and what is involved in the sorting process). 
5. Finances. This is a big one. We need to do a better job with budgeting (on a monthly basis as well as with planning for future, big-ticket purchases and expenses). I have two short-term goals for this category. First, I want to figure out the best way to put our tax refund to good use. Our appointment is next Monday, which means we could very well have our refund by early March (assuming everything goes smoothly). In general, I want to pay off more debt, add to our savings and emergency funds, and still have some left over for things we want (as opposed to things we need). Secondly, I want to make a list of big-ticket purchases/expenses that we either need or want and prioritize them. Too often we get into arguments over what to do with "bonus" money (money above and beyond our regular monthly income), so it would be nice to have an agreed upon list an order in which to proceed.

That's all for now. I may add to this list, but again, I'm trying to keep it simple and reasonable. I don't want to fail before I've even begun!