Of Belly Buttons...

Once a week over at MannLand5, Keely does a feature called "Getting to Know You" and I thought today's questions were fun.  So I'll have a go at it tonight.

Don't forget to link up on my Great Declutter Bloghop (open through the week, so you have time...now go clean).  And you have until Monday night to enter to win the Haitian bracelet giveaway.  Happy Sunday everyone.

Here goes:

1. Do you iron your sheets?

That would require me to wash them a whole lot more than I do.  A resounding "no."  I iron almost nothing.  In fact, I had the iron out the other morning to iron a shirt for a big meeting and Eli saw it and said "Iron."  And Brian was absolutely shocked that he knew what it was.

2. Your dream car is....?

A clean one.  

3. Do you have an innie or an outie belly button?

I once had an innie.  And a kind of cute innie at that.  And then I had kids.  Three of them.  And all three of them popped my belly button out in ridiculous fashion.  And pregnant I looked like this:

Yes, if you look closely, you will see that I have x-crossing bandaids over my belly button to keep it from looking somewhat obscene.  Instead, I just got a horrible cross-shaped rash on my stomach for a week.  So now, having done that baby thing three times, my belly button is three inches higher than it used to be (I am not joking) and is just a strange, flat, wrinkly, non-button.  I'll spare you all the photos.  It's after dinner and all.

4. What meal do you look forward to the most..breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

When I get to eat lunch with my favorite girlfriends at work, I love it.  Because we laugh.  A lot.  But of course my favorite is a dinner with my family.

5. Favorite mascara?

One that doesn't run all over my face by 3:30 p.m.?  And doesn't clump?  And washes off when I want it to?  But doesn't cost $25?  Is that too much to ask?  I haven't found it yet.  

6. What would you say your decorating style is..traditional, modern, eclectic, country, french country, shabby chic, etc..?

"Make it Work" meets "Clean it up, NOW!"

7. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

You know, I don't think I have.

8. I hate the smell of...?

Well there are the obvious things like bad breath and diaper pails.  But I really hate the smell of the "let's cover up that bad smell in the bathroom" sprays at work.  Ugh.

The 500 Pound Declutter -- The Great Declutter Bloghop

As many of you know, I have been on a mission to really, truly, significantly declutter my house.  And I started by issuing myself a personal challenge.  To get rid of at least 500 pounds of clutter over the next year.

If you want to see what has happened so far, you can find the string of threads here.

Good news or bad, I think I'll hit that goal sooner than later as a month into it, I am already nearing 300 pounds.  But I plan to keep going.

I have heard from many of you that you are laughing along the way as I discover (and purge) the ridiculous stuff that has cluttered up our lives.  And I have heard from even more of you that you are inspired.  Or cleaning out because of what you have seen here.  For that, I'd like to thank you.

So I have decided we should make it official.  Let's do this together.  So today I am kicking off the first "Great Declutter Challenge" blog hop.  All you need to do to participate is to pick one area.  Just one little area.  And pledge to attack it.  That, I think, has been the key to my success so far -- keeping it small and making myself accountable.  I am viewing this as a ton of teeny projects leading towards one big huge one. So just pick one spot.  Take a before picture.  And blog about it.  Then you own it.  It's yours to deal with.

All you have to do to participate is grab the image above and put it in your post and be sure to link back to my blog.  Then come back here and enter your link.  Encourage your readers to do the same.

I'll put up a new Bloghop each week so we can share our progress.  

A few tips.  

1. Be ruthless.  Step outside yourself for a bit and you'll be amazed what you are able to get rid of.

2. Make piles.  Throw away, recycle, donate or put away.  See what works for you.  See how little you can throw and how much you can give away or recycle.

3. Commit to keep new clutter out.  I have stopped impulse shopping over the past month, too.  

4. Weigh it.  How do I do it?  I literally get on the scale by myself and then I get on holding the bags and piles of stuff I have purged.  It's shocking.

All right here he go.

The Snyder 5 Reviews

Today I was invited to do my first review of a product as a blogger.  I have thought about it and have decided that I want to continue to keep this blog focused on what it was originally intended to be.  Just a blog about the lives of us, The Snyder 5.  That said, from time to time you will likely still see me blogging about "Stuff I Love" here.  Those are truly just things I am choosing to talk about.  Thinks like bacon, and pee alarms, and luminarias.


However, when I have the opportunity to give my honest review of a product or service or event, I will do so at The Snyder 5 Reviews. And when that happens, I'll simply post a link here to let you know.

That all said, today I got to sample and review the Yoplait Fiber One Yogurts.  You can read about it here.

Either you work too much, or you really look like your doppelganger

As those of you on Facebook have probably noticed, someone somewhere declared it Doppelganger Week.  So you're supposed to change out your profile photo with one of a famous person who people tell you that you resemble.

The one I hear most often is Grace Kelly.  Okay right now I am more like two of Grace Kellys, but I'll take it regardless.

And Brian's?  Well, when I first met him, people said he looked like Jason Priestley.

I have no idea why...

But age has helped that.  And now he is often told that he looks like Kevin Spacey.

He texted me to ask me to throw a photo of Spacey on his Facebook page while he was out with the boys at Polar Camp today.  While I was doing that, Eli crawled up on my lap.  Here's what happened next.

Either Brian has really been working at the clinic too much or he really does look like Kevin Spacey.

How about you?  Who do people tell you that you resemble?

What's a Jizo?

For those who follow me on Twitter, you may recall me being on the search for the perfect Jizo robe a few weeks back.

And if you are like me or most English-as-a-first-language people you likely either thought I had a typo or, just ignored me.  (Seriously, go on Twitter and search for Jizo or Jizou...everything that comes up is all in characters and then, if you go back far enough, there is me searching for a robe.)


But I was talking to work friends about this and one of them piped up, "What in the world is a Jizo?"  And so today I did a bit of searching.  Thanks to zendust, I learned this:

"Jizo Bodhisattva is a much beloved figure in Japan, Korea, and China, who is just becoming increasingly well known. Jizo is a special protector of children, travelers, and women."

Okay, so as long as we all have that down.  Caleb's school play was a performance in which he had to be a Jizo statue.  And we were given the task of finding Jizo robes.  The letter from the teacher explained this should be along the lines of a Kimono.  Cool.  Cause I have tons of those around.

It also requested that we not use fleece-y or furry bath robes.  Dang.  There goes the robe he already has.  And really, how easy is it going to be to find a Kimono-meets-Hugh Hefner robe for an 8-year-old boy?

Off to Goodwill I went.  First I found a rather hideous floral maternity top that I thought I might be able to make work.  But I also might make my son hate me for years.

Then I found a nightgown.  But the lace was a deal breaker.  That and the darted chest.  My skinny male kid didn't need a saggy chest.

And finally I found the perfect silky nightshirt.  And it was only $3.99.  Done.

Brought it home and showed it to Brian who said, "Yeah, good luck selling him on wearing a woman's nightgown!"  But Caleb came upstairs and I pulled out my best persuasive speaking skills and said, "Hey, C, I found the coolest Jizo robe at the store.  Look!"

I pulled it out and got a thumbs up.  Sweet.  I rock.

He learned his lines and went off to the play.  We went to watch it and had to laugh because the room was filled with a combination of actual Kimonos, graduation robes, women's nightgowns, grown up furry and fleece-y robes, and several Power Rangers and Skull and Crossbones robes.  Good to know some people read instructions worse than I do.

Ah well.  He was in the middle of the pack.  Not the worst and not the best.  (Though I am sure Brett Favre would cringe at the thought of someone wearing a woman's nightgown over his jersey.  This might be a first.)

The performance was cute as one would expect.  And my kid was a ham.  Something I would expect.

Afterwards, I took the costume back from him and tossed it on the floor or my car where it has sat for the past two weeks.

Until this morning.  Caleb has had that horrible cold all week.  And so, being 8 and being a boy (I hope those two things make this somewhat "normal") he has taken to "checking" if he needs to blow his thoroughly disgusting nose before he actually does it.

How's that happen?  Well you asked...

He doesn't really check.  He just does it.  All over his upper lip.  I love it.  Yeah, really.  Intense pride.

He claims it's because he doesn't want to "waste a kleenex."  Which I remind him is cool and all, being I am frugal and don't like to waste stuff.  But I can take the hit for him on this one.

We had a conversation about this in the car yesterday (after the above happened) and I gave him my last Burger King napkin.  I warmed him that was all I had.  So not to do it again.

And then he did it again.  This morning.  All over his face.  And I had nothing.

Wait no, I had something.  I had a Jizo robe*!  Which I lobbed from the floor of my front seat back to him.  He now had an entire nightgown to blow his nose on.  I knew I kept that thing in my car for a reason.

Worked like a charm and felt great on his nose, too.  Yeah for poly-blends.

Now I just have to remember to bring it inside and wash it before spring.


*And yes, that is the floor of my car.  Another story for another time.

Haitian Bracelet Giveaway

You may recall that I recently volunteered with a group of Minnesota bloggers at Feed My Starving Children.  To say I was moved by the experience is an understatement.

At the end of the night, you had the opportunity to purchase items made by residents of the areas they provide food to. The group buys items from local residents to help support them.  Then, they bring the items back to the states and resell them to support the financial needs of FMSC.

I walked over the the area of Haitian jewelry and found these bracelets, handmade by a resident of Haiti.  These were made before the earthquake hit.  So when I wear mine, it feels particularly poignant as it makes me think about and wonder who made it.  I bought two.  One for me and one for one of you. 

If you'd like to be entered to win this drawing, simply leave a comment on this post.

If you'd like a second entry, tweet this post.  Make sure you mention @MollyinMinn in your tweet.

I'll draw a winner on Monday, February 1 at 10:00 p.m. CST.  You must live in the United States.  I'll announce the winner on Tuesday and email the winner who will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don't hear back, I'll draw a new winner.

Added Tuesday, February 2:

Congratulations to Kari from Alas3Lads for winning the drawing.  She was selected using Random.org.  Kari, I'll email you to arrange to ship the bracelet.

Pants on the Ground - Dr. No Style

On a day when the temperature is this:

Making the chimneys billow white puffy clouds something like this:

And this:

A day when the inside of your nose freezes when you walk outside and you can actually break your hair if it's still wet.

And you are going to spend the day outside snowtubing, which for you non winter people looks something like this:

You might want to dress accordingly, right?

The boys are off school today and so are spending the day with group on a field trip to go snow tubing.  It's cold today.  As in that -3 temp is not a joke.  And no, that is not the windchill.

We woke them up and told them to wear warm shirts, plenty of layers, and to be sure to wear long underwear, too.

As we packed up, we reiterated how cold it was and asked them wear a pair of liner gloves under their gloves.

As they put on shoes, we asked them if they were wearing their ski socks.  And better yet, were they wearing two pairs of socks?

And ask Noah walked out the door, he (nicely) carried out the garbage and his lunch.  No snowpants. (Are you sensing a theme here in my life?).

When I noticed it as we walked into the school his response was, "You didn't tell me to get my snowpants!!!  I didn't know I'd need them!"

Which led me back to the house to find our very on version of "Pants on the Ground."

Which brought me back to school, again, to be sure my child could make it through the day without permanent skin damage.

Noah has been a big fan of the amusing American Idol "Pants on the Ground" sensation, even more so since seeing the video of Brett Favre singing it in the locker room.  So here is Noah's own version of the song.  (My apologies for the fact that you need to watch it laying down, I shot it on my point and shoot camera without thinking about format.)

P.S. I swear my kids don't always dress in Vikings gear.

Sometimes "C Work" is Good Enough

My boss said that to me once.  And it really stayed with me.  We are all raised being told that you have to do your best and excel and be an A student.  Nothing I disagree with.  But then you get into the real world and realize that just isn't real life.  Sometimes, C work is good enough.  And sometimes, C work is actually really, really good.

I was invited to participate in a research study on working moms and balance (ha!).  I probably can't say too much about it as I have a feeling I signed a confidentiality agreement or some kind (was I supposed to read that?)  But two of the questions the interviewer asked me really stood out.

Interviewer: Thinking about your friends and family, how often do you think they'd say you have it all together?  All of the time, almost all of the time, sometimes, infrequently or never.

Me: Almost all of the time.

Interviewer: Now thinking about yourself, how often would you say you have it all together?  All of the time, almost all of the time, sometimes, infrequently or never.

Me: Infrequently

This morning was one of those days.  A day when C work would have been really, really good.

Noah has a cultural heritage day at school.  They are supposed to do a presentation on a cultural tradition that their family has and, if they wanted or were able, bring a food item to the potluck for lunch.

This whole deal stressed me out.  First, as we looked at it, we don't really have a lot of cultural heritage that we still celebrate or use or pull out at the holidays.  We're pretty gosh darn American.  We eat hot dogs.  Most of my ancestors have been here hundreds of years (the English ones, the German ones came a bit later) and Brian's family is almost all German and have also been here for several generations.  We don't really eat any native dishes, do special celebrations, or anything like that.  We're your honest to goodness Americans.

Noah decided he wanted to talk about our tradition of putting out luminarias at Christmas.  All well and good.  We do it, my parents do it, Brian's parents did it when he was a kid, and my grandparents did it.  Cool.  There we go.

Until we started doing the research.  Yup, luminarias are from Spain.  And have you seen us?  Yeah, not so much or a drop of Spanish ancestry in us.  Ah well.  Brian had the brilliant idea of using this to talk about how America is a melting pot.  Bingo.  That solves it.

He did his research and we printed up some photos and I was feeling good about it.  Until I picked him up last night.

Noah: Mom!  Today was the best, my friend ______ had the biggest cultural heritage poster yet!  It was amazing.

Me: [picturing our little pile of pictures and notebook paper at home] Really?  That's great!

Noah: Yeah, it was awesome.

Me: [knowing it's 4 degrees out and Eli has been screaming "MILK" at the top of his lungs for the past 15 minutes in the car and knowing we have no poster board at home] Super cool!  Did all of the kids have posters?

Noah: Yup!  And then my friend, ________, she gave us all really cool rocks that say "PEACE" on them.  When are we going to do my poster?  Am I bringing a present?

We got home, (Eli got his milk), and I dug out some construction paper to at least try to make a book.  Nice the construction paper is faded all around the edges.  I think it's from when I was in third grade.  (Note to self: time to declutter the art supplies.)

Noah then asked what I was bringing to the luncheon tomorrow (today).  He asked if it could please be Christmas morning biscuits.

Christmas morning biscuits are just that.  The biscuits my Dad traditionally makes on Christmas morning.  Several years ago, he hastily typed up a collection of our family recipes and gave us a copy.  I say hastily as the thing has several typos.

I assembled the dry ingredients last night and set them aside for this morning.  Planning ahead.  Staying on top of things.  Living that working mom dream.

Got up early to head down to make coffee and, hopefully, some darn good biscuits, posterboard presentation or not.

It seemed to get off to a bad start right away.  This just didn't seem to be the right texture.  I referenced the recipe again and nope, I was following it exactly.  But it was like I had thick flour all over the mat.

 Added a bit more milk.  Still no great results.  Reassured myself that I had never actually made these and it must be right.

Can't find the biscuit cutters.  Crap.  Oh well, will use a tiger cup instead.

They are falling apart all over the place and I am now thinking.  "Okay, even if these are passable I am sending them to school with Noah and not bringing them myself."  I can't show my face alongside these biscuits.  They're biscuits for goodness sake, and other people are making complicated ethnic dishes.  And I am screwing up biscuits.

Oh my God.  What is wrong with me?

I have never made something so ugly in my life.

Forget it, I am done.  I'm cooking what I have and tossing the rest.

And no, the green olives were from dinner last night.  Must. Clean. The. Sink. More. Often.

What did I do wrong???  Aaargh, it's 7:00 and I am still in my robe with wet (drying) hair and no makeup and I have to take all three kids to school today.  And get them there by 7:45.  And it's 15 minutes away!

They came out of the oven looking like this.  They never made it off the tray.

Maybe my problem was cooking with an elephant.  Look at him, he won't even look at me.   Even he is appalled by this mess.

Or maybe I should have added the glue.

Or it could have been not enough Lego toys, little Army men or Matchbox cars.

Or perhaps it was just that, when I went to consult another family cookbook that one of the typos was that my Dad had doubled the recipe while halving the milk.

Regardless, my kid shed some tears over the failed biscuits and went to school with no food to share and his non-poster boarded presentation.  He was, however, wearing a polo shirt (because they also could wear something from their heritage...and hmmm, well, as Brian said, "The English play polo!")

So there you have it.  Sometimes C work is good enough.  And sometimes it's really the best you can do.




If you're having one of those Mom Guilt days, check out CopMama for here Mama Guilt Mondays.
And you can also link up with Silly Little Sparrow, and find out what others have been dealing with this week.

It Drives Me Nuts That You Can't Recycle ... What's the Deal with Batteries?

Now let me preface this by saying I am by no means an expert about recycling or environmental impact or anything like that.  No advanced degrees.  No research publications.  I'm just a girl with a relatively green heart and mind who is trying to do her best to do right by our planet.  So before anyone goes getting all smart and analytical on me, I just wanted to put that out there.  Cool?  Cool.

I started a new deal a week or so ago where I pledged to try to look into how to recycle different things around our homes.  Jen from The Recovering Procrastinator commented that she wondered where you could recycle batteries.  So I dug in to wade through the boatloads of information that was out there.

These seem to be the two easiest ways to answer that question.

Rechargeable Batteries
If you want to recycle rechargeable batteries, simply visit the Location Finder section of Call2Recycle.org.  It's a slick system where you plug in your zip code and can find locations to recycle rechargeable batteries and cell phones.  It turns out these puppies are pretty easy to turn in to be recycled.  In many states it is illegal not to recycle these batteries and, even if your state is not one of them, recycling of these is strongly recommended.

Alkaline or Single Use Batteries
It took a bit more searching, but I also found a great resource for how to recycle the alkaline or single use batteries.  This is also a finder on a web site called earth911.com. 

When I plugged in my information there, several of the links were to Batteries Plus .  I called them to confirm and he confirmed that not only do they recycle single use batteries, but they actually recycle all batteries.  So there you have it, one stop recycling shop!  But in case you don't have a convenient Batteries Plus around, use the earth911 site to see what's available to you.

There seems to be some debate out there about the need to recycle these batteries.  Many battery manufacturers eliminated mercury from their batteries several years ago making it "safe" to dispose of them in the trash.  And there seems to be a debate about whether the recycling process itself is safe.  Again, I'm just a girl, so I don't think I'd even venture to weigh in on that.

Thanks for the question, Jen.

So what's next?  What do you want to know if you can recycle?  Post your questions in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

(Oh and for those of you wondering about the razor holder things, stay tuned.  Let's just say that the customer service at one of the major razor companies is lacking a bit...)

Thankyouverymuch

I have a challenge for you.  I need you to say two words with me.  Might come easier for some than for others.  But try it.

Ready?  Here we go.

Thank you.

Okay, now go find someone to say it to.  Get up and walk into the next room, or shoot someone an email or pick up the phone.  But find someone who deserves to hear it.  I'll wait...

You're back already?  That was fast. 

My first thank you of the morning was this: Hey buddy, thank you for picking up your dirty underwear. (That would be directed to my child, not my spouse, who I do slip up and sometimes call buddy when I can't get the right name to come out, and he looks at me like I have lost it.  Which may be true.) Maybe a silly thing to say, but you know, as one girl in a home of four males, you really do appreciate it when that happens.

Dropped off my son at daycare, and thanked them for making the transition so smooth this morning.

Got back on the road and someone slowed to let me merge.  I gave them "The Wave."  That gentle tip of the hand by the rearview mirror.  It's a way of saying, "Hey, I know you didn't have to do that, but I sure am glad you did.  Thanks!" 

And then it struck me.  I think in life, we all need to give each other the finger less and the wave more.

I often say that it's easier to complain than compliment.  I say that a lot, actually.  Often when someone has complained about something.  So when someone compliments you or thanks you, take it to heart.  They probably really mean it.

Why?  Because it makes a difference.  I am a big thanker.  I like to acknowledge people for what they have done.  Big or small.




Too often we don't recognize people for what they do.  Whether it's letting us into traffic.  Or helping out around the house.  Or doing something extra at work.

I don't care if it's "your job" or not.  It feels good to be recognized and acknowledged.


So, starting today and going forward, I am going to seek to compliment more and complain less.  I am going to thank when thanking is due.

In the spirit of that, I want to say, thank you for taking the time to read this.  Thanks for joining in on the discussions here.  Thanks for your interest and support.  Thank you dear reader.

And now I really need to go mail my kids' Christmas thank you notes that have been sitting on my office desk for three weeks.

The Push and Pull of Being a Working Mom

How is it that on days when your work obligations require that you look like this...

Because your calendar looks like this.

You get a call that your oldest kiddo is looking like this.

And so you drop everything and hope people understand.  You ask your coworker to take on more than they were supposed to (thanks, Jill).  And juggle and rearrange and hope you aren't forgetting anything and are thankful you have a Mom who can help out.  And you go pick up your sick kid.

Then you spend the afternoon in dress socks and suit pants, with your laptop on your lap, watching MonsterQuest, editing documents, making peanutbutter and banana sandwiches, multitasking, simultaneously answering emails and questions like, "Mom, do you believe in monsters?"  And holding tissues for your kid to blow his nose.


All before heading back out to work.  Don't worry, I'll wash my hands before I head back to tonight's meeting.


Ah, the glamorous life of the working mom.

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda - Day 13 of the 500 Pound Declutter

I was dreading hitting this last major corner of the storage room in my great quest to rid my house of at least 500 pounds of clutter.  This was going to be extra challenging for a host of reasons.  First, most of it really isn't mine.  This is kind of Brian's work corner (as in tools, not as in where he examines eyes.  How creepy would that be?  "And we'll just head down to my basement storage room..."). 

And second, I knew I wasn't going to have the foggiest idea what a lot of it was or how to clean it out or organize it.

So, first things first, I managed my expectations.  I was not going to sort screws, organize bolts or make decisions on tools.  But that which I knew, I would deal with.

So here goes.

As I dug I, I realized I had entered the corner of "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda."  Brian is great, really truly, great.  And he is creative, and has great ideas and even greater intentions.  But the guy also works about 70-80 hours a week and is an active dad and Cub Scout leader.  Time isn't something he has a lot of.  Ideas, yes.  Time, no.

And so this had become the resting idea for ideas and plans that were "nice to" but not "need to" ideas.

Yes, there is a floor here, but you might have never known it. 

 

 

 

I started by honing in on this shelf.  Which didn't look too intimidating.

 

It got even better when I found an entire bucket with one thing of rope and one copper coil-ish thing in it. Hmmm.  Falling into the "I have no idea" category, but at least I'll put it with other like-I-don't-knows.

 

And hey, whattya know, one entire bucket of drawers was completely empty.  This was going to be easy!

I pulled all that stuff out, purged and straightened and moved on.

And then I had to admit something about myself.  Something I have seen time and time again during this process.

Sometimes, the combination of my thriftiness and environmental consciousness gets the best of me.  Our fish died almost two years ago.  And these are cheap plastic fish bowls. I think they cost about 2.99.  But I didn't want to throw them away in case we got fish again.  And I couldn't recycle them given their plastic makeup.  So instead they took up 1/3 of a shelf.  Now they are gone.  Sorry landfills, but you are welcome possible future fish, no reused apartments for you.

 

Another Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda?  Well, evidently, we did.  But I have no idea why in the world we were keeping this empty bottle of Balvenie Scotch.  Sure, it was good.  And was sipped and enjoyed on many a night.  But what are we really going to do?  Pull it back out and look at the bottle and reminisce?  Put a candle in it?  Fill it back up with cheap scotch and do a taste test when we have friends over we aren't sure are quite good enough for the "real deal?"  Probably not. 

 

However, these were probably my favorites.  I am a klutz.  I mean a horrible, ridiculous, bad, amazing klutz.  I fall.  I trip.  I spill.  And I break stuff.  Often.  Like our dishes.  That they don't make anymore.

I am not sure how much was Brian really thinking he'd do a project and how much was him just trying to make me feel better, but he told me to keep them because maybe someday he'd make a mosaic trivet or something out of them.

I actually don't think I have broken a dish in about two years.  But I am sure I will break more.  So I let these go.

 

And then I came across this.  And about had a heart attack.  Nope, it's not a furry creature.  But it was Brian's thought, once that he'd reuse some decorative grass seeds to grow some more. Pretty sure there will be more grass in the spring.  Tossed.

 

And I could go on.  But you get the idea.  Long story short, I ended up with several bags that looked like this.  Yes, paint sticks, and Tiffany bags, and extra bits of railings.

 

But I ended up with a storage room that looks like this.

 

See, I promised you there was a floor!

 

All told, I got rid of:

15 pounds recycling

12 pounds trash

10 pounds of things I donated

A total of: 37 pounds

For a grand total of 292 pounds!

I linked this post up with MommyCommunity where we celebrate our recent successes.  Link up your recent accomplishment, too!