TGIF

After a crazy day at work I was shuttling Shay and K.G. to soccer practices on this fall afternoon when my cell phone rang. It was my friend Christy calling to report that my blog has inspired her to do some of her own downsizing. Great news! My deepest desire is that downsizing could take our culture by storm. After reporting a monumental purge of Spike's closet (Spike has been referenced here and here in my blog) and a return of a N.W.T. item, Christy was left with a pile of hardly worn dress clothes from 10 years ago. She inquired about good destinations for her lightly used threads. Sadly, I was not much help to my dear friend. While we all hope that our barely used clothing can earn us some cold hard cash or at the very least be donated to a lady in need, the reality is that such resources are hard to come by. Consignment shops have complicated rules and regulations and organizations such as Dress for Success often are not accepting donations except for cash. After hashing over this reality, Christy commented "that sounds like too much work, I think I'll take it to Goodwill". I thanked her for her enthusiasm about my blog and then shared my current state of panic - it was 5:17pm and I had not downsized an item nor did I have a plan.

Christy was right, downsizing is hard work. So is my job as a nurse in the ACU at Mercy. So, on this Friday night I could not wait to finally sit down with my family to chat over a few slices of pizza and sip a glass of chardonnay. As I opened my bottle of wine, I came upon an extra wine opener that I never use, a duplicate foil cutter, and a journal that I stowed in my cabinet several years ago. I once thought it was a fabulous idea to keep a wine journal detailing the selections I/we had sampled and any other notes about the particular bottle of vino. Apparently this eureka moment was in 2007 and I have only partaken in 3 bottles of wine since then. Or at least that is what the journal entries declare. Needless to say, these 3 items are not an integral part of my existence. After ripping out the one page of wine reviews, I put the journal and accessories in a bag by the mudroom door. They are going to Goodwill tomorrow morning. I decided against a late night cruise to the donation center after consuming 2 glasses of an oaky classic - no need to drink and drive in the name of downsizing! I chuckled as I closed the book to the journal and noted the poem on the front cover. It reads "Don't Quit" - how very fitting for a wine connoisseur!