Old Style

Old Style: 1) A beer brewed in beautiful La Crosse, Wis.

2) Half the clothes in my closet.

I have been meaning to get to some serious Fall Cleaning and today, since it was another drizzly sort of day, I decided to start.

Of course, I tortured myself for 3 hours watching the pathetic Purple Pride lose another one first. I also got a few dozen more Christmas cookies made, too. I am nothing if not the queen of procrastination. It was after supper, in fact, when I really got going and yes, I already need a break.

The thinking and starting were the hard parts. At first I thought, you know when I get my Christmas stuff out this year, I should really drag it all out and toss or donate the stuff I don't ever use any more. But then I got started looking at our coats and boots so we could donate them to a winter coat drive at church. (Carter and I got that taken care of at half-time.) When I noticed the boots, I thought, you know, I should hit my closet next and get rid of some other footwear I don't wear any more for various reasons.

Well, it didn't take long to tally up 20 pairs to go to Goodwill. Oh don't worry, I won't be going barefoot this winter. I still have plenty of brown, black and white shoes, along with 3 pairs of Sketchers and still no less than 4 pairs of black heeled boots - of various heights and styles. (And this does not count any running shoes!)

Should I be embarrassed yet?

Since I was in the closet, I stayed there and just started filling up brown paper bags. I had a few simple rules that made it easy.

1) If it had shoulder pads, it had to go! (Yes, I probably had more shoulder pads in my closet than the Vikings -- but I knew how to use them!)

2) If I hadn't worn it in the last 3 years, it's gone. (Trust me, I didn't follow this to the letter. I was actually excited to find "new" clothes.)

3) If it's a size I will never get into again, it no longer is inspirational hanging there, but depressing. Plus, if I get that size again, I probably should dress a little more appropriately for a woman of my maturity.

So with those rules in mind, there was a whole lotta purging going on. I ended up filling 9 grocery bags of blouses, slacks, skirts and lovely shoulder-padded jackets. And that's just a start! It doesn't really look like I've done anything.

Should I be embarrassed yet?

I am. Some of these things have moved with me from house to house to house. The only place they are moving now is Goodwill. They're gonna know me on a first-name basis by the time I'm all said and done. Lots of closets and rooms to go through on these cold drizzly days in the coming weeks.

Too bad it took me so long to start!