Home – Person of Purpose

What’s in My Bathroom, and Do I Really Need All That Stuff?

We’ve been spending a lot of time at home, and it’s time to do a declutter, this time of my bathroom. I read an Instagram post that said: “The average household has 300,000 items.”

Really???

I decided to put this to the test, starting with how much stuff is in my bathroom. Obviously, it’s talking about individual items, not categories, but let’s talk categories while we are at it:

Bath towels, wash cloths, bath mat
Shower curtain, liner, hooks
Toilet paper rolls (at the time of inventory I had 15)
Tissue box
Waste basket
Toilet brush (and maybe a plunger)
Cleaners (toilet bowl cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, disinfectant wipes, cleaning rags)
Toiletries (body wash, shampoo, conditioner)
Hand soap dispenser
Hair care (blow dryer, curling iron, combs, brushes)
Face care (makeup, washes, exfoliators, masks, moisturizers, serums, sunscreen)
Nail care (clippers, files, nail polish, polish remover)
Oral care (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, toothbrush holder)
Shaving care (razors, shaving creams)
First aid kit
Self-care (candles, diffusers, bath salts, special lotions)
Decorative items (pictures, nightlight)
Mirror
Hamper
Scale

Yikes! That’s a lot of categories! On my first inventory go-round, I found, now brace yourselves, 387 items in my bathroom!!! Do I really need all that stuff?

After the declutter I managed to reduce the number of items to 300. But what do you think? Is this what the average household has in their bathroom?

Spring Cleaning for the Car

Spring cleaning often brings to mind giving our homes or our wardrobes an over-haul. But considering that we use our vehicles practically every day, our cars also need attention. April is National Car Care Month, so this post contains checklists for car cleaning, glove compartment, and trunk essentials.

Here’s a checklist of how to spring clean the car.

Wash the exterior, the undercarriage, and the wheel wells of the car
Clean the interior by removing trash, vacuum seats, and floor mats. Clean windows with ammonia-free cleaner.
Change wiper blades (recommended every six months)
Check tires for wear and tire pressure
Inspect the ventilation system, including the cabin’s air filter
Check and replace fluids

It’s especially important to know which cleaners and rags to use on the interior components.

Alcohol solutions that contain at least 70% alcohol
Soap and water
Microfiber cloths

AVOID: BLEACH, HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, AND AMMONIA-BASED CLEANERS.

Once you have cleaned the car, it’s time to put back the essentials.

GLOVE COMPARTMENT ESSENTIALS:

Car Manual and Maintenance Schedule
Proof of Insurance
Registration (without address)
Pen and Paper
Emergency Contacts
DPA’s (Durable Power of Attorney)
Medical Information
Flashlight
Window Punch and Seatbelt Cutter
Whistle

GLOVE COMPARTMENT CONVENIENCES:

Flashlight
Hand Sanitizer
Napkins, Wet Wipes, Tissues
Trash Bags
Snacks
Lint Roller

TRUNK ESSENTIALS:

Jumper Cables
Air Compressor and Tire Sealer
Duct Tape
To-Go Bag (72-Hour Kit)
Reflective Triangles and Flares
First Aid Kit
Flashlight
Multi-Tool or Tool Kit (screwdriver, hammer, wrench, and pliers)
Extra Cash ($40 minimum)
Old Cell Phone and Charger
Tire Pressure Gauge
Jack
Spare Tire
Lug Wrench
Wheel Chocks
Fire Extinguisher
Rags
Gallon of Antifreeze
Winter Readiness Kit (Shovel, Blanket, Gloves, Ice Scraper, Sand or Salt)

TRUNK CONVENIENCES:

Trunk organizer.
Cooler.

Spring cleaning for the car every April will bring many safety and health benefits. Remember, National Car Care Month comes every October too. Safe driving.

SOLD – Reflections of a Beloved Home

After an extensive remodel, my beloved house sold on January 31, 2020. To my surprise, the sale came with a flood of surprising emotions.

My first thought was that the sale would bring me relief. After all, I started the renovation on September 4, 2019, and we didn’t get it on the market until November 11, 2019.

I have to say that November was the worst time of the year to put our home on the market. At this time, everyone is preparing for the holidays, not thinking about buying a home.

Another drawback was that many buyers wanted a house with a first-floor master suite. There was nothing we could do about that, so we had to be patient and wait for the right buyer.

It took over 80 days to sell, and this prevented us from moving forward with our house renovation in Ohio. So while I did feel a sense of relief, it wasn’t the foremost emotion.

The strongest emotion for me was a sense of sadness. I loved that house. It was a major upgrade from our starter home. We had a 2-car garage! We had a master bathroom suite with a garden tub! We had a small, manageable lot with green areas on two sides. It was perfectly situated close to three highways. It was a dream home.

Behind our backyard fence was a canal that fed the city water runoff to the lake, so there were many species of wildlife in our area. Every first week in May we witnessed the hatching of red-eared slider turtles in our front yard.

This house was where we got our first dog, Lucy. Even though she had trouble with stairs, she doggedly climbed them so she could sleep outside our bedroom door.

We hosted many parties, like the one anniversary where we had two dozen people patiently playing Hedbanz, waiting for catering that never came.

We showed hospitality to two couples who came for the International Convention in Arlington, TX. We shared pictures of our life in West Africa and they shared their experiences of living in post-Apartheid South Africa. One couple confided that it was their first time in a white man’s home. Oh dear.

At this time no home is a “forever home” for me. Now I am looking forward to the forever future where we will experience the promise at Isaiah 65:21, 22 which says: “They will build houses and live in them. And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree. And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.”

My Life as a Renovator

I recently made a two week trip to Euless, TX to oversee a remodel of one of our houses. This house was in need of foundation repair, a new roof, exterior brick and stone repair, landscaping, and general modernizing.

My husband, who has many talents in the construction field, suggested, “You should stay in the house while it is being renovated.”

“Are you kidding me? No one, I repeat, no one would think that is a good idea.”

So, I texted a bunch of friends and told them my plans. My friend asked, “Where will you be staying?”

I said, “With you?”

“Sure, come on down!”

And so, I stayed with her and her children, four dogs and a cat. One child graciously gave me her room, which, as it turned out, it was for purely mutually beneficial reasons. I got a private room, and she liked sleeping with her mom.

Another friend made an observation, “You sure do a lot of renovations.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, you did that house in Dallas.”

Oh yeah, that house. It was a rental in the “hood” as one realtor described it, and it took me an hour to drive there. That was a grueling renovation with foundation repair, painting inside and out, and new everything.

But the sale of that house enabled us to buy another house in Euless, which turned out to be another complete rehab.

Gasp, I really do a lot of renovations!

So, realizing now that renovating houses has defined me, the blog will take a new turn: My Life as a Renovator.

Stay tuned for my search for the perfect property in Columbus, OH, which will be, what else? A rehab.

Becoming a Social Butterfly

Our apartment complex has a lounge area that tenants can reserve after the leasing office closes. Since we had little furniture in our apartment, we decided the lounge would be an excellent place to host gatherings. We arrived on a Wednesday (Nov 21) and had our first gathering on Sunday (Nov 25).

Lounge artwork

Our first gathering was with a family with whom I met the wife when she was visiting in Dallas for work. The lounge kitchen has a refrigerator, microwave, and oven, but no stove top. I made the food in my own kitchen and brought it downstairs. I served spaghetti with meat sauce, chicken Florentine farfalle, and cherry pie for dessert.

Kitchen

We ate our dinner at the long table and slowly got to know one another. But because of our shared faith, what started off as complete strangers became family by the end of the evening. We were very touched and surprised when they gave us an Ohio State throw blanket as a welcome gift.

Our first gathering, our new family

Of course, you don’t really know someone until you have played ping pong with them.

Ping pong table

More features of the lounge include a couple of tables, a fireplace and sitting area.

Long table

Fireplace

Sitting area

To date, we have reserved the lounge six times. It works out to be one gathering every two weeks. That’s amazing!

Some of the highlights were when we asked each one to tell us their most embarrassing school moment. S.’s experience beat us all out. He threw rocks at the geese to get them off the playing field, but you know, geese don’t like that sort of thing, so they ganged up on him while the whole playground watched.

Our last gathering was a Chili Cook-Off. I had fun buying kitchen/cooking-like prizes. Basically, prizes for all! We voted on four chilis, and our friend E. won with what she called “Jamaican Me Crazy.” She was so surprised, but I wasn’t; she is an extraordinary cook.

We also played a game similar to “Speed Dating” but since we aren’t dating, we are just getting to know each other, I called it “Speed Friending.” We paired up and talked for five minutes each time. N., a junior in high school told me he saves 75% of his pay and spends 25%. His brother, Z., a senior, saves 50% of his pay and spends 50%. Outstanding!

This weekend we are having a Soup Cook-Off, so I am off to buy some prizes. Stay tuned!

Moving from Texas to Ohio

It’s been two months since we moved from Euless, Texas to Columbus, Ohio, and yes, the moving process was stressful. In fact, it was a wonder I didn’t get sick. Get ready for some academics, in 1967, two psychiatrists, Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe, researched the link between stress and illness. The Holmes and Rahe stress scale lists life events and assigns a number to the stress levels they cause. Once added up, the number predicts the risk of sickness.

The stresses I underwent included death of a close family member (63); change in different line of work (36); major mortgage (31); child leaving home (29); change in residence (20); change in church activities (18); and change in social activities (17) = 214.

The score of 150-299+ predicts the risk of illness is moderate.

I had to put my beloved dog, Lucy to sleep. My husband changed his work (hence, the move). We obtained a mortgage on a commercial property. Our only child remained in Texas to finish school. We downsized from a house to an apartment. We changed congregations. We determined to amp up our social activities.

The stress of packing was lessened by the help of our friends. My husband packed everything in a 16-foot Penske truck and a car carrier for our drive to Columbus.

We left on Tuesday morning, November 20^th at 5:30 am and drove straight through to Columbus, my husband insisting on driving the whole way. Actually, I was relieved he did that, as I didn’t realize how many 18-wheelers traveled across the country each day. Note to long-distance car travelers: wear sunscreen. Rats! Now I have a big freckle on my nose because I didn’t wear sunscreen.

I wonder what number the Holmes and Rahe scale would assign to that? Freckle on nose (86).

Hogging the road

When we opened the truck, I discovered it was only three-quarters full. I wished I had paid more attention to when the truck was being loaded, as I could have, and would have filled it completely. The moving guys took two hours to move our stuff to our fourth-floor apartment.

Apartment complex

Truck and car carrier

The truck was filled three-quarters full

Now, the fun part began with the unpacking. I was pleased to see that the closets were spacious. My husband decided he wanted the closet on the guest room/office side and the bathroom. I was to get the master bedroom closet and bathroom, which had the bathtub. However, I regret I left a lot behind. And after unpacking, I regret taking some things. I mean, I brought 45 rags! Whaat!?!

Unpacking

We bought a TV at Best Buy. The Black Friday sales were in effect, so the next day we went furniture shopping. I don’t regret leaving my sofa set (circa 2000) behind and starting afresh. We chose two office chairs, a coffee table, a loveseat and two side chairs from West Elm. We brought home the office chairs and one side chair immediately, but the rest will come in 8-10 weeks. Ugh.

I mentioned earlier that we planned to increase our social activities. Our apartment complex has a lounge we can reserve, and we have been taking good advantage of the amenity. My next post will talk about how I am transforming into a social butterfly.

Breaking My Hiatus from Blogging

Hey, sorry it’s been two months since I last posted. My last post asked some hard questions, and I will answer them here:

How will I downsize? I downsized from a 3-bedroom/2-bath house of 1,600 s.f. to a 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment of 897 s.f. As you may know, with my problem with papers, I had a hard time getting through them. My husband said, “Just take what you will need and leave the rest.” That’s not an easy thing to do. The “hoarder” in me said I needed to touch every piece of paper. I wanted to just pack them all up to deal them later, but nooo, he wouldn’t let me do it.

What should I do with my things? A couple of friends want to make money so they can attend an international convention next year, so what better way to help them than to donate my things to their garage sale?

How will my son stay behind to finish the fall and spring semesters? My son has to finish his schooling in Fort Worth, so he stayed behind. It’s a long story, but he is staying in two places, one is a trailer near the school, and the other is an RV that he stays in on the weekends.

What about Lucy, my golden retriever? For weeks I tried to get her rehomed through the Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas. But being 14 years old, and arthritic, it came down to that she was in pain, and her quality of life wasn’t good anymore. I made the painful decision to have her put to sleep. An upcoming post will celebrate my life with Lucy.

Can I handle the cold weather of Ohio? Let’s be real: it’s cold in Ohio. I haven’t worn stockings since 1987. But I got a set of thermal underwear and a pair of rubber boots, so I’m good to go.

So there you have all the answers you were dying to know for the last two months!

Fall 2018 Moving Challenge

This post started off as “Fall 2018 Cleaning Challenge Week 4” to talk about decluttering my office, but I have some big news:

WE ARE MOVING TO COLUMBUS, OHIO!!!

Now, decluttering the office has changed to downsizing our possessions by 1,000 square feet. We have two weeks to pack and then make the 16-hour drive in a car and U-Haul to move into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment that is within walking distance of work.

It’s been a difficult process going through our stuff. I’m a glass collector, so I have glass vases and paperweights from the 80’s. I have photo albums and pictures, craft paper, and stickers.

I also have stationery and letters. I have practically every letter, wedding invitation, birth announcement, and graduation card I have ever received, so my hanging folder box weighs 10.8 pounds and I cannot fit one more card into it. When I hoisted it up to show my husband, he did his best imitation of Sheriff Brody from Jaws and said, “You’re gonna need a bigger box.”

My husband has computer books and Bible notes he took where he wrote in microscopic-size lettering. I offered to scan them, but he said no.

My son has put many possessions on Letgo. He has sold a number of items such as a motorcycle jacket and LEGO. He is willing to let go of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid set and LEGO books.

He wanted to sell our Yeti cooler, but my husband said, “No way! Mom and I are going to use that when we go on all of our camping excursions.”

Crickets chirping…that would be a hard NO.

We’ve gotten rid of childhood books, magazines, a coffee table and two side tables. But no one seems to want DVD’s anymore.

I’ve discovered I have an obscene number of notebooks, papers, and pens. It’s not completely my fault. Every time my husband went to a vendor event, he came home with them. Then there’s all the notebooks the teachers required we get for our kid for the school year. You have to buy one for each subject. After a number of years, I stomped my foot and said, “NO, I will not buy any more of these notebooks!” Or #2 wood pencils. All the kids started using mechanical pencils, so what was the point of buying them?

Notebooks and papers and pens, oh my!

The house is in a mess. Our Akita, Kumo managed to sneak into my bedroom and gnaw on some of my jewelry boxes. I think this week he has been in my room more times than in the last 9 months. Fortunately, he didn’t swallow any jewelry. Imagine me for the next two weeks, walking behind him every time he did his business, to find my emerald ring….

I still count the number of things I discard. Why? It increases the likelihood of succeeding.

“Measurement itself creates improvement.”

“Track a specific outcome makes it more likely to improve.”

Here’s my results:

Total things gotten rid of: 670
10 lbs. of papers
Packed 5 boxes

The downsizing has been hard, both physically and emotionally, but in the end, I believe it will be beneficial.

2018 Fall Cleaning Challenge Week 3 Review – Getting Rid of 1,000 Things

I reached my goal of getting rid of 1,000 things by clearing out another file drawer.

This particular drawer had all kinds of manuals. I thought, “When was the last time I referred to any of these?”

My husband said, “Just throw them all away.”

“What about this shower mixer for the upstairs apartment?”

“Oh yeah, keep that.”

Hmph. Most of them went to the garbage.

I did learn something though, just by thumbing through the dishwasher manual, and that is if you prewash your dishes (I do) that your glassware could become permanently cloudy. The reason is that detergent needs food soil to act upon. If it’s not acting on the food, then it’s acting on the dishes. Wow!

I worked in intervals of 20 minutes, playing my music mix on YouTube. This usually consisted of Live from Daryl’s House, an Internet TV show that features Daryl Hall performing with his band and various guest artists at his home, and now club in New York. Sigh. That guy is a genius. Everyone looks like they are having so much fun.

Which I was not. Having fun, that is.

At times I felt like I was in hand-to-hand combat. Which come to think about it, I was. My shredder was still broken, so I had to shred confidential papers by hand. I imagined that I could become a victim of identity theft if I didn’t shred these papers and mix them with coffee grounds and bacon grease.

This drawer was a mish-mash of stuff. Here’s what I found:

Paperwork for a mattress we purchased in 2000.
My son’s fourth-grade Lexile reading score was 370 above the grade mean.
The amount of garbage I threw away weighed 5lbs.
I collected another ream size amount of scrap paper. Go QUSP!

In conclusion, I wonder why it is so hard for me to do this. One blogger, Diane Henkler, decluttered her entire basement in three weeks.

I decluttered two file drawers in three weeks. Ugh!

The goal of getting rid of 1,000 things is done, but it is just one aspect of decluttering my entire office. I’ll continue the challenge and will conquer.

Struggles with Lawn Care Part 4 – Baby’s First Haircut

It’s been three months since I embarked on my journey to a beautiful front yard. The weather was unusually rainy, and the drought monitor shows that our area improved from severe drought to abnormally dry.

My husband mowed the lawn for the first time in three months. It was a lesson in patience, because the lawn had looked scruffy. But when I went to inspect it, it was quite lush in some spots. The smell and feel of the grass reminded me of my childhood, when I would I place my pink blanket down, lay face up, and look at the clouds.

Anyway, in advance of the picture, I was determinedly clipping grass with scissors when my neighbor, Debbie came over and said, “Hey, that’s monkey grass you’re clipping. You’re cheating!”

“Debbie, if I wanted to cheat, I would have sprayed the bare spots with green paint.” We both laughed.

Actually, that’s a thing—spraying dirt green, it’s called hydro spraying. You know, when you see the trucks spraying a green, foamy liquid on areas around highways to plant grass seed. There’s a home version, called Hydro Mousse, but every review you read says it doesn’t work. I’ll pass.

So, here are the before and after pictures:

June 19th front lawn

September 19^th front lawn

I think my “baby’s first haircut” looks fabulous.

I bought some variegated Hosta to plant around one of the trees. First, I dug out some monkey grass and transferred St. Augustine to bare spots. I have clover, called oxalis with pink flowers that some call a weed, but I like it. Really, a weed is just a plant that is growing where it is not wanted. I want them, just not in the lawn. So, I dug these up and placed them in pots around the tree.

Amazingly, an hour after I planted the Hosta I could already see growth.

My future posts about the front yard won’t have the word ‘struggles” in the title. I think I have contended and come off the victor.