Donating, Glass Jars, and Saving the World One Chew at a Time

This past week I've been cleaning house in places that I usually neglect such as the dining room, utility room, and our bedroom.  I usually take time to clean Brazos and Sandy's room but when it comes to my room I just start making piles. 

I had a huge pile of clothes on the floor on my side of the bed, maily because I don't have any space for it.  The teeny tiny closet if full.  The two dresser drawers are full and under the bed there is just no more room.  I know it sounds like I have a lot of space with a closet, 2 dressers, and under the bed, but if you saw my tiny room you would understand that I really have no space. 

So this pile next to my bed was consumed of skirts and dresses that no longer fit.  I have an attachment to clothing, which I think comes from my grandmother, to wear I remember why I bought each piece and I just can't seem to part with it.  For example, I had the skirt that wore on my first day of teaching in my very own classroom.  I loved that skirt but I'm pretty sure i won't fit back into it.  I tell myself that maybe Sandy will like it one day, but then I realize that it'll be another 20 years until she can wear it and that's a long time away.  Then I ask myself what do I want to leave around for Sandy as momentos and I know pictures and stories of our lives is more important than leaving her my clothing.  She'll get my wedding dress which she may like more than an old skirt. 

So I decided that I would donate my clothing to Hospice Boutique in downtown Brenham.  After I gave the sweet ladies my boxes, as I was walking out I heard them talking about what nice clothing I had in the boxes and how I folded them so neatly.  It made me feel good about donating it...and I began to walk a little slower to hear what else they might say. ;) 

At night, it felt good to not have a pile of clothes to step over, although I still find myself wanting to take a big step over the clothing....it must have been there for a while to have a habit of stepping over it.

I also have a hard time parting with Brazos and Sandy's clothing.  I did get one bag full of clothing, blankets, and some maternity clothes that I was going to donate to Sweet Repeats, the children's resale clothing store downtown.  When I brought her the bag she only accepted about 1/3 of it which bummed me out a bit, because it was a big deal for me to get rid of some of it.  I'll give it to MOPS for their annual garage sale.

When shopping for Sandy's baby food I came across this:

I was so excited!  At first I had filled the cart with the plastic Gerber containers which I hate.  Every time you open those containers they squirt some food out which usually lands on my clothing.  I miss the glass jars.  Just as I was about to walk away I saw this box hiding on the shelf.  You can buy a box of veggies and a box of fruits with 16 GLASS JARS each.

Then as I was checking out this gum and mints caught my eye. 

I've seen it before, but I read the fine print carefully this time and as I placed it on the conveyor belt I felt like I just made the choice to save the world.  When I popped a piece of chewing gum in my mouth I got that feeling again, "I just planted a tree!"  The gum plants 7 trees and the mints feeds 7 people.  Amazing!