Feb 09 2008
Upon closer inspection…
In the spirit of divesting myself of material goods, I tackled the kitchen this week. Material things, in and of themselves, are not bad. However, hoarding items is. My goal was to sort out a few good things and pass them on to local charities.
It soon became hilarious how many things I DON’T USE are in my kitchen cabinets and cupboards. When my parents were here in the fall, my mother commented that I have a variety of cleaning supplies and really only need a few basics.
That’s nothing compared to my kitchenware. I’m keeping what matches my new set of dishes. Good-bye, personalized coffee cups! (I haven’t needed them since I stopped working at a big company where things tended to disappear.) Good-bye, hamburger press! Adios, glass carafe!
There are also duplicates. I have two wooden cutting boards, one of which I didn’t unwrap at the housewarming. Sissy sent me a beautiful set of towels (handpicked by her hubby JoeCool) for my birthday, so I put the others into a box and the stained ones into the ragbag. My elder brother and his family gave me a quesadilla maker just like the one I already have, so the unopened Christmas present will go.
It’s tempting to keep these things. For example, I’m apt to scratch the Teflon coating on the quesadilla maker, since I use it so often. But then again, it’s tempting to keep EVERYTHING for myself and give nothing away.
Hand-me-downs are another matter. A juicer, a badly tarnished tea strainer, a dented colander, a McDonald’s glass from when Jim Carey played the Riddler… My friends and relatives passed on their odds and ends; it’s easy to pass them on again!
St. Vincent de Paul in Port Huron gave me a number for pick-up of furniture. So that will be next week’s project.
