101 Things in 1001 Days

15. Clean out huge bin in closet

Completed 4 July 2011

I bought this bin in autumn of 2007, which I only remember because it was shortly after my husband's foot surgery. I'd hoped to use it as something for him to sit on in the shower, but it wasn't sturdy enough. Instead, I went through some random other storage places and filled this thing up. It fit perfectly in my closet, but over the years it's become a bit of a dumping ground: I peek into the closet, lift the lid, and just toss stuff in. I didn't even know what all was in there anymore.

To make matters worse, last summer I was invited to a bridal shower for a dear friend, and we were asked to send in old photos of the bride. My photo albums are all inside the huge bin. Rather than pull the entire bin out and go through it, I just lifted the lid and reached in blindly, hauling out albums (which were on the bottom, natch) at random, then tossing them back in again when I was finished.

I don't know what I did, but I do know that the lid no longer closed after that.

So anyway, the other night I decided to get brave and haul the stupid thing out. I knew it would be a Big Job, probably lasting most of the weekend. But I was determined.

This project ended up being part of a larger purge resulting in 1 overstuffed recycle bin, 1 overstuffed trash can, 4 bags of additional trash, 4 bags for Goodwill, 2 boxes of books and magazines for the Book Thing, and a fair number of other items to sell individually (such as a sewing machine and a region-free DVD player). The bin only contains about half of its former contents (which are photo albums and diaries, so it's not light) plus some additional (lighter) stuff like a big comforter and my diploma from graduate school.

It's weird the stuff you save. I found a bunch of extra wedding invitations - my own wedding, that is, the one I had over five years ago. It felt weird tossing them but what am I going to do with them? Likewise with the random little plastic toys. I don't know how I amassed so many as an adult, but they're just dust-catchers to me now.

The closet is far from done, but at least the bin and surrounding area are all taken care of. It was long overdue.

I spend way too much time thinking about my 101/1001 list. Way more time than actually doing any of them, that's for sure. But I noticed that some of them depend on others. I have no idea if this will be interesting to anyone else, but it interests me, so I'm posting about it. :)

15. Clean out huge bin in closet
54. Scan/log pre-Markeroni snarfs
47. Reach 4000 snarfs on Markeroni

See, the huge bin in my closet contains, among (many) other things, my photo albums. This is where all my pre-Markeroni snarf photos are, so one is pretty much required for the other. And of course every snarf I log adds to the total, which helps me reach 4000.

23. Finish reading the Bible
28. Read 1 non-Christian book for BRRP

I don't like interrupting my current read in the BRRP, so one must be completed before the other can start.

44. Complete Thing-a-Day
31. Fill TAD sketchbook

The "TAD" in TAD Sketchbook stands for "thing-a-day," as that's what I used it for initially. And probably will again.

80. See a play at Shakespeare Theatre
81. See a show at the Kennedy Center
82. See a show at Wolf Trap
85. Attend 5 plays

Granted, what I see at Kennedy and Wolf Trap won't necessarily be plays, there's a good chance they will.