Stuff, Stuff, and the postcard

I am one of those annoyingly organized people who not only Spring cleans, but also Summer cleans, Fall cleans, and Winter cleans. My holiday decorations are stored in plastic totes with a color scheme matching the holiday (pastel pinks and purple hold Easter, red and green hold Christmas, etc. etc.). No one gets more excited than me when I get a postcard in the mail asking for donations to be put out--hello, an excuse to purge my house! Woohoo! *happy dance*. Those of you who have been camping with me no the happy dance in all it's glory (and sometimes after several beers...).

One of these postcards came last week and I put it on the fridge, so I'd remember the day. Yes, I sickingly had things already purged in anticipation of the next postcard. But then I got to thinking...

How is it that every time one of these postcards come, I have things to donate? How did I accumulate so many items that I don't need or use? Of course, clothes fade, children outgrow them along with shoes, parts become missing for toys, or just lose the interest of the child. But what about the rest? Do we really need 33 coffee mugs when we only use the same 5 over and over? How do I have body lotions from Bath and Body works that are not even made anymore? Where the heck did all these tupperware and rubbermaid containers come from? Well, some may actually be my mom's and just never made it back over there....enough with the excuses!

I recycle, my garage and shed are filled with empty yankee candle and pickle jars that now hold screws, nuts, bolts, and other items, I re-use foil and sandwich bags for heaven's sake! But yet, I have 33 coffee mugs. My husband doesn't even say anything anymore when Winter comes and blankets mysteriously disappear from our house. He knows I have given them to some man sleeping on a downtown bench, or the guy who sleeps in his car in the metroparks. But yet, I still have a closet full of nothing but blankets? Let's not talk about my shoes...

Maybe it's time to simplify. Does anyone need coffee mugs?