Reality Workout

So, I have had a few days to work on the chubby fingers. Please...do you really think I will post that I have worked out everyday, lifted weights and ate only things that are green? If so then I think you need to go take a look at my profile. I am not exactly the athletic type. To start off with I get nose bleeds just watching a baseball game let alone playing the sport. I am only interested in running if it entails someone throwing $100 bills out of a window and then it better be enough of them to let me think I might be able to get one. Not to mention this mostly bionically engineered right leg of mine stays inflamed and only throbs when the grass needs cutting or leaves need raking. I try to give it as much rest as I can without letting the housework get ahead of me or the grass and leaves overtaking the house. But back to chubby finger syndrome. Nope, I haven't exercised a lot but I haven't sat around doing nothing either. I have been taking apart my kitchen a little at a time. I have one of those stock kitchens that you see at the local DIY store. It is approximately 10x10 in size and has very few cabinets. Not to mention that it was built in the 70's when having a kitchen was just a necessity to sell a house, people never really spent any time in them. I know a man with a sense of humor must have designed my kitchen because a woman would have never made lower cabinets that went further back than her arm could reach. In any case I have decided to see if I can de-clutter and add function to what is now a minimally functional space. Let me place a warning in at this point. Before undertaking this task make sure you have your mind set and nothing can change it about throwing things away. Do Not let yourself get sentimental about anything you may find hiding in cabinet areas that are not easily accessible. Now with that said, how did I ever end up with so many coffee cups?! At any given time in the history of our family there has never been more than 5 or 6 coffee drinkers in my house at one time. I found at least 40 coffee cups and mugs. You may think I am exaggerating and maybe it was a few less, but not much less. Think about it...if you buy a set of dishes for a normal size family they usually come in 8 piece place settings. There is a reason behind this, most people only have 8 people eating or drinking in the house. Of course if you look at holidays there are usually crowds of family members, but the catch to this is you always make them eat from paper plates and use plastic cups. Why then should your cabinets be so full of the things you don't use? Here is where the warning comes into play. Remember all those vacations you took when the kids were little? Remember when you just had to have something besides the millions of pictures you took to remind you of this special time together? Remember standing in that souvenir shop thinking if you bought a coffee cup or a plastic glass you would be instantly transported back to that fun filled, relaxing afternoon on the beach? Let me let you in on a little known secret. That is why those places sell dishes. They know you better than you know yourself. Unless you have your very own time machine in the garage that vacation is gone, the pictures are still in the envelope they came in and you are out valuable cabinet space. Now take all those vacation memories and donate them to someone. Go on a recently popular site that will tell you how to take all of your old cups and glasses and turn them into works of art that will have the Smithsonian knocking on your door one day pleading to display them. Ok, so I took that a bit far, but I have seen some really nice things made with cups and saucers. For instance, don't pay the Dollar Store to feed your birds, glue a cup sideways on a saucer and hang it outside for them. Heck don't hang it set it on the railing and let the cat eat too. Animal lovers don't hate, I love my little demon of a cat and I seriously get upset when she brings me an offering of anything dead. I have also found out something about people in general while cleaning out cabinets and throwing away clutter. We hoard crazy stuff! I'm talking about things that we should really be ashamed of because it is a waste. I am going to ask a question here and I want you to really think about it for a second? When we get take out for home meals why do we always save the left over, unopened utensils and condiments? At what point do we tell the server to keep these things because we have enough at home? Better yet, why do we have enough at home? Because we never had that apocalypse that we were going to survive by living off of packets of ketchup, taco sauce, soy sauce, duck sauce, Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper flakes. Don't forget we never dug that fall out shelter with the plastic spoons we saved. As I write this I am thinking how bad this must sound. No I am not one of those people you see on the television that has to crawl through small spaces to get in and out of my house. I don't have a strong emotional attachment to a card board box of old newspapers. I am just someone like some of you that have come home from a long day with a take out sack that some teenager has packed full of sauce, set it aside and in the back of my mind maybe thought better save it because they may only put one in next time. Yes, I have let things get a little back logged. Think of it this way though, I am getting one heck of a workout throwing stuff away. In the end it's not a membership to a fancy gym that will help me lose the chubby fingers, but days filled with accomplishment knowing that now I can find what I am looking for in my kitchen. Wait...Where did I put those cookies?