Tag: humor

Minimalist Challenge, Puttin’ on the Ritz Day 26

Last night Studly Doright and I were watching the University of Kansas basketball team play Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship on television. It was a great, too-close-for-comfort game, and Studly worked up a powerful hunger while cheering for the Jayhawks.

Late in the second half he asked, “Do we have any snacks? I feel like I need to eat something if we’re going to win this game.”

Rather than throwing something at him or telling him to get his own damned snack I hoisted myself out of my chair and went in search of some munchies. The first likely snacks I came upon were several boxes of Ritz cheese crackers and a few more of the peanut butter version.

We don’t normally keep these on hand, but I recalled buying them in preparation for hurricane survival last summer. There’s nothing like a Ritz cracker to see you through the dark times, am I right?

Before asking Studly if the crackers would fill the bill for his snack I thought to check the expiration dates. November 17, 2017, was stamped on each box. So while they didn’t get to fulfill their destiny as snacks, the crackers were pressed into service for today’s minimalist challenge.

Twenty-three packages of Ritz crackers plus three of the boxes in which they were stored makes a total of 26 items for February 26.

I found Studly another snack, and the resulting energy revived him enough to power the Jayhawks through to a two-point victory over the Red Raiders and KU’s 14th straight conference championship. I doubt they’ll publicly thank us, though.

Minimalist Challenge, Day 25: A Sticky Situation

On day 25 I’m getting rid of items I used while working for a reading research program in Tallahassee. These stickers along with the non-refillable mechanical pencils and the plastic box I toted them around in, have been hanging around my closet for the past year doing absolutely nothing except taking up space.

My youngest grandchild might want the stickers, the regular pencils, and the pink box, but the mechanical pencils are going into the trash.

I suspect that if I’d counted individual stickers instead of sticker sheets I could have scored a lot more points, but honestly, who wants to do that? Plus, I’m not too worried about having enough detritus to meet my goals. This has been much too easy, and that’s kind of sad.

Peace, people!

Minimalist Challenge, Day 24

Today I’m ridding myself of a group of decorative items, a couple of pieces of clothing, three Texas license plates, an empty perfume bottle, and half a dozen empty boxes. There are actually more than 24 items in the mix on this 24th day of February because once again I made a purchase (perfume, because the old bottle was empty) that was merely a want and not a need; although, some would argue that perfume is a must have. I love to smell pretty, but I don’t mind going sans scent, either.

About half of today’s haul will go to Goodwill and some will go to the recycling bin. As long as they’re all gone, I’m a happy camper.

There are only four more days to go in the February challenge, and I feel like I’ve barely made a dent in the acclimated clutter. I’m still trying to decide if I’ll begin anew in March.

Minimalist Challenge, Guinness Day 23

I promise these Guinness bottle caps have been collected over many, many weeks, not a matter of a few days. There are 23, plus eight to compensate for two frivolous purchases I made on Thursday.

These bottle caps have been taking up space in a kitchen drawer and will be forwarded to Studly Doright’s youngest sister, the beautiful and witty Amy, in Texas. Amy is a creative soul who will turn these Guinness caps into a work of art.

Of course, some would argue, they already are a work of art. And the Guinness? Sublime.

Peace, people.

Minimalist Challenge, Day 22: A Disturbance in the Force

As I journey deeper into February with the Minimalist Challenge, I’ve begun to realize how much I cling to certain unnecessary things: empty boxes, shopping bags, expired spices. Ridding myself of those kinds of items, though, caused me little to no angst. Today’s choices, by comparison, almost made me cry.

I’m a Star Wars geek, having lost count of the number of times I’ve watched episodes IV, V, and VI. And during the desolate years between the film Return of the Jedi (episode VI) and the prequel series beginning with The Phantom Menace (episode I), I consoled myself by reading books about the Star Wars universe.

The collection pictured above is but a drop in my personal Star Wars bucket. The books commence where Return of the Jedi ended and follow the intrepid rebels and their imperial enemies on one adventure after another. Some of the books are outstanding, stand alone novels that would have made great follow up movies to the original series. I fervently hoped the story lines in these George Lucas approved novels would be pursued on the big screen. Alas, the writers and directors went a different route.

I’m going to see if my grandson wants these books. If he doesn’t I’ll donate them to the Goodwill book store. Farewell. May the Force be with them.

Peace, people.

Wakulla Springs Ride

Yesterday while poor Studly Doright had to toil away at the office I rode my CanAm Spyder RT out to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. From our home outside of Tallahassee it’s only about 42 miles to the park, and best of all, most of the ride was on shaded back roads with very light traffic.

Once at Wakulla Springs I walked around the park, had a light lunch, and enjoyed the scenic boat ride before starting home. I had intended to take photos for the blog, but using my cell phone as a gps ran my battery awfully low, so I only snapped a few pics:

A beautiful blue heron

A not-so-beautiful, but impressive gator

A tree framed by the window of the boat

Next time I’ll take along a charger for my phone. There were so many more shots that had to be foregone.

This was my second adventure on my Spyder, and I’m really beginning to enjoy the ride. I’m much more visible to drivers on this machine, and that’s always a good thing. The Spyder has plenty of power, and I feel comfortable in the seat. The only thing I haven’t tested yet is its performance on the interstate. Soon.

This is me pre-ride on the Spyder, before I put on all my gear:

My brother commented that I look tiny on the bike. Yay! For once something makes my butt look small.

Peace, people.

Minimalist Challenge, Lizard in the Mix Day 21

Today’s haul came mostly from my closet. Included are two pair of seldom worn shoes, along with my defective motorcycle boots (I lost the sole from the left boot on Saturday https://nananoyz5forme.com/2018/02/18/anyone-know-a-good-blacksmith/), a T-shirt, and a couple of bags, a book on tape, several cosmetic items, and three heart shaped paper doilies. And then there’s the lizard.

Here’s a closeup:

He’s dead. Apparently one of the cats brought him in and left him as a precious gift for me. I damned near stepped on him while carrying fresh sheets from the dryer to the bedroom. Nothing good would have come from that.

So Mr. Lizard, along with the piece of toilet paper I used to pick him up are being tossed today. Never a dull moment at Doright Manor.

Peace, people.

Minimalist Challenge, Spicy Day 20

Day 20 is brought to you by spices! All 20 of these spices expired ages ago. Some as far back as 2015!

At least three of the jars pictured above contain sage. I use sage once or twice a year to season the cornbread dressing that serves as a staple of our holiday meals. Every year I purchase a new container of sage, using perhaps two or three tablespoons for the recipe. So these expired containers were practically full. What a waste, but dressing without sage is blah fare, indeed.

On the plus side, I just opened up a big space in my spice cabinet!

Peace, people!

The Struggle is Real. And Purrs.

Our cat, Scout Elizabeth, has a fondness, and an almost radar-like detection ability, for freshly laundered sheets. No matter how much I attempt to make the bed without Scout’s assistance I never can pull it off.

I’d just gotten one of the fitted sheets on the bed this afternoon, thinking maybe this one time I’d get the job done with no interference, when Scout popped up and acted like she’d been there all afternoon by casually giving herself a bath.

She knew I’d continue making the bed, but did she care? Nope. Note the lump.

And even as I added the bedspread she stood her ground and purred.

I love this lump.

Peace, people.

Minimalist Challenge, Day 19

Nineteen items from the bathroom. Expired, unused, abandoned, but not discarded until today. Farewell to one and all.

The cosmetics bag has some goopy substance inside that won’t wash out, and the zipper no longer works.

The toothpaste belonged to my dad who passed away more than a decade ago. Was I keeping it for sentimental reasons? Who does that?

I’d kept the container to store stuff in. But I’m getting rid of stuff; therefore, there’s no need to keep a container in which to store said stuff.

The rest of the stuff is just stuff.

Peace, people.