All Consuming

Our blog project group has once again changed by one member, but I'm still calling it Blog Project 3.0. The newest member is Darwin Shrugged, a friend of Froggie's. I recently got to know her better through "52 Stories" and I look forward to what she has to say on the upcoming topics.

This week I chose the topic: I recently heard about a book called The 100 Thing Challenge.
Since 100 is a lot to think about, I've decided to narrow it down and change things up a bit.
Write about either "10 things you CAN'T live without" OR "10 things you CAN live without." These "things" have to be items that you spend money on (not people or metaphorical concepts).

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic:
Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

The day after I chose this topic, there was an awful explosion near the town where I grew up. Apparently, there was a natural gas odor in the air and the woman living in the house said she saw something on fire and went across the street to call 911. Lucky for her that she left when she did because her house exploded. From what I heard, the source of the explosion is still a mystery. Still, that's scary to have such a near miss and to also lose everything you own in one fell swoop. I know one's life is the most important thing and that houses can be rebuilt and material things can be replaced. However, there are some things you just want to keep because they contain special memories. A couple of years ago, for a blog project topic, we were asked to write about what we'd take with us if we had to evacuate our home and what we'd miss most if our house were destroyed. Here's what I had to say on that.

In relation to this rather timely and horrendous incident, it's hard to really think about the items I can or cannot live without. Thinking about just losing everything at once is unimaginable. Having to start over like that would just feel so overwhelming. I had a whole list planned out before the incident happened and now I don't know if any of that really matters. I am thankful for all I have and could definitely go without most of the material items I possess. Sure, I'd miss some items here and there, but not as much as the house I've lived in for almost five years and that has seen good times with family, a new child, several birthdays, many TV show binge-fests, countless Shabbat and holiday meals, lots of great friends, etc.

What The 100 Thing Challenge tells me right now is that I need to cut back on clutter and stop hoarding so much. Last weekend, we donated a bunch of clothes, books, games, household items, and other random stuff to my favorite thrift store. It felt good to get that all out of the house. I still have bags and boxes of childrens' clothes to give to some friends. I also have a lot of books that are just waiting for Chick Lit Central to hit 2000 likes on Facebook (hint, hint...). Even while going through stuff to donate, I kept telling my husband to hold on to things because we might use them. Then my older son is telling me to have a yard sale and I told him we really need to go through all the stuff in our basement before we even consider doing that. Sometimes the amount of stuff we have in our home is more overwhelming than the idea of losing it all and having to start from scratch. Going back to #FirstWorldProblems, right? Our cleaning service is coming next week. All the more reason to get organized again and maybe set aside stuff that can be donated or sold (at the yard sale my older son thinks is so easy to put together).

In lieu of this, I am going to do a giveaway. You'll be receiving some random stuff, but it will be a surprise. Nothing too scary, I promise. :)

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter this giveaway. You must be a follower of this blog to qualify.

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US only. Giveaway ends May 6th at midnight EST.