40 bags in 40 days

Ever eager to rid my house of complications, I jumped on the 40 bags in 40 days bandwagon.  The simple idea is to rid your life of one bag of 'junk' a day for the 40 days before Easter.  This seems like a tough challenge, yet in a house like mine there is always junk needing to be removed.  Join me if you are feeling courageous--it's never too late to start de-junkifying.

So far, I've donated several bags, trashed a shredded wicker hamper and a broken kid chair.  Today was the toughest.  The day was gorgeous.  Superb.  Perfect.  It is mid-March in Cleveland, so anything above 40 would make my heart sing.  Today, I pranced into the sunshine with a temperature of 59!  Amazing.

This is the first day I've seen my grass in months.  That means my first glimpse of the business that happens in my backyard all winter.  That doggie business, covered with snow for months...it's been revealed.  I may not be the most responsible pet owner.  We feed, vaccinate, and love our dog.  We do not scoop poop during the winter months.  It's covered by a beautiful, cleansing blanket of white snow, so why bother?  Today, however, was the unveiling.  It was ugly, soggy, and smelly.

As the kids pulled their bikes from the garage, I found the scooping shovel and started.  My right arm began cramping somewhere around the swing set.  By the time I made it to the garden I decided that the fifth bag was enough, I didn't care if there was still more lurking around the kid's fort.  It can stay until the next spring-like day.  Plus, it doesn't mar the view from the house.

Forty bags in 40 days for the past few days has meant culling my magazines and going through toys.  Today...it meant ridding the environment of pounds and pounds of Golden Retriever feces.  I did learn several things during my hour long foray into the backyard wilderness.  Although I thought our kids were just careless with nerf bullets, they do indeed appear to be a tasty snack for the dog.  Second, our dog does enjoy entire meals comprised of paper products.  I think I found an entire roll of paper towels by the sandbox.  No kidding.  I don't know how or where he finds used napkins, but he's managing to scarf them down secretly.  I'm just thankful we are past the 'searching through the puppy's poo for the missing Lego mini-figure' stage.  That was nasty.

So, join me (and many others) for the 40 bags in 40 days, you never know of what you may rid yourself!