Five things

No, it's not a half-sized ten things list; it's a piece of advice I gave out recently. A certain person confided to me that he/she had a messy car. In fact, the trunk, she/he said, contained a relic from 4 years ago, namely a hot chocolate covered mug that probably still had remnants of the hot chocolate in it. And it was buried under years of detritus.

I told this person that every time he/she got out of the car, no matter where she/he was, he/she should grab five things from the car (not including things she/he was transporting from place to another such as DVDs to return and groceries).

This way, the giant task of cleaning a messy car was turned into a little thing like finding five things to either throw away or bring up to the apartment. And it gave the person permission not to worry about the trunk until the inside of the car was cleaned out. I also advised this person that when the layer pertaining to the hot chocolate cup was unearthed, that the cup should be taken immediately to the nearest dumpster. This person was not pleased; I believe the exact words were, "But I like that cup."

My reply was that if you haven't used it in three or four years, you only used it once, and haven't bothered to get it out and wash it, then YOU CAN DO WITHOUT IT. You've done without it for this long, it won't hurt to go the rest of your life without it. And there are other mugs out there.

So we shall see what happens. Will this person stick with it and have a clean car eventually? I have been asked to text reminders every so often.

Five things, people.

(I could use this system for the computer desk)

Easter lunch in a little while. Cinnamon rolls are rising. I hope they turn out. Gotta cut some veggies too.

Happy Easter to all! May the love of Christ abound in your life.

Comments

Jen said…
That's a great bit of advice. I always try to grab all the junk that accumulates in the front console/tray station, and I do pretty good at keeping up with that. Now, it's the backseat area that is an entirely different story. As much as I try to make the girls pick up their garbage anytime they have some, it never completely gets thrown away and eventually starts to pile up back there. And the crumbs and dropped snacks. Don't even get me started.

I have to say I agree with you about throwing that nasty cup away. We unearthed a maggot-covered baking stone last spring, and as much I loved that piece of stonewear I couldn't bring myself to ever use it again without thinking about how it used to house maggots. Ish, ish, ish, shiver!!!

Hope you all have a lovely time at Grandma's for the Easter bash. I really wish we could be there, but we've been traveling way too much these past few weeks to justify it.

P.S. Save me a cinnamon roll. Yum!
Jenni said…
Katie!!! Just clean it out. This summer I am cleaning out my upstairs closets!! I'm almost giddy with anticipation. I'm a believer in the "touch it once" concept. Morgan hasn't quite grasped it yet. I tell her, "If you take it off, put it in the hamper or hang it up. Just don't drop it on the floor because that just makes more work." sigh. We'll see if her roommate still likes her at the end of the summer.
TaterBean said…
Aunt Jenni! How did you know it was me?!? I guess it was fairly obvious...thanks MOM! :/
That mug thing was free from Normandale...for taking a Saturday class.