Cleaning Out the Closet for Winter

 I took a break from reorganizing the knitting room to try on winter clothes. Twice a year I tend to see what fits or is too worn out to last another season.  Today 9 shirts were too big. The body length of the shirts were not the problem. The shirts had gotten so big that the sleeves were 2 to 4 inches too long. Apparently folding my sleeves up to mid forearm or elbow is not a fashion thing. So the rule of thumb was if my hands can’t be seen the shirt must go. The were all nice shirts so they will be going to Goodwill on our next charity run.  The funny thing about this was most of the shirts were black.  Usually it’s the lighter colors that have gone in the past.  

Before we headed out to lunch we stopped by J.Jills for their sale.  I replaced a few of the shirts and some of my pants.  The funny thing about it was that except for some pants, nothing was black.  Did I mention that everything I got was on sale. Also everything was smaller. I noticed that an extra large petite is equivalent to a large in the regular size clothing, just shorter. This is just in case you were curious.  

I might not have lost as much weight this year as last year, but the inches seem to be catching up with the weight loss. It seems that in the moment of the weight loss inches do not come off. In the moment of inches lost does not mean that the scale is moving.  I will take the inches lost as part of the process. 

At lunch I found that I really hated the jalapeño pepper hummus.  It was a definite not ever going to eat that awful stuff again.  I am usually a big hummus fan and will try different add ins.  But this being Tucson and snowbird season weird stuff like the jalapeño pepper hummus land on the menu for the snowbirds. You will not find odd combinations on the menu in the middle of summer.  

In the knitting room I matched patterns with bags of yarn to set up more projects that need to be completed.  I also realized that I need to take everything out of the rolling cart and reorganize the entire cart.  That will wait until next week.  

It’s getting late do TTFN.  

Clothing Casualty

This pair of pants from Brynn Walker Is the first casualty of mine and of my new lifestyle plan. They will be heading off to the Goodwill box and when the box is full you’ll be able to find some really nice pants Goodwill.  I had to go through my closet a day to see what fit. I know they’re will be more of this in the future. 

I know we will be driving to Scottsdale for a shopping trip since the Tucson Bryn Walker got priced out of the rental market.  By the way the store is still sits empty.  Such a smart move by the owner’s rental property. 

A Weird Kinda Day

 Despite wakings up to a very bad body day the day turned out okay in the end.  By evening I was feeling better.  I managed to get 6 more rows of white knit on the baby blanket. No, I did not quite reach the color change yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  I know I have been saying that for a few days.  It is one of those infinite balls of yarn that just seem to stay almost the same no matter how many rows are knit. I also managed to get 50 % of my to do list done, although truth  be told John  did 50% of my work today.  

I have read the National Institute’s of Health report on inflammation and weight loss. Yet I am still perplexed as to why my clothing just keeps growing in the closet.  Like the pants I got around Mother’s Day.  When I bought them they sat at my waist and were 2 inches above my ankle. The bottom of the pant leg now sits at my ankle and the waist just hit the bottom of my rib cage.  I have not lost a pound yet.  I have also read that the body reconfigures it self after losing x amount of pounds and then the weight loss starts again.  This is the second size down without losing any weight.  I am going to propose a different theory on the subject. It is just as absurd.  It is the desert air that is making the clothing grow.  It is also changing the size tags on clothing at the store so I think that I am buying smaller clothing sizes. This is just as crazy as the 2 vetted and published articles above.  By the way I will wait until the pants go halfway up my rib cage and then I know that I am down another size. Then it’s clothes shopping again. 

I got the strangest call from the car dealership today.  Since I have less than 4,000 miles on my 2 year old car I should let them buy it back so that they can sell it to someone who will love it more and drive it more.  Haha, in this car market they have got to be crazy.  Besides Tessela, which does not come with leather seats, heated seats or steering wheels which is fantastic for arthritis. I am not sure about the padded steering wheel’s which are great for arthritis.  What other car is there on the market.  Most of the car makers are still paying the price for canceling those computer chip order’s at the beginning of the pandemic.  You’ve got to hand it to them they do have gull. I am keeping my car. 

A Political Post

I don’t know how so many people shop on line for clothing.  I have only shopped for clothing on line after I tried it on in the store and wanted a second one or a different color.  With my clothing growing bigger every week and COVID-19, I might not have a choice.   The thought just scares me. What if I pick the wrong size or I just don’t like the way it looks.  What then?  The thought of shopping on line is panic attack worthy.

So here is what I need everyone to do.  Get out you magic wands or lucky rocks, and pray that the scientists find a vaccine for this scourge.  We need more people like Bill and Melinda Gates to step up, because Washington has become so patrician that the public be dammed.  I find it very sad that companies have to advise people not to follow what comes out at the daily press briefings because it will kill them as it has here In Arizona.  Can someone have the courage to say we are handing this off to the CDC, NIH and have Bill Gates be the point man.  This may add some calmness to this chaotic situation. It might not get things fixed any faster but the anxiety levels would be lower. It would also eliminate the anxiety that the ignorant man is spewing just to hear himself talk and get his ratings.  

The above rant has nothing to do with a poorly written set of instructions that left me so frustrated that the words I was using would make a sailor blush.  Or that I have been so tense that my back has been in spasms for almost a week. Or that my clothing is falling down or going on a growth spurt all on its own.  You can’t tell me that you clothes never got longer between wearings.

By the way the recipe will be added tomorrow.  Life happened today.

More Inches Gone

It is that time of year again. As I am getting ready to change to my fall and winter wardrobe I am finding that some clothes have grown in size over the summer. I really don’t feel any thinner, but my clothes say otherwise.  Of the pants I tried on today 2 out of 3 pairs are now resting half way up my rib cage, in just what seems a very few months they grew too big. Darn I really liked on pair of pants.  So I will be going through my closet and trying on pants, shirts and skirts.  The items that are too big  will be going to Goodwill.  I really hope some of my favorite clothing will fit again.

Then once I have a good idea what I need, I will be scouting out the sale racks to see what I can find. Wish me luck in both shopping and good body days.

More Deep Cleaning

I got my Zenning done before breakfast. I now have another rag tag group of bags to go to Goodwill. Teri and I will never be able to fit into them again.  Teri, because she has almost 6 inches on me. Me because I will never be my high school size ever again.  The 1970 and 80’s are long gone. If by chance I do get back to that size they are not classics that stand up to the test of time. Although I am sure some  rebellious teenager will buy them just to drive their parents crazy.

The best part of this is that I have freed up enough hangers so I will not have to ask the sales clerks for hangers for quite a while. I wonder if I will be able to part with more before my next Goodwill run?

Extreme Zenning

For the last two days I have been in the extreme zenning mode. Yesterday it was a closet. I have filled three bags of clothes that will be going to Goodwill. There is actually room in my closet now, not much but a little more. Unless I find the time to ride about 100 miles a week on my now nonexistent bike.  Swim laps for 90 minutes a day, six days a week and rock climbing a few days a week these cloths will never ever fit again. I am sure that some very skinny person will love these retro clothes.  As mom to Eric that level of fitness is never going to happen.  I am lucky on most days to walk 8,000 to 10,000 steps, just a small fraction of the steps my younger self took. As a grownup, I do not have as much time as my teenage self to get all that movement in every day.  

The Zenning continued today with old paper work that no longer needs to occupy space in my closet. Eight bags of shredded papers from the 2010’s  made their way into the recycling bin.  I managed to fill it up half way.  We have a 90 gallon bin.  I need to save the rest of the bin for every day recycling. As a bonus I found enough none expired coupons for a free case of diapers.  This has inspired John to find more old papers for me to shred.  

Even though I took most of the day off from knitting to let my knitting elbow rest, the rest of the world knows this as tennis elbow. Let it be known that I no longer play tennis so , therefore I can not possibly have tennis elbow.  I have decided that I must start finishing projects other than hats, which seem to fly of my knitting needles. I am really great at starting projects. Not so much with finishing.   Speaking of knitting needles, I might give some more away to a young mother who home schools her kids and teaches knitting to the next generation.  More space. I need more empty space in my closet. 

Well it is getting late and I need to try to rest, ahem I mean sleep.  

Purging and Shopping

Last night was the first night that Eric decided to stay up all night and wanted to play.  I kept putting his covers back on and giving him stuffed animals to play with.  I did not let Eric stay home, but instead sent him to program and took a nap, which lasted until the gardener, construction workers and the noise of running water woke me up.

I went through another section of my closet today and went through all my tank top.  4 made it to the Goodwill box and I put a few on probation.  When the probationary one get to big they will go to goodwill too.  I will go through other areas in coming days

This has lead to some areas of my closet with not enough selection for more than a few days between washing clothes.  I have not lost enough inches to go to the next size down in my closet.  That will take 2 to 4 more inches off my waistline.  I have only managed to get 4 inches off my waistline since June 6th. So I went shopping today. I must have hit the sales just right. I got 1 long cotton skirt, 1 long sleeve top, 1 light cover up and 8 tank tops for $100.  They also threw in all the hangers too.  So all I need now are pants and skirts.  My well deserved Ganga* for the day.also I did not have to go to the plus sizes for anything.

If you think. my day could not have gotten any better. Care stopped by and helped with my personal de stash. She left with 1 bag of yarn to make blankets for foster babies.. and another bag to make gifts for her “step kids”.  John was very happy. I also finished hat number 48.  Eric is asleep so it’s time for me to go to sleep. Night all.

*Ganga is Tucson speak for a great deal.

Progress Maybe

I went shopping for a light sun cover up today. Instead I bought 2 new shirts. I was at J.Jill and the shirts were a size large in the regular J.Jill line. Not my usual large in the  Pure Jill line, which is their plus size.  I am not sure how many sizes down that is and I don’t care as long as the clothes are smaller.  By the way they did not have any sun cover ups that I liked.

Hats 50 and 51 are now complete.  The next 3 hats are on the needles.  What else do you knit when it is 109f out side?