I had a stellar week with the organization challenge. I have remembered my cloth grocery bags and coffee mug every time. I even remembered the grocery bags when I was out getting non-grocery items, which is when I am most likely to forget them. I have one of those bags that folds up and I have been keeping that in my purse. That way, if I run to the hardware store or the garden center I have at least one bag with me.

I also did better at combining my errands, although I still feel like I could use some more work on that one. This week I am going to break out the white board. Then when I realize I am running low on something I can write it down immediately instead of trying to remember it later when I am making the grocery list. That is a big downfall of mine.

I also need to work on not running errands on a whim. I ran out of cinnamon today. I like cinnamon sometimes in my coffee or on my oatmeal, but really, it’s not a pressing need.

I have a new rule of thumb for myself. If the errand is for something small and non-urgent, like cinnamon, I am going to ask myself if I would be willing to walk or bike it. I don’t mean that I necessarily will walk or bike it. If the weather is bad I will still take the car, but by asking myself if I would be willing to use my own energy to get that item I should cut back on a lot of silly little errands. Hopefully I can eventually make these errands a thing of the past through planning ahead, but I think this will work as a stopgap measure.

Over at the new house, I am working on clearing out my parents’ unwanted clutter. They lived in that house for 20 years and now they are both in small apartments with no room for most of their junk, I mean belongings. We are trying to find homes for as much of it as possible and dispose of the rest in the proper manner. We have literally taken truckloads of stuff to Goodwill and we are still not done. Next week we plan to list their outdoor table on craigslist. I also found a home for their silk flowers. Cheyenne’s Japanese dance group is going to take them to make hair ornaments for performances. That one makes me feel particularly good as silk flowers are hard to give away and this will guarantee they will be used.

So, slowly and steadily we plod ahead. How are things going for all of you?