I'm tickled at the multiple bids on my ebay auctions, and even happier at the cash we got for DD's outgrown books at Half Price Books today. None of them had much value on Amazon, but we made a quick $15 on a bagful there.

Even better than the cash is that these needless items are out of our closets and off our bookshelves. Today I dipped into DH's dresser drawer and found four pairs of old eyeglasses that are in the bag for donation tomorrow. I see the Lions' Club still takes them, but even easier is the local Lenscrafters works with an organization called OneSight. And there's a LensCrafters very near.

I'm so eager to get more stuff out of here!
No spending except for church. It's been a productive and cheap weekend!

Finally! I got six items listed on ebay today, found another stack of outgrown summer clothes, and after lunch, am headed to drop some of this off.

I am super-happy to get this stuff listed; it's been haunting me for weeks.

In potentially positive news, I had one of my London students e-mail me looking for a summer independent study. The dept doesn't like to offer that, but her summer class got canceled and she needs a specific credit. That would be a lovely bit of extra cash.

Still thinking about the tutoring. And the lack of required prep does make it more attractive.

I've been offered a PT one evening a week tutoring job for a couple months this summer. The pay is good, and I'm thinking about it. But with my other class, it means two evening away from home in July and August, which is not my ideal. But I'll be spending most days with DD, so perhaps three extra hours away wouldn't be so bad?

I'm just not quite sure.

In other news, the decluttering continues. Tomorrow I'm dropping off books at a local charity with some also going to Half Price Books. And DD seems to have outgrown virtually all her summer clothes, so I've made a bag of them for a friend. Tonight I pitched several lone earrings.

Teaching begins again with my evening Mysteries class tonight. I'd rather be home dejunking, but especially with my summer class in jeopardy, I'm glad to have the work. I only have 11 students, but I suspect I'm a bit spoiled with all the English majors I had in England. These evening classes contain lots of folks who take lit classes only because they need the credits and spend a lot of time complaining about having to read.

Speaking of having to read, I came home from the library with another big pile of books yesterday. I read three books last week. How fun is that?

I also took a very long walk this afternoon. I've sort of decided that I need to tackle two things that never seem to get done. I need to lose about 20 lbs, and I need to get my house consistently clean and clutter free. Thus the long walk and the continuing piles of things I'm finding to get rid of.

Last night I cleaned some files as I was searching for a short story copy I'm using tonight. I tend to keep multiple copies of teaching materials, but recycled a pile a foot tall.

Did I report I finally did the taxes this weekend? We filed for an extension as we were still in the UK when the deadline rolled around. We're getting a refund, but think I probably need to adjust withholding as this will be our last year claiming a mortgage interest deduction. I'm glad to have that done!

I suspect we've had this discussion before but I'm still not quite sure how much to tip my haircutter. I do about 10 percent, but the receptionist looked at me a little oddly today, and I wonder if I'm way under?


It's super cold and rainy here, so I spent 45 minutes in my closet. How's that for a defensive strategy? Actually, I was busy decluttering and left for the hairdresser with a towering bag. Yep, I still had the sweater I wore when DH made his first trip to the US 14 years ago. And many other similar treasures. A big bag went to the charity shop already, so I am pleased. I did stop at the library where I left with a similar tower of books, but at least they won't be permanent residents in my house. I've been reading _City of Women_ about Berlin during WWII. Some of it is very good, but the overabundance of steamy scenes read more like male fantasy than reality. But the good writing is very good.

I also hauled home five Helen Mirren films and shows from the library. I didn't realize I was on a Helen Mirren tear until the third one, then I just stuck with the theme.

A few groceries for the weekend including half price chickens and steak at Fresh Market and I'm ready for more decluttering and some reward reading.

Ah, the final word came at noon today: No jury duty and no more for another four years. As much as I'd like to think I have the demeanor for an all-star jurist, I suspect they'd eliminate opinionated me pretty quickly.

To celebrate, I cleaned the bathroom. Further news on that exciting front on the decluttering forum. But I did find a very strange pint ice cream container full of some liquid and pine needles stashed in the back of the bathroom vanity. My DD gets these hare-brained ideas to cook up flower or pine scented lotions etc. Who knows how long that's been there.

I've finally been able to make a vet appointment for the dog's surgery. The cost is daunting, but we love the dog.

Looks iffy for my summer class with low enrollments so far. I'm sending out e-mail blasts to former students today, hoping to raise the enrollment. I was halfway counting on the money. so let's hope it works. But the evening class also starts next week, so they'll be plenty of inflow.

I'm on call as a reserve juror today, but nothing needed of me this morning. I need to check in again at noon.

One of my ebay items sold for $6 this morning, so am adding that to my goals. I need to do a Target run sometime this week, but may hold off until I get the news on the jury.

I still need to list ebay items, file taxes, and continue decluttering and cleaning. I've made chili for the after-school program sponsored by church and need to frost those cupcakes. It's a calm but mundane life back here in Cheeseland. But I'm getting back into the swing of it!

I went to a meeting with university colleagues today for a committee on which I normally serve. It's the first I've seen of many of them since I've been back. One of them is retiring the end of term, and she's been a stalwart worker, so I figured I'd better step in and pick up some slack. Since everyone else is busy with the end of the semester, I took on lots of the work. It really won't take more than half a day, but I have time and energy right now.

I bought a coffee and scone at the meeting, and afterwards zipped over to the charity shop to donate two more loads of stuff. I'm thrilled, really thrilled, to be getting rid of so much stuff. Long may it continue.

More meetings tonight, but looking forward to a warm sunny weekend!

Following the sage SA advice, but still chuckling about the ironing jokes, I've purchased a Rowenta iron on sale at Target. And yes, I saved 5 percent with my RedCard.

Yesterday was very productive. I went to the bank to deposit the flex spending checks, (w)Al green's for my husband's instant coffee fix earning Balance points along the way, Noodles for a free pasta lunch courtesy of a coupon received, then the charity shop to dump off donations, Target for the iron, then finally the grocery store. It seemed like one of those charmed days where you actually remember your shopping bags, your coupons, and get great deals.

Then DD's science project hit. Yuck. We spent four hours helping her paint, assemble, and label mini-amusement park rides demonstrating Newtonian laws. Other students had two weeks to complete this, but she was under a time crunch because of our holiday. Thankfully we all avoided shouting and slamming doors, but there were a few almost tears. And it's done.

I've had a very productive day purging, sorting, and cleaning. But now my iron has completely stopped heating although there is power still to it. It also is leaking water. I foresee a Target trip tonight.
Anyone have an iron(clad) recommendation?

Several weeks ago, I promised a short post on British charity shops. For the 20 or so years I've been either visiting here or living here for a few months at a time, I've seen a change in the number and quality of British charity shops.

When we lived in Surrey, there was a small shop supporting the hospice in our town, but that was about it. There was an Oxfam shop in the next town, but now there seem to be more and more shops everywhere. In my little part of London there are two Oxfam shops, one across the street from the other. One specializes in books and music, the other has the usual assortment of clothes and other things. There's also a cancer charity shop, one for heart disease, one sponsoring vet care for those unable to afford it, and a hospice shop.

They're all very well patronized and seem to have a circuit of people going from one to the other. I was thrilled (really!) to find an almost new guidebook to Prague for 50p (about 75 cents) when I'd been pricing them for 8-10 pounds. The quality varies, but here, as at home, better areas seem to have better stuff. I've also bought a Pyrex pie plate for a pound as I broke the landlady's plate. The books are very good, and I predict that some of the ones I bought will end up there when I finish them.

Great jewelry--and very cute boots and sweaters everywhere. I do think the smaller living space encourages people to dump what they no longer can use.

We're buying a new laptop for me to take to the UK. Just back from Best Buy (ugh) where I tried to buy an ASUS that was out of stock. I wanted it based on reviews, and now the clerk has offered me the floor model for $80 off. What do you all think? They'd send it over to the Geek Squad to have it checked and the demo software taken off. But that's almost 25 percent off the already sale price?

I've had some small but fun triumphs these past few days. The hotel in Minneapolis had free newspapers, complete with the coupon sections, and my next door neighbors at the hotel threw theirs out, so I've ended up with three coupon sections. Sunday evening when I got to the airport, there was little choice at the smaller terminal, but I had a couple of bags of Sun Chips and some hummus from a giveaway on the downtown corners. It was the perfect snack; better than the $9 sandwiches and free. Plus they gave me a handful of coupons for the hummus, which when doubled will make it almost free.

I sold an old textbook over the weekend and a light fixture that didn't sell at the yard sale. Add $70 to my clutter sales!

Today DD and I visited the local botanical gardens. She had a free pass from the summer reading program, and I saved $1 with my AAA membership. I am strangely pleased with all of these!

I made $100 today at the garage sale. It's awfully hard to figure out what sells sometimes. The really good girls' clothes didn't sell, but one woman bought all my skirts. No one bought my good Timberland hiking boots or the vaguely equestrian flat black boots, but most of my books went as did picture frames--and mom's mink stole. I can say this; I've made $100 easier many ways. But some stuff that was cluttering up my basement and office is now cluttering up someone else's basement. And the good leftover clothes will be photographed tomorrow and head to ebay listings. I've made a huge pile for Purple Heart who are picking up next week.

All in all, it was fun. With kids there were 15-20 people. I made a big pasta salad, the kids were sticky with lemonade, and we're all a little richer and a little less cluttered. DH is happy to get things out of the basement, and I have a clearer sense of what I need to divest.

Good enough, I say.

Although I was lamenting the cold that sidelined me for two days, I got a lot done today. First--further excavations into the basement for more garage sale merchandise. I'm hoping my mom isn't reaching out from the grave to chastise me for this, but I'm selling her 1960s mink stole tomorrow. I've had little luck on ebay, and I'm tired of it in my house. I've also learned this valuable lesson: I should not be allowed in IKEA unsupervised. I buy too much, and it's too far for easy returns. Much of it is going on the block tomorrow.

I also took a very tired (post-sleepover) DD out for her second round of mystery shopping pancakes. Mission accomplished there. We made two returns-one to Kohls to return the extra nightgown and another to swap out a birthday gift she didn't want.

I hope tomorrow's hot weather doesn't keep garage sale traffic down. I want the stuff gone.

Now for some sleep--

I'm meeting with my university gals this afternoon to plot our garage sale strategy. I can tell it's almost August and still two months from payday by everyone's growing enthusiasm for this project. We're all broke.

At my evening class last night I ran a colleague who is joining in our sale. She's just pulled a slightly dinged DVD player from the classroom garbage hoping to sell it Saturday.

In another communal venture, we've decided to "shop" in each others' kids' outgrown clothing piles after the sale and then regularly from now on. Everyone is tickled and relieved.

DD and I walked again this morning after a "mystery shopper" breakfast at McDonald's. Neither of us is too fond of McD's breakfast, but she ate the pancakes and I'll make a breakfast burrito from the eggs tomorrow. DH hates wasting food so I'll bet I can get him to eat the biscuit. I did feel a little odd snapping photos of the breakfast, but heck, it was kind of fun. I haven't done one of these in years, and I'm not sure how regularly I'd do it, but for a change....

I sold a couple of things on ebay today, posted them, and went grocery shopping. I've been rooting around for days trying to find my favorite summer nightgown--I hate PJs that are anything but cotton, and it's been so hot. But no luck. So I caved and bought one at Kohl's for $18. Later this afternoon DD and I were finishing yet another book, and I found it fallen in back of our headboard. I'm relieved at not having to spend that $18 when cash is tight around here.

And indeed I continue to unearth more to sell. I have a plastic bin in the office that hold DD's outgrown clothes that I intend to sell on ebay, but heck, let's sell them all at the garage sale, right? So the pile increases.

DH has come down with some sort of cold and has gone to bed, so it's me and Bob Costas for the next hour or so.

In my quest to de-junk and make some garage sale cash, I'm getting a little overwhelmed. Partly it's the realization of all the junk we have. And much of it is tangled up with memories. I'm finding things from my mom, things from my ex-husband, things from old friends--and just plain too many things.

I'm going to try a couple strategies to stop the frustration--perhaps one room at a time. Or maybe even one corner of the dread office at a time.

On a positive note--the RR magazine the Brits left her in June sold for $3 on ebay.

I think I've mentioned before that the viability of my semester in London depends on my recruiting at least five-six students. Prices drop for additional students after that baseline.

I've had pretty good luck with my initial prospecting, sending information to my own former students, and today I asked our undergraduate chair to forward information to our majors. I had a huge wave of people e-mailing me for more information. I'm pretty excited, though I know we'll lose plenty of folks once they crunch the numbers. But still!

Tomorrow I need to e-mail the undergrad chair in the Education Department to see if they'll do something similar.

On a more prosaic front, my garage sale pile is growing magnificently. Since it looks like another darn 100 degree day tomorrow, I expect to spend plenty of time inside unearthing treasures.

I've managed to successfully talk some of my university friends into a combined garage sale on August 4. We all need the cash, especially since no one gets paid again from the university until October 1.

DH and I had a long talk about how much the budget cutbacks from the state affected us. He really doesn't care much about money, and although we've talked it through before, I think he FINALLY gets it. Perhaps the lack of huge amounts of available cash for his soon-to-be purchased car? But we've got the requisite 4K for the car he wants, and enough in the emergency fund. But the car, the high cost of the UK, the new windows, and my $500 salary cut has bit us a bit harder than we'd like--thus my unbridled enthusiasm about the garage sale.

I've unearthed piles of things already and plan to devote an hour each day this week to find more. Thanks to ceejay and bankergurl for making me pull out two denim skirts, two pairs of capris, and two pairs of pants from my closet along with a few other items.

And oddly--the British train magazine that our friends left here is now selling on ebay.

I'd like to make $150-200 on the sale. Experienced garage salers, I welcome suggestions. It's been a while for me.

Oh--and gas plus ice cream was the only spending today.

But I am irritated at slow payments from my ebay buyers. I try to list things all at the same time to help folks who want to combine shipping, and also to save me trips to the Post Office. But my purchasers from last Thursday still haven't paid. I've reinvoiced them, but am disgruntled.

In happier financial news, I sold more stuff so am adding another $75 to my totals.

I can indeed hear the end of the semester. I spent a chunk of the weekend grading proposals and presentations with a rather staggering variety of grades. Some groups will not be happy with their grades. Classes are over on Thursday; I suspect it'll take me another week to wind things up.

And my new evening "Mysteries" class starts tonight. We always start with Poe and then a look at the many many renditions of Sherlock Holmes. I wonder if any of you have seen the PBS "Sherlock" series with Benedict Cumberbatch? I was determined to hate it, but I indeed like it a lot.

Our DD adores her new green bedroom. It's as cute as cute can be--partly because I spent hours dejunking it. And my Groupon painting coupon was a real bargain as it took the painter almost nine hours to do the ceiling and two coats on the walls. It was a very humid day.

Once the end-of-semester storm clears, I'm getting busy with selling other stuff around here.

Again my poor DD was hauled off to the university with me. We bought beverages at $4.84, and she later had a $1.57 cheeseburger. That's all we spent, but tomorrow looks different. I see a new bedspread on her horizon--and three's a very very good sale at the local department store. I spent $5 on a coupon book for that sale with the proceeds going to support the local women's shelter. I'm itching for a couple spring items!

Trying to evade other responsibilities, I ducked into Kohl's today to spend the $10 in Kohl's cash burning a hole in my handbag. Ok, I spent $50 more than that, but could hardly lift the bag full of tops for DD (in dire need), a lovely black sweater for DH, and some very nice things for me--badly needed pants, a cute jacket, two tops, a dress for DD, etc. All their clearance was 80% off. You know that feeling when you try on a sale item and go, "YES!"? That was it with the cute Chaps black jacket ringing up at a lofty $14.

I came home very happy.

DD and DH spent the evening weaving Swedish paper hearts for her Valentines, and I spent the evening grading. I need stupid TV on while I grade--and my new stupid TV choice is "The Voice." You don't have to pay much attention--so it's perfect to grade by. I'll refrain from my feelings on the coaches for now--but not much longer.

Not horrible, just wearying. DD and I were having a conversation on Monday about how everything just seemed to go smoothly that day. Plenty of time to get to appointments, enough sleep, good food, great selections at the library. Simple satisfying pleasures. Today was payback, I guess.

No breakfast as I rushed to get my online class updated and get to my haircut appointment. My pregnant haircutter was in a tizzy about lots of things, and my hair looks like it. Then rushed home to finish the assignments for my class to do, but my PC crashed. I was late eating lunch and dropped the salad dressing on the floor. The dog started licking it up, I yelled at her to stop, and she peed on the floor.

I'd signed up to make a casserole for the after school inner city tutoring program, and I followed the recipe provided, but it was revolting. A horrible combination of hamburger, cream soup, corn chips (!), corn, cheese, and enchilada sauce. If that's what people think poor kids should eat, they should think some more. Plus they wanted it in a disposable pan, and I had none. So off I drove to Walgreens when I found my register rewards expired yesterday. There are about 1500 lines more of this to write, but I'll spare you.

Wishing for a calmer, more serene tomorrow. But yeah, I have three classes back to back then a departmental meeting which mean no food from 9-3. Yikes.

I've been procrastinating so much lately, I've decided I need a couple speed challenges.

Here are today's hurdles:
1. List four things on ebay
2. 30 minutes on treadmill
3. Finish grading homework.

Boring but necessary.
Off I go!

While DD (who has been much more steady these past few days) was at a playdate this afternoon, I did some shopping and put the finishing touches on Week One of my online class.

Perhaps it's the lull between football games, but several of my new students have checked in already, though class doesn't officially begin until tomorrow.

I did a little shopping after church--a great deal on DH's instant coffee at CVS and jeans for DD at Old Navy. Suddenly all her jeans are too short, and people keep commenting on how tall she's become. Since Bath and Body Works is next door to Old Navy, I ducked in there to get the free hand lotion sample and ask about last fall's pumpkin soap that our British friends love. Tonight looks like it may have some laundry and some NYT crossword ahead.

Listening to NPR while in the car, I'm again mulling over the Euro debt crisis. The commentator likened Greece to a cigarette--and Italy to the gas pump. They speculated a large-scale Euro collapse would likely send the US back into recession. Yuck. Not a pleasant thought at all.

I hoped to get a chunk done on the study abroad job application today, but spent most of the day shopping, then hauling DD to her exercise/dance class. Tomorrow the start of semester meetings begin, but I should have most of the afternoon to work on the job application.

Good thing we had such a warm December because it's cold now! Hope all of you in the NW are holding up under that snow!

Temptation looms. My Minnesota girlfriends are rumbling about a Napa trip in February. We went 12 years ago--and maybe it's time to go again.

Yep, it's the day after the long weekend and thankfully the beans have been soaking. I see bean soup in our dinner future. It's going to be a mighty cold week here, and the budget needs some tweaking, especially after reading Patient Saver's Atlantic article.

I've got a list; I've got a plan. I'll finish off class prep today, finish off the laundry, and file my flex spending forms.

I've still got some of my mom's clothes in my home office, and I've been having a hard time parting with them--especially her favorite boiled wool jackets. But I think I have worked through some of my grief with them, and remembering how she always was grateful to the Salvation Army for feeding her and her mom through the depression, they'll go to the Salvation Army thrift shop tomorrow.

Weary of being in the house and wearier still of my cold, DD and I did some shopping yesterday. First stop Target. Lots of great deals with those TGT on-line coupons and returned a few Christmas things. Thrill of the trip? A new ironing-board cover. They seemed to have lots of cute things, all of which I resisted. Then on to Blood, Bath, and Beyond (The Simpsons gets full credit for that name) to replace DD's broken jewelry holder which DH stepped on two days after Christmas. More joy there: It was on sale, and I had a coupon. Famous Footwear followed with frequent buyer credits and a sale bringing the $44 shoes down to $6.49! One more stop at CVS where we met the mom of one of DD's friends. DD's friend has been having problems being bullied on the playground, so we invited her for a playdate next week. The school has a no-tolerance policy, but some bullying is creepy intimidation. These girls say nothing to the little girl, just follow her and glare at her. She walks away, they surround her and do it again. I felt so bad for her mom too--big dark circles under her eyes from worrying about the situation. Anyway, we bought enough to get rid of my expiring EB and get a great deal on dishwasher soap.

I've looked up the site for the will, and intend to work on it tomorrow. And that's about the size of it. Cold, Cold--go away!