New year, new decluttering

For 2020, one of my returning goals is decluttering.  I don't seem to have much luck.  Two generations of borderline hoarders is working against me.  This year, I've started a list of what I've gotten rid of. 

Over the weekend, I  cleaned out a bit of the fridge (a stupid amount of moldy grapes is composting now.  Also, a watermelon.), and a couple of cabinets.  Tossed 10 packs of Tim Tams from 5+ years ago.  A ten year old half-bottle of karo syrup that was mostly solid.  A few pounds of sunflower seeds that had gone rancid. 

Otherwise, 20 cheap tote bags are going away.  Took construction paper and crayons to the library for the kid programs.  Took a bunch of series books that haven't sold and donated them to the Friends.  Four magazines to Upscale. 

More mending

After buying 3 packs (11 total) of denim needles, I spent another afternoon sewing belt loops and pocket corners.  Managed to only break one more needle, and it was a hand-sweing needle, while fixing a belt loop.

Next up, I still need to fix the straps on one tote bag, since they're unraveling at the edges, and try to fix my Friends of the Library tote that had an unfortunate run-in.  I managed to get tangled in the strap and trip, and my weight managed to put a 5-inch or so tear down the middle of one side.  It's a nasty tear, so there will have to be muslin backing to make up for the now-missing fabric that came unraveled along the tear.  Yay. I did find matching thread at Jo-Ann Fabrics, but also came out with 3 yards of fabric and about 6 remnants.  It would be faster and cheaper if I just did all my Jo-Ann shopping online.

2020 mending

My goal for New Year's Day was to work on the pile of mending.  Because apparently that's where all Chris' jeans were - 5 pairs.  And other things.

Behold, Mount Denim

I managed to fix the strap on the soda cooler, which required picking out all of the old attempt to fix it, and the hole in D's hoodie. 

 first attempt

 after picking out the old attempt

Patch #2, reinforced on both sides

 The holey hoodie

 Many, many jeans with pocket holes

 Oops

But the jeans were not a rousing success.  I managed to break all three denim needles on two pairs of jeans. 

And, possibly my biggest accomplishment of the year, I managed to somehow sew the darning foot to the jeans.  Before breaking another needle.

And now I've got 11 more denim needles (6 Singer, 5 Schmertz).  I hope they last long enough to fix another 6 or so pairs of jeans, if I don't run out of patch-denim before that.  Had to sacrifice a leg from a pair of jeans I made into shorts. 

December's First Reads

Eight books again

1. Suspense - Unspeakable Things
2. Contemporary Fiction - Beginner's Guide to Free Fall
3. Psychological Thriller - I Choose You
4.  Crime Fiction - Lost Hills
5. Historical Fiction - Toward the Midnight Sun
6. Family Drama - This is Not How It Ends
7. Nonfiction - We Will Rise
8. Children's picture book - Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath

The suspense sounds dark and icky.  Contemporary fiction is another family drama, sounds blah.  Psych thriller is all abduction and murder.  Crime fiction also sounds abduction and murder.  Historical fiction is the Klondike gold rush, so not another WWII book. "Family drama" seems to mean a will-they/won't-they romance. The non-fiction is basically the basketball version of "We Are Marshall" but heavy on the sports information.

Looks like the historical fiction is it for this month.

November's First Reads

Eight choices again this month.

• Thriller - Nine Elms by Bryndza
• Suspense - Home Truths by Seskis
• Contemporary fiction - Holly Banks Full of Angst
• Historical fiction - Once Night Falls
• Suspense - In the Dark by White
• True crime - If You Tell by Olsen
• Picture book - This Book is Gray by Ward
• Non-fiction - That Wild Country by Kenyon

I'm not a fan of thrillers, suspense, or true crime, so that knocks my options down a lot.  Once Night Falls is about Nazi-occupied Italy, and I'm kind of over WWII historical fiction.  Holly Banks Full of Angst sounds too fluffy.  That Wild Country actually looks interesting anyway, so I guess that's the one. 

First Reads - October

Amazon's First Reads choices this month:

1. Domestic suspense - Under Lying by Janelle Harris
2. Family drama (reviews not god) - The Puzzle of You by Leah Mercer
3. Legal Thriller - An Equal Justice by Chad Zunker
4. Romantic comedy - Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas (translate)
5. Historical fiction - A Transcontinental Affair by Jody Daynard
6. Contemporary fiction - Room To Breathe by Liz Talley
7. Mystery - Broken Glass by Alexander Hartung
8. Sci Fi - The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker

The drama has lousy reviews.  Not in the mood for suspense or thrillers. The mystery is the first in a new series.  The contemporary fiction sounds more like a rom-com, with a divorced woman dating her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

So, sci-fi, or historical fiction? Sci-fi is 450 pages, so too long for reading on the phone, for me.  

Tracfone, you drive me crazy

Tracfone is fine, as long as you don't expect any help, and make sure not to let your phone go inactive.  If you try to reactivate a phone that's been sitting in the cabinet for a few months, though, may the gods have mercy on you. 

The Boy has an overnight field trip this week, and was desperate for a cell phone to keep in touch.  So, we went to reactivate the phone we got him for last year's field trip.  Easy peasy, right?

NOT

At 2:00 on Sunday, I tried to add the airtime to the phone.  Yes, I should have started a few days earlier.  Anyway.  Error message - invalid SIM card.  Called the number in the error message.  After going in a few circles because the phone number wasn't in their system (more on that later), I was routed to an actual person (who I will bet is not actually named Francis, but whatever).  All I have to do is go to a retailer (Walmart, Walgreens, etc) and get a Bring Your Own Phone SIM kit, for a mere 99 cents.

Off I go at 3:30 to Walgreens.  Find one BYOP kit, with a $1 sticker on it.  Which rings up at $9.99.  Um, excuse me, the price sticker says $1.  Manager is not inclined to sell it for the sticker price, so off I go to Walmart #1.  Kits there are $9.88, but sold out.  %^&$%^& !!!  Off across town to Walmart #2.  Kits are $9.99, in stock, but locked on the peg.  And no one around to unlock it.  Husband texts me and finds 99 cent kits on Walmart.com, but store pickup isn't an option, and we don't have time for shipping.   I check Target.com (using Walmart's wi-fi) and they have 99 cent kits with in-store pickup.  Order one, go home to wait for confirmation. 

Oops.  Target email says they're out of stock.  *&^(*&^*&%   Find the SIM card from the LAST time we went through this, but it's a full-size SIM, not a micro SIM.  Ugh.  Stop at Walmart on the way to the in-law's, and buy the stupid $10 kit.  Come home, go through the online process, and again no luck.  Back to phone support.  FINALLY get things possibly lined out, but the phone still isn't showing the airtime.  Phone support says AT&T is having delays, should be okay by morning.  Call back if not. 

LUCKILY, by midnight the phone time showed up, and The Boy went off on his field trip with 120 minutes of air time (120 talk or 60 texts). 

So Tracfone shenanigans ate up a full 3 hours of my day.  I had other stuff I wanted to do, but NOPE.