I'm not a very political person. I've been waiting this primary season out, hoping it would all blow over. But here it is - Trump is the nominee (or as good as) for the Republican Party, and it looks like Hillary will likely take the Democratic nomination.
I refuse to vote for either of them.
That doesn't mean I won't be voting.
It's funny how we can get so sucked into the either/or mentality - and the media doesn't do anything to help us come up with other ideas, either.
But I'm a person who looks for other options. Huggies, Pampers, or Luvs? How about cloth? Enfamil or Similac? How about breastmilk? Take the car downtown? Why not get the bike set up to ride with the kids?
So when I'm told that it's a Trump/Hillary race, I say "What about the Libertarian candidate?" Gary Johnson actually seems like a reasonable candidate. Of course, I know that the last third party candidate who made a splash (Ross Perot) didn't get a single electoral vote, but he wasn't up against such disliked candidates as these two. I have hope.
What's more, I'm a dreamer. I know people aren't going to drop disposables for cloth or switch to bike riding tomorrow, and the two party system is deeply ingrained. But I can choose where my vote will go, and as a matter of principle it will not go to either of the two big candidates.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
Living life by the numbers, and a recipe
So, last time I mentioned that I'd have to start daily blood sugar testing for gestational diabetes. I went off to diabetic education, which actually helped me a lot. I was given some guidelines on what foods to eat. (Thankfully I may not have to continue all this later after the baby comes, but my risk for type 2 diabetes is now higher.)
Essentially, I'm limited to 30 grams of carbohydrates for breakfast, 15 - 20 for snacks, and 40 - 50 for lunch and dinner. I test my blood sugar when I wake up, and then an hour after each meal. (Thankfully the little lancet I use to draw my blood is so tiny it barely hurts. I've done worse with a sheet of paper or a loose staple.) My numbers need to be below 95 first thing in the morning, and below 140 an hour after eating. I'm encouraged to continue exercising in whatever form I can manage, and to take a little walk if my sugar reads high.
Now, the human body is an amazing thing. I could start the day with the same reading, eat the same breakfast all week (which I did - eggs and two slices of gluten free toast, 30 grams of carbs exactly), and come up with radically different readings based on my stress level alone. If I sat down for a cuddle with Tristan after breakfast, my sugar level might be only 115 an hour after my eggs. If I ate my eggs and hopped in the car and drove for an hour in stressful conditions (happened) my sugar level might be 155! How is that fair?
Not to mention we've been continuing to deal with very heavy, stressful, difficult problems around here, and it came to a head the same week I got my monitor and had to start testing. I begged my doctor not to hold that week's numbers against me, since we were barely home and my stress level was through the roof.
I got tired very quickly of eggs for breakfast - anyone who's done a low-carb diet for long will understand - so I started seeking out high fiber, low carb, gluten free baked good recipes. Who knew that would be so tough? ;) Actually, it was pretty simple - baking with almond and coconut flours is pretty easy, and stevia is an acceptable sweetener. The trick is the consistency - I made some excellent, high protein, high fiber, low carb, gluten free blueberry muffins. The only issue is that they don't hold together as well as "standard" muffins. Maybe they need more eggs? But they taste SO good, and I don't feel like I'm gagging down dry, rubbery, or greasy food to fuel my body. And unlike other gluten free muffins, I don't eat one and say "hmm, maybe I'd better eat something... oh yeah" - these are pretty satisfying.
I used this recipe if anyone wants to try it!
Variations: Add 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins.
Essentially, I'm limited to 30 grams of carbohydrates for breakfast, 15 - 20 for snacks, and 40 - 50 for lunch and dinner. I test my blood sugar when I wake up, and then an hour after each meal. (Thankfully the little lancet I use to draw my blood is so tiny it barely hurts. I've done worse with a sheet of paper or a loose staple.) My numbers need to be below 95 first thing in the morning, and below 140 an hour after eating. I'm encouraged to continue exercising in whatever form I can manage, and to take a little walk if my sugar reads high.
Now, the human body is an amazing thing. I could start the day with the same reading, eat the same breakfast all week (which I did - eggs and two slices of gluten free toast, 30 grams of carbs exactly), and come up with radically different readings based on my stress level alone. If I sat down for a cuddle with Tristan after breakfast, my sugar level might be only 115 an hour after my eggs. If I ate my eggs and hopped in the car and drove for an hour in stressful conditions (happened) my sugar level might be 155! How is that fair?
Not to mention we've been continuing to deal with very heavy, stressful, difficult problems around here, and it came to a head the same week I got my monitor and had to start testing. I begged my doctor not to hold that week's numbers against me, since we were barely home and my stress level was through the roof.
I got tired very quickly of eggs for breakfast - anyone who's done a low-carb diet for long will understand - so I started seeking out high fiber, low carb, gluten free baked good recipes. Who knew that would be so tough? ;) Actually, it was pretty simple - baking with almond and coconut flours is pretty easy, and stevia is an acceptable sweetener. The trick is the consistency - I made some excellent, high protein, high fiber, low carb, gluten free blueberry muffins. The only issue is that they don't hold together as well as "standard" muffins. Maybe they need more eggs? But they taste SO good, and I don't feel like I'm gagging down dry, rubbery, or greasy food to fuel my body. And unlike other gluten free muffins, I don't eat one and say "hmm, maybe I'd better eat something... oh yeah" - these are pretty satisfying.
I used this recipe if anyone wants to try it!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of almond flour, 1 1/2 cups coconut flour (or 3 cups almond flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
- 8 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups water (less if using only almond flour)
- Sweetener to taste -- I used 20 packets of stevia (not the baking mix, the straight stevia. The baking mix is half sugar and will double the carb count)
Preparation
1) Preheat oven to 350 F.
2) Grease your muffin tins. This recipe makes 2 dozen, because with my family making less is just a waste of time. I freeze some to make sure I have breakfast all week.
3) Mix dry ingredients together well.
4) Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly (You don't want strings of egg white in there and you don't have to worry about "tunnels" when you are using almond meal).
5) Put in muffin tins (about 1/2 to 2/3 full) and bake for about 25 minutes or until firm and golden brown. They don't rise a whole lot, so don't worry if they seem small.
2) Grease your muffin tins. This recipe makes 2 dozen, because with my family making less is just a waste of time. I freeze some to make sure I have breakfast all week.
3) Mix dry ingredients together well.
4) Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly (You don't want strings of egg white in there and you don't have to worry about "tunnels" when you are using almond meal).
5) Put in muffin tins (about 1/2 to 2/3 full) and bake for about 25 minutes or until firm and golden brown. They don't rise a whole lot, so don't worry if they seem small.
Variations: Add 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins.
3 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber, 6 grams protein, and 185 calories per muffin. It's less carbs if you use only almond flour, but coconut flour is slightly cheaper, so I'm trying to make it stretch. If you use only almond flour, you can use less water - coconut flour is very thirsty and absorbs a lot of liquid.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Sugar is sweet...
And very bad for me, apparently.
First, yeah, I haven't posted very frequently. I think I've been saying all I had to say on my personal facebook page, and then I'm all "wrote out".
So, here's what's going on. When I started this pregnancy, I was already taking 2000 mg of Metformin, a medicine that helps me regulate my insulin levels and my blood sugar. Insulin is a hormone, and when it gets out of whack, it throws off all the other hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Without that medication, my body gets so messed up that I miss periods and can't get pregnant, and it could be dicey for me STAYING pregnant.
During the first few months, I noticed my blood sugar was dropping like a stone out of nowhere. Fairly common in early pregnancy, but it seemed extra severe this time around, so I called my doctor and asked if I could back down my dose to 1500 mg. They agreed that sounded like a good idea. In fact, they told me to go as far as 1000 mg, but my energy levels crashed then, so 1500 was where I stayed.
Fast forward to last week. I've been getting progressively more tired, and found myself snacking to boost my energy, which is what I used to do before Metformin, but I attributed it to the advancing pregnancy. Last week was the 1 hour glucose screening, and I flunked it by 30 points. :(
Hang on - I've been at a lower dose this whole time! I've gained weight, and the hormone levels have shifted. Maybe it's time to increase my dose back to 2000 mg!
My doctor agreed and increased it, but unfortunately with one failed test under my belt, I had to either go in for a FASTING 3 hour glucose challenge (something I did when being diagnosed for PCOS, and it set me up on a sugar spike/crash cycle that left me sick for 2 days) OR go to diabetic education, learn to count my carbs and keep a food diary, and test my sugar levels 4 times a day.
Guess who's going to have to get over her aversion to poking her finger! If I can demonstrate that my sugar levels are under control for a few weeks, I might get to test less frequently. Whoo hoo.
For now, I still get to avoid insulin injections, so I've got that going for me.
First, yeah, I haven't posted very frequently. I think I've been saying all I had to say on my personal facebook page, and then I'm all "wrote out".
So, here's what's going on. When I started this pregnancy, I was already taking 2000 mg of Metformin, a medicine that helps me regulate my insulin levels and my blood sugar. Insulin is a hormone, and when it gets out of whack, it throws off all the other hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Without that medication, my body gets so messed up that I miss periods and can't get pregnant, and it could be dicey for me STAYING pregnant.
During the first few months, I noticed my blood sugar was dropping like a stone out of nowhere. Fairly common in early pregnancy, but it seemed extra severe this time around, so I called my doctor and asked if I could back down my dose to 1500 mg. They agreed that sounded like a good idea. In fact, they told me to go as far as 1000 mg, but my energy levels crashed then, so 1500 was where I stayed.
Fast forward to last week. I've been getting progressively more tired, and found myself snacking to boost my energy, which is what I used to do before Metformin, but I attributed it to the advancing pregnancy. Last week was the 1 hour glucose screening, and I flunked it by 30 points. :(
Hang on - I've been at a lower dose this whole time! I've gained weight, and the hormone levels have shifted. Maybe it's time to increase my dose back to 2000 mg!
My doctor agreed and increased it, but unfortunately with one failed test under my belt, I had to either go in for a FASTING 3 hour glucose challenge (something I did when being diagnosed for PCOS, and it set me up on a sugar spike/crash cycle that left me sick for 2 days) OR go to diabetic education, learn to count my carbs and keep a food diary, and test my sugar levels 4 times a day.
Guess who's going to have to get over her aversion to poking her finger! If I can demonstrate that my sugar levels are under control for a few weeks, I might get to test less frequently. Whoo hoo.
For now, I still get to avoid insulin injections, so I've got that going for me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Consignment sales, leftover wizardry, and fix-ups
If you don't have kids consignment sales in your area, I'm so sorry. Around here in the fall and spring, we get these 2 -3 day monstrous sales of kids clothing, baby gear, toys, books, games, and maternity goodies. The way they work is people sign up ahead of time to participate, tag their own clothes with prices they set, and if they sell they get as much as a 70% cut of the price. That's a better deal than most consignment stores can offer, which makes these sales really popular.
I stopped at one of the first sales of the season (The Keystone Moms of Multiples sale) this past weekend, and got a light jacket for Tristan, a baby bouncy seat, a very nice black diaper bag that doubles as a bike pannier bag, and a Potette potty that fits in any diaper bag, all for $19! I'm honestly the most excited about the diaper bag - it's styled like a messenger bag, has all the pockets and insulated spots you'd expect from a diaper bag, and has the straps to attach to the back rack of a bike! (Or a stroller handle, I guess.) It's not like I don't have the room in the box bike, but the diaper bag has a tendency to slide around, and it's nice to keep that space free for the kids and other cargo. As for the folding potty, I've been wanting one of them for ages because they double as a portable seat for over a big toilet. The only downside is this one came with disposable bags to use when it's in freestanding potty mode, and I'd really rather have the foldable silicone "bowl", which I'll have to order online.
On Monday night Jake roasted a whole chicken for dinner, and picked the carcass afterward for the leftovers. I wasn't really sure what to do with them, but I had a busy day yesterday and wound up tired and out of inspiration at dinner time. Rustling through my cupboards, I came across a soup "kit" with seasonings, rice and gluten free noodles - just add chicken, broth, and frozen peas! I had all those things, so I tossed it all in the pot and whipped up some gluten free garlic biscuits from my ever-handy Aldi GF baking mix. Dinner, no sweat. It matched the general appetite of the family, too - we weren't in the mood for anything very heavy.
After dinner we went to Dairy Queen - they were offering free ice cream cones! We did have to pay for Catie's and my treats, since we couldn't eat the cones, but dessert for $6.89 for a family of five wasn't too bad, and a nice treat. Then we swung by a used bookstore to use Catie's free birthday book coupon (it's a nice shop that way!).
As for fix-ups, I've been using a free curriculum for Daniel this year called discoveryk12.com (not to be confused with the cyber charter program K12). I was pleased initially that the program tracked attendance and had weekly spelling lists, but other subjects have left Daniel and I cold. For example, history is usually "read this wikipedia page", math is "watch this demonstration video, then maybe do 5 problems" - not enough practice time on anything. So I was searching for some complementary activities for Daniel to do, and stumbled onto mrnussbaum.com ! It's packed with printables, games, activities, and interactive models, for grades pre-K through 6th - much more fun, more interesting, and I was able to get some reading comprehension pages on history printed and worked on. That's been a weak point for Daniel, since he just breezes through the reading and says "I'm done!". Really? What did you just read about? Uhhhh....
I just wish I had checked into this earlier in the year - now we have to fight some learned laziness to get him working.
I stopped at one of the first sales of the season (The Keystone Moms of Multiples sale) this past weekend, and got a light jacket for Tristan, a baby bouncy seat, a very nice black diaper bag that doubles as a bike pannier bag, and a Potette potty that fits in any diaper bag, all for $19! I'm honestly the most excited about the diaper bag - it's styled like a messenger bag, has all the pockets and insulated spots you'd expect from a diaper bag, and has the straps to attach to the back rack of a bike! (Or a stroller handle, I guess.) It's not like I don't have the room in the box bike, but the diaper bag has a tendency to slide around, and it's nice to keep that space free for the kids and other cargo. As for the folding potty, I've been wanting one of them for ages because they double as a portable seat for over a big toilet. The only downside is this one came with disposable bags to use when it's in freestanding potty mode, and I'd really rather have the foldable silicone "bowl", which I'll have to order online.
On Monday night Jake roasted a whole chicken for dinner, and picked the carcass afterward for the leftovers. I wasn't really sure what to do with them, but I had a busy day yesterday and wound up tired and out of inspiration at dinner time. Rustling through my cupboards, I came across a soup "kit" with seasonings, rice and gluten free noodles - just add chicken, broth, and frozen peas! I had all those things, so I tossed it all in the pot and whipped up some gluten free garlic biscuits from my ever-handy Aldi GF baking mix. Dinner, no sweat. It matched the general appetite of the family, too - we weren't in the mood for anything very heavy.
After dinner we went to Dairy Queen - they were offering free ice cream cones! We did have to pay for Catie's and my treats, since we couldn't eat the cones, but dessert for $6.89 for a family of five wasn't too bad, and a nice treat. Then we swung by a used bookstore to use Catie's free birthday book coupon (it's a nice shop that way!).
As for fix-ups, I've been using a free curriculum for Daniel this year called discoveryk12.com (not to be confused with the cyber charter program K12). I was pleased initially that the program tracked attendance and had weekly spelling lists, but other subjects have left Daniel and I cold. For example, history is usually "read this wikipedia page", math is "watch this demonstration video, then maybe do 5 problems" - not enough practice time on anything. So I was searching for some complementary activities for Daniel to do, and stumbled onto mrnussbaum.com ! It's packed with printables, games, activities, and interactive models, for grades pre-K through 6th - much more fun, more interesting, and I was able to get some reading comprehension pages on history printed and worked on. That's been a weak point for Daniel, since he just breezes through the reading and says "I'm done!". Really? What did you just read about? Uhhhh....
I just wish I had checked into this earlier in the year - now we have to fight some learned laziness to get him working.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Baby bonanza!
I know it's been quiet here. Our family has been dealing with some heavy stuff that's not really mine to write about, and because it was heavy I haven't had any motivation to write about anything else... until today!
Yesterday my dear husband was scouting on craigslist (like you do) and found a nice looking lot of baby girl clothes in the right seasons. (Oh yeah, did I tell you all we're having a girl?) He contacted the guy (a stay-at-home-dad, whoo hoo!) and finagled a deal where we got four garbage bags worth of clothes, blankets and towels for $100.
Wow. we got all those clothes home and started the washing and sorting process, and found that we now most likely have enough for the new baby's first year! There might end up being a few holes in the wardrobe that we discover later on, but for now my nesting mama, what are we going to put the baby in worries are soothed. And what's more, I'm going down to a friends house tomorrow, and she has a batch of baby girl clothes she wants to pass on as well!
The funny thing - after we washed, sorted by size, and put everything in recently emptied bins, my husband was asking me "will we have room to store all this?". Heh. That's why I went so nuts with the cleaning and purging process last month, honey! This fits in all the space I just cleared, because I knew that we'd need the room soon. Foresight!
The weather here just turned beautiful this week - low to mid 70s all week - so I'm trying to wash one load of laundry and line dry it each day. Yes, i could go nuts and do several, but I'm trying to pace myself and rest. I'm barreling right into my third trimester, and I'm FEELING it. The second trimester was so easy I was thinking "wow, this is a breeze! I should do this more often!". Ha!
Yesterday my dear husband was scouting on craigslist (like you do) and found a nice looking lot of baby girl clothes in the right seasons. (Oh yeah, did I tell you all we're having a girl?) He contacted the guy (a stay-at-home-dad, whoo hoo!) and finagled a deal where we got four garbage bags worth of clothes, blankets and towels for $100.
Wow. we got all those clothes home and started the washing and sorting process, and found that we now most likely have enough for the new baby's first year! There might end up being a few holes in the wardrobe that we discover later on, but for now my nesting mama, what are we going to put the baby in worries are soothed. And what's more, I'm going down to a friends house tomorrow, and she has a batch of baby girl clothes she wants to pass on as well!
The funny thing - after we washed, sorted by size, and put everything in recently emptied bins, my husband was asking me "will we have room to store all this?". Heh. That's why I went so nuts with the cleaning and purging process last month, honey! This fits in all the space I just cleared, because I knew that we'd need the room soon. Foresight!
The weather here just turned beautiful this week - low to mid 70s all week - so I'm trying to wash one load of laundry and line dry it each day. Yes, i could go nuts and do several, but I'm trying to pace myself and rest. I'm barreling right into my third trimester, and I'm FEELING it. The second trimester was so easy I was thinking "wow, this is a breeze! I should do this more often!". Ha!
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Saddle sore
Saturday was beautiful here - in the mid-50's and sunny - and I have a family membership to the local science museum that we got for Christmas. So with the science center being only 4.8 miles away according to Google, and our fair city charging for parking on Saturdays to try and alleviate bankruptcy, it was inevitable that we would HAVE to ride our bikes to the science center!
And truly, the ride was awesome. Catie and Daniel had no trouble at all with either leg of the ride, and Tristan was relaxing in the box bike, so he had no trouble either. I should have been fine with my electric assist, but I was feeling wimpy - the ride was almost entirely flat - and I didn't want to go faster than the kids could ride. So I mostly pedaled, and I was fine all the way until we dismounted at home.
Pregnant joints are unstable in the best of circumstances, and my muscles weren't used to the exercise. When I woke up Sunday, my legs and rear end hurt so badly that the only way I managed was some Deep Blue muscle rub, reapplied several times through the day! Finally today (Tuesday) I was able to get a soak in Epsom salts, which cleared up the last of the pain. Ugh.
Lesson learned - when pedaling pregnant, don't feel guilty about using any advantage you can get!
And truly, the ride was awesome. Catie and Daniel had no trouble at all with either leg of the ride, and Tristan was relaxing in the box bike, so he had no trouble either. I should have been fine with my electric assist, but I was feeling wimpy - the ride was almost entirely flat - and I didn't want to go faster than the kids could ride. So I mostly pedaled, and I was fine all the way until we dismounted at home.
Pregnant joints are unstable in the best of circumstances, and my muscles weren't used to the exercise. When I woke up Sunday, my legs and rear end hurt so badly that the only way I managed was some Deep Blue muscle rub, reapplied several times through the day! Finally today (Tuesday) I was able to get a soak in Epsom salts, which cleared up the last of the pain. Ugh.
Lesson learned - when pedaling pregnant, don't feel guilty about using any advantage you can get!
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Is it more wasteful to keep it or give it away?
It's Ash Wednesday, everyone! To my intense amusement, the Methodist church down the street offers drive-through ashes every year. Wow.
So, I've been doing a lot of purging in my clean up of the house, though in the last week since Jake has switched to an odd work shift everything has ground to a halt. (He's working 4:30 PM to 3 AM. We're all adjusting, but it stinks right now.)
My mom is an incredible purger, and not very sentimental at all about objects - I get most of my attitude about items from her. My MIL is rather different - she keeps many sentimental things that I would never think to do. For example, she sold an old conversion van that she loved many years ago, and kept the bills that the new owners paid her. (It didn't sell for much.) Never deposited them, never spent them, just kept them in a lock box, because they represented the van. So, a little different.
In the beginning of the KonMari cleanout, most of what I got rid of was sent straight to the thrift store, but after a bit my MIL asked if there were things I'd like her to sell at yard sales this summer. She does have several yard sales a year, and also takes things to the flea market, so instead of donating them I started sending them to her garage.
She's been a little surprised at the things that we've been sending her way - cake pans, a cheese slicer I never liked, some old decor that Jake decided he didn't like anymore, and several of the items have been ending up in her home to be used. I don't mind that at all - the idea is to get back the space in our home, not to sell stuff. But even though she doesn't say it directly, I often think she sees this as being wasteful on my part. I'm getting rid of perfectly good items that still have a lot of life left in them - that's the definition of waste, right?
I, however, feel like these items were going to waste in my house. I didn't like them, I didn't use them, and neither of those things were going to change, no matter how long I held onto them. So there they were, sitting there, not being used. When I took them out and sent them to the thrift store or my MILs, they had a chance at being used by someone who wanted them and would like them. To me, that seems like the LEAST wasteful thing I could do. I'm saving someone else money by letting them buy used, it's one less product that will be manufactured and bought new, and as a bonus, I have more room in my home! Yes, at one time I spent money to get them, but that's the way the world works. If I spent the money and I loved it, I'd have kept it. But since it doesn't work for me, I have to decide - what's more important to me? The fact that it once cost me $20, or the fact that I can't close the kitchen drawer when it's in there? To me, a drawer that closes is worth getting rid of a $20 gadget I never used, and sending to a home that will use and treasure it.
Tell me in the comments - what is wasteful to you? Getting rid of things, or keeping things you don't use?
So, I've been doing a lot of purging in my clean up of the house, though in the last week since Jake has switched to an odd work shift everything has ground to a halt. (He's working 4:30 PM to 3 AM. We're all adjusting, but it stinks right now.)
My mom is an incredible purger, and not very sentimental at all about objects - I get most of my attitude about items from her. My MIL is rather different - she keeps many sentimental things that I would never think to do. For example, she sold an old conversion van that she loved many years ago, and kept the bills that the new owners paid her. (It didn't sell for much.) Never deposited them, never spent them, just kept them in a lock box, because they represented the van. So, a little different.
In the beginning of the KonMari cleanout, most of what I got rid of was sent straight to the thrift store, but after a bit my MIL asked if there were things I'd like her to sell at yard sales this summer. She does have several yard sales a year, and also takes things to the flea market, so instead of donating them I started sending them to her garage.
She's been a little surprised at the things that we've been sending her way - cake pans, a cheese slicer I never liked, some old decor that Jake decided he didn't like anymore, and several of the items have been ending up in her home to be used. I don't mind that at all - the idea is to get back the space in our home, not to sell stuff. But even though she doesn't say it directly, I often think she sees this as being wasteful on my part. I'm getting rid of perfectly good items that still have a lot of life left in them - that's the definition of waste, right?
I, however, feel like these items were going to waste in my house. I didn't like them, I didn't use them, and neither of those things were going to change, no matter how long I held onto them. So there they were, sitting there, not being used. When I took them out and sent them to the thrift store or my MILs, they had a chance at being used by someone who wanted them and would like them. To me, that seems like the LEAST wasteful thing I could do. I'm saving someone else money by letting them buy used, it's one less product that will be manufactured and bought new, and as a bonus, I have more room in my home! Yes, at one time I spent money to get them, but that's the way the world works. If I spent the money and I loved it, I'd have kept it. But since it doesn't work for me, I have to decide - what's more important to me? The fact that it once cost me $20, or the fact that I can't close the kitchen drawer when it's in there? To me, a drawer that closes is worth getting rid of a $20 gadget I never used, and sending to a home that will use and treasure it.
Tell me in the comments - what is wasteful to you? Getting rid of things, or keeping things you don't use?
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