I won the 50/50! 50..50...50.....

 Have you heard of the 50-hanger challenge? 

The challenge is to purge your closet and empty 50 hangers.  

You still win the challenge even if half the items come from a drawer or a pile on the floor.  And a pair of socks can count as two items if you get desperate. 

And don't feel guilty if your hubby's hideous 90's sweater makes its way into the pile. 

I have been wanting to participate in this challenge for a while now. And today's cool cloudy weather dictated that today was the day. 

I want to say I am proud. However, the truth is, I am a little bit embarrassed to say I spanked this challenge! 

I did not need to pilfer from Jim's closet. 

I did not need to count drawer items. 

I emptied pretty much exactly 50 hangers from my closet. 

On a roll, I started on the drawers...

I lost count at 50 items. 

And pairs of socks counted as one. 

I'm fairly confident I may have come close to doubling fifty.

I was feeling so successful! 

So I moved on to the bathroom. Surely I could find 50 items of clutter to dispose of: 

Nearly-empty bottles of lotion, hair products and make up. 

Horribly stained face cloths. 

Eyeshadow that, I know without a doubt, I purchased more than 15 years ago. (Not sure how that even made the move to this house three-and-a-half years ago.) 

Outdated vitamins. 

Random strips of used magnetic eyelashes. 

Bobby pins that were stretched beyond use. And I don't even use bobby pins. 

Thumb tacks.  Actual thumb tacks, not push pins. What the...?!  I had 6 or 8 thumb tacks thrown in my vanity drawer. NO idea why. 

Keys. I had keys stashed in my make up drawer that I am sure fit the ignition of one of Jed's many long abandoned quads. 

I found a $25 Home Depot gift card that did not make it to the trash bin as the other items did. I am hoping it is still good. Even though I know I acquired it almost 10 years ago as a reward from Albert's HD credit card.  

Heck yeah! 

50 items from the hangers.

50 (Times 2) items from the drawers. 

50 items from the bathroom. 

Let's move on to shoes..... 

Gulp 

No!!! Not the shoes! 

I know that I have more than 50 pairs of footwear. 

My heart started palpitating.

I do have a lot of shoes. But I don't feel like it's too many. 

Seriously, there are FOUR seasons.  All of which need entirely different footwear here in Northern Canada. 

Perhaps I could release FIFTY shoes. 

That's only 25 pair.... 

I went to the second spare room (known as "The Kid's Room") and opened the closet where my 'spare' shoes and jackets make their home. 

I sorted. 

I tried on. 

I walked up and down the hall. 

I organized the winter collection and felt good about that. 

I 'found' a number of flip flops that, here near the end of summer, I had forgotten about. 

Some of those made the "50-to-cut" pile. 

I went out to the garage where the official "shoe wall" resides. 

I sat on the floor in front of the shoe wall. 

It smelled of stale leather and foot odour. 

Only about 8 shoes made the delete list. (That's 4 pair) 

I moved on...

I flipped through the flip flops at the front door. 

I think there are a couple pair Maeve might be able to use. 

There's a pair that are very similar to a pair that is up in the spare closet.  But I still like them.

I cannot release them. 

Oh, and there is the pair of flip flops that I distinctly remember wearing out to the flower garden last week, knowing that I was going to take this 50-thing challenge and wanting to spare them with the knowledge that "I still wear them." 

But all-in-all I feel like I SLAYED IT! 

50 hangers

50 (times 2) drawer items

50 bathroom vanity items

30 shoes (15 pair)  feels marginally like a fail. But conquering a panic attack makes up for that, I think. 

And now I sit down in my art studio typing up this blog. I simply refuse to include this room in the challenge. 

But I may include fridges, freezers and pantry one of these days. I know for certain I will find 50 food products that are nearly empty, out dated, freezer burned or we just simply will not eat. 

I took this "50" challenge and spanked it in every regard! 

I think I deserve a shopping spree.  I am pretty sure Walk Rite Shoes has their annual sandal sale on... 

 

And For That I am Grateful

The current fires in Jasper are horrible and devastating. To humans. To animals. To culture. To the western Canadian economy. 

And, at the risk of sounding a bit ego-centric and trivial, they are more than a mere inconvenience to anyone needing to travel from Central BC to Central Alberta. 

On July 21, 2024 after a brief battle with cancer, Grandma Gloria, my last remaining ancestor, was awarded eternity in Calgary. And the round trip to be there to lay her to rest was nearly a 3000km drive. 

We (Jim, Connie and I) decided to make it a circle drive and stop for the night in Kamloops to hang with Brandi, Kore and the girls before trekking through Roger's Pass and onto Calgary.  It was a treat to get an unexpected day with them. And it had been more than half a century since any of us had driven through Rogers Pass. 

Yes, we are that old. 

And the drive, even with heavy traffic including other diverted big trucks and RV's, was beautiful and enjoyable. 

And for that I am grateful.  

We opted to take the north route home, even though it was about 100km further. But I think the higher speed limits and reduced traffic probably made it a faster drive overall on the two day trip.  Even with stopping to visit David and Bobbi in Innisfail and spending the night in Grande Prairie and hanging with Coralie and Greg. 

These 'people connections' wouldn't be normal on a quick trip to Calgary, but the fires dictated our detours. 

And for that I am grateful. 

****

Grandma, being of sound mind and genuinely looking forward to eternity, took her brain tumour diagnosis, with its 3-to-6 month prognosis, with dignity and acceptance. 

And for that I am grateful. 

She organized and assigned roles for her funeral service. Chose the music, and determined which songs were forbidden, due to the involuntary sounds playing audibly and constant in her head, while the tumour pressed on the sound receptors of her brain. 

Grandma assigned two of her granddaughters to speak at her service. Neither was me. 

For that I am grateful. 

There would be no "open mic" during the service, however there was a call for all grandchildren willing, to submit a memory or a blurb to be read by a designated spokesperson. 

Write a memory and NOT have to public speak??! Pick me. I am in! 

Here is my contribution of memory and honour of my Grandma Gloria. And I didn't even have to stand in front of a crowd and say it. 

And for that I am grateful.  

****

Grandma Gloria has been my grandma since I was nine years old. And she has always just been “Grandma” to me. I never thought of her as “Grandpa’s wife” or “Mom’s stepmom.” She is just Grandma. And I love her. 

 

And for that I am grateful. 

 

I don’t think it was coincidental that the year after she married Grandpa, our customary 2-dollar bill in our birthday cards became a 5-dollar bill. That was a colossal gold mine in the eyes of a kid living in the sticks in Keefers in the early 70’s. 

 

The first time I really felt like I got to know Grandma was when they visited us in Prince George in 1979, just five years into her role as Grandma. (They may have visited before that, but I don’t remember developing a relationship in the same way as that summer.) 

 

One of the days while they were visiting, Mom, Grandma, Jennifer, me and a friend went to the mall. (I’m not sure why Connie wasn’t there, but lucky her…) My friend and I parted ways with the adults and Jen, with instructions to meet back at a certain spot at a certain time. 

 

Mom and Grandma’s shopping time was cut short when Mom got paged throughout the mall to return to Woolco, the olden days “Walmart.” 

 

Where they were greeted by Woolco security and the RCMP. 

 

I cannot even imagine my mother’s humiliation upon realizing, within the presence of her stepmom, that her child had just been busted for shoplifting. Dollar-twenty-nine nail polish. While packing $40 in babysitting money in her wallet. 

 

What I DO remember is overhearing Grandma talking to Mom.  

And if we are all being honest, especially in the early years, Grandma was a pretty stoic, rule keeping, black-and-white, good-and-bad type girl. 

 

Yet, what I overheard her say to Mom, as the RCMP released me to their care, endeared her to my heart. 

 

“It’s NOT a big deal. It’s like smoking pot. ALL kids try it.” 

 

SERIOUSLY! My Grandmother thought this was “not a big deal!”  It was 1979! 

 

Mind blown! 

 

She had no idea that she had just saved me from a grounding, or a lecture, or a belting. 

 

However, I cocked my eyebrow in slight offence. 

 

Pot smoking???!!?

 

C’mon, Grandma! I may not be above slipping a $1.29 nail polish into my pocket. But pot smoking???! I’m offended. 

 

And few months later some kid on the bus gave me a bag of pot… 

 

For the record, I hated it, and it never became a thing for me.

 

And neither did shoplifting. 

 

But I credit Grandma for treating me with dignity, even while not approving my behaviour.  

 

And for that I am grateful. 

 

And through the years, Grandma has had an innate ability to love and include, while holding fast to her morals and belief in Jesus. 

 

And her love and inclusion included my son Jed. 

 

Grandma loved all her grandchildren. 

 

But she held a special love and inclusion for Jed. 

And for that I am grateful. 

 

She knew that when he called, it’s best to just answer and say, “I am too busy right now.” Rather than endure the 47 subsequent unanswered phone calls.  

 

Grandma often said to me, “I know that Jed loves me. And I love him.”  She was so gracious. 

And for that I am grateful. 

 

The summer of 2009, in Kamloops, I got to present my grandson to my grandparents. And getting 5-generation photos was seriously a highlight of my life. 

 

Last year, in 2023, Jim and I became great-grandparents to baby Bec.  

 

If I am a Great-Granny, this makes Grandma Gloria a great-great-great Grandma. 

And she makes a really GREAT great-great-great Grandma.  

 

Everyone has heard of families that have had “that praying Grandma,” who has brought their families incalculable protection and blessing. 

 

Grandma Gloria was one of those.

 

And for that I am grateful.  

 

And now she’s gone. 

 

Who will pick up the slack? 

Visiting Grandma just 90 days before she was awarded eternity with Jesus.