Lead, Follow or GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Why I had to cap that last phrase is beyond me but it speaks to you, too. Doesn't it? While sitting here in my room rocking my milk drunken 7 week old, I decided that blog following/subscribing/reading had to get under control.

I utilize iGoogle Reader for my blog following. If I *was* following your blog and I'm gone now, don't worry. I have stopped following but I have NOW subscribed. I like using the "subscription" feature much better because you can categorize those blogs. I have blogs in several categories: Decorating and DIY, Crafts and Gift Ideas, Cooking, Homemaking, Misc and fun stuff, Reading and Inspiration, Homeschooling, Home-Couponing, etc. I like that when I'm nursing I can just read about decorating and see ideas that people have. Or, if I want to read about cooking... all the cooking blogs I subscribe to will be in one space.

From there, I will either star the items to search for later or tag them with "recipe" or "to do" or "gift idea" and the like.

Now I will NO LONGER FOLLOW any blog at all! It will be either subscribe or I'll bookmark that particular entry. Period.

There are so many hours in a day and the fact that I feel like I'm spending a good majority of them following unorganized blogs is preposterous! My boys will only be little so long...so having these organized will help me streamline what I DO want to read. Right now, I love getting to catch up on my blog roll at 2am for these early morning feedings. It's my "me" time. I'm looking forward to dwindling them down even further, however.

I'm on a purge mode--house wide it seems. I don't understand why we have so much excess. Seriously, how many plastic pitchers do you have in your kitchen? I have 5. FIVE? Who the heck needs FIVE plastic pitchers. I'd PREFER to have two really pretty glass or acrylic ones but I have FIVE UGLY PLASTIC ones. WHY? I'm getting rid of three of them. I like to have one for sweet tea and one for unsweetened tea. Other than that, I do NOT need FIVE pitchers.

Along the same lines, I have been blessed with an incredibly large kitchen. Why I feel the need to FILL it up is beyond me, too. Seriously. It's ridiculous. I have one area in my kitchen that is similar to a china cabinet. There is a beautiful granite counter top, two or three sets of double doors beneath that and then glass-fronted cabinet doors for the cabinets on the wall above that. It's full of stuff that I DO NOT USE. Why do I still have it? Just to fill a space? Seriously, I would rather my home be full of memorabilia and items that I use and love rather than STUFF to fill up space.

For instance, I have a set of glasses that have gold rims on them. My mom gave me these to go with some beautiful gold flatware. I have used these at Christmas so it seems it'd be wise if I wanted to keep it... to pack it up with the Christmas stuff in the attic and bring it out THEN. There are beer mugs that my husband (he actually has more sentimental clutter than I do, I think).... from some place in Lubbock. We NEVER USE THEM... why do we have them? Seriously?!

I have found a home for the rocking bassinet that I have. I can't just give it away to anyone because of the fact that it was recalled. Apparently it's a co-sleeper, bassinet, changing table, combo apparatus. However, since there is no way to keep the co-sleeper next to the bed and the support bar isn't "regulation" .. little scootchie babies can get their heads caught in the rail and strangle themselves (it happened, thus the recall). However, the recall was like 3 years ago (when mine was in the attic and I was OUT of baby recall monitoring mode). So, I can't *in good faith* just give this to anyone knowing they may use it for the wrong reason. However, I don't need it and it's -- TAKING UP SPACE -- so since my cousin is due in July, I'm going to give it to her to use as a bassinet. Once she's done, I'll let her gift it to someone else... with the disclaimer that they can NOT use it as a co-sleeper.

I'm ready to go through my closet and purge, too. I have TRIED to get him to do the same. He has long sleeved turtle necks that I have NEVER seen him wear. I say, get rid of those. He says they're for skiing. I would bet my right arm that even if we WENT skiing, he'd NEVER wear a turtleneck. He hates them. Yet, he hangs onto them. It's going to be funny when I purge my closet and he has three times the clothes that I do. I swear the rumors will fly -- you know what they say about guys that have more clothes than their wives... LOL