Clearing Out The Old

My life changed rapidly the last 3 months. A promotion took me out of field work and moved me to working from a home office. The daily routine of the last 5.5 years no longer applies. It is challenging, rewarding and at times downright exhausting.

The yoga room has been turned into a home office complete with printer, multiple computer screens and the prerequisite reference binders. Yoga has been relegated to the back room for the rare opportunities when there is time to actually relax into a pose or two.The lack of time and the new pressures have forced me to reevaluate many things in my life; from my day to day routine to my closet.

After a particularly frustrating morning of getting ready and digging through the bathroom shelves for the correct beauty products it became apparent that some of my makeup was so old the date of purchase was unknown. We are not talking a couple years - there was eye makeup from 2003. There were products that made me itch, colors I hated and blue eye pencil from who know when?? Is blue eye pencil even appropriate after 40???? Who knows. Out it all went. All that survived were a recently purchased mascara, 2 eye pencils and several tubes of lipstick.

Into the trash went hair care products that were never used, a hairspray that stunk (as in pee-yew) to high heaven, a 6 year old bottle of honey calendula lotion that had turned a watery consistency and a slew of out outdated medications. Also jettisoned were old body sprays, a body oil, and scented powders from the mid 90's.

Replacing the items was fairly easy. Amazon prime was my friend. The items chosen were eye liner, lipstick
(a shade and brand I was familiar with) and new vitamins. The foundation and moisturizers were researched online and then purchased at CVS, Dollar General and Ulta. At Ulta it is possible to try different shades of products and they have a store brand that is comparable to the higher end makeups at a lower price.If you are a member of their club you can have coupons sent to your home. The coupon for this month was for 3.50 off any purchase. Replacing a few of the products was done in stages over about 3 weeks. Please, note it was not necessary to replace everything thrown away. The only items replaced were the ones used on a daily basis.

Next was the closet.. Out went anything that did not fit properly, was stained or unable to be mended. Old shoes were also sorted and those suits from the early 90's and the formal dresses that had been hanging unused all were donated. The book case was sorted when the office moved in and all of the old books were donated.When done the closet was only half full and 2 large bags went to a local charity. I was in the charity thrift store last week and saw some of the items for sale in the "Boutique Section." Who knew I had decent taste.

Now I need to figure out how to streamline housework. After travelling 6 of the last 7 days I am tired and could honestly care less about the floors. Ideas?????