I came across a crotched piano runner my Grandmother made for me when I was sorting through my linen closet a few weeks ago. I don't love the piano runner now and never did.  But yet I kept it in my special linens bin because I love my Grandma, and she handmade this for me.

What a tripe whammy:  gift, homemade, Grandma.  Guilt from three angles.  Any one of these can make getting rid of something difficult.  But three of them? What’s a girl to do?

One of my favorite methods is to try to find a good home for the item. I think many of us wish that what we have a hard time parting with will be enjoyed by someone else.

Some things are just too hard to donate. Maybe it’s because we never really know what happens to them.  I donate many things, most of the time without  a second thought, probably because they don’t have any feelings associated with them.

So each month that I go to my book club I bring a bag of things that I want to find a good home.  Many times I have great success with this and feel a bit like the matchmaker.  My friends take home something they love, and I get the satisfaction of seeing my things appreciated again or maybe for the first time.

I just sent a note out to the family to see if anyone wants the piano runner. If not, to book club it goes next month.  And if no one wants it, I feel better for at least trying to find it a good home, and that makes the guilt go away, triple whammy or not.

My husband and I both enjoy cooking, so it’s easy for condiments to accumulate, hot sauces, oils, Thai flavors, you name it.  I decided to go through them yet again not long ago, thinking I could make a pretty quick job of it since it hadn’t been very long.  “Very” is quite subjective though, is it not?  I think it had been about six months, which didn’t seem that long to me.

Once I got started it didn’t take long to find things to clear out.  I was actually quite surprised that I found as much as I did (six or seven things, or so).  As I shut the frig, after clearing and wiping down the door shelves, I wondered why I still had so many that either we didn’t use or had expired. 

I realized that I was living in “just in case.” What if we need or want______(fill in the blank)?  Also, so many of us have been taught that it’s a shame to waste food.  That gets in the way, too. When I was growing up, and we were putting leftovers away, my dad would say, “Shall I throw it now or later?”

But throwing it now or later – what’s the difference?  We sometimes use the crutch of wanting something to be spoiled beyond use before we give ourselves permission to get rid of it.  Let’s save ourselves the guilt and energy drain and deal with it now.  And maybe not buy any more condiments (or, fill in the blank) for awhile.

I opened that frig right back up and threw out three more things, things I just felt guilty I wasn’t using, and things that I was just going to throw out six months from now.  Who knew what oyster sauce could teach us?