• a bunch of roller skating/skateboarding elbow and knee pads. tossed the girly flowered ones, kept the serious boarding set.

• a cloth wine bag. for carrying a half dozen bottles. one of two.
• two advertising refrigerator magnets. one for the vet, one for a medical clinic.
• a sarong-like piece of fabric. purchased in kenya, much the worse for wear.
• a spool of not quite ribbon, not quite string. annoyingly in between.

• worry. about the house, the yard, the laundry, the errands and the job. we are on vacation.

• a rock. yellow, glass.
• a green scarf. finger-knitted.
• a blue beaded scarf decoration thingy. super cool, languishing on a distant shelf.
• a plastic flower pot. surely they are all gone now.
• an outdoor solar globe. maybe left too much in the weather.

• ten picture books. long unread, unwieldy.

• an outlet box. blue, plastic... i wouldn't know what to do with it.
• a plastic shovel. we use more sophisticated digging devices.
• a stack of pink index cards. mysteriously numbered in sharpie.
• a lone votive candle. enough candles, already.
• a paint can opener. the other one.

• two socks. mismatched.
• two pieces of tupperware. also mismatched.
• two pairs underwear. just old.

• two towels. if the kids think we have too many, we have too many.
• one bath mat. i want to toss it every time i put it on the floor.
• a stack of origami paper. frustratingly small.
• another meltable bead artwork. thanks, ikea.

• a black tank top. and then there was one.
• a foot stool. the kids like it. wonder if they will notice.
• two blues festival t-shirts. they do pile up.
• a small garbage can. lately the source of dog food.
• the dog food that was in it. ant-ridden.

• a black shirt. the last day i wore it was exceptionally good, and exceptionally bad.
• a halloween costume. with lots of fake blood.
• a washcloth. with lots of fake blood.
• a retainer. ugh.
• party favor detritus. finally.

• a pile of leftover tiles. too ugly to replace, even if one should break.

• a lovely green shirt. i can't figure out why i don't wear it.
• a sock puppet. when my children don't want things they have made, they give them to me. tricky.
• two cds. hiding in an undisclosed location.
• a tiny christmas tree made of meltable plastic beads. sorry, ocean.

• rewards card.
• rolodex cards.
• check carbons.
• printed email.
• business card. paperless household soon?

• a book of postcards. neither sent nor mounted.
• a box of stationery. ridiculously hard to discard.
• an envelope of thank you notes from the little girls i shared a cabin with at omsi camp. montessori teaches good manners.
• a handful of expired membership cards. replaced or invalid.
• several expired coupons. really good ones.

• one hose nozzle. exploded on impact.
• two dresses. lovely.
• one printer manual. it's gone.
• one software manual. no longer in use.
• one ipod manual. even i know how to operate an ipod.

• five more children's books. amazingly there are still more of them.

• five plastic flower pots. why are there so many plastic flower pots in the world? and how have so many of them ended up in my garage?

• a dog bed.
• a dog blanket. there is still a lot of fur.
• two large plastic tubs. been in a closet for years.
• one small rug. one of three.

• a sponge. my thirteen year old is getting in on the action.
• a book. started it, didn't like it.
• a rug. that's been airing outside for about a year.
• a magnetic toy. that's lost most of its parts.
• a tube of plastic wood. huh?

• two dog bowls. no more clanking of tags on metal.
  a small piece of art. pretty.
• scrap paper. i don't want to make that many lists.
• a cd case. i might go live in the cloud.
• a chinese yo-yo. fun for about two minutes.

• a curtain hook thingy. an extra.
• a mostly-empty tube of toothpaste. colgate, yuck.
• a picture frame. ugly!
• stickers. ubiquitous.
• address pages for... something.

• one skirt. pretty but unflattering.
• one filter thingy for a fish tank. no fish.
• one red plastic tape dispenser. oddly beautiful, but empty.
• one ceramic pie plate. formerly a receptacle for pet supplies.
• one watch. needs a battery.

• three leashes.
• one dog brush.
• an assortment of flea medication. boo.

• a tank top. two rust-colored tank tops?
• four dog bones. ouch.

• a tennis ball. where do these come from?
• three large plastic tupperware bowls. no lids.
• a large metal bowl. one of three.

• a piece of kid art. nice, but...
• a golf ball. ubiquitous.
• a strainer. one plus a colander should be plenty.
• a bag of tea. yuck.
• a sunglasses tether. uncomfortable.