A new relish tray and bowl with a fish motif.

A set of curious George refrigerator magnets.

A Martini glass refrigerator magnet.

A new set of porcelain plates.

At least a dozen plain white chili bowls we use for everything...salads, cereal, soup, even chili.

A special pan, a curved grill really, for making crepes.

A new, more complicated Scrabble game.

About a dozen little glass bowls.

A glass platter and bowl with a kind of leaf shape. Given to me as an anniversary present by a co-worker I knew only briefly who quit and who I don't keep up with at all. I bought a new platter and a new little knick knack for FFP.

Two tiny stainless steel bowls.

A cut glass bowl with a silver rim. Which will tarnish, you know, if you don't watch it.

A china doll in a jester's costume on a stand. It's hiding behind some books in the usually dark hallway. I'm not sure when or why we got it. Probably for decoration??

Two large and one small stainless steel bowls.

A white plastic ice bucket with a very contemporary look. However, I think I've had it since before I married! Maybe not, though. But we've had it a long time. For a wedding present we got a green ice bucket, plastic, with raised flower design. I had to force someone to take it for free at a garage sale!

A lego set that my sister gave to me for Christmas a long time ago and I've never put together.

A wire sleigh and some wire flamingos strung with lights. A giant outdoor wreath. Strings of lights for the house.

An old mission-style hat and umbrella tree.

A box (one of those a bunch of packs of paper comes in) of bendable, posable, collectible Christmas figures, mostly Santas. There must be a hundred of them.

Tupperware containers: two with rice in them, one corn meal, one flour. Contents appear in good shape. Time in pantry unknown.

A lifetime supply of aluminum foil.

A Screwpull wine opener.

A portable dishwasher I like to call 'the last portable dishwasher in America.'

Three sets of battery-operated Christmas lights.

Jumper cables. Can't remember the last time I used them.

A couple of dozen Christmas ornaments.

A band you wrap around your arm to prevent tennis elbow.

A break front that FFP got from his grandmother when she went to a nursing home, before I met him.

Four demi-tasse cups and saucers with two each Picasso and Van Gogh decoration.

A knick knack of a critter of indeterminate species eating what looks like a pizza. A weathered duck decoy FFP's mom bought at a garage sale. Along with a piece of fake chocolate cake, mentioned below, these items grace the top of a break front that belonged to FFP's grandmother for a rather whimsical display.

A Mexican blanket throw brought back from Mexico by a one-time boss in the '80's. It's currently in the dining room in a chair for some reason.

A Polartec throw given to me my a co-worker who is now an estranged (her choice, not mine) friend.

A giveaway DVD...Houston Film Commission presents Texas Filmmakers Showcase 2004

At any given time you have all these 'consumables.' Your bottle of shampoo, your pack of coffee filter packs for the hotel coffee pot, hair gel, toothpaste. Not to mention some of the aging consumables in the pantry or refrigerator.

A throw blanket commemorating the 1972 Olympics. Purchased in Germany in 1972 after that event, which I did not attend. No, I watched the dramatic killing of the Israeli athletes on a TV somewhere in Europe, I think. Or not.

Two hairdryers...one for home and one for travel.

I have a number of things that I'm just on the edge of discarding. I've looked at them recently and said to myself "just give that away" or "just throw that in the garbage."

A small leather Filofax address book and calendar. The calendar is from 1998. In it are addresses of dead people and phone numbers of defunct restaurants. One of my many organizing attempts gone for naught. Sadly, besides the divorced, the dead, the not at this address and the no longer friends, there are people I just don't remember at all. There is a small collection of refill accessories of various sorts for this thing, too. I'll probably never use it again. But I could. It doubles as a wallet. Back in the drawer it goes.

Two old tattered quilts that are sort of family heirlooms and that I should really have repaired.

several pairs of those scissors that cut non-straight borders

shiny new Sharper Image scales

Two new software packages. A DVD of a fireplace with music. A pair of gloves and a polartec headband.

A Blood pressure monitor.

a geode, cut in half

a couple of dozen coasters of various kinds

Another feather duster.

At least six tableclothes...some probably even clean and pressed. Probably three dozen cloth napkins.

An old TV cabinet modified to hold stereo equipment. Inside is an old receiver, amp, cassette player and there are some speakers. Don't know if any of it works.

A collectible 'arts and crafts' box probably made from a kit.

Ancient vintage ironing board and iron.

Three platters. A turkey one that is chipped. A brown one that matches dishes that are mostly broken. A porcelain one with a Andre Renoux painting on it.

At least a dozen giveaway canvas bags.

Several pairs of bow biters.

Today I opened a drawer to put something away (a plastic ladle) and saw a rusty cheese grater and threw it away.

About a dozen (or more) surge supressors.

A couple of dozen dessert/salad/appetizer plates with various things on them: old Paris postcards, Guy Buffet drawings, cheese labels.

Three plastic water bottles that I refill from the reverse osmosis filter outlet and keep refrigerated for drinking after exercise.

An electric typewriter that FFP still uses to address envelopes. It's one of those 'modern' ones with the ribbon cartridges that pop in and out.

Sold two bronze sculptures and a marble one and gave away the cheap pedestals they used to occupy.

A new scanner. Unfortunately, for the moment, I still have the old scanner and the computer with all its accessories that is attached to it.

Several boxes of partly used notecards.

Three pedestals made from particle board or cheap laminate. They were used to support some bronze sculptures and a pink marble one. We still own the sculpture. They are out with an art dealer who is trying to sell them.

Two fine glass sculptures given to me as awards at work. One, a sort of flame shape, on display. Another, a sort of sail shape, in a box in a closet. Thinking of selling or donating it. Or both of them.

Two stadium seats I doubt we will ever use again.

A half dozen bath mats.

A pasta cooker. As advertised on TV. I didn't want one. My mother-in-law did. They sent two, large and small and she insisted we keep one. Never used it.

Two dust pans.

I have a tiny set of blocks in a tiny box (about 2x1 inches).

When you travel, you are reduced to what you can carry around or at least put in your car. I took a sweater and sweatshirt I never wore on my trip to Denver. I did laundry. Still seemed to have too much along. But, fortunately, I had a suit because we had to go to a funeral.

Two Swiss Army Knives and several little manicure knives.

A black plastic file holder with an insert to hold a tablet and miscellaneous receipts and five red folders to hold categories of receipts...used to organize the family budget.

Two nice yo-yos.

A large brown wooden candleholder with a partially burned pillar candle...I think FFP had this when I met him!

A piece of fake chocolate cake with ice cream and a cherry on top.

A fax machine and a copier.

Two skinny pink statues in 20's outfits, one man and one woman, with exceedingly small heads. These have decorated FFP's office at one spot or the other for a while.

A large antique wooden box that holds phone books? what else? by the writing desk in the big room.

A old, rusty rolled steel wok. Probably could be seasoned and used but we haven't had it out of the cabinet in ages.

A couple of cookie sheets.

Four or five 'throw' blankets for wrapping up and reading on a cold winter day. (Or with the air conditioning turned up.)

A hammock woven in some South American country and used as a throw across the back of a couch.

At least four little luggage combo locks that if you use on checked luggage now they may cut off.

A wireless access point and a wireless card for my laptop that I rarely use. The laptop is usually wired to the network and the access point unplugged.

An old Palm Pilot (Palm III) and a cradle for it. I bought it before a trip to Israel on business to avoid lugging a laptop. I'm not sure what year that was. I think it was before 2001. Yes, I'm sure of that. Maybe 1999. I also have the case, the stylus and a spare stylus combined with a ballpoint pen.

Two compasses.

A ceramic flamingo.

I bought two small inexpensive computer accessories. A fast USB hub and a compact four-foot Ethernet cable.

A rolling file cart. I keep hanging files in it for tickets, coupons, stuff to distribute to others, stuff to shred. On the bottom shelf I keep cleaning supplies for using in here.

A china coaster with a Rembrandt on it. Somewhere there is the rest of a set of these. Maybe.

Two chrome paper towel holders.

About twenty notebooks or portfolios for keeping photos. Various styles and colors. Can't decide the ones I like best. Some are oversized for the oversized archival page protectors. They are full of these pages except for the last two I bought.

Three old Erector sets or parts thereof in original boxes. One I got for Christmas when I was nine or ten.

Carafes. Three cheap ones, a nice one. Some decanters. One with an antique globe theme. One Waterford. One cheap glass.

Some souvenir spoons. About a dozen of those ones you buy as a souvenir...you know demitasse size, decorations on the bowl and handle advertising a place.And two 1970's dessert spoons from Georg Jensen that I originally gave to my old maid aunts and got back after they died. They are silver with gold plate and a wildflower on the handle. Pretty. Require polishing.

A black leather magazine basket purchased for the new room to 'go with the look.'

A feather duster.

Two step ladders. One old school wooden one and one modern one...aluminum and plastic.

Two white plastic stacking drawers. Purchased originally as a support for a flamingo neon that was in my office when I worked (and to hold stuff). Now under my desk holding a supply of reusable folders and papers for the printer.

Blue metal box with a combination lock. Even though we have a safe I keep some papers in there.

A white elfa storage thing with a melamine top and seven shallow baskets.

A black bowl, red inside, with some fake limes and tangerines.

[I have decided that I want to simplify my life, get rid of stuff. Really. I think I fret too much about where the junk goes. It doesn't matter if I throw it away, sell it, give it away to freecyle, put it on the curb or take it to a thrift store. It needs to be gone.]

Two covered glass pyrex bowls for mixing, marinating, casseroles.

A chrome kleenex holder, chrome extra tissue roll holder, chrome and black soap dishes and accessories, a chrome brush holder and a chrome over the tub accessory holder.

A red white and blue pillowcase, the only tangible evidence of an old photo taken in this house.

Six green plastic templates for drawing flowcharts and database diagrams, etc.

A brown ceramic thing with a lid full of matchbooks.

A small wooden table of various woods that holds a few bathroom items in the guest bathroom.

A set of china with twelve plates, saucers, cups and salad/dessert plates.

Three binoculars. Two old cheap ones and an ultra compact pair of Minoltas.

Twelve plastic in/out baskets holding paper and supplies for my printers.

A wrought iron cart with a couple of dozen bottles of stuff like liqueurs and Scotch and brandy.

A hat rack hanging on the wall made from metal.

A large metal owl.

Three metal roses with barbed wire stems balanced in a cooper oval basin.

Two painted wooden Humpty Dumpty figures that sit on a shelf. Once we had the cutest Humpty Dumpty, chalkware maybe?, that got broken when the attic stairs were lowered near where it was displayed. FFP loved that geegaw and I thought I'd get it replaced on ebay but while there were plenty of Humptys, not this one. I saved the shattered pieces for a while, thinking one of my friends who did mosaic type things from broken china could make something cute from them but then I lost track of the pieces. Maybe I gave them to someone, maybe I threw them away. Maybe I'll stumble on them again some time.Life is said and our 'stuff' shows it. Even it we don't fall to pieces like that.

A little cardboard box with three drawers covered in orange paper. It's full of paper clips, rubber bands, twist ties and other 'house fluff.'

I had two identical white porcelain teapots. But I gave one away to an Austin Freecyler.

A pair of bronze-looking guys that are bookends. Some glass owl bookends. Some cool globe bookends. Some bookends that look like Notre Dame. Several pairs of pedestrian bookends. A book holder that is a hand-forged clever metal thing with a slight slant.

Two pewter things to hold a bottle of wine on a table and catch drips. Two silver wine buckets and a chrome large champagene bucket.

I bought a pack of three small cheap calculators the other day for $6.99.

An Elfa rolling cart with seven wire drawers.

A silver compote with a pyrex insert. It was a wedding present.

Five serving trays. Three electric warming trays.

At least a couple of dozen books on tape.

Several dozen tapes and accompanying guides for learning languages...mostly French, a few German, Russian, Italian.

An antique dresser and a modern campaign style one.

Probably five dozen shot and cordial glasses.

A wooden side table that is made to look like a stack of books.

A bulletin board, wine charm holder (with several sets of charms), trivet and a couple of coasters made from wine corks by my Aunt Cappy.

A dozen or more Tupperware or Rubbermaid food containers.

Two tennis racquets and a racquetball racquet.

We bought a tray, six little plates, a new clock.

Two ink jet printers.

Computers. Seven that I know work. A couple of questionable ones.

Trays. Four different sort of art deco ones. And three warming trays that you plug in to keep food hot.

A whimsical wooden construction set called Zolo.

A wooden rolling pin that belonged to my mother (and maybe someone before her). I took it from my parents' house after she died because (1) I doubted my dad would use it; (2) I didn't have one and had some vague idea I needed one; and (3) there was a marble one at their house.

A stool that rolls and then becomes stable when you step on it.

Four pitchers: a plastic one, an aluminum one, a ceramic one and a chrome one.

On June 11, 2004, I got rid of stuff. But, probably, nothing in the countdown.

Got a new vase today for the new bathroom.

A couple of glass candy dishes with mints.

A decorative item with glass pieces that move around like planets when wound up while a music box plays a tune.

Five little Eiffel towers, all different sizes.

A Cabin Light Panel for lighting photos or viewing slides.

A rubber chicken.

An easel.

An ostrich egg on a stand.

A wire hen with ten eggs and a twelve-sided figure of some kind of stone and a darning egg inside.

Several dozen maps. At least three editions of map books for Austin, street maps of Austin, Houston, Dallas. Maps of Paris and Berlin, various parts of France.Maps of Montreal and Toronto. Maps of places that, when I go back again, will probably deserve new maps. One of my favorite maps is my Michelin Paris Map Number 10 attached to the Number 12 Street Index Cover. I don't think it's made anymore having been replaced by the Number 55.

Two reflecting balls.