Shareware and Women's Clothing

We had a "Shareware" at church last night. It was great that it was on a Tuesday, because DH has cub scouts on Tuesdays, so we were all able to go to the church at the same time and I didn't have to spend a night at home alone with the girls (it seems like my two little hooligans save most of their grumpiness and attitude for the evening - especially on cub scout night).

So what is a Shareware, you ask? No, it's not free software... It's more like a ward-wide thrift shop (except everything is free). In an effort to practice provident living, families have been bringing their unused clothing and housewares to the relief society presidency for the last few weeks. Last night, everything was set up on tables in the gym for other families to browse through and take home. So basically, I dejunked a bunch of stuff from my house (not nearly as much as I would have liked - I never made it through the third bedroom and Sparky still sleeps - or not - in our master bedroom closet), and brought a bunch of other stuff home to replace the stuff I donated.

My goal (other than getting rid of some much unused kitchen items) was to pick up some clothing for Miss Sparky, since so much of The Princess' old clothing is the wrong season. There wasn't much in the way of 18-month girl's winter clothing, and there was nothing in The Princess' current size (which is fine for now because she's okay on school clothing at the moment).

However, I did get a couple of really cool toys for Sparky (again, so much for reducing the clutter in my home). I picked up a Leap Frog learning drum, which is exactly what I'd wanted to get her for her birthday (I think she's destined to be a percussionist when she's older - so Grandpa - that drum set would be a WAY better option for Miss Sparky than it ever would have been for The Princess), but didn't have the money to get (look on Amazon - they're expensive). Someone had also donated a cute toddler playhouse type thing - it's basically a free standing set of windows with a door in the middle - I'll take pictures later - my wonderful visiting teacher agreed to transport it home for me since it wouldn't fit in my car. A lot of the pieces are missing (there's a little spot for blocks of different shapes, and what I'm assuming was a flower by the window is no longer there), but Sparky will LOVE opening and closing the little door to crawl from one side of the structure to the other.

I also decided to look through the women's clothing. I felt sort of silly looking, because I kind of have this fear that the person who donated the clothing will see me wearing it, but I suppose the whole point is to help on another. I found a REALLY pretty gauzy skirt and top (and it will look nice if I'm brave enough to wear it to church), and a cute pair of khakis from The Gap.

Old Navy and The Gap are two of my very favorite women's clothing stores (and of course I love their kid stuff, too). Why? Because when I wear clothes from these two stores, I'm instantly two pant sizes smaller than any other brand of women's clothing. It always makes me feel better about my post-pregnancy body. :) I think they mislabel their clothing on purpose. It's definitely good psychology for me (I'm much more willing to purchase something that tells me I'm a smaller size than I thought), or maybe I'm just a sucker...

So thank you to whomever donated the items I brought home from the Shareware. They've gone to a good, loving home, and we're grateful.