OK – I wished I looked this cute as I lounged in bed today, listening to my iPod and letting out a moan every once in a while to let everyone know, “I have a fever, pity me. (Oh and by the way: don’t expect me to figure out what is for dinner.)”

So between moans and petting the dog (this was our first sick day together and he, along with Roger, took very good care of me) I bummed about having no brain to write the VERY COOL blog post about what I did to get rid of my jewelry yesterday. So when I do have two brain cells to rub together, you will get your very cool blog post.

HOWEVER, my friend Cheri wrote a VERY COOL blog post about getting rid of not jewelry, but another womanly secret shame – Scrapbooking Paraphernalia.

(This is not an issue for me. I have told my kids that I don’t scrapbook, but each of them will get a beautifully decorated shoebox on their wedding day filled with all their childhood pics. I strongly suggest that they each marry someone crafty.)

So as you work on today’s project: Deciding what thing from your past you need to let go of (you don’t have to get rid of it today, just tell me what you are getting rid of,) check out Cheri Gregory’s Post and get super inspired.

I am going back to bed.

No, the title of this post is not because our new dog, Jake, decided that the $742 dollars that we spent in chew toys just wasn’t enough to keep him entertained and decided to eat Roger’s $65 phone headset instead.

Really, the reason is that a very fun and funny blogger, Erin was caught reading my book (oh my how I love Google Alerts who tell me anytime someone mentions “Kathi Lipp” or “The Husband Project” on the Web. Self-obsessed? Who me?) on her website and we started up a webby friendship.

She is doing something very cool that combines my love of Jake and my weird fascination with Oprah. Recently on the O’s show, she showed a program where dogs were being trained behind bars by prisoners. It was amazing – these prisoners, many who had never known unconditional love in their lives – were training dogs to be companions for people who really, really needed them.

My puppy-loving heart just broke.

Well Erin is raising money to sponsor one of these dogs by designing and creating dog and cat collars and selling them, then using the proceeds to sponsor her very own Puppy Behind Bars.

I am not one of those people who dresses up my dog. I have no need to buy him little outfits (and had a hard time keeping a straight face when my step-daughter asked me if I wanted some hand me downs for Jake from one of her friends – DOGGY HAND-ME-DOWNS!) but we figured he was manly enough to sport a madras collar – especially for the 4^th of July. We received Jakes collar on Friday and I have to say he looks quite handsome in it.

If you want to check out more of Erin’s handy work –and support a great cause that benefits dogs and people, check out her blog at Puppy Love By Erin

If you would like to be entered in a drawing to win a designer collar by Erin, send a picture of your favorite pooch or puddy tat to me at blog@kathilipp.com by this Friday. A winner will be randomly drawn for a collar of your choice donated by Erin – and your cat and canine pix will be on display for the world to see.

Can’t wait to see all the cuteness.

Here is your chance to win the pair of books – Romancing Your Husband and Romancing Your Wife both by Debra White Smith.

Just leave a comment about why your mate rocks and you will be entered in the drawing to win!

Today’s Project – Get Rid of 21 pieces of Jewelry

So when you were cleaning out your jewelry last week, did you come across any of your “guilt gems”? These are the pieces that you don’t wear, but have a hard time getting rid of.

I have several pieces, but the main piece that weighs on me is the wedding ring from my first marriage. What do you do with something like this?

It has been sitting in my underwear drawer for six years. I have had various thoughts about this ring: Do I save it for my kids? (Why would they even want it?) Do I just keep it? It doesn’t seem right to take the symbol of my first marriage, hawk it for cash, and then go to Vegas. What to do?

All these thought go through my heard and take up more energy than this little ring should.

That is, until I read Susy Flory’s book So Long Status Quo. Take a look at what Susy has done with her jewelry.

Jewelry for Water

I had jewelry, sitting in a drawer gathering dust. I didn’t wear it much. Some of it was out of style or didn’t even fit anymore. Then by chance I saw a brief video with an opening scene that turned my stomach … filthy greenish water being collected in plastic jugs by African women and children from what looked like a weedy ditch.

Some startling statistics popped up on the screen:

• 25,000 people die from unsafe drinking water every single day
  
• 80% of all sickness is attributed to unsafe water
  
• It is the world’s number one killer
  

The video, from the Africa Oasis Project (link to: http://www.africaoasisproject.org/), draws support for a charity that drills deep wells and brings fresh, clean drinking water to African villages where none exists.

I wanted to help, but I had no money.

Then I thought about the jewelry in that drawer.

At home I checked the price of gold. It was trading at over $900 an ounce. I gathered up rings, bracelets, and necklaces and headed down to a local certified jeweler. While I waited for him to finish with another customer, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. My heart began to beat hard. What was I doing? Many of the pieces had been gifts for special occasions. A gold nugget necklace had been created by melting down my father’s college ring; he had died when I was 20. A stunning Italian gold bracelet had been a graduation gift. One of the rings had garnets, my birthstone. I began to have serious second thoughts. Was it really worth it? Would I be sorry in the morning? Would people think I was crazy? Would my family be offended? Would anyone understand what I was trying to do?

I thought of Jesus, telling the rich young ruler to sell everything he had. I thought of the children from the video, filling plastic jugs with green water. And I remembered my jewelry drawer, overflowing with so many things I really didn’t need as much as those children need fresh water.

Now that I look back on it, it’s simple. We have jewelry; we don’t need it. They need water; they don’t have it. So I did it; I traded my jewelry for water. And you know what? I don’t even miss it.

——-from So Long Status Quo: What I Learned From Women Who Changed the World, by Susy Flory (link to www.susyflory.com)

I love that Susy took things that had sentimental meaning and traded them for something that could make a difference in someone’s live.

So here is my question for you. Do any of you know of a reputable place where I could trade my ring for cash? I want to use the money to 1) Support my friend Katie who is doing a mission to Cuba, and 2) Do microloans for a group called Kiva.com (More about them in an upcoming post. Kiva Rocks.)

If you know of a place – either brick and mortar or on the net, please let me know and I will get the process started.

At first I thought there was no way that I could get rid of 21 pieces of jewelry. It’s not like I am Liz Taylor and have to have someone vault and itemize my baubles.

But, as soon as I started to go through all of my stuff I realized that there was plenty of stuff that needed to be dealt with: Target specials that looked very cool in the store, but really didn’t go with anything, pairs of earrings that have lost each other along the way. Bracelets that need to have needed to have their clasps fixed for three years and even if they did I wouldn’t wear them.

Often times there is a lot of sentiment attached to jewelry, and I don’t want you to become overwhelmed. So here is what I want you to do: Grab out 21 things – whether they need to be donated to a charity, thrown away, repaired or dealt with in some other way. Gather them up and we will start to deal with them tomorrow.