• one power cord. gleefully tossing things i may later need.
• four tiny pencils. as a child i would break new pencils to make these.
• a plastic tray. possibly part of a printer. not an important part, apparently.
• four parts of a toy. that we no longer own.
• two pencil cap erasers. which are useful but somehow irritating.

• two bottles medication. one human, one lizard.
• one plastic... something. which once had name and purpose.
• a pack of stickers. purchase date: early childhood.
• a piece of ribbon. too short, too short.
• a yellow marker. always the one unused.
• a tiny yellow plastic cup. used quite a bit.

• a magazine. i only read these when i buy them at the grocery store, never when they come to my house.
• 5/6 of a black rubber box. associated with electricity?
• a package of page protectors. which we must have needed at least one of at some point.
• two pieces of art. it speaks to you, then sometimes it does not.

• one very nice sweatshirt. not that sweatshirts are generally flattering, but.
• a pair of ski boots. that fit someone in this house several years ago.
• gooey rubber window climber toy. throwing this away meant touching it.
• jar that was once a snow globe. but is not now.
• strap that once attached something to something. else.

• a cloth. for polishing? so soft....
• one paper kite. well-engineered.
• one twisted length of copper wire. purpose unknown.
• a plastic die. downscale version of the magic eight-ball. 'ask again'
• set of three plastic measuring spoons. you can estimate the quarter teaspoon.
• a piece of white ribbon. too short to be useful.
• one change purse. if we had a dollar for every money container we own...

• a bag of ikea hardware. slightly worrisome when there are leftover screws.
• an origami crane. clearly replaceable.
• a strip of black fabric. possibly a witch costume remnant.
• a pair of black socks. the only uncomfortable black socks from a curated collection. also the only ones not stolen by my progeny.
• a large bunch of dried oregano. oregano is sadly underrepresented in our diet.

• one shirt. seriously, i do not own very much clothing.
• one tiny tube of lotion. note to self: please stop taking these from hotel rooms.
• one nearly empty jar of nail polish remover. i am glad that i buy organic meat at a million dollars a pound only to have my daughter practically bathe in this stuff.
• one dried up eyeliner. more contemplated than actually used.
• one tin of unidentified white powder. my children are still (a little) too young for this to be a discovery that gives me pause.

• glasses case. still on the fence about the glasses.
• eyeglass polishing cloth. though ubiquitous, these are truly never around when i need them.
• mother's day bookmark. sue me; it was not original artwork.
• piece of plastic. once part of... something.
• straw hat. how many ill-fitting straw hats does one family need?

• one allen wrench. so many allen wrenches in the world, many of them in my basement.
• two pieces of hardware. one looks useful, one not.
• three batteries. stashed in the bottom of an almost-empty box.

• two large pieces of drywall. chopped up and disposed of month by month, now gone.
• a hat. hideous.
• a cd. so much software. isn't it all available online?
• a plastic and metal plug-ish thing. definitely an electronic gadget. maybe.

• one piece of hardware. used in conjunction with a machine i gave away four years ago.
• another piece of hardware. unidentifiable.
• three more childrens' books. easier to do a few at a time.

• one pair of shoes. inherited, not worn.
• four books. one for grownups, three for kids.
• one plastic toyish thing found by my daughter... somewhere. is it a fish? 

• one piece of orange-painted metal. i've accepted that i am not going to figure out what it was once a part of.
• one almost-empty tub of hardened joint compound.
• one small paintbrush. no longer flexible.
• one calculator. non-functioning.
• one thin piece of metal. a threshold? cornering of some sort? it looks too short to be useful. even if i could figure out its purpose.

• an informational magnet. still relevant, just not very magnetic.
• two green ceramic bowls. i have too many bowls of disparate styles and colors.
• two bottles of water treatment drops for the aquarium. which now houses a lizard.
• four containers of fish and frog food. reminders of the dearly departed.
• one unidentifiable plastic piece of... something.
• is it ribbon? is it tape? one roll of unpleasantly sticky green stuff.
• one bottle of solidified gorilla glue.