I continue to click on links, am still waiting to hear about my acceptance into the online teenage mentoring thing and have looked for ways to make the world a better place using my own sensibilities. Like, I have waited to hold open doors for much longer than is conventionally polite (like, what is the accepted distance from you to the next person. If they are 12 feet away, do you hold open the door? If they are 20? Is it different if they have things in their hands versus if they don't? If they are too far away and then start that little walk/jog thing, is that more of an imposition because you're making them feel guilty? What's the breaking point? This is what I think about when I'm standing there, waiting) and I took my niece to a pottery place to make something for her mom's birthday and you know, just generally tried to be more thoughtful and courteous, despite my overwhelmed schedule for the first half of the month. So I think this Self Makeover thing really is kicking in. Onto Day 17:

Share your surplus: When you buy in bulk (hello, Costco!), put aside one of the items. You'll stockpile tons of useful stuff in no time. Pass on your stash to a local food pantry or homeless shelter.

Here's the thing: we have two people in our household and live in a very small post-WWII bungalow. I don't buy in bulk because I don't have the storage for it. All of my spare closets are occupied by shoes! So I never buy 12-packs of toothbrushes or cases of canned soup, but if something appropriate comes up, I'll start a bag for the food pantry. Also, I have to clean out our food pantry because it's getting crazy in there, so I'll definitely pass on any non-expired duplicates (or triplicates) that I find in there.

Also, I do have a raccoon fetish in that whenever I travel, I snag all of the hotel soaps and shampoos and throw them into my bags. Sometimes it's because they are really a decent brand and perfect to use the next time I travel (for instance, the Kimpton Hotels all have Aveda products and the House of Blues has Rusk while the James Hotel in Chicago has Keihl's...total scores that got used in other hotels), but I also stay in a lot of crappy hotels because my corporate headquarters is in a town that mostly has 3-star tourist-grade accommodations. Just the same, I still end up snagging those little bottles, because I figure that if I'm packing and out of travel stuff, I'll just use those. Result: I now have hundreds of little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and shower gel that I will never, ever use because I'm just too much of a product snob. And hey, wouldn't those little bottles be ideal for a homeless or domestic violence shelter? Looks like my household organization plan for January is getting a lot easier. —Weetabix