Tshirts Have Taken Over My Closet

On the chore list this weekend was the dreaded task of switching over the kids closet from winter to spring/summer clothes.  They are both still young (4 and 8) so they grow out of clothes overnight and with the change of season they need different, bigger stuff .

Feeling inspired, after I finished their closets, I turned to mine.   My Tshirt shelf had taken on a life of its own.  At some point in the last year or so, my TShirt collection exploded!  It seems like I don't run that many races.  Really.  If you had asked me if I had run much in the last 12 months, I would say, "Heck, no! I Really need to get out there more!"   But my closet held the truth.  In the last few years, I have racked up over thirty TShirts!   I couldn't believe it.   As I pulled the shirts out of the out of control shelf, it was like clowns coming out of a circus car act.  How in the world could that many shirts fit in one shelf?!? 

As I sorted through them, I remember a conversation my husband and I about 10 years back.  We were lamenting that we just didn't have enough Tshirts.  In fact, we went to a store to buy some.  Today, I found out that I have only 2 TShirts that aren't race shirts and the other almost fifty were from some race - some I barely remember.   You could tell the ones I am really proud of because they are well worn, have stains from the kids, and still have residual stink from runs.   I don't think even Fitzfabulous solution to making Tshirts more presentable would fix them.

If an archeologist studied my household a million years from now, he would be able to piece together in detail my schedule for at least the last ten years just based on my tshirt collection alone.  I am a rather predictable runner.  I knew I had my favorite races, but it was seeing them lined up year after year that it hit me how many times I had done the cycle of my races.

The good news is that I have enough raw materials for at least 4 more TShirt quilts - or one big one like Running Around in CT. Soon everyone in the family can have one and not fight over my current one.  It seems like a good solution since I don't think I am ready to use them to fill up holes in my yard as this Run The Planet article suggests.  And I don't think I will be near Barney's for their Tshirt recycling program (partnership with Loomstate) between April 13 and the 27th (but it is a cool idea - check it out!)

As I finished my final chores restocking, reorganizing, and restacking the clothes in our closets, I really appreciated my trip down memory lane and the chance to remember so many good runs, runs with friends, finish lines, and cold beers in celebration.   It was a nice little pick me up for my chores and my running.   Now its time to get busy and earn some more shirts!

Comments

[Nat]

You realize, of course, that between your cleaning out the closets and Jeff's taking off of the snow tires that there is going to be a blizzard eh?

[Meghan]

Fifty race shirts - that's incredible! After doing laundry last night I noticed my t-shirts no longer fit in their designated area...I've added 4 in the last month!

[Kent]

Sounds like it is time to make some t-shirt pillows at Amy's household... I have the same problem with tech conf t-shirts, which have now become paint shirts for little kids.

[Viv]

WOW Amy, That is a lot of shirts, but also signs of your running accomplishments. Be proud!!!
i want my closet to look like yours :-D

[Bob Gentile]

LOL that is a lot of T-Shirts!

Congrats and best wishes on earning many many more for years ahead!

T-Shirt Quilts for all and to all a good "Running" Night :-)

Amen

[Nancy]

Very cool!! I only have that depth in Komen races, but the others are starting to add up too. My husband teases me incessantly because I wear the newest one like a badge of honor for at least a week. (although I wore Capital Pursuit much longer until I snagged it because it was a BIG accomplishment for me and I LOVED that shirt -- thanks Tom, for getting me in that race!!)

As Viv said, all those shirts = many many accomplishments. You ROCK!!

[Jess]

Wow look at all those shirts! I wish I had that many/which I had the money to run that many races haha! (Oh the sorrows of being a poor recent college grad haha!)

[Laurel aka Lily]

T-shirt quilts are all the rage now, if you know any quilters, they would love to make you a memory for your wall!!

[Christy]

Wow! Lots of race shirts. I love my t-shirt quilt and am ready for another one to be made...you can pass those down in the family.

[Database Diva]

I donate a lot of my t-shirts

I've been weeding out shirts and sending them to charity. Even with that, I've had to add another drawer for my running clothes because I've been getting so many great tech shirts from recent races.