MIA - But All's OK

It seems I'm easily distracted these days.  Which...... could be a good thing or bad thing depending on what's distracting me.  Mostly though, I have been occupied with getting our house ready for some major improvements.   

On tap for this spring are air-conditioning and new wood floors inside and the removal of several gigantic trees outside.  Since we don't have pre-existing duct work inside the house, the way around this is to get a unit that goes in the attic and then they send the ducts down to the first floor through closets in the second floor.  So, not only do we have to clear out the attic (25+ years of accumulated nonsense) but closets have to be rearranged and purged to make room for the ducts.  I admit that it's embarrassing to see what has been stowed away so long like the briefcase that I gave HWNSNBP when he graduated college in 1977 that has a combination lock that neither of us can remember but has us wondering what could possibly be in there.  Almost certainly guaranteed it's not money but what it could be is puzzling.  

Irish Soda Bread baked by a parent at school.  She brought each of us in the office a fresh hot loaf on Thursday.  Delicious treat and so appreciated.

Then there was the rest of the white bedroom set that my sister's and I had growing up which we did not use in Rachel's room.  That and other miscellaneous small furniture pieces of no value which went to the dumpster on Friday while I wasn't looking.... on purpose.

I finally coaxed HWNSNBP to put up the shelves I had purchased for the Stamp Cave, not caring to wait anymore for rug removal and newly painted walls.  I needed to get things off the floor so I literally didn't kill myself falling over something trying to move around in there.  I still insist that I am not as bad as the hoarders you see on TV, but sometimes it is scary to see all the "stuff" that sits waiting to be "used" and loved.

Home-made peanut butter cups brought in by one of our student mentors for the office staff.  Another delicious treat.

My house here is not spotless.  It is very well-lived-in and regularly dusted and vacuumed and dishes done and all that.  But paper seems to multiply here, and I have a box addiction.  (Is there a Box-Lover's Anonymous out there?)  There is a box tower upstairs and a small collection down here.  One never knows when you will need a good box.   I think that's a fear of mine that I can trace back to childhood being required to make a diorama for some project at school that required a shoe box.  We didn't get our shoes at a shoe store that gave you a nice box.  Shoes were usually purchased off the rack at some department chain or at a flea market or the like.  I remember listening to my mother telling my father that she wasn't going to go out and buy new shoes in some fancy store just so we could have the box.  So she succumbed to calling relatives to find one, which as embarrassing as that had to be, would not be as embarrassing as having to go to the shoe store, not buy shoes and ask for a box!  So shoe boxes were coveted and treasured.  Scarlet, you may never go hungry again, but I shall never be boxless again!

But some of those boxes are going to come in handy because............. when we do the floors we are going to have to pack up EVERYTHING downstairs and rent one of those pods to put outside to store everything for about a week.  Doesn't that sound like fun!!!  We have "stuff".  Stuff like pictures and knick knacks and candles and plants and stuff.  This is in contrast to the condo where I do not want a lot of stuff.  Packing up all this stuff will be a lesson in what's important and what's not anymore and what to do with it.  The kids have already told us that there is nothing that they are particularly wanting so how do we (I) let go of these memories?  

I am glad that we are finally moving forward with these projects, I just wish that we had done them when we were a little younger and had more energy and stamina (and less stuff!).  But I have to look forward to not being uncomfortable in the heat and easier maintenance of the floors.

Water-colored card made for a friend in Ohio recovering from surgery.  

I did get this card done earlier this week and two others for birthdays this week which I can't show yet.  And, I have a few projects in the works.   Remember, Administrative Professionals Day is this week and so is Earth Day - making it busy for me (by choice of course).  See what I mean about being distracted!!

(And HWNSNBP felt the need to remind me that the garden needs some attention soon!  Where will I find the energy for that!)