Still more sorting....

Continuing in my cleaning out, planning to downsize process, I cleaned out the linen closet.  It's a decent size linen closet with five deep shelves which were quite full, to put it mildly.  When I was finished, the only things I felt I needed to keep fit easily on one shelf.  If I can keep this ratio going - selling, donating or tossing 4/5ths of everything I own, I should fit into a nice little 2 bedroom condo or apartment with no problem.  Of course I may hit a snag when it comes to my clothes and dishes.  Maybe I'll aim for half in those catagories...

down memory lane

More sorting today.  This time I was working my way through cabinets and drawers full of old family pictures, some framed, some not.  Somehow, I seem to be the one who has accumulated pictures, not only of my own immediate family, but all the photos that my dad, mom, stepmom, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and kids have decided that I should keep.  I did manage to condense masses of pictures into two fairly small plastic bins, mostly by taking many of them out of frames. I enjoyed paging through 8 albums that my stepmom put together.  They are a photo journal of hers and my dad's life together with several family pictures I don't remember seeing before.  I also loved seeing my dad's pictures (not in albums, just bundled together) especially the ones he took when he was stationed in Brazil during WWII.  I found, in one bundle that my husband must have stashed away, bunches of newspapers from his mom's home town.  Each carefully folded paper contained the obituary of one of her brothers or sisters and her mother's.  It was sad but fascinating to read when and how they all died. My mother-in-law was one of 12 children.  Happily, among all the obituaries, I also found the announcement of her wedding with a description of the ceremony.  Old small town newspapers wrote much more satisfying announcements than those found in modern newspapers.

My patriotic duty!

I consider myself a patriotic person.  I put my flag out on national holidays.  I honor national heroes. So it came as a real shock to me this morning to learn, on the news, about a national observance that's been going on since 1938 that I had never celebrated before.  Today is "National Doughnut Day". You can be sure I won't be skipping this important day ever again.  It's my patriotic duty.

Well, I didn't lose the farm....

But I didn't win much either.  My daughter asked me to put $10 on black at the roulette wheel and it disappeared in a poof of red 14, and that's pretty much how the day went.  I guess I'll have to pay for the new carpet the good old fashioned way.  Where's my visa card?

wishful thinking...

Today I got a bid on what the new carpeting that I need to put in my house will cost. Tomorrow I'm going to Firekeeper's Casino with a friend to play a little blackjack and throw some money away on the poker slot machines.  Wouldn't it be lovely if I could win enough money to pay for the carpet? Ha, ha, ha!! But a girl can dream.  Stay tuned.

Will wonders never cease?

A friend and I drove out to our hometown, little old Woodburn, Indiana, for a meeting this evening to help plan, what else, a high school reunion.  We were shocked to discover, as we drove into town, that Woodburn now has - wait for it - a McDonalds!  Hard to believe, I know but there it was.  We were awed.

What a relief!

I've been dealing with a mystery plumbing problem for the last 4 months or so. Three times over several weeks I've discovered a small puddle of water in my basement playroom.  I don't have a cat any more so I couldn't blame it on her.  I couldn't really tell where the water was coming from and was beginning to imagine al sorts of scenarios, a cracked foundation? leaking water heater? leaking water pipes? I was finally able to get a plumber out here today.  After trying to reach   my usual plumber for over two weeks with no response, I called Korte and they sent someone out the same day.  Turns out the problem was a plugged drain. Easy fix and all is well.  Now I can go ahead with new flooring. Yea! This getting a house ready to sell is a nerve wracking process but is reinforcing for me that I am really, really ready to down-size.