With the help of son Matt and his girlfriend Noelle, my garage got cleaned today! This involved sorting and dusting and tossing and boxing up several hundred books, for which the generous folks at Half Price Books paid us less than $50.00, most of which was "donated" to the electronics recyclers who took a couple of bushels of old wires and broken-down electronic devices off our hands. Two huge trash and recycling bins got filled, most of the Christmas (and Hallowe'en) decorations were stowed in the loft, and the ping-pong table was cleared off and folded up for future use. If I wanted to, I could actually park my car in the garage!
However, tomorrow all that rediscovered space will be put to alternative use as temporary storage for stuff they need to remove from their house in order to "stage" it for sale. Remove everything personal, they are told. Let the potential buyer visualize their own "stuff" in there. Stuff, flowing from place to place in a giant current, sometimes frozen in place, sometimes gushing out. The secret is preventing more of it from gushing in!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Benign addiction
Grubbing around in my sock drawer, I happened to grab Easter Bunny socks -- thought "I can't wear these now, It's January!" then thought "Of course I can wear them whenever I want to -- it's like having a little Easter holiday" and decided not to put "away" my Christmas or Halloween or Valentines socks, but leave them in the drawer and have random holidays.
Now you're asking yourself, why does she have Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc. socks, anyway?
Well, my name is Linda L. and I am a sock-a-holic. I probably have forty pairs of socks, and that's not counting the ones that are (temporarily, I hope) missing their mates. It's a harmless addiction, and not even an expensive one -- the Dollar Store socks give me as much pleasure as the cashmere pair. I have friends who indulge me (Margee gave me a set of "Throx" which come in three's instead of two's) or even share the addiction. I gave just about everyone on my list a pair for Christmas. I saved a couple pairs of Greg's socks for the nostalgia and comfort factor.
Practical is not the goal -- if I were practical I'd do what I did for Greg and buy a dozen pairs the same so I'd never have to search for a mate. Variety and a sort of hidden delight is what it's about. Many of my socks have cats on them. Few people see them, so mismatching is another thing that I sometimes do, for the secret rebellion of it all. Pathetic? Well, that's the thing about being retired but not too tired -- anything that brings a smile to my face is worth doing!
Now you're asking yourself, why does she have Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc. socks, anyway?
Well, my name is Linda L. and I am a sock-a-holic. I probably have forty pairs of socks, and that's not counting the ones that are (temporarily, I hope) missing their mates. It's a harmless addiction, and not even an expensive one -- the Dollar Store socks give me as much pleasure as the cashmere pair. I have friends who indulge me (Margee gave me a set of "Throx" which come in three's instead of two's) or even share the addiction. I gave just about everyone on my list a pair for Christmas. I saved a couple pairs of Greg's socks for the nostalgia and comfort factor.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Resolutions
I'm not the resolving type. Goal-setting, planning, habit-breaking all seem to be things that don't exactly work for me. Nevertheless, I have experienced a lot of changes in the past few years, not always of my own seeking, and if I went back in time and "resolved' to make all these changes, I'd be proud of myself for achieving them.
I think the thing that I've done in the past three or four years that illustrates this the most is my change in exercise habits. I now go to the gym twice a week, I do water aerobics once or twice a week, I walk, I have a personal trainer. I haven't started running marathons or anything like that. I just don't say no to exercise anymore. I still have to argue with myself every time I go. I still grunt and groan (although I haven't injured anything) and I don't enjoy the actual exercise. I may get into a zennish thing in the pool when everything disappears but the water and the sound of the instructor's voice. It's more zoned out than pleasurable. But afterward I feel good psychologically if not physically. Whatever else I do or don't do that day, at least I have moved around!
When I walk I am seeing beauty everywhere and taking pictures and listening to the wind and the creek and the birds. I'm not trying to get away from anything or get anywhere! I'm not trying to set any records for speed or distance. I know there are health benefits, but these are not foremost in my mind. Presence in the moment, which is, I guess the mindfulness various therapists have been promoting, is the present I have been given, at last. It's enough.
I think the thing that I've done in the past three or four years that illustrates this the most is my change in exercise habits. I now go to the gym twice a week, I do water aerobics once or twice a week, I walk, I have a personal trainer. I haven't started running marathons or anything like that. I just don't say no to exercise anymore. I still have to argue with myself every time I go. I still grunt and groan (although I haven't injured anything) and I don't enjoy the actual exercise. I may get into a zennish thing in the pool when everything disappears but the water and the sound of the instructor's voice. It's more zoned out than pleasurable. But afterward I feel good psychologically if not physically. Whatever else I do or don't do that day, at least I have moved around!
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