Sunday, December 28

I awoke to a barking dog. Tesla was going crazy because Bob and Thomas went out to breakfast. Without me. They brought me a fountain pop, so I was happy.

Saturday had been a very traumatic day for me. I was just so shocked at the amount of stuff (I call it another word in my head) that I had accumulated in the school room. It stressed me out big time, and I had to fight myself to keep from getting overwhelmed. It was also very difficult to get rid of the young stuff. My son is growing up, leaving that childhood behind. He's a teenager now. I get a little sad because I had wanted more children, but it wasn't meant to be. So getting rid of the younger stuff is tough.

Today I was feeling better, looking forward to being free from clutter, and forged on. Today was the day we needed to bring the heavy hide-a-bed couch upstairs to put out tomorrow morning and that 200-pound 27-inch TV that Bob purchased in 1986. (He paid $1,000 for that thing way back when. Then, that was a heck of a lot of money for a TV. He bought it before we met. I don't think I would have gone along with that had he wanted it when we were together. (Yeah, right, I have a 52-inch TV in my living room.)

The boys returned home while I was in the shower. I dressed and heard Bob call that he needed me to hold the door open. He was in the basement. I went to the back door that enters our garage and lo and behold, there was the hide-a-bed couch. Holy shish kabob, Batman, how on earth did he get that up the stairs without my help? He took the legs off and just pulled it up. Whew, I didn't have to lift a finger except to bring up the cushions. Bob then used that new dolly to bring the big TV up. Another easy task.

That was a big gift to me today, as I was dreading carrying that couch up the stairs.

So I started in on the school room again. Thomas helped quite a bit, which slows me down greatly. However, how else will he learn to declutter and organize. Plus, he had the opportunity to listen to me lecture myself about this hoarding. (I am not a hoarder, I'm a clutterer. Hoarder is easier to say, though.)

Filled more garbage bags, worked and worked. I took way too many computer breaks today, but I think that lifted my spirits some.

Here it is 2:23 in the morning, and I'm STILL NOT DONE. Dang. I should be able to finish up in an hour or so in the morning. The bookshelves are all organized, the closet is, too. There's very little left in the closet. The bookshelf in the hallway has had all the school stuff removed and put in the school room. There's a laundry basket full of binders, paper, spirals, etc. that needs to be dealt with, then the room needs a good, final cleaning.

On one of my breaks, I bought some more MP3s. I only had three song on the Shuffle so far, as I had $3 free from Amazon. Today I used Wal-Mart as I got a gift card from my MIL.

I love this iPod an I wonder why on earth I didn't get one sooner! Is it legal to upload my CDs to iTunes? I have read it is not, and I remember seeing a blurb at iTunes that says you can't upload copyrighted material. I own some of the songs I bought, but I wanted to be legal. Anyone know the answer to that?

Here's what kept me sane today: (I don't own any Cat Stevens CDs, but let me just say I am loving him today.)

Good Vibrations
Hotel California
Bohemian Rhapsody
Sweet Home Alabama
Song Sung Blue (This has great childhood memories for me. Jean, remember The Coffee Cup in Cheyenne? Mom and Dad used to let me play this song on the Juke Box when we ate there. I thought the song was Song So Blue lol)
I Go Crazy
My Sweet Lord
Wild World
Morning Has Broken
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Born to be Wild
Down on the Corner
Sister Golden Hair
Rocket Man
Bad Moon Rising
Band on the Run
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Moonshadow
You Should Be Dancing

Bob has the whole week off work this week. Today while he watched the Vikings (Yeah, they won, they're in playoffs!) he decluttered the junk drawer and one kitchen cupboard where he keeps some books. Don't ask--space is limited in this house and we have gone round and round about his use of one of my cabinets. It is next to the ceiling, though, and not one I can reach with daily cooking. I wish we'd taken a before/after of that junk drawer. He did an amazing job. He also chipped the ice off the driveway, ran to the store, and did stuff for me. He worked hard! So did Thomas.

Tomorrow's Agenda:
Finish the &^%&* school room, once and for all.
Start and Finish (gulp) the dreaded hall closet. This is bad, very bad. It's our storage, where I keep the cleaning supplies, and where everything ends up. I'm dreading this almost as bad as the school room.
Watch the TV and couch disappear.
Start loading the dumpster (while hoping the neighbors aren't watching.)
Call Epilepsy Foundation to see when they will be in town to take donations.
Start loading books into the car for delivery to the library. (Why? Because my hallway is so full, we can barely walk.)