2013

Well now, how do I begin to explain an absence of more than one year without sounding melodramatic, whiny, self-centered, etcetera etcetera?  I think I shall not even try.

I should at least acknowledge the obvious - I'm back on good ol' blogspot. I never did get the hang of the Wordpress blog I'm still paying for, and this is like a favorite old sweater -  not the most fashionable but so comfy, and I can put it on with eyes closed.  So here we are.

We sold our beloved house last summer to a cardiologist who was downsizing from a 15,000 square foot manse on the other side of town.  (I am not kidding. It is still called downsizing when one squishes all their meager possessions into a measly 5,500 square feet...right? )  Life goes on.

For now we are renting a place about a half hour from the old house. It's way out in the boondocks, but there is a fireplace in the bedroom (highly recommended!), a pool, and a gorgeous view of the small lake it sits on.  The sunrises and sunsets are magnificent out here!

The house itself is a whole 'nother story. So in order to preserve my sanity in this 1992 architectural gem complete with creaking floors, brass chandeliers, swag wallpaper borders, faux painted walls, and a gazillion nail holes, my modus operandi since last summer has been to streamline and simplify as much as possible. By this I mean my family is afraid they'll soon be sleeping on the floor and sharing one tin cup, a plastic spork, and a pair of communal socks . There have been so many Goodwill and Second Chance Boutique runs, I've lost count.  I don't even ask for a receipt any more because our friend the tax man would never believe one person could donate that much stuff in one year. 

The consignment store people came to pick up a load too - it took over an hour to catalog and load it all up. You could hardly tell there was anything missing when they left.  And me, Craig, and his infamous list are on a first name basis these days. Sigh.

{Tangent:  Why do so many weird people hang out on Craigslist these days?}

While deep in the throes of decluttering everything in arm's reach, I stumbled on the Slow Your Home 2013 in 2013 Challenge and have decided to attempt to sneak another mass of stuff from our home without B and the boys getting their collective knickers in a knot. Here's just a partial list of the junk I can remember which went bye bye so far this month:

1 Samsung washer/dryer set
1 pear lamp shade
1 silver side table with a corroded top
1 large poster in a frame B and I bought the first year we were married
3 pairs of blue jeans
3 pairs of shoes
Half a dozen or so books
1 stack of plastic cd cases
1 pink glass sugar/creamer set missing its lid
2 red glass vases
1 man's yellow suede shirt jacket
4 mens shirts
3 ratty mens T-shirts which I've been trying to get Big T to part with for I can't remember how long (straight to the trash can, with much fanfare on my part)
2 almost empty plastic bottles of cosmetic remover
Old Christmas wrapping paper
1 Christmas tree stand
2 photo frames

Now, can somebody explain to me WHY we still owned these things, and WHY we moved them?AGAIN?!

This could get interesting.