Jul. 07, 2003 ~ It's been awhile
First things first. We heard from Soldier boy this morning! I was lying in bed shortly after Husband left for work, when the phone rang. I thought it was Husband calling to remind me to get horse feed, but instead I heard, "Hi, Mom!" Sweet music to a mother's ears. He is doing okay, other than getting bitten by a spider (while he was sleeping). A camel spider, most likely, which has a rather nasty bite. His unit might be coming home soon, but there's no way to know for sure. It sure was good to hear his voice.
College Boy finished up his calculus class last week, and is now officially out of school until late August. He still works at school two days a week, though.
Husband was on vacation last week, and he worked harder than ever. We got a new AC/heat pump, which was quite an adventure. Despite the salesman having measured the space and assuring us it would fit, it didn't. So adjustments were made, things were moved over, and it now sits in the closet next to the water heater. The big question is, will the water heater come out of there, when its time is up? They assure me that it will. They measured, after all. Uh-huh.
In anticipation of the crew's arrival, we cleaned out the floor space in our bedroom closet, as the AC drainpipe passes through it. We thought they might need to replace it (they didn't). There was no room to put the extra stuff, so we just piled it on the floor. We both thought it was nice to be able to walk in to our walk-in closet, which led to me cleaning and sorting through things this weekend. Most of the things on the closet shelves and many of the boxes on the floor were my mother's things. As she's been gone over 10 years now, I decided it was time to go through them again. Papers, photos, documents, keepsakes, and just general "stuff." There was a large box of papers related to the estate, with bills, correspondence, bank information, legal papers... about what you'd expect. I saved the legal papers and a few letters, then tossed the rest. I looked through the many cards and letters sent while she was ill, and all the sympathy cards, and the cards attached to flowers. Read every one, and then gently threw them away. It was the first time I'd seen them in ten years. I'd forgotten so many things. Went through the same process with my brother's cards. He died close to Christmas, so there were a number of his Christmas cards, and then there were the sympathy cards and the flower cards. I'd forgotten that there were so many. One other thing I hadn't recalled... a number of people wrote personal messages to him, on their sympathy cards.
Many of the people who sent cards and flowers have now passed on.
I threw away a lot of photos, which felt so strange and heartless. But many were of people I did not know. My stepfather's friends, and scenery, flowers, pets. He had duplicates of all the photos and didn't want them, so I'd just saved them. Why?
There are now boxes of things to give away, things I will never wear. Scarves, belts, things that aren't my style. There are knick-knacks and costume jewelry, a few articles of clothing. We are making space for our own things, which will soon fit on the shelves, freeing up the closet floor space for walking. Imagine that.
This past Fourth of July we attended a barn party at our neighbors' place, and we went into the house for a little while. As always, I was struck by how CLEAN the place was, and how organized. I wondered how on earth they managed that. Looking around their house, I saw cabinets, shelves, and large closets everywhere. We have limited storage space here, which might matter, or it might not. The key is probably not how many closets you have, but how much stuff. If you have more stuff than space to put it in, things will always be crowded.
I am contemplating selling her jewelry, but having sold jewelry in the past, I don't excpect we would get much money for it. I am not a jewelry person. Don't wear it. So we might let it go. There's also the matter of the bobcat in our living room. The bobcat was my brother's, and I never liked it, even when it was at his house. I like it even less in my living room. Our whole house is that way, filled with things that belonged to other people, or that were given to us, that we don't really like, but keep because of sentimental value. We are rethinking that. I really don't like all the clutter.
On a different subject, Misha is fading away. He still seems to feel okay, but he is just so thin. Poor boy. He and Pepper spent the day at Susan's clinic when the AC guys were here, and both cats were traumatized. They got over it, of course, but were sure upset for a couple of days. It couldn't be helped, though, and it was for the best. The men were in and out all day, with doors left open, and the attic access open, too. I can't imagine the kitties being here during all that commotion.
Last week I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Two web friends had mentioned this possibility to me, but I hadn't said a word to the doctors. My husband had insisted I get a second opinion, and the second doc came up with the diagnosis. It certainly seems to fit, and explains a lot of things.
Well, there are horses to tend, and calls to make, and more boxes to sort through.
It's good to be back. Thanks for your patience.
Hope you all have a good day.
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