Balmy, busy weekend
Ahhh, now this is more like it! The weather has been so much warmer and we slept with the windows open last night. I love airing the house out and it smells fresh in here. Now that the coffee is done, I can smell it so much more clearly. I am very ready for spring. The changing from chill to warmth never fails to lift my spirits and fill me with energy.
Its a good thing too. Alexander's room got a cleaning and organized from head to toe yesterday. Alex was such a big help. We packed up a huge contractor bag full of toys and clothing no longer useful to him and sent it off to donations. Another huge bag of trash from things that are broken or just too worn out to be worth donating. I am sheepish that we just got all his pictures hung on the walls and the bulletin board his Aunt Stacey made for him. Just in time to move. Shame on me. But he is on Cloud 9, so excited for all his stuff to be organized, to be able to actually walk into his closet and for nothing to be on his floor. That kid thrives on organization. Shame he got a Mom who isn't that into it. Today I'll be finishing doing the same for Nick's room. Then those two rooms will be all ready to show. I have done half of the closet in the master bedroom and need to finish that up along with both linen closets, the front closet and the laundry room. Plus all the usual weekly housework needs to be done still. I feel a little overwhelmed. My girlfriends invited me out to lunch and shopping today but I just don't see where I am going to have time. I hate that. I could really, really use some girl time. Next month for sure.
We had bought some turkeys when they were at a good price around Thanksgiving. Joe thawed one out this week and we cooked him yesterday. Man, the house smelled so good! He worked on replacing some wood trim on the outside of the house (not a small job. Involved a lot of painting and trips to the hardware store) and he cleaned the two ceiling fans that are up a bit too high for me to reach. Nick made us a cream cheese pie for dessert last night and Alex helped me get the table set. We all ate like horses. I swear there's nothing better than a day of exhausting hard work with a big family meal at the end of it. Afterward we watched a movie we rented (Prince Caspian...I was not impressed but the boys loved it). I slept through most of it to be honest. I kept dozing of on the couch. By 10 PM I was dead on my feet. Alex lost another tooth and I was trying so hard to stay awake to see the tooth fairy come (read here: waiting for Alex to fall asleep) but I was almost drunk with fatigue. Joe sent me off to bed and made sure the toothfairy did right by the boy.
Going through closets is always a bit harrowing. It never fails that we wind up finding little Joseph surprises. Things that belonged to him. Things he made. Its getting easier not to attach some kind of huge emotion to every little thing. He had about eleventy hundred word search books that people sent him while he was hospitalized. I guess I had a hard time throwing them away, though I don't remember that. They went into the donation bag with ease yesterday. I did find a little origami rabbit he'd started. That went into my cedar chest. Something about knowing his brilliant hands created it makes it impossible for me to let it go. Little physical things he touched are all the kisses I get from him now. And it was like little hugs from him yesterday, jolting but warm and soft. Alex and I would pause and one of us would say "Huh. That was Joseph's" and pause for another second and then decide what to do with whatever it was. Most of Joseph's stuff has been put up and the things we found yesterday were either big toys (a big box of K'Nex) or things like the word searches or origami paper. Alex wanted to keep the K'Nex. The rest of it pretty much went to donations or trash. I feel very peaceful about the whole process.
Here's praying the house sells without too much angst on our parts and that we find another perfect home for our family.
Its a good thing too. Alexander's room got a cleaning and organized from head to toe yesterday. Alex was such a big help. We packed up a huge contractor bag full of toys and clothing no longer useful to him and sent it off to donations. Another huge bag of trash from things that are broken or just too worn out to be worth donating. I am sheepish that we just got all his pictures hung on the walls and the bulletin board his Aunt Stacey made for him. Just in time to move. Shame on me. But he is on Cloud 9, so excited for all his stuff to be organized, to be able to actually walk into his closet and for nothing to be on his floor. That kid thrives on organization. Shame he got a Mom who isn't that into it. Today I'll be finishing doing the same for Nick's room. Then those two rooms will be all ready to show. I have done half of the closet in the master bedroom and need to finish that up along with both linen closets, the front closet and the laundry room. Plus all the usual weekly housework needs to be done still. I feel a little overwhelmed. My girlfriends invited me out to lunch and shopping today but I just don't see where I am going to have time. I hate that. I could really, really use some girl time. Next month for sure.
We had bought some turkeys when they were at a good price around Thanksgiving. Joe thawed one out this week and we cooked him yesterday. Man, the house smelled so good! He worked on replacing some wood trim on the outside of the house (not a small job. Involved a lot of painting and trips to the hardware store) and he cleaned the two ceiling fans that are up a bit too high for me to reach. Nick made us a cream cheese pie for dessert last night and Alex helped me get the table set. We all ate like horses. I swear there's nothing better than a day of exhausting hard work with a big family meal at the end of it. Afterward we watched a movie we rented (Prince Caspian...I was not impressed but the boys loved it). I slept through most of it to be honest. I kept dozing of on the couch. By 10 PM I was dead on my feet. Alex lost another tooth and I was trying so hard to stay awake to see the tooth fairy come (read here: waiting for Alex to fall asleep) but I was almost drunk with fatigue. Joe sent me off to bed and made sure the toothfairy did right by the boy.
Going through closets is always a bit harrowing. It never fails that we wind up finding little Joseph surprises. Things that belonged to him. Things he made. Its getting easier not to attach some kind of huge emotion to every little thing. He had about eleventy hundred word search books that people sent him while he was hospitalized. I guess I had a hard time throwing them away, though I don't remember that. They went into the donation bag with ease yesterday. I did find a little origami rabbit he'd started. That went into my cedar chest. Something about knowing his brilliant hands created it makes it impossible for me to let it go. Little physical things he touched are all the kisses I get from him now. And it was like little hugs from him yesterday, jolting but warm and soft. Alex and I would pause and one of us would say "Huh. That was Joseph's" and pause for another second and then decide what to do with whatever it was. Most of Joseph's stuff has been put up and the things we found yesterday were either big toys (a big box of K'Nex) or things like the word searches or origami paper. Alex wanted to keep the K'Nex. The rest of it pretty much went to donations or trash. I feel very peaceful about the whole process.
Here's praying the house sells without too much angst on our parts and that we find another perfect home for our family.
Comments
So glad that you are able to do this cleaning without the hurt. I wonder when that day will arrive here. With David away in Washington, DC, the house seems large and quiet, and I think it will be easy to contemplate a move when he is at college...I will have to trust that when the time comes, I will be given the strength to deal with it, as it has been given to you. God bless you and your sweet family!