In this part of the U.S. this week is the winter school vacation. This dates back to the 1970s when there was an energy shortage and closing the schools this week saved a week of expensive heating of the schools. For those of you not in the U.S. the third Monday in February is an annual Monday holiday related to George Washington’s (our first President back in the 1780s) birthday which is February 22. It is still officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, but since the purpose of it is to celebrate all of our Presidents, it is commonly called “President’s Day”. So, around here the 3 day weekend resulting from this Monday holiday was extended to a week of no school.
While many to most people are off from work on Monday, only those working at schools have the week off. The only connection that others have with the week off is what to do with their children while the children are off from school and they are working. Husband worked at an agency for children with mental health problems which followed a school year as it was also a school program for the children so he is used to this week being a vacation week. While he was still working and I was working full time for myself (back when we still stayed at hotels when traveling) we would go away this week to Lancaster, PA. It would be nice and quiet as was/is not a school vacation in Pennsylvania and in many other adjacent states so not many people were traveling mid week.
Husband had planned to go there for the day this coming Friday - but it is suppose to rain, so he moved it back to Tuesday (yesterday) which was suppose to be and was nice. At the last minute he changed his mind and we did not go.
Okay you are thinking - What does this have to do with organizing?
Well, a lot actually. If we are going away - even for a day - I have to plan around the trip to get done what regularly needs to be done in the house plus have everything ready for the trip. Even a day trip seems to take a bit of packing these days. I bring my work laptop, which has to be charged. I bring a small case with a spare wallet, just in case we were robbed while traveling or one of us lost their wallet and the credit cards had to be canceled. There is a credit card for me that he does have and a credit card for him that I do not have, there is extra cash, and there are assorted store cards and such which are for stores out of the area. We used to carry Travelers checks in also, but found out that no one takes them any longer so we (with much trouble) cashed them in a couple of years ago. I bring a spare set of one day’s medications - just in case. I might also have some craft business related papers so if we buy materials (fabric, wood, yarn) that will go into something we are making for sale, we will not have to pay sales tax - different forms for different states. If we are looking for something specific to buy while away we might bring something to match it to for size, color, etc. Depending on the weather we might bring warmer - or cooler coats/sweaters than we plan to wear - maybe even a rain coat when it is warmer weather if rain is possible. We also might bring a spare pair of shoes each - again depending on the weather. So much for the carefree easy travel of our younger years.
This year we have been traveling on these one day trips to Lancaster in our RV. Not that we plan to stay, but the RV is not driven enough - especially off RV season (late fall to early spring) and the engine needs the exercise. Last year we did not so this and we went to have our annual state inspection for the RV, it had not been driven enough for the tests to work, so we had to drive it locally for a few hours just to put enough mileage on it. Waste of time, waste of gas and we had to work it out so we went and came back between rush hours. So we take the RV when we go to Lancaster for day trips - well, this would have been the second time we did so. The other advantage to taking the RV is that the refrigerator can be turned on in it when we leave in the morning and will be cold by the time we are there. A can of soda for lunch will still be cold (especially if it is cold outside) when we have it and we can buy food items we like that are local to Lancaster and not available at home that need to be refrigerated and bring them home safely. (Last year when we went with the car husband bought chicken salad - he likes the type they make there and not what they make here) without the fridge and it got too hot in the cold bag in the back of the car, even with ice blocks in it and it had to be tossed.
So Monday I pointed out that if we were going away on Tuesday, we should get extra cash at the bank and did so. When we came home I packed what papers and such we would bring with us and had the laptop ready to charge. I then paid bills which were due out today so they would be ready to go out today even though we would not have been home yesterday.
Then Monday night - after not doing things I planned to do Monday so we could go away, he decided we were not going. It was a question I asked - “Do we need to take the stuff we stored in the RV out of it?” There is all sorts of stuff for the RV that we keep in the house when traveling (in the dining room) and then put in it for the off season so we have a nice dining room for the holidays. He thought about it and the fact it was raining and decided not to go.
So I got a day to work at home that I had not planned on.
I managed to finish filling the corporation tax forms for a client - due March 15. I still have to proofread it (and check the numbers and math) and print it all out, but the hard part is done.
I have been working on storing the Christmas stuff. I took the ornaments off the dining room tree and took the tree apart to store. It goes in a cardboard octagonal box (opens down the length of the box) which then “slides” into a carry bag (opens on one end). It has never been easy to get it into the box - much squeezing and many hand scratches and packing tape to hold the box together and then hard to get the box into the bag. This year the entire setup exploded - okay, part was my fault. I thought there were 3 sections to the tree (in height) and there are four. I was so confused that the tree section was longer than the box that the box got ripped apart on one end from my attempts. Even after I figured it out and took the 2 sections apart - the box was far gone. I then tried to tie each of the tree sections together so the branches would be compacted into place for storage - did not work either. I finally sort of got the box together - much packing tape - and still it only fit partway into the bag as the box was not as compact as it should be. I gave up - the entire thing was put downstairs on the box the main tree is stored in, as is.
I packed up the large figures we have in the living room. Someone husband worked with would give him these figures as a Christmas gift. Somehow they grew on us and we kept them even though we would not have bought them - well... It started with a Santa who is about 3 or 4 feet tall. He was joined by a wooden elf a bit shorter. Then a Santa who is a bear with toys and a bird in a cage. I had made separately and unrelated an elf who is making a doll - he joined the others instead of sitting standoffishly across the room. We found a small plastic Santa from when husband was a boy. I liked a girl elf figure that finally came down cheaper enough (well below 50% off) who joined them. Add 2 angel bears and it is a friendly group. It goes where a chair is moved to the dining room during Christmas to get it out of the way. They are also stored on top of the box for the main Christmas tree - in large plastic bags.
Then I took the small figures - mostly bears (oh, the angels above join them in storage) and stored them in their box in the basement. Our Christmas stockings (embroidered and commercial) and some other “soft” decorations I have made store in the box with them.
Three fancy gift boxes I use for storage have been packed with the items stored in them each year and are upstairs for storage when the Teddy Village comes down (they go in the trunk the village is on).
While doing the laundry now, I brought up the last 2 boxes to store Christmas decorations in - except the bear village. I will pack these two over the next couple of days.
So, we missed out on a day trip, but I have made good use of the day we were home instead - and kept working until it was done .
To feel a bit like we had a trip we went out to dinner tonight to a fancier (more expensive) Asian buffet tonight. The really nice one is much more than we felt like spending this year (technically this is our Christmas dinner out) so we went to one in between. Very nice and much better than the ones we go to normally. It made him happy and it that is worth it.
THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK -
1 - Even short day trips work better with a bit of planning.
2 - When one gets an unexpected day to get work done - get as much done as possible.
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