WEATHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY - WEATHER HAPPENS - PLAN AHEAD -BIG STORM HERE

 Well, at least I made it back here in when I am suppose to do so.

Our area got hit with a huge rain storm the end of last week.  We do live on an island – though it is so large we sort of tend to forget that it is an island from day to day.  (How big?  There are 4 counties on the Island – two of them are part of New York City – which is almost half the counties in same as there are 5 counties which make up NYC.)  We live in a county which is not part of NYC.

We live on a fairly main road.  We knew a large rain storm was coming and we made plans to stay in the house for the day.  During the day we looked outside a number of times and all we saw was a good sized rain storm.  At dinner time we put on the local news while we ate.  We were surprised to see/hear about how much flooding there had been on the Island from the storm.  Where I grew up was close to the south shore of the Island and we did get a flooded basement there from time to time (two worst cases were Hurricane Ida in the early 1960s a couple of years after we moved in and Superstorm Sandy recently shortly before mom moved out).  But our house here is about halfway between the north and south shores and in the all decades we have lived here – we have not had water in the basement and the only time we saw flooding in the street was Sandy.  Husband grew up nearby and we had an apartment nearby before our house so we are talking about somehere over 60 memories of storms in this area.  

I still have memories of when I was maybe 7 years old and the basement in my parents was flooded from Donna – I remember looking down the stairs (too deep water for me to be allowed down in the flood) and watching my toys float past.  When we took mom to see the house after Sandy we opened the door to the basement and seeing the items floating in the basement – major memories from Donna came “floating” past.  

Since we don't get flooding in our house it did not occur that us to even check for same.  On the TV, we were seeing flooding in the streets and houses near where I used to live and other places along the north and south shores of the Island.  Late in the evening I went down to take up the laundry I had washed and dried the night before and forgotten to take up and fold and I saw a rivulet of water from the wall of the basement to almost husband's work table along the wall of that room in the basement.  I quickly checked the spots in both rooms which might have flooded or be wet and all was okay.  I was trying to figure out where the water came from – AHA!  We have a small (about 4”x 4”) door in the wall of the basement behind the chimney which is used to clean out and check the chimney behind it.  The water had come in around the bottom of the door and dripped down.  We dropped pieces of paper towels over the wet spots to soak up the water and left the basement.  

On TV news the next day we found out that there had been flooding in our area.  Pictures of streets filled with water deeper then the curb – people showing their flooded basements – with more water coming in.  The next main road of the size of our street was flooded – we are often on that street and we saw the property around the library there (recently expanded and redone over several year) and at the gas station we go to, as well as the areas around these places – we were shocked that such a short distance had made such a bid difference in the amount of water on the street. We have wondered if the sewer drains there were backed up for some reason.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One never knows when Mother Nature will reek havoc somewhere.  After the first hurricane had hit my family's home nothing of value was kept low to the basement floor – in case of flooding again.  My parents also found out that there was connection to the sewer in the basement which should have opened before the storm to help get rid of any water that came in.  

Always know where you are suppose to go if there is an emergency such as this.  Around here it tends to be the school buildings.  If you do have to leave your house in a flood or other emergency – bring what you might need for a few days – food, medications, clothing – well charged cell phones, etc. Something to read or for children to play with (that special toy especially) to keep busy.  Hopefully you will get the all clear and be able to return to an intact home – but as is said – better safe than sorry.  When you leave your house for an emergency such as this make sure that your lights and gas are off also.  

Hopefully you will never have this problem, but better to be prepared than not.  (How the heck can I get a few hundred stuffed and other teddy bears into our vehicles to take with us in an emergency?)

DO YOU MULTI TASK - I AM DOING SO RIGHT NOW!

 I haven't written a post since the start of the month?  I am shocked.  I actually have last week's post writing (and posting of it) checked off in my calendar!  

And nothing special to write this week either.  Hmmm -

Multitasking – that's it!  I do a lot of multitasking to get things done.  As I am writing this the first load of laundry for the week is in the washer.  I am in the kitchen and can sort of hear the washer – plus I set an alarm in my older cell phone to remind to go down in 50 minutes and switch loads.  

I will then transfer this load – all of our clothes from the past week (with two sets of exceptions) to the dryer and toss in the towels and laundry bags to wash.  Reset alarm for another 50 minutes and put the clothes in the laundry basket with husband's shirts laid across the top of the load so they don't get wrinkled.  The towels then go into the dryer.  

If we have used most (or all) of our Covid masks (we are still wearing them when we go out as we are both high risk and many people here still do so) I will throw them into the washer for another load.  I put the masks in smaller sized net bags that zipper closed to protect them in the washer.  I own 3 bags and will spread the masks as evenly as possible in the bags.   The alarm is reset for another 50 minutes.  If not the alarm will not be reset as I don't take the last load out until tomorrow.  

If the masks are in the washer, when I go down again I will put the towels in the larger laundry bag from the dryer and leave it on top of the washer.  The masks will go into the dryer set on half an hour and will be taken out the next day.  I take the masks out of the net bags for drying, but zip the bags closed again and put them in the dryer with the masks.  

Some weeks I have a different third load than the masks.  When I have a load of sweatshirts that I wear to keep warm – in winter as it is cold and in hot weather because husband has the air conditioner on and I get too cold.  These would go in the washer after the towels as an extra load every few weeks when I have used up most of them.  Or I could be washing the sheets and pillowcases from our bed as a third (or even fourth load).  Once in awhile I could also be washing the blankets from the bed as an additional load.  

While all of the laundry is being done I write and post to all of you.  I also visit an online needlework group.  Sometimes I do some clothing repair/sock darning.  

And while I do almost everything in the house – the TV is on for me to “watch” - well, mostly listen to and look up at every now.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Plan to use your time as well as possible.  If you have something that you can “set and forget” such as laundry – use the same time to do something which takes more attention. 

CLEARING OUT MY OLD CLOSET AT THE FAMILY HOME

Last Thursday husband and I went to my family home to deal with “my stuff”.  I knew that there should be certain things there that I wanted - not many - and I sort of figured that there would not be much more in the closet I had to go through.

A digression - yeah, I always do same, without labeling it - I am the oldest of 3 girls and there are big age jumps between us - 5 years to #2 and another 7 years to #3.  When my family bought the house I was 4 or 5 years old  - it was then built to order in a 1950s subdevelopment - and my sister #2 was born several months before we moved in.  The house as shown in the model house had 5 bedrooms - 2 regular and a master bedroom on one floor and another 2 bedrooms (and a 4th bathroom) on the floor above it.  The house is a split level so floors not on top of each other they alternate back and forth.  My parents did not need the extra 2 bedrooms or the 4th bathroom and wanted to save money, so that floor was not finished into rooms when we moved in.  I had one bedroom of the 2 regular ones and my sister #2 - baby in a crib - was put in the other one.  The house stayed with this layout and each of us in our bedrooms for about 7 or 8 years.  At that time sister #3 was born.  My parents idea was that they would now finish the upstairs and have a bedroom for me, an office for my dad, and the fourth bathroom up there.  Being only about 12 and not knowing that in the future I would love the idea of a bedroom so private, I refused to move up there and sleep alone.  So instead my parents made it into a second (larger) master bedroom.  Sister #2 moved into my bedroom.  Dad got an office in her old bedroom.  Sister #3 and I moved into the original master bedroom.  This worked great.  When sister #2 got married a year before I did over 10 years later, I left sister #3 with the original master bedroom and moved back to my original room - which by then had sister #2's furniture in it, except her desk, and I left my furniture with sister #3 = except for my desk.  The house arrangement remained the same after that until I married a year later and moved out and then sister #3 moved out some 10 years later when she was married.  So, the room I had to clear out was not filled with items from when I was a child, but rather items I had after college.  I took almost all of my stuff either when we were first married or 9 years later when we bought a house.  Just a cute story - I had picked this bedroom originally as the room in the model had a little rocking chair - no one told me that the house did not come with what was on display in it and I thought I would get the rocking chair - boy was I disappointed. 

So, back to clearing out the room.  I had expected to walk in and see my old bed and a room as I left it.  Hah!  Either my mom had turned it into a mess of a storage room or my sisters had been throwing stuff in there to decide what to do with as they have been there several times to work on clearing out the house. 

My desk was not there as I have it here and use it as my desk - and still hit my knee on the leg of it as I did when I was a child.  I looked at the dresser in the room and started opening drawers.  As I thought they were empty but with 2 exceptions.  When I was baby I had a dresser set (not a child’s set, a grown up person’s set).  It had 2 small china dishes and a china box with lid.  I have one of the dishes still on my dresser and thought the rest gone - I knew the box’s lid and the other dish were broken and presumed that I had forgotten about breaking the box - but there it was!!  And in it was my girl scout knife and a couple of other small items.  Took it and the contents to go through - the box will go back on my dresser.    In another drawer I found a small tack hammer and two small boxes of tacks - not mine and I left them. 

It was rather hot when we were there.  I had asked sister #2 - who is coordinating all of this as she seems to know what to do - in advance if the air conditioners were working - she said yes, but not well.  Husband put on same in the original master bedroom and the one in the dining room (covers same, living room and kitchen).  Not much cool.  So as I am working he is starting to get overhot.  I sent him to the dining room then to outside several times to cool off.

I should say at this point - this entire process would have been harder for me if not for Hurricane Sandy.  Most of our toys were in the basement.  If I had to decide which toys to take and which to donate or toss it would have been close to impossible.  Since mom’s basement was flooded in the Hurricane, everything down there had been tossed out - including her washer, dryer, furnace etc. (furnace was replaced, but she decided to go to a laundry for her clothes).  No more Barbies (I have one trunk of them I had brought here).  No more doll house that I got when I was 3 or 4.  No more games.  No more Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch, Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, etc books. 

I opened the closet door expecting a mostly empty closet - OH BOY.  I started taking stuff out.  I found a red looseleaf book that I had copied folk songs into while in high school - took as I hoped to find it.  I found love letters from husband - definite take.  I found 2 art projects from college - painting - took (I am not a good artist and it actually came out good), cut out initials - toss.  I had expected/hoped to find my dad’s army shirt - he had given it to me back in the late 1960s when “hippies” wore same - it had reproduced and I took both of them.  While I know that the rank and badges on them are not right, I figure one of the military museums might like and his name would go down in posterity (and my nephew had previously said the did not want same) so they were a definite take.  Some “awards” drawn by a friend who was editor in chief of our college yearbook (before I was) had been taped on the inside of the door - took the one I found - hope to find at least one more.

For a closet it was lacking in clothes.  As mentioned, my dad’s army shirts were in there.  There was a pink gown.  I took it out.  We looked at it and then at each other.  I was maid of honor at sister # 2's wedding  - I wore brown (the others wore orange - fat girls don’t wear orange).  I was not in my other sister’s wedding party - and did not buy a gown for same.  I had not worn a gown to the afternoon wedding of the sister of my old high school boyfriend.  What the heck was it for? It looked to be in good condition - I hung it over the top of the bedroom door and went on.  I found a sweater I bought in Mexico  - tossed it.  If husband was not there I would have put it in a donate bag - but he insisted it was not wearable.  I found a “genuine” 1960's/early 1970's peasant blouse - hung it over the bedroom door.  (Sister #2 has come across so much clothing from that period in the house that she plans to contact theatrical costume houses to see if they want them - she can add the blouse and gown.) My college house plan (similar to a sorority) windbreaker - took that.   I also hung a green jacket over the door - I have no idea whose it is, but it would not have fit me at 12 years old, let alone when I was grown. 

I found an assortment of papers I had written (brought them home to shred as my personal info on them).  I found needlework  - kits and almost finished.  Husband had me leave the 2 latch hook rugs - hooking finished, rug edges not finished there.  (If we go back and they are still there I will take them home - I decided I really want them.)  Two embroidery kits - not finished, I took.   One unstarted latch hook kit - left for donation or sale.

I also found a complete, unopened set of “spurtles”.  These were cooking utensils that a TV chef named Graham Kerr used.  We had apparently bought 2 sets - either to give the second set as gift or for when the others broke - they are still in great condition.  We opened the box and took the spurtles out and tossed the box. 

Then I hit the problem.  Apparently when we lived in our apartment we used this closet for storage of - yes - empty boxes.  Cabbage Patch Dolls, fancy teddy bears, etc - empty boxes - you know, because they will be worth a fortune one day.  I did not take the boxes - but since I had not thought that there would be this much stuff - I did not have enough garbage bags so the boxes had to stay for next time. 

I filled 3 large bags of garbage.  I could not put it out as there would be no pickup until the following Monday and the house is near an animal preserve and the animals come and go through the bags.  I left them in the living room - sisters would be there on the weekend to put it out.

There was a section of stuff still on the top shelf that was not boxes - but neither of us could reach them safely and husband was soaked through his shirt and we needed to leave.

Problem - I had not figured out how to pack the stuff we were taking in plastic bags and seal them without them coming into the house (that bed bug fear).  So I carried the stuff I was taking down to the front door and husband held a bag outside and little by little I filled 2 bags of stuff to take.  They are now in our garage - I will take it out a bit at time and heat it in our Packtite bedbug heater - just in case. 

I am missing an item I would like to have.  I embroidered a tablecloth while in high school.  When I got married I went looking for it - I could not find it.  I have looked a couple of times since.  I told both my sisters about it and asked that if they find it they save it for me.

As we were driving home husband commented on the lack of air conditioning in the house.  He had seen the one in the office (bedroom next to mine - remember?) but could not get to it as that room is completely filled.  I then remembered - there was one in my bedroom!  He insisted that there was none - unless it was removed and the wall fixed it should be there - not sure it works, but we will look next time we are there.

Sister #2 insists that we are almost done - I am not sure how - there is soooooo much there of mom’s..
                   
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

One can go home again - but mostly to clear out home.  Why not post about your experience in something like this?

MEDICAL MATTERS TAKE MORE TIME THAN SHOULD

Well, it looks like we are coming out of our “emergency” situation with husband’s shoulder.  No, it is not that he is better, but rather that he can mostly deal with it.  Last weekend he decided that he should try to get back to his normal routine.  We had dinner out on Friday night.  We ended up at Wendys and he ordered and carried the tray.  When we have gone for lunch, I have had to go up and order and carry the tray - although for the lunches since then, I have been ordering and carrying the tray again.  Saturday night we went to Ikea for dinner and then the movies.  We have not gone to the movies since he hurt his shoulder - and normally we go every Saturday night.  Sunday we even went to one of the Asian buffets we go to for dinner.  I can touch his arm again without him screaming in pain.  I have pushed him to open doors to different businesses we go to and he can open some, but some are too heavy for his shoulder.  Biggest problem continues to be the seat belt sitting on shoulder when he drives. 

We missed another reenactment event this past weekend.  It was a new event and it all sounded complicated - since we were coming late everything we brought would have to be carried in.  No parking for the event and looking at the map - we would be parking on residential streets on the far side of a wide main road, that we would then have to cross back - with our stuff - with no traffic light to help us.  We would therefore have to travel very light.  No bringing even our smaller box bench as it would be too heavy for me to carry - he certainly could not without much pain and making his shoulder worse.  We would have to use the reproduction folding stools we have.  (Husband made them.)  Not a problem normally, but I knew it would be a problem for him right now.  So I had him try one - the look on his face said it all.  We got a piece of board from the garage workshop and he tried that across the stool - he said it was maybe okay.  In the end we decided not to go.  From the report on the event it was not a major loss.  It is just that he feels that is he is giving in and weak as does he is not doing things


This has continued to be a week of dealing with medical things.  I am hard to get blood from during a blood test. The nurse last week was good - I barely felt the needle.  When I took off the bandaid when we got home, I was surprised at the bruising where she had done the test, but knew it would go away.  Over the weekend we went to Costco and husband found a new canned soup that he wanted.  We bought the 8 pack of soup and a small bottle of vitamins which were in a cart.  I hate the Costco carts as they are too tall for me to push comfortably and when we walked out of the store I picked up the soup and handed him the vitamins with him protesting all the way about my carrying the “heavy”soup.  The weather has been cold here and I have been wearing a long sleeved sweatshirt over my tee shirt.  Sunday night when I suddenly was hot and took of the sweatshirt I saw that rather than healing, the bruise area had gotten larger.  Of course husband looked it up and said that it was due to carrying heavy items - “see, you should not have carried the soup”.  So I am waiting for my arm to be back to normal.

Wednesday we went to the doctor for our regular appointment.  All went well, Doctor checked husband’s shoulder and said maybe another month to 6 weeks and it should be okay or we will “see” what else needs to be done - probably nothing.

Now, our state put in a new law maybe last year.  Rather than writing out prescriptions and handing them to us, all prescriptions for people (as opposed to veterinarian ones for animals) have to be sent directly by the doctor to the pharmacy.  This may be great for helping prevent and deal with addiction, but has been a nightmare for us in dealing with our prescriptions. I keep our prescriptions organized.  We are given them 3 months worth at a time.  I keep those bottles in our downstairs bathroom (no shower or bath tub to make it steam).  I have smaller bottles in the kitchen cabinet.  When I use up all the medications in a kitchen bottle, I count out 30 days worth from the ones in the bathroom into the ones in the kitchen and I make a mark on the lid of the bathroom bottle.  It helps me keep track of how much medication we have left.

With the new system of no written prescriptions not only do we not see what has been sent through to make sure it is correct, the pharmacy automatically fills all of the prescriptions .  Often we don’t need all of them filled and we have to stand there while one of the pharmacy employee wastes time reversing the ones we don’t need.  (I am not upset with the pharmacy or their personnel - they go above and beyond as will be shown.)  So this time I told husband that I was just going to take all the refills now - even if we don’t need them yet - except for his insulin.  (The insulin has to be refrigerated or is only good for 42 days.  We have a mostly full box and did not want a second box in the house in case of hurricane and no refrigerator.)

When we got to the pharmacy I explained this and it was no problem not to fill the insulin.  We then walked around the store.  Husband for some reason was not having a good day with his arm.  I offered for us to go home and I would come back for the prescriptions - or they could wait until the next day (today).  He insisted on staying.  He settled on the bench near the pharmacy to wait. 

The prescriptions were almost ready and we waited.  Then we were called and I went up to get them.  I had added up in my head that they should cost between $30 and $40 so when it rang up for $57 - I was shocked.  I went over to husband and we while he checked that the medications were the correct ones, I looked at the charge card receipt - my medications had been rung up at the rate from my old insurance.  I switched insurance as of this month - I used to buy my meds off the old insurance as doing so was cheaper - and had purposely brought the cards in a couple of weeks ago so the change would be on file.  It was not.  One of the employees researched it and switched it over to the new insurance and it’s lower rate.  But to do this she had to take out half the pills in 2 of them as I take a half a pill not a whole pill and the insurance would only allow 45 pills for the 90 days, not the 90 pills I had been getting.  Okay, I understand.  I really appreciated the attention and time the employee put into this - and she was standing on crutches having been hurt in some way, so I felt really bad.  She rebottled the pills and gave me a refund for the overpayment. My credit card slip for the original purchase had gone astray on their end during all of this and the search for it was close to 10 minutes before it was found.  I was at the point that I had asked if they could just give me a reprint and employee was about to check - when it was found.   I thanked her profusely and we came home - 2 hours gone.    When I got home I realized that we were charge for the needles for husband’s insulin three times as much as it has been cost before. 

We also get test strips to use in our Diabetes meters.  When at the pharmacy yesterday, they told us that the doctor’s office had not included a diagnosis code and that we should call to have it resent to them.  I did so this morning.  This afternoon we went in and discussed the price of the strips - apparently he had been under billed in the past and this amount was correct.  When they ran through my test strips they came up for almost $50.  They are suppose to be free.  I know from when husband switched to this insurance that the first time they charged him $5 and then when it was processed through, the $5 was refunded - but $50?  Also they only had enough to fill one of our prescriptions.  I had them fill husband’s prescription and I will have to call our insurance company to find out what is going on with the billing for my strips before I get them.  I again thanked the employee (same one as yesterday).  This all went much smoother when husband switched his medical insurance last year.

Since husband was doing better - even if he does not think he is - and I knew that he could go out for lunch on his own, I told him that I am going to my client tomorrow as I have work that has to be done there - I did not make it there last month for other reasons and this month is quickly running out.  (Plus I would like to get paid - we can use the money.)  He was not happy, but understood.  I told him that I would take our van so he could have the car as it is easier for him to deal with the door and seatbelt in the car.  I know the van can fit in the municipal garage I park in as I have taken it there before.  He insisted he would be happier if I had the car and he will deal with the van.  So I called the client and I am going to work tomorrow.  Something I normally look forward to, but am too tired to do so this month.  (Oh, I need an extension cord for this client -and it is a special one as it has a flat plug as the outlet is behind a safe.  I could not of course find this cord when packing this afternoon to go to work tomorrow - it is kept in my brief case.  I finally found out that “the teddies in my little village had borrowed it”, okay, I had grabbed it to use for them until I got one for the village and forgot about it!)

Laundry is behind as we don’t want me carrying it upstairs and he can’t.  I have not changed the bedding since he became ill as he has his pillows as needs them (which changes at times) and we don’t want to move them out of position.  So I have gotten a lot of undone paperwork done, but other things are falling behind.
                       
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Know what your medical insurance covers and what it costs.  Don’t be afraid to make sure that you get what you are entitled to or ask to have something changed to what you are entitled to.  In the past we have had a blood pressure medication changed by the doctor at our request as one goes on a formulary and another goes off - they are the same category of medication. 

Also if you are picking new medical insurance - and this is the time of year that happens - make sure that any medications or other prescription items that you take are on the formulary (list of covered medications) that the new company has.       

YOU already know what to do

I don’t know about you, but I actually know what needs to be done for to declutter and get organized.  You probably also know what to do.  You have probably read it in book after book -
       
        1- Go through what you have
        2 - Purge anything that you have not used in X years (generally one or two years depending on the book.
        3 - Separate items that don’t belong where they are into one of four boxes - keep, put somewhere else, throw out, donate, sometimes, a fifth box - return to the owner.
        4- Survey what you have left and figure out how to store it, buying storage containers only after knowing what you need and measuring the space and items to go into storage.
        5 - Keep up putting items away every day.

Oh, this reminded me, I am looking to buy plastic storage to organize the freezer compartment of the fridge better.  For some reason lately a lot of food items we buy are in bags - they used to be packages in boxes, they lie on top of each other and I forget what I have.  I want them to stand up so I can see what I have.  Hold on a minute while I measure the freezer section - hmm mmm mmm - sorry, okay, I am back - that’s less than 10.5 inches tall, 14.5 inches deep, and 19 inches across and I plan on 2 containers across - that would be 9.5 inches across each maximum.  I put the measurements in my cell phone in the Walmart section of my “to buy” list.  I will have to see what is available.

Oh wait  - the timer in my cell phone went off - I have to down to the basement and switch loads in the washer and dryer.  Be right back....hmm mmm mmm.  Okay, back again.  I forgot that there was a blanket in the dryer from last week.  We sleep with two in winter, one in summer and I had this one on the bed, but put the other one on the bed last week and washed the one that was there as we both had colds over the past month and thought it best to wash to wash the one we had been breathing on.  It is now sealed in a plastic bag to keep it clean until it is needed again.  It will go in a small storage piece in our bedroom. Back to all of you, cell phone will go off again in 50 minutes to switch loads again.

Okay - while the above is true, I do other things while I am writing my posts, it is also why the common “simple 5 steps” to get uncluttered and organized don’t always work.  Oh, I also updated the browser in my other laptop while I have been writing this.  It is not that I don’t care about all of you - (I do wish there were more of you, but I am glad to have every one you reading my posts - feel free to tell friends to join us) but we all have to multitask these days.  It is not as easy in the real world as it is in organizing books.

Yes, the basic 5 steps are what need to be done, but sometimes they have to be done in small bites - catch as catch can.  When my husband was screaming about his sock drawer - too many socks, too little room.  He has trouble finding socks which are comfortable and the ones he liked are wearing out quicker and quicker so he is searching for new socks - as the ones he like are, of course, discontinued.  Of course he buys MORE socks and then hates them.  It is hard to convince him to let me donate them - “I haven’t even worn some of the pairs yet - and what if I can’t find new socks and neeeeeed these?  So I went through his dresser drawers - yes, more than just that drawer - over a period of 2 days - on and off when I had a chance. 

What did I find, well, his missing “space pen” for one thing.  I found that the bottom drawer was filled with more James Bond toys.  I managed to add them to the boxes we had bought and put in the spare bedroom (aka the teddys room) closet.  Ah, most of an empty drawer to work with. I put some empty shoe boxes in same.  I use them for drawer dividers - two boxes make 3 delineated spaces across - box, space, box.  I put the socks he does not wear in the bottom drawer. I also went through stuff he keeps on the left side of his top drawer (which is where his underwear and socks are also kept).  He has a small jewelry box  - mostly junk, the few nice pieces he has are in my jewelry box, empty eyeglass cases (yes, I keep same also) and other small items - under these I found the space pen.  Those items were sorted through and mostly stored in the bottom drawer.  Why did all of this go to the bottom drawer?  Well, he could not get something out of same unless he was sitting down as he would get dizzy, so it is a good place to put things he will rarely, if ever need.  I then rearranged the space in the top drawer and sorted the socks he wears into the boxes (the beige set in one box, the ivory set - he calls them white) in another box and the new socks behind them in the same boxes - white socks in with the beige socks and black socks in with the ivory ones - so they are easy to tell apart by color looking in.  Underpants are no longer squeezed into a shoe box, but in the space between two shoe boxes, so they have a bit more space.  (His underpants like mine are rolled as this seems to make them fit in the space better and easier to grab out - he needs to buy new ones of same soon - he complains all the time.) He also has some ankle height socks which he finds comfortable to sleep in during the winter as they keep his feet warm but don’t “bother him”. 

In doing this I did find some items which I knew he no longer needed and would not be attached to - especially the socks he won’t wear - and packed them to be donated.  Also in doing this I had pulled out some shoe boxes from the top of my closet - some were empty and set aside for use in situations such as this, others had shoes in them, and I pulled some shoes off my closet door rack, that I don’t wear, to donate also to make room for some of the ones in the boxes - although the door rack is about 1/3 empty after I was done - and I don’t have a lot of shoes.  (If I let him know, his extra shoes will end up there, so I won’t mention it.)

All of this - socks, underwear, James Bond toys, shoes, etc. took about 2 hours spread over 2 evenings.  I believe in doing things as one can.  Oh, I had no boxes for donation, etc. just some shopping bags.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Use the time YOU have available and try using your innate knowledge of what to do.  You know to throw out garbage  - you just have to figure out what is the garbage in what you have.  You know to donate what can be donated - don’t look at it as you are getting rid of something you loved (or hated and regretted), but rather finding the item a new home with someone who needs it. 

Think about what you use and how you use it - and how often you do.  Something - such as underwear and socks that are worn daily should be able to be reached as easily as possible. 

But remember we do things by habit which may not be the best way to do so.  What you do not use as often, can be harder to get to.  Since I was in junior high school I had a sock drawer and an underwear drawer.  In my current dresser these were two small half size drawers, the underwear drawer being the top drawer, the socks, the next one down.  The underwear had my underpants that I daily wear one of, my bras - 3 of them rotated through wear and laundry, and half slips - short white, long white, short black, long black - which I very rarely wear - only if the skirt/dress is a bit sheerer than normal.  My sock drawer had my every day socks, my panty hose (rarely worn - once a month to work and if there was an event to which I had to wear a dress), my knee high stockings (worn even less), and the socks I wear to keep my feet warm.  Husband said to me one day after we had been married for decades “every morning you open the top drawer and take out underpants and close the drawer.  Then you open the next drawer down and take out socks and close the drawer.  Why don’t you put the items you wear daily in the same drawer and put the other items in the second drawer?  Makes sense - why did I not think of this?  Well, I had been doing it the same way for so long, it never occurred to me that there was a better way.  I now have my everyday socks and underwear in the top drawer - panties are 3 pairs across, 3 pairs up and two sets of same deep (the set in the front is not a full 9 pairs) and the sock balls stand next to them filling the rest of the drawer - no separation between the two necessary.  The second drawer holds my bras in front on one side, my sleep socks across the front on the other.  A box of stockings - pantyhose and knee highs behind the sleep sock.  I have wool socks which I have acquired over the recent freezing cold winters we have had in the back of the drawer.  The slips are stacked between the bras and the wool socks.  One drawer to open every day instead of two - labor saved.

So think as you declutter and organize about how you can change where items are stored - even in something as common as your dresser  - to work better.


My thoughts and prayers to those in the path of Florence. 

LISTS FOR REPETITIVE TASKS

Husband has spent the last week and a half with cold - which we are guessing he caught from me.  I had been feeling fine and was doing things he would normally do concerning food - such as when we went to Wendys for lunch I would order, pay and pickup the food instead of him - this intended to keep me from catching back the cold.  Well, it worked for a while.

I had planned to be telling you about our being in our little RV and dealing with the problems of organizing it for the trip.  We had planned on leaving this past Monday and coming home on Friday as the weather was suppose to be nice there all week.  As the trip date came closer, Monday and Tuesday were to have RAIN there.  Wednesday would be okay there, but there might be some rain on the drive down.  Since one cannot cancel RV park reservations this close to a trip, we waited to make same. 

Our idea was that we wake early (for us) today and call and make reservations.  During the night I started having cold symptoms again - bad and heavy ones.  I had trouble sleeping.  When we woke earlier than the alarm, husband was concerned about reaching the RV park to make the reservations as the office opens at 9 am, but it is hard to speak to someone before 11 am usually and we had to be on the road by 9 am to try to avoid the dreaded Belt Parkway and the construction along the entire length.  I was trying to breathe.  We sadly decided to not go today.

As we thought about this during the day - and I started to feel a bit better (amazing what 2 little aspirins can do in getting rid of a headache) and able to breathe again.  We decided that I would call the RV park and make reservations for tomorrow night and Friday night and have a 3 day trip.  We tend try not to be in Lancaster, PA on Saturdays - especially in summer - as there are too many tourists.  (Yes, I know we are tourists also, but we are polite ones who try to blend in, not act rudely as many of our fellow New Yorkers and those from New Jersey do.  We go there not for the novelty of the visit, but because it feels like a second home to us.)  I was only able to get a reservation in a space that we know (and know it will be level) for tomorrow night, so we are going for just 2 days - and will hope that along the way there will a space we like for Friday night also. Oddly the 6 spaces that they had available for the 2 nights in the section we like, were all ones we have had problems with in the past - maybe others know that they are not level?  (For those who have never stayed in an RV or trailer, if the RV or trailer is not level one feels off - walking uphill and down, the cabinet doors either swing shut or swing open, most of the refrigerators for same need to be level to work, etc.  Most units have automatic levelers; ours does not.  So we will go and see what happens as to how long we will stay.

Yesterday I packed the RV.  As I have mentioned before, we keep basic items in it so we don’t need to remember or pack them - toothpaste, soap, dish soap, shampoo, an electric razor for husband, cleaning supplies, office supplies (pens, pencils, paper, stamps, clear tape, stapler...), dishes, pots, tableware, blankets & bedding (bed is still made up from last time as we only used it two nights then - covered the pillows on the bed with the blankets), towels - hand & dish, flashlights, sun hats, rain gear and the like.  It is much easier to buy extras of these items than to have to remember to bring them each time - and then remember to put them away when we get home. We filled the water tanks on Monday - this gives us 25 gallons of water for drinking, cleaning, flushing, etc.  Yesterday I packed clothing for us for 4 days (we always bring an extra days clothing on a short trip, 2 days worth on a longer one) into the shelves in the RV “closet” (a small cabinet).  I packed snacks for us into plastic boxes which snap lock closed and put them into one of the “kitchen cabinets” - two thin shelves one about a foot long and the other about 18 inches long which have doors that snap closed.  When we first got the RV we would fill both of these cabinets. Now I use only one for food as we have learned that we do not need as much as thought we did.  (Heck, there are supermarkets and farmers’ markets everywhere there - including 24 hour Walmarts.) The other cabinet gets used to hold items such as plastic shopping bags, sweaters, whatever.  The refrigerator gets soda - a big bottle to use at night and some cans in case we have lunch at a farmer’s market - which is common - or such, we will not have to buy something to drink.

Shoes were brought in and stored - I bring or wear sneakers and bring leather shoes in case of rain.  We keep slippers in the RV.  I have a pair of slip on sneakers that I keep in it - in colder weather I might be wearing shoe boots and if I need to run outside, it is easier to slip on these sneakers.  We also each keep shower slippers in the RV. 

I put the batteries in the thermometer for the fridge - better to find out I need new batteries then, rather than find out when we are leaving.  I also put the toll reader into place in the front window.  I bring in the store coupons from our car. 
   
How do I keep track of all of this - what needs to be put in the RV when.  I have a list of course.  I have it memorized in my computer in a spreadsheet.  I have a “Do Ahead” section  - put water in the tanks, fill bottles of water to bring in the fridge, fill our travel medication boxes and such.  I also have a “Check Ahead” section - this is for items which get used up on trips - paper plates, cups, bathroom cups, napkins (well, okay generally these don’t run out as we end up picking up some at different places as we travel) is there enough paper towels, toilet paper and tissues; soaps and related items; did the towels go back in after laundering after the last trip; and such.

I then have categories of what to pack -
    What clothing items we need; what snack/food items we need/want.
    Items to take from our car and bring - sunglasses, glasses.
        Electronics - you know, tablets, laptops, extra or old cell phones as backups (we would not forget our current ones of course), camera if it is touring trip.
        Household items - laundry bags (we bring our clothes into the RV in 2 laundry bags to unpack them. One is stored away until the end of the trip and is used to take unworn clothing back into the house.  The other is used as a - well - laundry bag and then the dirty clothing goes back into house in it and tossed down the stairs to the basement. 
        I have some coupons which were picked up on earlier trips or came in the mail related to where we are going and I keep them in an envelope that I bring (it’s on the list of course).  Also for our regular main trips (well they used to be regular and main) I have an envelope for each that labeled on the outside on a edge with the name and approximate date of the trip.  For example - Labor Day trip- September, Fourth of July trip, etc.  I keep them in date order with the next trip in the front of the stack in the same 3 section holder on the wall next to my desk as I keep our unpaid bills (the travel coupon holder is mixed in the same section as these envelopes.  If say we pick up coupons for the Kutztown festival in advance - they are put in the envelope for same and will be there when we need them.  I also have backpack
        Things to do - magazines, my embroidery, etc.  Generally they are not touched while we are away, but I always bring them. Husband gives me whatever he wants of same.
        Finally, our “last minute bag”.  This contains items we might need at home until the   moment we leave.  I have 3 plastic boxes in the bag. One has OTC medications - if we our stomachs feel bad at home, we take the pill out of the box.  If ditto while on a trip, well, ditto.  I don’t like to buy these items special for the RV as we use them so rarely, that even the one bottle is not used up by any stretch of when the expiration date is or beyond that seems safe.  One has a bit more of same and our thermometer - one can get ill even on a trip and again, we did not want to buy 2 of them.  The last box has items we will need on the trip - prescription medications for example - and will taken out of the bag the first night of our trip and stored in the cubby that has our personal items needed for the evening and the morning.  We add other items as we use them for the final time at home before the trip.  Much of what is in the bag will stay in the bag for the trip and it is stored where it can be more or less easily accessed.       

The list also has a section for what we need to on our return to make sure that everything that needs to be is out of the RV and back into the house - and there are always items that we bought on the trip in addition to what we brought.  I have a pattern for taking everything out of the RV - but don’t worry I am not going into that now.  The list for our return reminds me of what needs to come out and that we need to shut off the refrigerator, air conditioning, inside light,  and the RV battery - and put a towel into the refrigerator in case there is any leaking from the small freezer section.  (There is a quick version of what absolutely has to come out/be done in case it is raining.       

So, everything but the last minute bag, this laptop, and the rain jackets we might have needed for the trip is packed in our RV.  Tomorrow we will bring these items, turn on the RV batteries, start the refrigerator in the RV, back out of our driveway and be on our way. 

Oh, that sounds so easy. To back out into 2 lanes of traffic on our side of the road involves me standing in the road with a walkie talkie and telling him when he can pull out - talk about needing planning and organization!

I also have a short list, kept on a little clipboard that we use to check off each day of the trip that we have done everything we need to do before pulling out.  We would not want to forget to unplug the RV from the electricity so the system is not broken or to lock a cabinet or the refrigerator door and have everything in it go flying when we drive.  A common thing that we husband forgets is after we disconnect from the camp’s sources he needs to open the curtain at the back of the RV so he can see out same - good thing it is on my list and I turn around see that it is open and if not send him to open it.  Even odd things are on my list.  We have an outside light next to the side door. (Same as the light next to your front/back door at home.)  We don’t turn it on.  One day after driving around much of the day I realized it was on - it must have gotten turned on by accident the night before - I turned it off of course and I added it to the check off list.  This short list has several columns so that on a trip up to 4 days can be marked off on the same form. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If you do something that has many steps or many parts as a repeated thing, make up a list on your computer for what you need to do.  Print it out each time you are doing to do the task and actually cross the items off the list.  If needed I list the items that are going to be done at the last minute on the side as I see them - and circle them on the list.  If I find that there is something that I need to add - I list it on the back of the page and add it when we return home.

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM - I HOPE

This post is 2 days late.  We have been on a short trip.  I wrote the post on Wednesday night the normal time for me to do so.  Wednesday night was also the first night of our trip.  We have been at this campground many times.  For some reason there were Internet problems this trip (and totally unrelated we could not get TV with our antenna either) and while I could do some things, the Internet connection did not like gmail so I was able to check some email - but only one email out on one night, other than that I could not post and this was my second item to post.  (First was to tell my family we were away as I had forgotten to do so.) 

So I could not post the first night - or the second.  Now we are back home and I am hoping that this post goes through on the “lucky” third night of trying -

A quick post this week as we finally made it away for a trip - only 2 nights, not the 5 nights we started with planning - and 2 weeks late, but we are away.

Anyone going on a trip has to plan in advance - Where will we go?  When will we go?  Where will we stay? and  - most importantly - What do we need to bring?

I have a check list in my computer that I print out each time we are going away to make sure we bring everything.  Now, remember we are traveling in an RV so what we need to bring is different than someone going to a hotel.  Remember that this is not a huge RV as you see on TV - next time you see a Chevy van - think of me.   The check list is divided into sections -

What to do ahead of time - check the tires for air, make sure that items we keep in the RV are there and ones that get used up are replenished - soap, disposable dishes and cups, hand soap, dish soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels and such.  Are there clean hand and dish towels in the RV?  I generally have to make up the bed - which involves assembling it as I put on the mattress cover, sheets and blankets. If we are away for a very short time - as we are now - I may not strip the bed afterwards and will leave the bed made up. 

Then as we get close to the trip (day or two before) I have other items to do - I do the clothing laundry 2 days before we go away so we have clothes for the trip and clothes for when we get home.  This way I can pack them the day before we go.  Since we are traveling in an RV I use laundry bags to carry the clothes out to same and then store them in the “closet” This is a small cabinet that is called the closet.  It will hold maybe a dozen hangers.  We put in one of those sweater shelves things that hang in a closet and instead of hanging clothes in it, we each get 2 shelves for our clothes - yes, 2 of those tiny shelves for our clothes.  I can fit up to a week’s worth of clothes for each of us shirts, underwear, socks and spare pair of jeans in those tiny sections.  The rare times we go away longer - for 2 weeks - the second week’s clothing will be in a laundry bag in a section under the bed - at the start of the second week I will climb under the bed and get out the laundry bag and put the clothing in the shelves.  As we use the clothes we put the dirty clothes back in a laundry bag - so if we are way for more than a week, the dirty clothes will go back where the clean clothes were.  We do carry more than a set of clothes for each day “just in case”.  We bring extra of everything.  We fit in sweaters and jackets in various places in the RV. Spare shoes go into a cubby over the bed. 

We fill the water tanks which hold 25 gallons of water.

I have a list of food items to bring - we have a “dorm size” fridge in the RV.  The list is inclusive fo what we might want/need to bring - so not all items are brought on every trip.  I bring water in bottles that I have filled and put it in the fridge.  The water in the tanks will get warm (sitting under a “tin can” in plastic tanks) and this way we have cold water to drink.  Food items are put in plastic boxes that “lock” seal closed.  Generally all we are bringing is snacks with us.  On longer trips I may bring canned soup, peanut butter and bread.  So far we have had only one occasion while traveling in which we came close to cooking and eating in the RV - but then the rain storm ended and we were able to go for lunch.

Medications have to come.  I have to bring eyeglasses - several different pairs for each of us.  And of course, electronics.  We each bring laptops with us.  Maybe a camera.  And cell phones and cords for them.  We actually keep duplicate cords in the RV for convenience. 

When items are stored they must be stored in such a way that they will not shift around and make noise or break anything.  Everything has an assigned place so we know where it will be and it will be safe.  We use plastic shopping bags around items to keep them from shifting - and then they are used for garbage or shopping, etc.

What amazes me is that when we were buying this RV we kept wondering how we would get everything we need into it.  I have pulled out items never used when I realize that we will not need them and now have too much empty space that needs to be packed with the bags mentioned to fill the space so things do not shift.  Well, I did keep the small vacuum cleaner, We may not have used it in the 7 years we have had the RV, but I know some day we will really, really need it.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Think about if you had one room 20 ft by 6 ft to live in and had to fit everything you needed in it.  The bed takes up about 1/3 of the room, but you do have 3 cubbies over the bed. There are people who live in this type of RV full time - think about having to get your possessions to down to a space this small.
       

ARE WE REALLY SO DIFFERENT THAN EVERYONE ELSE?

I am sure that all of you read books about organizing.  I have read lots of them over the years (decades?).  One of the reasons I started this blog is that circumstances and problems in the books seem so remote from our situation and I am guessing that others feel this way also.

For the past couple of decades husband and I go to a chain book store (which one we go to has changed several times due to store openings and closing) on Friday nights after dinner for someplace to go. I tended to wander around while he looked at what he wanted to look at.  I found the section of cartoon books and started reading them - I read quickly and would read while we were there, mark the page where I left off in my small, pocket notebook and pick up again the following week.  Then I was wandering around in the book store one night and found a book on a subject I did not know existed - organizing!  I started reading that book - one thing it did was tell me that there were people whose homes were much worse than mine. I finished it after a couple of weeks and found another - and another, etc.  Every now and then I would have read all the books on organizing and decluttering in whichever book store we were in and I would have to wait until new books were written and arrived. I did this year after year after year.  I found that while that while I did not necessarily get a lot of actual help from the books - every now then and idea worked or helped me figure out what would work - it did give me the impetus to keep working on clearing up our house.

Then something else caught my attention.  Remember we are reenactors (or living historians which is the classier name).  I found “BBC History” magazine.  I loved it and decided to subscribe.  The US price was $75 and there was no electronic version available in the US.  (Yes, I liked it that much.  I read nothing in the electronic version, but to get a subscription to this I was willing to.)  So instead of reading books on organizing I would instead read the magazine when we at the book store.  After several years of doing this, a $45 US subscription was offered this past fall and I can now read the magazine - slowly and savoring every article not rushing through reading what was of the most interest and hoping I made it to the articles of lesser interest as I had to do before at home.  (And yes, I did repurpose one of the plastic magazine holders which was leftover when I convinced husband to get rid of the collected issues of a magazine we no longer subscribe to - I am scanning in the articles he is interested in, into the computer for this magazine, but we ended up with a couple of empty magazine holders.)

Also during this period the book store we go to cut their hours back so Friday nights they close an hour earlier than before, so we don’t always get there on Fridays any longer - with the crazy weather we have had, we have not gotten there much at all this year so far.  I suggested to husband that we go there once a week in the afternoon for something to do and we did so this past weekend. 

I checked the list in my mobile phone and found which books I was in the midst of reading when I switched to reading the BBC magazine and found that one of the books was still on the shelf and I settled into a chair to continue reading from where I left off.

Now I know that our life is different as we have no children and are together and home almost the time.  Also we each have a small professional practice which is run from home (which takes much less space since I scanned all of client’s tax returns and papers other than the most recent year into the computer and he has few files) as well as small craft business we also run from home (and none of these make money).  But when I started reading this book I was reminded of how the authors tend to think that everyone’s life is the same - or very similar - in what they tell one to do.

Have you found your life to be the same as the lives being organized in books about same? 

In the past I attributed the fact that we have no children and much of our “stuff” is work related to what made the books seem lacking in universality to me. 

Everyone has sooooo much clothing.  Get rid of the excess!  Get rid of clothes you have not worn in a year (umm, warm winter, no snow - get rid of my coat and boots that I will need next year? no party this year - dump the party dress I will need again sometime?)!  Store your sports equipment like this.  Food shop like this. Make separate areas in your kitchen for each type of cooking!  Set up your children’s stuff like this!  Have a lovely neat walk in area around your door with a mirror and table (room for neither in our entry)!  Keep track of all those things you have to do - parties, work events, children’s events like this (if we have one event a year it is a lot)!            
                       
I suddenly had an epiphany reading this book as to why what the professional organizers write is so unrelated to reality as husband and I live it - they are dealing with the homes of people rich enough to pay them to come in and organize it for them!!  They are not dealing with the homes of people who could never think of paying them as they need their money to pay for the food and house and other items they need. 

What made me suddenly realize this?

The author of the book I am currently reading states that one should not buy cheap clothing as it does not last even a year.  Surprises me.  I have tee shirts that I bought for $8  more than 20 years ago - some have holes or stains and have been made into nightwear, but the others are going strong in my wardrobe.  She seems to feel that if that if one “only” spends $100 a piece of clothing it is junk.  Do any of you feel this way or spend that much on a piece of clothing? We don’t, well I guess I did, my wedding gown (with hat) was $275 custom made for me - and I thought it a waste of money at the time, but had to make my mother in law to be, happyish. (I wanted to elope.)

Along the same lines as clothing, the author in talking about finding the furniture and storage that one needs in their home says to buy “good quality furniture” and that the sort of furniture Ikea sells will not last at all - not even a year.  About half of our furniture is knock down (the sort of furniture, like Ikea’s, that one buys flat and assembles themselves), especially in the office and our studio, as well as storage pieces.  I know that some of the “kd” furniture is better quality than others and would rate Ikea’s pretty good.  When husband quit his job and we switched to trying support ourselves with our craft business and my tiny accounting practice he constantly complained that his computer desk was not enough space.  After a lot of convincing him to change - we bought our first purchases at Ikea - a small computer stand desk and a long table to put next to him (they make and L shape) so he could deal with orders and such easily. (Desk was easy to assemble - table involved much screaming and arguing as more complicated.)  11 years on they are still in great condition.  But along with my idea that the professionals are used to working with people able to afford their services, the idea that something reasonably priced - or what I would think is reasonably priced and she would consider cheap,  would work well, would not occur to her. 

So, I now know why the information in the books seems to not be realistic to me.  It is based on a life style and budget beyond ours.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
                       
If you read a book or article about organizing, take into account that the people the professional organizers work with and their problems are probably those of wealthier people.  Use the information to help you decide what will work for you, but if it makes no sense for you - remember that it may not be aimed at someone like you (or me).  We all have common sense - it is in us somewhere, think about what makes sense to YOU in how to do something.

I know even within our house, what works for me does not work for husband.  I like a small work space in our office - he likes a large space to spread out (as per the work table he needed from Ikea).  I like to have papers that I am likely to need oftenish in folders in a stack of folder holder trays next to me - he likes all the papers laid out so he can see all of them all the time.  It took me decades to convince him to let me sort his shirts by color, now he likes them that way.

What works for you that is not something that works for others?  I would love it if some of you would reply to the blog with your thoughts - I know you are out there.


I wish you a Happy Easter or a Happy Passover if either applies to you.

HELPING MY HUSBAND ORGANIZE

Last Thursday I went to my client and of course everything went wrong - including my laptop dying and I did not have the cord with me.  The drive home took 2 hours, but at least my car did not stall.  I got home late and had to finish up from work around making dinner, etc. that evening. A rather anxiety causing day.

Husband is a big James Bond fan and he has a collection - of just about anything James Bond.  Last year we managed to clear some book shelf space in our bedroom to move his books into there from our office as we needed the shelf space for other books.  (We have LOTS of books of a variety of types, mostly informational, as opposed to fiction such as the Bond books.)  I figured out I could store the stuff that had been on the shelves in the bedroom (moved there for safety when the house was treated for bedbugs) which was other assorted Bond items - magazine articles and such in plastic boxes on one side of the floor in the spare bedroom closets (a suitcase and a wheeled backpack take up the rest of the floor space - each filled with some other similar pieces we wanted to keep when we cleared out our luggage a few years ago).  There are also 4 “tubes” with posters of varying subjects - including, of course, James Bond, that are stored standing on the floor.

Husband also has a shortage of space in his dresser for his clothes. One drawer was filled with additional James Bond stuff.  So I had an idea.  We bought 2 more plastic boxes (making 4 all together) and I fit the stuff in the drawer, the rest of what did not fit in the first 2 boxes, and some Bond items in an office closet into these 2 boxes. 

I then went back to the bedroom and started going through husband’s sock and underwear drawer.  He has more socks than he needs, but has trouble finding socks, so will not get rid of any.  I moved the socks that he rarely (meaning never) wears to the bottom drawer that had the Bond stuff in it.  I moved his junk jewelry to the bottom drawer - never used.  I moved his new shoelaces “collection” to the bottom drawer (and will add the ones in my drawer when I guess a chance).  I moved his warm weather socks to the bottom drawer - you know, the very heavy ones that one only wears if the temperature is really low and one’s feet might freeze.  I separated the items in the bottom drawer into shoe boxes (and a space between them) to organize them for him.  I then went back to his top drawer and sorted the socks so each style of socks was separate - with a space for the ones in the laundry.  I had a shoe box on one side of the drawer for eyeglasses, cases for same, and pocket knives.  I found a “space pen” that we had not been able to find and had replaced.  Not bad for maybe 45 minutes work at most.

I was so glad that now his drawers would be neat - after all I had previously organized his sweatshirts, tee shirts and pjs right?  I showed him what I did (understand he knew I was going to do this in advance) and he was happy (not egacstatic - who would be, but “great, that is wonderful” happy)..  I had not been able to find some socks I knew he had for sleeping and asked him about them.  He found them on top of his dresser and I stored them in the drawer.  Finally, done! 

Ha, ha.  He showed me the tee shirts stacked on his dresser top.  I thought that they were in use  - no, he had no place for them.  I started pulling open the middle drawers as everything used to fit.  One drawer was partially filled with clothing and partially filled with electronics - mostly old electronics and some space around it all. 

So, when I get another 45 minutes or so, this drawer will gone through to see what is in there and what can be done with it.  I had found plastic photo slide cases (for one to set their own slide film into slides) in his top drawer - do you all remember slides?  I then put them in with other photo stuff elsewhere.  

I have been working on the notes for the talk I am going to give next week (hopefully it will not snow and result in a canceled meeting) at my embroidery chapter.  I have also been noting photos I want to print to show the members.  I was bound and determined not to rush and do this at the last minute (even this is later than I planed to do it) and I am sticking with that.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Sometime someone in your household needs help with their organizing.  Help them - but offer first, don’t just “touch their stuff” without permission.  If you know what you will do explain it to them first.  Don’t throw out anything (unless it really, really is garbage) without permission.  I know that every scrap of paper was something he wanted.  The one or two tiny scraps I was unsure of I asked about and was told what they were and that they needed to be kept. We all have stuff that makes no sense to others for us to keep, but we really feel those items are special. 

I HATE THE AFTERMATH OF TRIPS

Just in case anyone was wondering - after a week my head barely hurts if I touch where I hit it last week.  ( I mean if I touch my head where it was hurt, not the board I hit it on.)     My dad, a man of great wisdom, would say - “If your head hurts when you touch it, then don’t touch it.

The worst part of a trip, to me, is when I come home I have to do everything I didn’t do while away (and, of course, things I didn’t do before we went away).  Husband never understands this idea.

We are pretty good at emptying out the RV when we return home - I have a system.  There are two plans for emptying it, the regular plan and the “its raining and we can’t bring it all in plan”. In the normal plan, I start packing stuff and husband becomes a beast of burden running it all into the house.  I am basically working in sections in a circle around where I am standing in the RV. First is the refrigerator, followed by food in plastic boxes in the cabinet. Husband will unpack the refrigerator items into the one in the house.  I shut off the refrigerator in the RV and put a thick towel under the freezer section just in case any ice buildup melts and drips.  (It does not have a separate freezer section, but a “cold” box as refrigerators did in “the olden days” - like the 1950s.  Ice cream purchased in the evening will be soft ice cream when eaten at 2 am - cold soup beyond that. I take the batteries of the refrigerator thermometer and its remote read device.

The towels are added to the laundry bag of clothes and when the bag goes into the house it is tossed down the stairs to the basement.  I pack the clean clothes (we always over pack - doesn’t everyone) and bring an extra day or two of clothes in case something happens to something we are wearing while away and we need to change clothes unexpectedly, they go into the other laundry bag and go by the stairs in the house so they go up the same night.   Jackets, sweatshirts and such are taken in loose.  Shoes are put into supermarket/Walmart shopping bags to be taken in. 

Husband will take various laptops and other devices into the house in a couple of trips. Similarly he will take in my embroidery holder. The “last minute bag” is pulled out from under the bed and the items removed from it go back into it. This trip we also pulled toothpaste and such as we don’t want to leave them in all winter - we did that the first year and they did not survive well.
                                   
Any items we purchased while away and stored inside the main part of the TV are brought into the house and left on the table to be sorted and stored. (Hey, I just noticed that sorted and stored are anagrams - the same letters rearranged - is why they go together so well?)

On the “third seat” (seat behind the front passenger seat) we have a pocket with a folder in it which holds papers we pick up during the trip - tourist handouts, maps, local tourist magazines, and such, as well as magazines we brought from home to read - they go in similar bag to the shoes. 

Assorted spare eyeglasses (reading, sun, etc.) that are needed and/or kept elsewhere are removed from the glove compartment as are the snacks I keep in the front door map pocket in case of a glucose low for either of us while in transit. In there is also the coupon holder from our car (if I need, for example, tissues while away, why shouldn’t I have the coupon with me to use) and the travel related coupons we brought with us. My old Palm and Blackberry cell phones which come along for the trip for other features of the phones have to be removed also.  The EZ Pass (to pay tolls electronically) is removed from the windshield and stored away. 

The various curtains in the RV are closed. The lights are shut off and the RV battery is shut off.

Between trips with items I had for him, husband has removing items we purchased and stored in he back of the RV (technically under the head of the bed) and adding them to what is on the kitchen table in the house.

I stop and get the mail from our mailbox on the way in.  If it is a short trip and we did not stop the newspaper (yes, I still get and read a newspaper) I will bring them in also.

If it is raining - the food and stuff in the last minute bag go in and not much else unless it is needed.

Now I enter the house kitchen .  I have to sort what has come in - food which does not need to be in the refrigerator goes on the counter.  Food that goes in the refrigerator should already have been put there by Robert.  Clean clothes, laptops & similar, mail, shoes, and such are put on the stairs or adjacent to them to be taken upstairs.  Jackets and such are put in the front closet - or at least over the post at the foot of the stairs in the front hall.  And the pile of stuff on the table.

The stuff on the table has to be sorted - stuff to go upstairs, stuff to stay in the kitchen/dinning room, stuff for the basement, stuff for our studio - or the garage workshop.  I sort them into shopping bags and try to at least get them into the room they belong in - or hang them on the door knob to outside if the item goes outside. 

But of course this is just the first step.  The next day I will have to go through the mail- shred the junk mail, pull out and check bills, collect bank statements (if any) to reconcile, magazines to where they will be read, and so on.  We will also go to the Post Office and pick up the mail which has accumulated in our box there, which also has to be sorted.

Food in boxes will have to be stored - I tend to do it slowly and use what is in the boxes.  They are basically snacks so I use the cereal which was not used on the trip instead of storing it away, use the tea bag from the ones I brought with us, etc. 

Since this was our last trip of the year that we will make with running water in the RV, I said to husband that I presume we will winterize the RV this week - he said we could wait.  For those who might not understand this, in areas like this where it can get close to freezing and below it, the water pipes and valves might freeze and break.  So we have to run a non-toxic anti freeze, made for this purpose for RVs and boats, through the water system.  This keeps it all from freezing, but also means that we cannot use the system as that would be adding water which could freeze back in the system.  Well, the not so cold weather we were having and were to have is to change by this weekend.  So the winterizing must be done this week. 

In addition, we needed a small closet type shed to keep our snowblower in by our side door.  (It is currently in the garage workshop and not only does it take up room, but if it snow we have to shovel our way to the garage and clear a path in front of the garage door so a shed near the door would be very good to have.)  Last year we waited too long to buy one - they have to be assembled above a certain temperature so that plastic gives and bends and does not break in the assembling.  Husband kept forgetting to order one from a well known home store and finally decided this was it.  We wanted to order one to pick up at the store.  The program would not let us as it said the store already had “one”.  So we went to the store.  It took about an hour and a half for them to find the shed, get someone to take it down from the top shelf (maybe 20 feet or more up), us to take it to the register and pay for it (well, husband did while I got the van), have no one come to help us load it, realize the box inside the sealed plastic was soaked, find the assistant manager again, get the other one (yes, per the computer they had one, but actually they had two), and get someone to help us load it.  It then sat in our van on the driveway until we could assemble it. 

Monday was too cold, Tuesday it rained.  (And of course we went and voted Tuesday.)So today we assembled it - mostly.  We had to get the huge box out of our van - we managed to push it so it was in the rear of the van (behind the back seat) and on a work stand and unloaded.  Today was already getting colder so we took all the pieces into the garage and turned on the hanging space heaters to keep the plastic pieces warm and pliable.  We moved our car to the curved part of our driveway, then backed the RV to the spot the car normally is so we would have room to work.  Somehow we were able to assemble most of the shed.  Husband then got ill from bending over, as he does, and had to go in and go to sleep for awhile.  I finished getting the roof ready to go on - screwing parts onto the inside of the room, putting things into the body of the shed to hold the roof in place, putting the handles on the doors.  (The doors were about the worse part of the assembly except...) When it was all done, I went and woke husband who after about a half hour more, was able to come out and we put the roof on - yay!  The last thing which had to be done and is a problem is two metal bars have to be slid into the roof and across into the sides to hold the front end of the roof on - we got one in, then gave up and will try again tomorrow as it was getting colder and dark. 

Remember he said that we don’t have to winterize this week when I said I assumed we were going to?  Tomorrow we will be winterizing the RV.

Luckily when he said that we would be doing these “little chores” today and tomorrow, I managed to write checks for all bills due out on Friday and figure out how much we have to transfer into checking to cover them - it is all finished and sitting in my “out” box for Friday.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - When going on a trip - even a short, relatively local one as we take - try to be as caught up as possible before the trip.  Try to plan when you will catch up on bills, other paperwork, unpacking, laundry (I am doing a week and a half’s laundry tonight and tomorrow night), and such, when you return.     
           
For those who are Veterans or who are still on active service, Friday is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S. and is a holiday for many of those who live in the World War II allies countries (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day...) as Saturday is November 11, I thank you all for your service to your country  - whether the U.S. or other.  For those of you still on active service, I wish you a safe tour and return home. 

STARTING MY THIRD YEAR

Well this is the first post of the third year of my blog.  (Imagine balloons rising, confetti falling, and triumphant music.)  Understand this is probably my 4th or 5th attempt at a blog.  None of the earlier ones had a second post. For a procrastinator, this is pretty good.  Other than the recent post which was scheduled to post and did not (I am sure it was my fault in how I set up the scheduling) and the post that followed it and was posted a day later, I have managed to post them on time - even better for a procrastinator.    I want to thank you all for reading my blog, especially those who follow me.  Knowing you are out there reading the blog helps me keep writing it. (Imagine applause for you.)

So, how has being a blogger been for me?  Well, I appreciate those of you who follow me, but I had expected a larger number of followers.  I am not sure if the low numbers are related to lack of interest in my blog or people not finding my blog.  For my personal happiness, I presume it is the latter.  (Tell your friends - have them tell their friends.)  But I am aware it might be the former.  My original idea of telling how and where I store things (and why) seemed terribly dry to me when I read the early posts back after posting them, so I switched to more of a week by week story of what I did right, what I did wrong, and my attempts to keep everything up to date and taken care of.  It reads better to me and I hope to you.  I am also interested in what YOU think - please feel free to reply to the blog itself as well as any posts - do you wonder how I deal with something or other?   

September is over and with it I hope I will have a chance to breathe. 

I managed to get the needed information to my client from last week.  Her fax has never worked and therefore I faxed the needed form to a friend of hers.  His fax did not work right in accepting faxes.  I tried faxing a number of times - with my husband standing there making noises about how much each attempt was costing us - our home telephone is rarely used for making calls as I have unlimited cell phone minutes, so each call was a “toll call” to NYC, plus the page that was printed each time to tell me the fax did not go through.  Since doing something over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of stupidity, I called the client and told her that I would mail her the form.  Friday she would not be at work as that evening would be a Jewish holiday and she is closed on the weekend.  I telephoned her on Monday and she had received the form and faxed it with needed attachment to the number I had given her - hopefully it was in time for them to process before her monthly fee for minimum use was due to be debited from the account.

I also finished a tax return for another client - it was on extension so it is not late.  That was promptly mailed out.  I do have one client whose return I have not done - she and her husband owe me information from 3 years ago to do their returns and I keep pushing her as she will lose a sizeable refund if she does not file her 2014 return by April 15 of 2018.  (If you have unfiled income tax returns - don’t let that happen to you - if you have not filed a return within 3 years of its due date you will lose any refund due you.  Out to the client 2 weeks before it is due. 

Last Sunday we had a reenctment event.  It was the first time the unit was doing this event - it was at our headquarters, but the building itself was the focus of the event rather than the unit outside with muskets and crafts.  The unit commander could not come after he set it up, so husband, who is assistant commander had to deal with everything - which of course means much work for me.  I woke a half hour before the alarm was set to go off on Sunday morning - with a terribly ill stomach.  Husband started to panic- what would we do? He had to go as he was in charge and he needed me.  I told him that he would go to the event in our car - members get to most events 2 hours before it is to start to have everything set up - and I would come later in our van, unless my stomach did not recover.  He was not happy at driving there alone, being there alone and, more important, me not being well.  I went over where the turns are to get there as he is always asking me when driving there - “Is this where I turn?” at the wrong place.  (“Remember, you will pass the diner your sister goes to on the right, then you turn left at the light after the Stop and Shop supermarket is on the left.  Then you turn left again after the long stretch of nurseries....”)  I managed to get there on time for the actual event.  We had a quiet day (depending on who you ask we had 20-35 visitors from the public over the day) as there was no publicity for the event.  Nice event, good idea, people need to know about it.

I spent yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) getting ready for my embroidery chapter meeting today.  We are starting our projects for the year and I needed to print some things for the projects.  I also packed up some items to donate - 3 dresses, 2 ladies suits, a rain coat, a Christmas Santa bowl (not even sure who gave it to us), some souvenir gifts from a friend’s travels, and 2 spare coin counting tube sets - anything gone out of the house is good.  I also did my “offsite” data backups for today.

Today I had busy day - the meeting, a trip to the bank to exchange my offsite backups, a trip to Goodwill for the donation, check Post Office box, lunch alone...  Then when I came home I went through and finished filling in forms and making copies of papers so we can go tomorrow to a workshop/meeting and make sure our paperwork is done and complete to get a senior discount on our real estate taxes.  For once I am not procrastinating as they are due before January 1 - plenty of time to fix any problems or missing items. And now I am writing my post. 

Not as bad as some weeks in the past month - at least we do not have to wake early day after day and I see an end in sight.  Next week is even a bit looser - dentist tomorrow though.


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If you think that you can not do something which is a large job - then do one small bit of it - a first step, then a bit more.  It will go quicker than if you just sit and think that the job is too big.  I never thought that I would be able to post this regularly for 6 months, let alone 2 years, but a week’s post at a time I have and I plan to keep doing it for at least another year. 

PLANNING A TRIP WHEN ONE DOES NOT WHEN ONE WILL GO OR FOR HOW LONG

First, if any readers are in the area hit by Hurricane Harvey - I am so sorry for you and the others hit by the storm. I live in the area hit by Hurricane Sandy - just out of the heavily damaged areas, but my mom was in the area where she had extensive water damage to our family home - and know how bad that was - and you are in a much worse situation.  I hope that all are safe and well.  It will take a long time, but life more normal will return.

In the old days when we went to hotels when we traveled - like normal people - we would take several short weekend trips during the year to the Lancaster, PA area and a longer vacation during which we went to Washington, DC for a weekend, then Charlottesville, VA, then someplace different each year (although the place might repeat every few years) and then to the various historic areas near Williamsburgh, VA, two days in Lancaster and then home.  It was so much the same that we would take out the prior year’s schedule and change the date - change the few days that varied and book the same hotels.  We had it worked out that we stayed in each area when the hotel price was the cheapest - DC on the weekend, Lancaster midweek, etc. 

Since the bedbugs and the switch to our tiny RV this has changed.  We go away for shorter times, fewer times during the year.  Our trip is also much more weather based - why go to some place outside if it will rain and we will not be able to go.  We have also changed what used to be weekend trips to Lancaster to midweek trips - it is easier to get last minute reservations at campgrounds and we avoid weekend tourists plus on Sundays most activities and restaurants are closed, so when we went there Friday to Monday - one day there was little to do.

So this year we have only traveled for multiple days once - just before July 4th weekend.  The weather has been wrong or something has been happening to cause us not to go away.  We have taken a couple of one day trips as a result of this.  So we were all ready for a nice week to 10 day trip like we used to take (although back then generally 2 and a half weeks). 

We were going back to the Williamsburg, VA area, a place that as lovers of our country’s early history find so many places to go and learn something new each time.  Then the trouble in Charlottesville occurred and we decided that we were uncomfortable traveling down there as we were concerned about similar problems arising there among the American Revolutionary and Civil War battle fields and historic sites. 

So we were looking elsewhere - meaning Pennsylvania - for a longer trip.  Two separate people - in totally unrelated circumstances - told us to go to a textile museum in PA. I took this as a sign that we were intended to go there this summer.  We started planning a 5 day trip which would involve our normal Lancaster places plus this museum and a couple of other places. 

We were to leave this past Monday and stay through Saturday. Then we found out about our dentist retiring and I have to get my new upper dental plate done before he does.  I got a telephone call last Friday that they needed an extra appointment  - Tuesday (yesterday).  So the trip was postponed and shortened to today (Wednesday through Friday).  The museum is out.

Have you ever tried to make arrangements for and around a trip when you don’t know when the trip will be? Oh boy - that takes odd organizing!  

So last Thursday I paid and mailed out last Friday all of the bills due until next Monday and transferred money into our checking account for cash for the trip and if any additional bills popped up.                                             

I normally would email out the monthly newsletter of my embroidery chapter tonight.  I sent it out a day early so I would not have to do it while away - easier to do it from my desktop computer.

I have a check list that I print out each time we go on a trip.  It lists all the things we need to do for the trip by category.  I cross out anything that does not apply to a trip and then cross out each thing as I do it.  Whatever needs to be done at the last minute is circled and also listed on the side of the paper and crossed off when done. 

I normally will do laundry the night of two days before we go on a trip - so the next day (the day before we leave) we can put the clothes and  we need in the RV for the trip.  I also normally pack snacks that we bring and assorted other needed items.  If the bed in the RV is not made up - I make it up.  In this case since we had not been away a full week and the next planned trip had been for maybe 3 days, I left the bed made up and covered it over. 

I was not really able to do any of the normal things to get ready. In the pouring rain yesterday we did fill the water tanks.  If stuck we can fill them at the RV park, but it is easier to fill them at home.  I did the laundry last night - filled the laundry bag we use to bring our clothes to the RV (who needs luggage - laundry bag in, put clothes on hanging shelves in “closet”.  Use laundry bag for dirty laundry and carry it back into the house in same. 

Last night I used a table in the dining room to line up what needed to go out today.  Laundry bag of clothes.  Cloth tote bag with stuff that goes in the “car” part of the RV - spare eyeglasses, coupons etc.  Cloth tote bag with general items to go into the RV - spare paper cups, paper towels, etc.  Two cloth tote bags with food related stuff.  One, which is the only one with a blue handle, had the stuff for the refrigerator.  Soda, juice (in case of a Diabetes low), home bottled water (the water gets rather warm sitting in the tanks on a hot day and such.  The last tote bag had the non-refrigerator snacks. Although, since the fridge bag is the heaviest (by far), I did put the 2 liter bottle of soda in the other food bag.  All of the snacks which are not in the fridge travel in plastic boxes which seal close to prevent animals smelling the food and getting in to visit.  Laptops/tablet were charged overnight and on the kitchen table to go.  Spare shoes were in plastic shopping bags to go out.  EZPass for tolls was put on the windshield. Bag of last minute stuff to Ready to go!

The weather still seemed to be holding as nice, so this morning I called the RV park and was able to get a reservation for 2 nights - tonight and tomorrow night - for the space next to the one we usually get - so now we know about another spot level enough for us to use. 

So we took about 4 trips of stuff out to the RV this morning - I had figured out where to store the various packed bags so that other than the fridge stuff, it did not have to be unpacked until we were in the RV tonight.  I have told husband that we could do this and now we have. 

So we are finally on a short trip again this summer.  So far, so good.


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Being able to plan for something that is fluid takes a bit more work, but it can be done.  If you do something on a regular or semi-regular basis - make up a checklist and keep it in your computer and print it out each time - and use it.  It makes rushing through getting ready so much easier.

   




               

TO TRAVEL OR NOT TO TRAVEL - THAT IS THE QUESTION?

I have mentioned that we have a very small RV.  We had planned to go away last week from Tuesday through Friday for Memorial Day.  Hotels are had enough to get a holiday reservation; RV parks basically one has to book a year in advance - some more than that.  Since people tend to return to the same parks year to year, one has to find a space that the people who have been going there no longer want.  So going away Memorial Day weekend is next to impossible with the RV.  But if one goes during the week before or after and is not there over the weekend, it is much easier.  There is also the problem that unlike many hotel reservations which may be canceled until the last minute - or almost the last minute - and one gets a refund, RV parks have much stricter cancellation rules.  We try not to make reservations until we know we are going. 

Last week we went from day to day planning to go - but it was always going to rain while we planned to be away.  Understand, we are not “made of sugar”, we do not melt in rain, but when is paying for a trip and the events which one is planning to go to are all outside - such as farmer’s markets, where large numbers of the outside vendors don’t come if it rains or leave very early - it is a waste of money to go.  (This is the same problem we had earlier in the year when trying to drive down to Pennsylvania for a day and the same farmer’s markets.)

So we did not go.  We figured we go this week.  But again, rain, rain, rain.  We finally pushed it back to going away tomorrow and coming back Friday (the next day).  Now it is to rain on, yes, Friday.  The market will be light on vendors. 

In addition to husband wanting to go away and the fact that we are paying a large loan monthly on this RV which we are having a problem using, the darn thing has barely been driven since last October.  Oh sure, it has gone up the block to the service station and once for gas, but mostly it has sat on its wheels with its car battery not getting charged - RV batteries are plugged in twice monthly to keep them charged - not a good thing for an engine.  So it really needs a trip also.

So, we decided to drive it up to Connecticut for a day - go to a large store there we like to stop at and then on to a casino for dinner (no really, we go, we eat dinner, walk around and come home - no gambling).  We know that the store and the casino have parking for the RV - we have picked this casino over another as the other has the RV parking far away and we would need to depend on a shuttle back and forth. 

We then had to find a routing to the store.  It is apparently too new, despite being over 5 years old, for many GPS programs.  We found this out on our last trip when the GPS we used got us lost in a less than desirable looking area as it did not know where the store is.  In addition in Connecticut, as in New York, it can not go on “parkways” and the GPS devices route using a parkway there.  We finally got the routing straightened out.  Yippee!

Immediately after getting the routing straightened out, the weather comes on during the news - not only will it rain there, but there will tornadoes.  Tornadoes?  This is not a tornado area!  So we still do not know if we are going or not - tomorrow.

Now, how does this relate to organizing?  Ever try to organize to go on a trip?  Not so easy, huh? Now imagine if the trip was on - off - on - off - date changed - off - on - off - date changed again - location changed...
               
I did the clothing laundry yesterday so we could pack today.  Well, at least it is done.  We will throw a change of clothes in the RV just in case.

Today I went out and finally did some prep work on the RV.  I cleaned the toilet - when we dewinterized it, the toilet was full of mold - and we cannot use any normal cleaner in it as it cannot have bleach or Lysol used on it.  I had to use vinegar to sanitize it and dish soap to clean it.

I also brought out a bag of assorted items to be returned to the RV - small items.  Also the bedding and towels - we brought them in when it went for the state inspection.  I took inventory of supplies - plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues.  Also hand soap, dish soap, and mouthwash.  I added a small spray bottle o vinegar in case we have a mold problem again.  I noted what we need to replace - at this point if we go we will have to bring items we are using at home - like toothpaste - until we buy replacements for what we took out last fall. 

Normally I would make up the bed before a trip.  I was going to even though we don’t plan on sleeping, but I had other things to do and the bed is too time consuming to deal with.  Everything is there if I need to make it up.  http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/06/making-up-bed-in-very-small-space-our-rv.html

I just packed some snacks - much less than usual - crackers for the front of the car in case either or both of us has low blood glucose.  A small plastic box with 2 packages of cereal and some diet brownies.  I also pulled out our Saturday pills and put them into a small travel box.  Why Saturday?  If we come home as we plan to, we want our Friday pills in their proper places and would have a day to put back Saturday whether we stay away an extra day or come home.

It is not at all easy to stay organized when one is not sure if one will be going away or for how long, especially when one has to deal with home - the house one lives in - and travel home - the RV one will be traveling in.  Plus I had to get out the monthly newsletter for my embroidery chapter - I had planned to bring the info if we were away this week and send it out from wherever we were.  It did go out on time. 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - Don’t over think things. (We do.)  Things will always go wrong.  Sometimes one can plan and plan to no avail. 

Sometimes one even has to stay with the broken cell phone that doesn’t get Internet on the cell service as all of the Androids are physically too big for my pockets and my hands.