Mom is taking much of everyone's time again. Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch once said of his mother - “One mother can take care of 6 children, but 6 children cannot take care of one mother”. It is true. I have 2 sisters, we each have a husband, but there is a niece and nephew – that is 8 adults to divide up taking care of mom.
The family house is cleared out – mostly due to my sisters, brother-in-laws, and niblings. ( I had invented a genderless word for nieces and nephews combined as there should be one – niblings. When I posted this on some group that I am on, someone replied that someone before me had come up with a word for nieces and nephews combined – guess what it was – yes, they also came up with niblings. I am now spreading the word in hope that this long missing word becomes common. Now I need a common word for aunts and uncles – any ideas out there?) There is a broker showing the house now. So, new problems come up.
The family house is in the county and township as husband and I live in. The county (and included townships and a city) has had for decades ongoing problems with the local real estate taxes and how properly the houses are assessed for the value to be taxed, In attempting to fix one problem an entirely new one arose. One can “grieve” their assessment (value of the house to be used for the real estate tax calculations) which means that one files with the county and says that the amount they say the house is worth is wrong and it should be less. There is no downside to this – they cannot raise your assessment, only lower it if they agree with you. One can do this one's self or one can use one of several companies which do the paperwork and deal with the county for you. Husband and I have done this for a long time with a company and our house value has always been lowered. Mom has not done in the past until last year (which is for next year's taxes) as she was afraid of losing her senior partial exemption from part of the school tax (part of the real estate taxes), though I had assured her it would not.
Two problems arose with the sale of the house related to the real estate taxes. First one is that since mom has this senior exemption she amount she pays for real estate taxes is probably less than someone buying her house will pay (it based on income and being over 65 plus one cannot have children in school). The second is that the broker told my sister that mom's taxes are terribly high – higher than the neighbor next door with the same model house, with additions that mom does not have. So yesterday my sister emailed me for help with same – since I am in the same county/township and know the system. First thing I did was take the copies of mom's tax bills that my sister emailed to me and add up what the tax would be without the senior exemption – took a little time as I had to add up all the lines of taxes – once I had the total percentage of the taxes that are charged all I had to do was multiply the assessed value (a small percentage of the actual value of the property/house) by this total percent of taxes and there it was. Even with both the school and other real estate taxes added together it was much less than the broker said it was. Also I telephoned the company which is handling the appeal and they said that due to the county revaluing all the properties in an attempt to even off the assessments mom's assessment will go down as she had not appealed her taxes while other had. I emailed all this to my sister and mentioned that the broker should be able to figure out what the full real estate taxes on a property is.
Well, a thought occurred to me today - there is another house in the county, in a different township, which has the same address. We found this out one year a couple of decades ago when mom's check to pay her real estate taxes was returned to her marked that the taxes had already been paid by someone else. I was going to check on same, but found an email from my sister that she had already thought of this and the huge high taxes (the taxes on this house are so high compared to other houses on the street that it does not make sense at all and there will be problems selling the house) and checked – the taxes the broker has is about $6,000 a year more than per mom's bill or on line and is actually the real estate taxes for the other house with the same address. My sister will tell this to the broker, as well as pointing out that the value of the house for the next year's taxes (starts in September) will be lower as value of the house is lower and I will get a letter from a the company handling the grieving of the assessment saying that same is being done. (Based on mail I receive from them for our house this should not be hard and mom should actually have had this paperwork at home – but her records were lacking as well as the letters might be in the stacks of papers I still have here to go through.)
At the same time I was relaxing from taking mom to the various doctors and thinking “Good, we have time now and can get her to a plastic surgeon for the possible cancer growths on her face and get to Costco for hearing aids . Oh, well, It is about 3 months since we last took her to the oncologist, the surgeon for her cancer and the cardiologist who put in her replacement pacemaker. Guess what – they all either wanted her back in 3 months or wanted blood work done. So I have an appointment set up with her surgeon. I asked doctor's staff if mom needed blood work and they had to check with the doctor and get back to me – did so today and I have to call back and give them the info for the “wellness” office at her residence as they will do the blood work there. I already gave that info to her oncologist – I had given the wellness office two sets of paperwork for blood work in November, they did the first one and apparently lost the second one to be done now. Hopefully the two sets of tests will be done together so poor mom does not have to be stuck twice for blood. We have an appointment for to have her pacemaker battery tested at the doctor's office, but they were suppose to set up for when one of their staff goes to mom's residence (lots of heart patients there – not surprising) to do test the pacemaker there. Have not heard back so I have to make sure they are set up to do that and then cancel the appointment. So, we are back on the doctors-go-round, luckily the doctor from heck does not need to be seen for a couple of months.
And it is about to be my work busy season – income tax season!
I did manage to take down and store away our small Christmas tree and Christmas stuffed dolls, pillows, and stockings – a small assortment of what I normally put out. I switched out a set of bear figurines that I keep in the living room and change by month to keep it seasonal and went from Christmas – the bears for same were only half put out on display – to February (Valentine's Day and bear “dressed” as cherry pie for Geo Washington's birthday). The Christmas ones are all stored away in their boxes. My Teddy Bear Christmas village never actually was finished and will be partially taken down soon, with some bears added and others rearranged for Valentine's Day. One can only do what one can do – and this Christmas season was not one that had time to get everything done.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Mom's doctors, blood work and related comes first – health over all other things.
Showing posts with label dolls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dolls. Show all posts
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Thursday, March 21, 2019
USE YOUR CELL PHONE AND COMPUTER TO HELP STAY ORGANIZED
Yesterday I had an idea for this post. Between then and now I forgot. That seems to happen a lot these days. I will admit to being in my mid 60s. As a child people said that I had memory of an elephant. I still do for some things - my husband can tell you that I remember things from decades ago that he has forgotten (or remembers totally wrong), but from one minute to another I might not remember. Not sure if it is aging and an actual memory problem or lack of interest in remembering something - although I am sure that is not why I forgot what I was going to write about. So I will write about remembering things to help get organized (unless the other idea comes back to me.)
One problem in organizing and getting rid of stuff is remembering what needs to be done when. For example - one needs to do food and related shopping to keep the household going. I used to have a paper list on the fridge. If we were running low on something I would put it on the list. Husband knew if he was running low on something, he should add it to that list - and he did. Originally I went food shopping on Thursdays - why? Well, my mom did her shopping on Thursdays! We have tended to eat on weekends for most of the time we have been married. So food shopping on Thursdays actually made no sense - the food was sitting around for 3 days before we even started to use most of it.
I switched my food shopping to Mondays. In those days the weekly supermarket sales started on Sunday so by switching to Monday not only did I have fresher food (nicer looking produce) I also was more likely to find the sale items in stock. I found out the first year that we were married that I should not take husband food shopping. He was on vacation from work. (He was on a school year schedule and had several 1 week vacation plus 4 weeks in the summer.) I invited him to the supermarket with me. We left with nothing. Why? “I don’t feel like this for dinner tonight.” Me - “No we are buying this because it is on sale and we will buy extra and freeze it. We don’t have to eat it tonight.” So after doing my food shopping on Monday, I would go again on Friday if anything was needed for the weekend. My week at that time was Monday - run household errands, Tuesday through Wednesday I would work, go out to clients, etc., Friday I would do our banking, buy an extra food, run errands and enjoy lunch out - alone (cheap). My big joke - remember I work by myself - was that “the office voted to go out to lunch together on Fridays”. Saturday and Sunday was our time together. This worked very well.
Over the years other chores were added in that had to vary through the week. For about a decade we were both in two rotating art exhibitions. This involved bringing his work - cut paper, leather, turned wood - and my work - textile/multimedia dolls - to a showcase at each of the two sets of exhibitions we were in. Various libraries, local government offices, & businesses would come and select whose work they would like to have at their locations. The exhibitions were for 1 or 2 months. The artist would bring the work and set it up at the locations and then at the end of the month take the exhibitions down. Since the exhibitions had to be set up/removed during the day, I would do it for both of us. I had to juggle setting up/removing 1 to 4 exhibitions a month over a 2 county area. Not an easy thing to keep track of or to do. But - it was actually easier when I did this alone than when husband stopped working and was doing this with me. I knew the different locations and what would fit and how I had arranged the pieces in prior years. Some locations were really great and I would do a big exhibition with papers explaining the work and which pieces were which and some of the locations had room for 3 pieces. Some of the work was hung on the wall (or on standing panels) and some had to go in cases. Some had employees were who were excited and nice about what was being hung - some were annoyed that we were there. I had computer printed forms I brought with me to list to pieces on for it to be signed for. I also have a data base for each type of work in my computer so I know which pieces had been exhibited where and when. I had an appointment in my computer calendar/cell phone to remind me to call and make an appointment to bring the exhibitions in to set up and another to remind me to make an appointment to take them down at the end of the month or 2 months.)
Similarly I used to have to go to clients on a monthly or quarterly basis. I had to remember which client to go to when and what had to be done when I went there. At first I made notes about what to do at each client and put it in my, originally, paper calendar book, later in my cell phone. Of course over the years I basically knew what to do at each client by memory, but kept my notes. I am now down to one client except for annual income taxes and it is easy to remember what to do there. Also over the decades the client’s records all were put into my laptop computer to make it easier. I still have reminders of when which taxes are due for client and for our personal businesses.
Friends are amazed that I remember their birthdays and anniversaries. I would mail cards to friends children when they were young - I remember the excitement of getting something in the mail. All of this was in special calendar book that I just kept same in so it did not need to be carried to a new book every year in the old days. Now it is all in computer calendar and automatically is there every year.
I have alarms in my cell phone and computer that remind me when something needs to be done - including when to stop working at my computer in the office and go down and make dinner. (This happens 15 minutes before I need to go down so I have a chance to finish up - and back up.) Reminders for birthdays and anniversaries go off a week before each event. I also have a memo/to do/note program in my cell phone (and syncs with my computer) to keep track o f information. The first one is a shopping list - I have various stores/types of stores listed and I add in items we need to buy. Since I find that I am using much fewer coupons these days (as there are so few which match with what we need) I will put “coup” after the item if I have a coupon for it. (Coupons are in sorted holder in the car.) I have a category in this memo for Christmas - this way I will remember next Christmas if we need to replace strands of light or if we have enough card and wrapping for next year. Another category in this memo is things that we cannot find here, but can find in Pennsylvania on trips. I have one memo which holds the specifications of various things in the house that we might buy items for - such as sewing machines so I can buy bobbins for them. Another memo has which light bulbs we need for where. Yet another says how much fabric I need and which buttons I need for reenacting clothing in case we come across something interesting. You get the idea.
THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK -
If memory or a need for reminders is part of what keeps you from getting organized - use your computer or cell phone - or even an old fashioned calendar/agenda book and a shopping list on the refrigerator - to help you keep track of everything.
Those of you who were hit by the storms across the middle of the U.S. - I hope that you are safe and warm and the results of the snow and rain disappear quickly.
One problem in organizing and getting rid of stuff is remembering what needs to be done when. For example - one needs to do food and related shopping to keep the household going. I used to have a paper list on the fridge. If we were running low on something I would put it on the list. Husband knew if he was running low on something, he should add it to that list - and he did. Originally I went food shopping on Thursdays - why? Well, my mom did her shopping on Thursdays! We have tended to eat on weekends for most of the time we have been married. So food shopping on Thursdays actually made no sense - the food was sitting around for 3 days before we even started to use most of it.
I switched my food shopping to Mondays. In those days the weekly supermarket sales started on Sunday so by switching to Monday not only did I have fresher food (nicer looking produce) I also was more likely to find the sale items in stock. I found out the first year that we were married that I should not take husband food shopping. He was on vacation from work. (He was on a school year schedule and had several 1 week vacation plus 4 weeks in the summer.) I invited him to the supermarket with me. We left with nothing. Why? “I don’t feel like this for dinner tonight.” Me - “No we are buying this because it is on sale and we will buy extra and freeze it. We don’t have to eat it tonight.” So after doing my food shopping on Monday, I would go again on Friday if anything was needed for the weekend. My week at that time was Monday - run household errands, Tuesday through Wednesday I would work, go out to clients, etc., Friday I would do our banking, buy an extra food, run errands and enjoy lunch out - alone (cheap). My big joke - remember I work by myself - was that “the office voted to go out to lunch together on Fridays”. Saturday and Sunday was our time together. This worked very well.
Over the years other chores were added in that had to vary through the week. For about a decade we were both in two rotating art exhibitions. This involved bringing his work - cut paper, leather, turned wood - and my work - textile/multimedia dolls - to a showcase at each of the two sets of exhibitions we were in. Various libraries, local government offices, & businesses would come and select whose work they would like to have at their locations. The exhibitions were for 1 or 2 months. The artist would bring the work and set it up at the locations and then at the end of the month take the exhibitions down. Since the exhibitions had to be set up/removed during the day, I would do it for both of us. I had to juggle setting up/removing 1 to 4 exhibitions a month over a 2 county area. Not an easy thing to keep track of or to do. But - it was actually easier when I did this alone than when husband stopped working and was doing this with me. I knew the different locations and what would fit and how I had arranged the pieces in prior years. Some locations were really great and I would do a big exhibition with papers explaining the work and which pieces were which and some of the locations had room for 3 pieces. Some of the work was hung on the wall (or on standing panels) and some had to go in cases. Some had employees were who were excited and nice about what was being hung - some were annoyed that we were there. I had computer printed forms I brought with me to list to pieces on for it to be signed for. I also have a data base for each type of work in my computer so I know which pieces had been exhibited where and when. I had an appointment in my computer calendar/cell phone to remind me to call and make an appointment to bring the exhibitions in to set up and another to remind me to make an appointment to take them down at the end of the month or 2 months.)
Similarly I used to have to go to clients on a monthly or quarterly basis. I had to remember which client to go to when and what had to be done when I went there. At first I made notes about what to do at each client and put it in my, originally, paper calendar book, later in my cell phone. Of course over the years I basically knew what to do at each client by memory, but kept my notes. I am now down to one client except for annual income taxes and it is easy to remember what to do there. Also over the decades the client’s records all were put into my laptop computer to make it easier. I still have reminders of when which taxes are due for client and for our personal businesses.
Friends are amazed that I remember their birthdays and anniversaries. I would mail cards to friends children when they were young - I remember the excitement of getting something in the mail. All of this was in special calendar book that I just kept same in so it did not need to be carried to a new book every year in the old days. Now it is all in computer calendar and automatically is there every year.
I have alarms in my cell phone and computer that remind me when something needs to be done - including when to stop working at my computer in the office and go down and make dinner. (This happens 15 minutes before I need to go down so I have a chance to finish up - and back up.) Reminders for birthdays and anniversaries go off a week before each event. I also have a memo/to do/note program in my cell phone (and syncs with my computer) to keep track o f information. The first one is a shopping list - I have various stores/types of stores listed and I add in items we need to buy. Since I find that I am using much fewer coupons these days (as there are so few which match with what we need) I will put “coup” after the item if I have a coupon for it. (Coupons are in sorted holder in the car.) I have a category in this memo for Christmas - this way I will remember next Christmas if we need to replace strands of light or if we have enough card and wrapping for next year. Another category in this memo is things that we cannot find here, but can find in Pennsylvania on trips. I have one memo which holds the specifications of various things in the house that we might buy items for - such as sewing machines so I can buy bobbins for them. Another memo has which light bulbs we need for where. Yet another says how much fabric I need and which buttons I need for reenacting clothing in case we come across something interesting. You get the idea.
THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK -
If memory or a need for reminders is part of what keeps you from getting organized - use your computer or cell phone - or even an old fashioned calendar/agenda book and a shopping list on the refrigerator - to help you keep track of everything.
Those of you who were hit by the storms across the middle of the U.S. - I hope that you are safe and warm and the results of the snow and rain disappear quickly.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
HALLOWEEN HERE - HOLIDAYS COMING
Well it is Halloween. For the first time in many years (at least a couple of decades) we are home and not in Pennsylvania. We normally go away for my birthday as I don’t like all the Halloween stuff being associated it with it - including not being able to go out for a nice dinner other than at an Asian restaurant - and while it is everywhere, there is a lot less in the area we go to and we can walk into local restaurants and not be served by a science experiment gone wrong covered in blood - ick. Since husband’s shoulder still has not healed he could not drive anywhere near that far and he cannot ride when someone else drives, so here we are.
What surprised me the most was the total lack of trick or treaters. Even when we were home for Halloween we had no trick or treaters until the woman next door to us had her son and his family - including his young daughter - move in and then she came by for a couple of years until they moved. Then the house beyond that one had a new family move in - they had 3 children and we had the children and maybe a couple of their friends come by for maybe 3 years. The street is 4 lanes, so the family that lived across the street never came here - too dangerous to cross the street. We live on a main street with only these children on it in the past and since we did not know the families on the streets near us I figured that we did not have trick or treaters as they did not know us.
But now there is a new family in the house on either side of us and I figured that they would come by. They did not. What surprised us even more is that when we driving home from running errands and lunch - around 3:30 pm (which is when I would have been out making the rounds as a child) and later when we went out to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner - we did not see one child (or adult) in costumes walking around.
Later, after dinner, I read the regional newspaper (yes, I still read the “dead tree” newspaper) there was an article on how most of the neighborhoods no longer have trick or treaters going around. Parents and schools have apparently decided (and rightly so) for safety in today’s world to have parties at the schools or what is called “trunk and treat” at the schools or other location rather than the children going around house to house. This eliminates the danger of children out alone - and possibly in the dark - as well as what strangers might give the children. In thinking about it I realized that I had not seen any of the usual - “Bring your candy to the hospital and we will X-ray it for you.”
For those of you who might not know about trunk and treat - groups of families get together in parking lot at a school, park, or shopping center. The cars are decorated for the holiday and the trunk (or hatch) is open and the children go from car to car for their trick or treating and possibly other activities. Parents know who the other participants are and the children have fun and are safe. The first time I saw this was the Halloween 2 days after Superstorm Sandy. There were few people out and about and we had gasoline shortages and major electric outages. Sidewalks were not safe to walk on due to trees and limbs - and wires which had fallen down. I thought this a great idea for the children. I did not know at the time that it was something being done otherwise than the storm.
Have you noticed a lack of trick or treaters in your area in recent years - or is this area an anomaly?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
If it is Halloween than the start of the end of the year holiday season is starting - if not already started. As we head into the end of year holiday season, think. Don’t overdo. Think “less is more”. Buy less items (oh, the retail industry will hate me) but think more about what you do buy. I tend to be very conservative in gift giving and have pushed husband in that direction.
His sister goes the opposite way and buys each of her two daughters, umm, I mean Santa brings each of her two daughters 64 gifts. Huh? Yes 64 gifts - and I don’t mean small ones. Sister in law has some idea stuck in her head that she received same each year as a child - I knew her then, she did not - and feels she must do this for her daughters. I have even seen her give duplicate gifts to them as she forgot she already bought the same or very similar gift the same year. Their grandmother (on their dad’s side) goes into debt that she cannot afford to buy them even more.
As a result the girls do not value what they have received - or even remember what they have received. The two girls are adopted from China. When the older one was younger (she is a teenager now) we bought her an Asian faced Cabbage Patch Kid. Her grandmother also did so. A couple of years later she was at our house and I was playing with my Cabbage Patch Dolls with her. (No children, so dolls and bears are my substitute - when I play with the dolls with our nieces I am the nice aunt, if I play with them alone, I am “the crazy lady”.) Niece said to me “I wish I had a doll like these.” I told her that she two of them - and she was shocked. They were “on the pile” at home and she did not remember them.
So as you start the season keep in mind that less can really be more. Stay on your budget. Buy items with meaning or is something that the person wants. Don’t go overboard because other family members do.
Watch what you spend on what I calling “buying garbage” - huh? When you buy wrapping paper and ribbon it is basically buying something that will quickly be garbage and thrown out. My rule for Christmas wrapping was $1 for 50 square feet for decades. I will now spend $1 for 40 square feet as price adjustment over time. I buy inexpensive curling ribbon and make long tendrils that I put on gifts - in expensive, one does not feel the need to “save the bows” and they don’t get crushed when traveling. I have a ribbon shredder to use on the ribbon, which makes it look even nicer. Christmas cards are the same. They are opened, maybe displayed and then thrown out. Shop wisely and one can get very nice cards inexpensively - and don’t forget the end of the season sales which seem these days to start right as the season starts. Think about this - my sister had a friend whose father owned a small chain of upscale card and gift stores. The girl’s gifts for my sister were always wrapped in Sunday color comics - never wrapping paper.
What surprised me the most was the total lack of trick or treaters. Even when we were home for Halloween we had no trick or treaters until the woman next door to us had her son and his family - including his young daughter - move in and then she came by for a couple of years until they moved. Then the house beyond that one had a new family move in - they had 3 children and we had the children and maybe a couple of their friends come by for maybe 3 years. The street is 4 lanes, so the family that lived across the street never came here - too dangerous to cross the street. We live on a main street with only these children on it in the past and since we did not know the families on the streets near us I figured that we did not have trick or treaters as they did not know us.
But now there is a new family in the house on either side of us and I figured that they would come by. They did not. What surprised us even more is that when we driving home from running errands and lunch - around 3:30 pm (which is when I would have been out making the rounds as a child) and later when we went out to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner - we did not see one child (or adult) in costumes walking around.
Later, after dinner, I read the regional newspaper (yes, I still read the “dead tree” newspaper) there was an article on how most of the neighborhoods no longer have trick or treaters going around. Parents and schools have apparently decided (and rightly so) for safety in today’s world to have parties at the schools or what is called “trunk and treat” at the schools or other location rather than the children going around house to house. This eliminates the danger of children out alone - and possibly in the dark - as well as what strangers might give the children. In thinking about it I realized that I had not seen any of the usual - “Bring your candy to the hospital and we will X-ray it for you.”
For those of you who might not know about trunk and treat - groups of families get together in parking lot at a school, park, or shopping center. The cars are decorated for the holiday and the trunk (or hatch) is open and the children go from car to car for their trick or treating and possibly other activities. Parents know who the other participants are and the children have fun and are safe. The first time I saw this was the Halloween 2 days after Superstorm Sandy. There were few people out and about and we had gasoline shortages and major electric outages. Sidewalks were not safe to walk on due to trees and limbs - and wires which had fallen down. I thought this a great idea for the children. I did not know at the time that it was something being done otherwise than the storm.
Have you noticed a lack of trick or treaters in your area in recent years - or is this area an anomaly?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
If it is Halloween than the start of the end of the year holiday season is starting - if not already started. As we head into the end of year holiday season, think. Don’t overdo. Think “less is more”. Buy less items (oh, the retail industry will hate me) but think more about what you do buy. I tend to be very conservative in gift giving and have pushed husband in that direction.
His sister goes the opposite way and buys each of her two daughters, umm, I mean Santa brings each of her two daughters 64 gifts. Huh? Yes 64 gifts - and I don’t mean small ones. Sister in law has some idea stuck in her head that she received same each year as a child - I knew her then, she did not - and feels she must do this for her daughters. I have even seen her give duplicate gifts to them as she forgot she already bought the same or very similar gift the same year. Their grandmother (on their dad’s side) goes into debt that she cannot afford to buy them even more.
As a result the girls do not value what they have received - or even remember what they have received. The two girls are adopted from China. When the older one was younger (she is a teenager now) we bought her an Asian faced Cabbage Patch Kid. Her grandmother also did so. A couple of years later she was at our house and I was playing with my Cabbage Patch Dolls with her. (No children, so dolls and bears are my substitute - when I play with the dolls with our nieces I am the nice aunt, if I play with them alone, I am “the crazy lady”.) Niece said to me “I wish I had a doll like these.” I told her that she two of them - and she was shocked. They were “on the pile” at home and she did not remember them.
So as you start the season keep in mind that less can really be more. Stay on your budget. Buy items with meaning or is something that the person wants. Don’t go overboard because other family members do.
Watch what you spend on what I calling “buying garbage” - huh? When you buy wrapping paper and ribbon it is basically buying something that will quickly be garbage and thrown out. My rule for Christmas wrapping was $1 for 50 square feet for decades. I will now spend $1 for 40 square feet as price adjustment over time. I buy inexpensive curling ribbon and make long tendrils that I put on gifts - in expensive, one does not feel the need to “save the bows” and they don’t get crushed when traveling. I have a ribbon shredder to use on the ribbon, which makes it look even nicer. Christmas cards are the same. They are opened, maybe displayed and then thrown out. Shop wisely and one can get very nice cards inexpensively - and don’t forget the end of the season sales which seem these days to start right as the season starts. Think about this - my sister had a friend whose father owned a small chain of upscale card and gift stores. The girl’s gifts for my sister were always wrapped in Sunday color comics - never wrapping paper.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
WORKING IN THE DARK
We were suppose to go to Pennsylvania for the day on Tuesday, but when we woke up - it was raining. No point in going to a mostly outside farmer’s market - driving 3+ hours each way and paying over $20 in tolls, just for half the vendors not to be there because of rain, so we did not go. I had planned on going to a client Tuesday and put it off due to the planned trip.
So husband changed the plan to go on Friday. I sat down yesterday (Tuesday) and instead of doing things I should, I paid our bills and figured out how much we have transfer to our checking account to cover the bills - and making sure we had enough to do so. We went to the bank today and dealt with it all as I will be in NYC tomorrow and husband does not like to deal with our finances - he is always afraid he will do something wrong and checks will start bouncing. Normally we go to the bank on Fridays, but we hope to be away.
I needed to catch up on work that I am behind on for the two clubs of which I am treasurer as well as work on client’s income taxes. I planned to finish doing so today when we came home from running errands. I turned on my computer to check email. I was just finishing a rather long, complicated email and BANG!! The lights went off with the sound of an explosion. We know what this means - the transformer blew again. I called the electric company and was told that they know that 32 customers are out and the crew is on the way.
I unplugged my computer and related items - don’t want the electricity to come back on and spike and damage something. Now, what to do?
I pulled up the shade and pulled back the curtains. I sorted through some blank paper (sorted it by size) that I keep on the top of the folder holding shelves on my desk - I needed to do this for a while. Then I went through the papers from one of the clubs mentioned above. I had to do followup work on the annual renewals - pulled out the blank membership forms and put them in my “take to the meeting folder”, pulled out assorted papers from last year in the same file and put them together to file away. Still no electricity.
I went to the you know and on the way I noticed that there was a lot of light coming through the window into “the teddies room”. Hmmmm. I wanted to go through the suitcases on the bottom of the closet in there and donate most of them as we no longer use them. I moved the teddies and Cabbage Patch Kids still sitting in line to see Santa. So I could open the closet door. I found out that there was more in the bottom of the closet than I thought - an entire carton I did not get to after we had the bed bugs - I was wondering the other day what happened to my teddy bear magnets. Carton was put aside to go through another time. Tubes with posters in them were set aside for husband to look at - they must be his.
I took out the assorted suitcases. My idea is to come down to the larger suitcase on wheels (which husband likes to use), my shoulder carry suitcase, a backpack on wheels, and some of the smaller completely soft bags and 2 hangup bags. (The latter as they are hard to find.) When we travel now we travel in our RV and we bring the clothes into it in laundry bags, store the clothes in the closet, and then use a bag for the dirty laundry and the second one to carry the leftover clean clothes back into the house. We want the suitcases for emergencies or other oddities. We also have some small bags that we use when we go to quilt, woodworking shows, etc. to carry lunch and/or purchases, as well as some small bags we have received as donation gifts that are really nice, good bags and we use at various times. I had planned on putting all of the other bags in the rolling bag. Not big enough. I put all of the other luggage in it. I put all of the small bags into the rolling backpack. Okay, down to 2 bags. Better than it was.
The idea of this cleaning was to not only get rid of unneeded luggage (and get a tax deduction on it next year), but also to make room in the bottom of the closet for plastic boxes. Husband has a collection of articles about James Bond which are stacked and taking up room on book shelves. We will store the articles in plastic boxes - they will stop get dusty - and have more room for books. The boxes we bought to use for this fit perfectly where I planned to use them. The plastic tubes with posters will probably have to go back in the closet - they should fit behind the 2 suitcases. I will have to go through the carton and see what it is in it and what to do with it.
Oh, I also found 3 teddy bear ceramic craft items to paint. I knew there were more of them, but did not remember what or where. I still like 2 of them and will keep them and paint them. I need to think about the third one and decide if I like it - if not it will also be donated.
At some point as I was finishing up I realized that the lights were on downstairs and we had our electricity back. Only an hour and a half.
I finished the catchup work I needed to do. I plugged in my good laptop to charge and pulled out everything I need to go to work tomorrow. We picked up Chinese takeout for dinner.
On Wednesday nights I do laundry and write my blog post. I had planned to take a shower tonight, but fate again ensued. In the middle of writing this post - no really, between the second and third paragraphs to be exact. My husband came downstairs as he did not feel well. Nothing major, but he could not find the over the counter medication he needed. I looked. Unfortunately what happens is we buy OTC medications and then by the time we need them again - in some cases by the time we need them at all - it has expired. I don’t mean - “darn it was up last month”, I mean it expired years ago. I tend to toss them if I see them. Some items I will replace right away. Ones we rarely use I don’t. This apparently tossed when it expired and was not replaced. Husband was in a panic. Our Walmarts here are not 24 hour stores, except for the Neighborhood Market one (basically a supermarket only). So I left the washer running, shut down my laptop and off we went to the Neighborhood Market - 10minutes away. Of course nothing matched what he bought last time and it took awhile to figure out what to get. And as long as we were there and out of sugar free vanilla pudding, I ran and grabbed 2 boxes to have them. Then home again to finish this post.
Decision time - write post or take shower? Well, you are reading this aren’t you? I will wash myself well before going to bed. My client’s loss in my freshness is your gain in having this post to read.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Go with the flow. When all seems to be going wrong, take a deep breath and think, just go with what needs to be done. Anything which can wait - can wait. I could have panicked today, but did not. When I could not do what I planned to do - use the computer - I found something which has been waiting to be done for months and I could do. So now something which has been sitting is accomplished and most of what I was going to do is also done. I could have told husband I couldn’t go with him to get the medicine, but I knew it was important and that he would have a problem if he went alone (and I would be worrying about him) so that was done and I will deal with no shower.
One can go crazy when one is sidetracked or deal with it and see what can be done as a result of the sidetracking or what can be eliminated or delayed to deal with it.
So husband changed the plan to go on Friday. I sat down yesterday (Tuesday) and instead of doing things I should, I paid our bills and figured out how much we have transfer to our checking account to cover the bills - and making sure we had enough to do so. We went to the bank today and dealt with it all as I will be in NYC tomorrow and husband does not like to deal with our finances - he is always afraid he will do something wrong and checks will start bouncing. Normally we go to the bank on Fridays, but we hope to be away.
I needed to catch up on work that I am behind on for the two clubs of which I am treasurer as well as work on client’s income taxes. I planned to finish doing so today when we came home from running errands. I turned on my computer to check email. I was just finishing a rather long, complicated email and BANG!! The lights went off with the sound of an explosion. We know what this means - the transformer blew again. I called the electric company and was told that they know that 32 customers are out and the crew is on the way.
I unplugged my computer and related items - don’t want the electricity to come back on and spike and damage something. Now, what to do?
I pulled up the shade and pulled back the curtains. I sorted through some blank paper (sorted it by size) that I keep on the top of the folder holding shelves on my desk - I needed to do this for a while. Then I went through the papers from one of the clubs mentioned above. I had to do followup work on the annual renewals - pulled out the blank membership forms and put them in my “take to the meeting folder”, pulled out assorted papers from last year in the same file and put them together to file away. Still no electricity.
I went to the you know and on the way I noticed that there was a lot of light coming through the window into “the teddies room”. Hmmmm. I wanted to go through the suitcases on the bottom of the closet in there and donate most of them as we no longer use them. I moved the teddies and Cabbage Patch Kids still sitting in line to see Santa. So I could open the closet door. I found out that there was more in the bottom of the closet than I thought - an entire carton I did not get to after we had the bed bugs - I was wondering the other day what happened to my teddy bear magnets. Carton was put aside to go through another time. Tubes with posters in them were set aside for husband to look at - they must be his.
I took out the assorted suitcases. My idea is to come down to the larger suitcase on wheels (which husband likes to use), my shoulder carry suitcase, a backpack on wheels, and some of the smaller completely soft bags and 2 hangup bags. (The latter as they are hard to find.) When we travel now we travel in our RV and we bring the clothes into it in laundry bags, store the clothes in the closet, and then use a bag for the dirty laundry and the second one to carry the leftover clean clothes back into the house. We want the suitcases for emergencies or other oddities. We also have some small bags that we use when we go to quilt, woodworking shows, etc. to carry lunch and/or purchases, as well as some small bags we have received as donation gifts that are really nice, good bags and we use at various times. I had planned on putting all of the other bags in the rolling bag. Not big enough. I put all of the other luggage in it. I put all of the small bags into the rolling backpack. Okay, down to 2 bags. Better than it was.
The idea of this cleaning was to not only get rid of unneeded luggage (and get a tax deduction on it next year), but also to make room in the bottom of the closet for plastic boxes. Husband has a collection of articles about James Bond which are stacked and taking up room on book shelves. We will store the articles in plastic boxes - they will stop get dusty - and have more room for books. The boxes we bought to use for this fit perfectly where I planned to use them. The plastic tubes with posters will probably have to go back in the closet - they should fit behind the 2 suitcases. I will have to go through the carton and see what it is in it and what to do with it.
Oh, I also found 3 teddy bear ceramic craft items to paint. I knew there were more of them, but did not remember what or where. I still like 2 of them and will keep them and paint them. I need to think about the third one and decide if I like it - if not it will also be donated.
At some point as I was finishing up I realized that the lights were on downstairs and we had our electricity back. Only an hour and a half.
I finished the catchup work I needed to do. I plugged in my good laptop to charge and pulled out everything I need to go to work tomorrow. We picked up Chinese takeout for dinner.
On Wednesday nights I do laundry and write my blog post. I had planned to take a shower tonight, but fate again ensued. In the middle of writing this post - no really, between the second and third paragraphs to be exact. My husband came downstairs as he did not feel well. Nothing major, but he could not find the over the counter medication he needed. I looked. Unfortunately what happens is we buy OTC medications and then by the time we need them again - in some cases by the time we need them at all - it has expired. I don’t mean - “darn it was up last month”, I mean it expired years ago. I tend to toss them if I see them. Some items I will replace right away. Ones we rarely use I don’t. This apparently tossed when it expired and was not replaced. Husband was in a panic. Our Walmarts here are not 24 hour stores, except for the Neighborhood Market one (basically a supermarket only). So I left the washer running, shut down my laptop and off we went to the Neighborhood Market - 10minutes away. Of course nothing matched what he bought last time and it took awhile to figure out what to get. And as long as we were there and out of sugar free vanilla pudding, I ran and grabbed 2 boxes to have them. Then home again to finish this post.
Decision time - write post or take shower? Well, you are reading this aren’t you? I will wash myself well before going to bed. My client’s loss in my freshness is your gain in having this post to read.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Go with the flow. When all seems to be going wrong, take a deep breath and think, just go with what needs to be done. Anything which can wait - can wait. I could have panicked today, but did not. When I could not do what I planned to do - use the computer - I found something which has been waiting to be done for months and I could do. So now something which has been sitting is accomplished and most of what I was going to do is also done. I could have told husband I couldn’t go with him to get the medicine, but I knew it was important and that he would have a problem if he went alone (and I would be worrying about him) so that was done and I will deal with no shower.
One can go crazy when one is sidetracked or deal with it and see what can be done as a result of the sidetracking or what can be eliminated or delayed to deal with it.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
I HATE SHEETS
I have a secret. There is one thing I really, really hate in housekeeping. SHEETS! I hate washing them. I hate folding them. I hate making the bed with them. I don’t know why I hate them, but I do. I don’t mind cleaning the toilets - I don’t consider it a fun activity, but I don’t mind - but sheets!!!!
One thing is that I am short just over 5 feet tall and therefore have short arms and I have to stretch them waaay out to hold the sheets. Our bed is a queen size, but I don’t like twin size either. Pillow cases are fine. Mattress pads are fine. Strangely even blankets and quilts are fine, but not sheets.
Growing up mom made our beds for us after we left for school - we usually used a quilt on the bed and mom would also put a bedspread on the bed. When we were older mom went back to work and we were expected to make our beds - the bedspreads were no longer used, but a quilt is easy to spread out and mom still changed the sheets.
Then I got married. We got an apartment. We bought two sets of sheets and pillowcases and blanket. It was up to me to make up the bed before we moved in - as well as after. My husband grew up in a home with a top sheet and a blanket tucked in - we did not have a top sheet when I was growing up and we agreed to a compromise - we would get a blanket and top sheets and when the blanket was replaced we would get a quilt - and use a top sheet with it. Our bedding has changed over the ensuing 37 years and we used a quilt for quite some time, until we had bed bugs - we then read that it was hard to heat a quilt in a dryer enough to make sure that any bed bugs died and we switched back to a blanket - in winter 2 blankets. Early on we had something to do and it was change the bedding day - and the other set was in the laundry (I had to go to a laundry up the road to do the laundry then and had not gone.) So we bought a third set - and have remained with 3 sets ever since - 1 on the bed, 1 in the laundry, and 1 waiting to be used.
Because I hate sheets I would plan to change the bedding in the morning and then not do so and plan to change it at night. At night we were too tired, so the bedding did not get changed as often as it should. . I finally came up with an idea - I strip the bed in the morning, the bed gets to air out, and I make it up before we go to sleep - I have to or we can’t go to sleep. This has worked well and also lets the mattress air out that day.
I was changing the bedding on Mondays for decades. Then, after husband was home full time, we started going to a classic film showing on Mondays at 1 pm ($2 each, popcorn and soda included if one wanted same - we were among the youngest there). This made a problem with Monday bedding change, so it was moved to Tuesday where it remains, even though the films have since been discontinued.
Weekly I change the sheets and pillowcases. On the first change of the month I also change the mattress pad (we own 2) and the underneath pillow cases - you know, the ones with zippers that are inside the nice looking cases. Since the bed bugs our mattress and box spring is each sealed in a bed bug proof case and our pillows have a 3rd pillow case inside the zipper cases which is also bed bug proof. The bed bug covers on the mattress and pillows are not normally changed, but I have just bought new bed bug pillow case covers as several years of use and summer sweat have made them unpleasant to look at. They have been heated in our bed bug heater and will be washed with this week’s load of sheets and pillowcases to be used the start of next month.
The reason I thought of this subject for today is that I tend to wash the bedding as the last load for the week and, once again, I did not get around to folding the sheets for an entire week - just in time to be able to do the laundry again.
I have figured out over the years that sheets do not have to be perfectly folded as if they are to inspected. If there are wrinkles in it - I don’t care. If the edges don’t meet perfectly - I don’t care. The fitted sheet - I match the corners (trying hard to figure out which way the sheet is long and which way it is wide so I will unfold it as needed to make the bed), then fold in thirds as well as it folds and then in thirds the opposite way - again just as well as it folds - to be stored. I fold the top flat sheet by finding the corners of the larger hem and matching them, following the sides to the bottom and matching those corners and then gripping all 4 corners with one had and following the sides to new middle fold and then on from there. When I make the bed it all - more or less - unfolds to match how it has to go on the bed.
The bedding is kept in a linen closet just outside our bedroom door in the hall. I have a hanging wire shelf which holds the pillowcases and a second one which holds older pillow cases which are still good from sheets we no longer use in case spares are needed - we threw out the sheets we had when we had the bedbugs as there was evidence of the bedbugs on them. Next to the stored sheets is a roll of paper towels (unrelated to this, but it is there and should be mentioned) and then the spare mattress pad is on the shelf with the spare under pillow case, zipper covers on top of it. Our sheets and pillowcases are now white or off white since the bed bugs. The shelf with the pillow cases hangs just below the sheets. The mattress pads are the type without sides and with elastic on the corners.
We also own a set of twin bed sheets and spare pillowcase as we have a twin bed in our spare room (I may have mentioned “the teddy bears’ room”) which was intended as guest room for our moms, but has not been used other than by niece and nephew once when they were young and two more times by my niece when she was junior high age. Some of the teddy bears and dolls do enjoy sitting on it. I keep a thin quilt (what we called a summer quilt in my family) on the bed over the mattress pad and made it up when someone was using it and then stripped the bed and washed the bedding - then stored it in the same linen closet as our bedding.
Several years ago when we bought our tiny RV I had to buy bedding for it also - more sheets. That bed is very unusual and has to be assembled to be used - it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to make up. It makes up into a short king size bed, but I make it as 2 twins immediately adjacent to each other. I will post at some future point (probably when I make it up the first time this year) about it and the heck of doing making it up - it is like a comedy routine.
There is another use for sheets that also makes work for me they can be used as fairly cheap fabric. We have cut them up and made table covers for our tables for craft shows. We needed some extra curtains for our RV for quicker use on the road (so no one can see in our windows when are stopped and not in the RV) - black sheets worked very well. Older sheets are used as covers over tables which are not ours at craft shows and demonstrations and also to cover over the items on tables in situations such as this when the tables are left for the night.
So, despite my hatred of sheets I have to spend part of my life dealing with them and have resigned myself to doing so, trying to make it as easy as possible.
Do you have a chore you hate to do? What is it and how do you deal with it?
One thing is that I am short just over 5 feet tall and therefore have short arms and I have to stretch them waaay out to hold the sheets. Our bed is a queen size, but I don’t like twin size either. Pillow cases are fine. Mattress pads are fine. Strangely even blankets and quilts are fine, but not sheets.
Growing up mom made our beds for us after we left for school - we usually used a quilt on the bed and mom would also put a bedspread on the bed. When we were older mom went back to work and we were expected to make our beds - the bedspreads were no longer used, but a quilt is easy to spread out and mom still changed the sheets.
Then I got married. We got an apartment. We bought two sets of sheets and pillowcases and blanket. It was up to me to make up the bed before we moved in - as well as after. My husband grew up in a home with a top sheet and a blanket tucked in - we did not have a top sheet when I was growing up and we agreed to a compromise - we would get a blanket and top sheets and when the blanket was replaced we would get a quilt - and use a top sheet with it. Our bedding has changed over the ensuing 37 years and we used a quilt for quite some time, until we had bed bugs - we then read that it was hard to heat a quilt in a dryer enough to make sure that any bed bugs died and we switched back to a blanket - in winter 2 blankets. Early on we had something to do and it was change the bedding day - and the other set was in the laundry (I had to go to a laundry up the road to do the laundry then and had not gone.) So we bought a third set - and have remained with 3 sets ever since - 1 on the bed, 1 in the laundry, and 1 waiting to be used.
Because I hate sheets I would plan to change the bedding in the morning and then not do so and plan to change it at night. At night we were too tired, so the bedding did not get changed as often as it should. . I finally came up with an idea - I strip the bed in the morning, the bed gets to air out, and I make it up before we go to sleep - I have to or we can’t go to sleep. This has worked well and also lets the mattress air out that day.
I was changing the bedding on Mondays for decades. Then, after husband was home full time, we started going to a classic film showing on Mondays at 1 pm ($2 each, popcorn and soda included if one wanted same - we were among the youngest there). This made a problem with Monday bedding change, so it was moved to Tuesday where it remains, even though the films have since been discontinued.
Weekly I change the sheets and pillowcases. On the first change of the month I also change the mattress pad (we own 2) and the underneath pillow cases - you know, the ones with zippers that are inside the nice looking cases. Since the bed bugs our mattress and box spring is each sealed in a bed bug proof case and our pillows have a 3rd pillow case inside the zipper cases which is also bed bug proof. The bed bug covers on the mattress and pillows are not normally changed, but I have just bought new bed bug pillow case covers as several years of use and summer sweat have made them unpleasant to look at. They have been heated in our bed bug heater and will be washed with this week’s load of sheets and pillowcases to be used the start of next month.
The reason I thought of this subject for today is that I tend to wash the bedding as the last load for the week and, once again, I did not get around to folding the sheets for an entire week - just in time to be able to do the laundry again.
I have figured out over the years that sheets do not have to be perfectly folded as if they are to inspected. If there are wrinkles in it - I don’t care. If the edges don’t meet perfectly - I don’t care. The fitted sheet - I match the corners (trying hard to figure out which way the sheet is long and which way it is wide so I will unfold it as needed to make the bed), then fold in thirds as well as it folds and then in thirds the opposite way - again just as well as it folds - to be stored. I fold the top flat sheet by finding the corners of the larger hem and matching them, following the sides to the bottom and matching those corners and then gripping all 4 corners with one had and following the sides to new middle fold and then on from there. When I make the bed it all - more or less - unfolds to match how it has to go on the bed.
The bedding is kept in a linen closet just outside our bedroom door in the hall. I have a hanging wire shelf which holds the pillowcases and a second one which holds older pillow cases which are still good from sheets we no longer use in case spares are needed - we threw out the sheets we had when we had the bedbugs as there was evidence of the bedbugs on them. Next to the stored sheets is a roll of paper towels (unrelated to this, but it is there and should be mentioned) and then the spare mattress pad is on the shelf with the spare under pillow case, zipper covers on top of it. Our sheets and pillowcases are now white or off white since the bed bugs. The shelf with the pillow cases hangs just below the sheets. The mattress pads are the type without sides and with elastic on the corners.
We also own a set of twin bed sheets and spare pillowcase as we have a twin bed in our spare room (I may have mentioned “the teddy bears’ room”) which was intended as guest room for our moms, but has not been used other than by niece and nephew once when they were young and two more times by my niece when she was junior high age. Some of the teddy bears and dolls do enjoy sitting on it. I keep a thin quilt (what we called a summer quilt in my family) on the bed over the mattress pad and made it up when someone was using it and then stripped the bed and washed the bedding - then stored it in the same linen closet as our bedding.
Several years ago when we bought our tiny RV I had to buy bedding for it also - more sheets. That bed is very unusual and has to be assembled to be used - it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to make up. It makes up into a short king size bed, but I make it as 2 twins immediately adjacent to each other. I will post at some future point (probably when I make it up the first time this year) about it and the heck of doing making it up - it is like a comedy routine.
There is another use for sheets that also makes work for me they can be used as fairly cheap fabric. We have cut them up and made table covers for our tables for craft shows. We needed some extra curtains for our RV for quicker use on the road (so no one can see in our windows when are stopped and not in the RV) - black sheets worked very well. Older sheets are used as covers over tables which are not ours at craft shows and demonstrations and also to cover over the items on tables in situations such as this when the tables are left for the night.
So, despite my hatred of sheets I have to spend part of my life dealing with them and have resigned myself to doing so, trying to make it as easy as possible.
Do you have a chore you hate to do? What is it and how do you deal with it?
Thursday, March 3, 2016
CHRISTMAS MOSTLY STORED AWAY
We put up our Christmas decorations in the house late, so we never rush to take them down. It used to sit around and around and finally I would deal with it - sometimes in March (one year in April, but that was because our garage door froze to the ground and we could not get into it until there was a thaw to get out the boxes to pack in - since then the boxes stay in the house after being unpacked). So after years of it being too soon (to us) to take down decorations and then it was much past when they should have been taken down, we set a date. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered on the 3rd Monday in January - we chose same as when to start taking down the Christmas decorations - the date has no significance to doing so, but it is a fixed time around when we want to do so and the holiday publicity reminds us.
So, that Monday was the day to start. This is for the inside decorations. The outside ones come down based on the weather - it needs to be warm enough to take them down and we are not going to climb through snow to do so. The day before was a COLD day, but snow is expected for the coming weekend, possibly a lot, so we took down the outside lights and put them in the garage (which is also husband’s woodworking shop). We did not wrap them up and pack them as I could not feel 3 of my fingers and needed to warm up. We packed them the next day as it was warmer.
I brought up one of the storage boxes for the inside ornaments - specifically one for ornaments from our main Christmas tree - a few days before. I had planned to bring up the others right away, but I realized that there wasn’t room to bring them up as husband’s loom and related items are spread across the living room and the coffee table moved to accommodate his loom work. I put the box under the coffee table - any place else and we would not be able to walk in the room - until the day after I was suppose to start.
I took out the box, pushed aside the loom items on the sofa (any of this sound like your life?) and opened the box. I started taking ornaments off the tree - not a lot, but a start. The ornaments went right into their storage boxes that were in the box, while I also pulled ones which I have embroidered, off the tree and set them on a chair (which has been decorated for the season an embroidered Christmas throw pillow I made some years ago) to pack later. It is the starting which is hard for me and now it is started.
We used to pack our ornaments in cartons which we had accumulated over the years which originally held reams of paper for the computer, printer, etc. After having bed bugs we wanted them packed in something which sealed better, as well as the fact that corrugated cardboard is something that bed bugs like, so we bought large plastic boxes which lock closed on the ends. We have been storing most of the ornaments in the rafters of our garage. These new boxes had to go through the rafters one end up and then turn. In addition my husband does not like climbing up to get them down - he has to clear off a work table (yes, he is like me and there is disorganization in his workshop) and stand on it and lean over to move the boxes around. The boxes were not all that light, even after I rearranged the contents so lighter and heavier items were more mixed together than before. The need to rearrange the contents was annoying to me as I had the boxes originally packed so that the nicest ornaments came out of one box and I worked my way down to the fill in ornaments in the last of the tree ornament boxes, the general “in the house” decorations were in their own 2 boxes, etc. Now they were all mixed together to distribute the weight. Not at all convenient for unpacking and repacking.
The last 2 winters we had so much snow - continuously (last winter we went through a month or more of major snowstorms every 2-3 days) - that the decorations were packed into their boxes, but by the time we could move the boxes to the (detached) garage for storage it was almost summer and we left them stacked where the main tree had been - which left all of the furniture which gets moved around to fit in the Christmas trees and such also not put where they belonged.
I have come up with a solution. I found a spot where the boxes will fit in our basement. We have a small “closet” with our gas meter in it and there is space between the side of same and the shelves holding bolts of fabric where it looked like the boxes would fit. I cleared out the area - what looks like used plastic drop clothes, and empty bolt cardboard centers (kept in case we ever needed to wrap large cuts of fabric onto them - like we ever would) with the plastic that had been over the original fabric also kept - were all thrown out - the cardboard put in for recycling. I moved the remaining items out of the area. I found not only do the boxes fit the space, but the widest dimension of the boxes fit so they will fit in more compactly then I thought - good if I they do not all fit in one stack (we have low ceilings even in the main part of the house). I also found out that I had more of certain preprinted panel baby quilt fabric - I used to make and sell panel baby quilts) that I thought I had no more of. I am not interested in making a quilt, but I had finished two embroidered teddy bear pieces from a kit and wanted to make 2 other pieces to go with them and had envisioned embroidering the decision two of the bears from the quilt panel - one each - on matching squares to make a 4 square hanging piece, so by cleaning up a bit I now have the teddy bears to copy, which thought I no longer had - a bit of a reward for the cleaning.
Now I am able to store the boxes in the basement. Weather will not affect being able to store them. I will not need husband to be able to access them and he will not need to go climbing up. Weight does not matter as much anymore and I will be able to repack everything as it used to be.
The outside Christmas lights were also stored in the garage and needed, even more dangerously, for him to climb on a ladder and then hand the box down to me while balancing on the ladder. They can now go where the other ornaments used to be, still a climb, but safer. I suggested we split them into 2 smaller boxes to deal with the rafters problem and make them ligher - maybe even switching with 2 smaller boxes I had some decorations in and I would take the large box for the decorations in exchange for the smaller ones. He will also have more room to store wood in his shop. I cleaned the large box from the lights well and this idea worked - 2 smaller, lighter boxes of outdoor Christmas lights - stored in the rafters of the garage - and a nice large box for wool.
Better all around such a simple idea.
Have you taken down your Christmas decorations and tree? Has everything been put away yet?
I have since taken down and stored the rest of the ornaments from the main and studio tree as well as stored the Christmas decorations from the main floor of the house. After finishing this I found a Christmas doll who had evaded me. She will be put into the “soft” decorations box shortly. I also took down and stored the dining room tree and it’s ornaments. It’s ornaments are all collectible brass ones from Colonial Williamsburg so they are being stored upstairs as they were before as I don’t want them in the damp basement.
Why publish this now? Well, missing from the above is putting away my (our?) little village of teddy bear figurines. We both love it so that it is always hard to put it away. This past week I spent 2 days packing up the little bears, their tree and some buildings (every teddy bear town needs a honey store, a church, a first aid office and a fruit store - right?).
I have been asked what a teddy bear village is. I had a large number of teddy bear ornaments and they were taking over our main Christmas tree. So we bought a table top tree and moved some of them to that tree and put it at the top of the stairs so it could also be seen from the main floor of the house. I then added some little bears I had - some on little ladders decorating the tree - and it just kept going. It is amazing how many (cheap) small bear figurines with a Christmas theme there are. Not all of them are specifically Christmas - there is a small band of bears playing at the church while others are singing. There are bears at a phone booth making a call (an inch tall). There is a polar bear helping himself to a certain cola which uses him for ads. There is a “craft” fair of bears with small craft like items. There is a gazebo in the park (as of 2014 it even has lights). There is a parade and bears watching the parade - well I guess you get the idea. Many, if not most people would think we are crazy, but we think it is cute.
Well, that means 95% of my Christmas stuff is stored. The only items left (other than the doll who hid) are some other bears that are displayed in the living room and could not be stored until the village was as they store in the box the village is on the top of.
Well, luckily I do a lot less for Easter. Unless we start doing an Easter teddy village - we are kicking around the idea of making it seasonal...
So, that Monday was the day to start. This is for the inside decorations. The outside ones come down based on the weather - it needs to be warm enough to take them down and we are not going to climb through snow to do so. The day before was a COLD day, but snow is expected for the coming weekend, possibly a lot, so we took down the outside lights and put them in the garage (which is also husband’s woodworking shop). We did not wrap them up and pack them as I could not feel 3 of my fingers and needed to warm up. We packed them the next day as it was warmer.
I brought up one of the storage boxes for the inside ornaments - specifically one for ornaments from our main Christmas tree - a few days before. I had planned to bring up the others right away, but I realized that there wasn’t room to bring them up as husband’s loom and related items are spread across the living room and the coffee table moved to accommodate his loom work. I put the box under the coffee table - any place else and we would not be able to walk in the room - until the day after I was suppose to start.
I took out the box, pushed aside the loom items on the sofa (any of this sound like your life?) and opened the box. I started taking ornaments off the tree - not a lot, but a start. The ornaments went right into their storage boxes that were in the box, while I also pulled ones which I have embroidered, off the tree and set them on a chair (which has been decorated for the season an embroidered Christmas throw pillow I made some years ago) to pack later. It is the starting which is hard for me and now it is started.
We used to pack our ornaments in cartons which we had accumulated over the years which originally held reams of paper for the computer, printer, etc. After having bed bugs we wanted them packed in something which sealed better, as well as the fact that corrugated cardboard is something that bed bugs like, so we bought large plastic boxes which lock closed on the ends. We have been storing most of the ornaments in the rafters of our garage. These new boxes had to go through the rafters one end up and then turn. In addition my husband does not like climbing up to get them down - he has to clear off a work table (yes, he is like me and there is disorganization in his workshop) and stand on it and lean over to move the boxes around. The boxes were not all that light, even after I rearranged the contents so lighter and heavier items were more mixed together than before. The need to rearrange the contents was annoying to me as I had the boxes originally packed so that the nicest ornaments came out of one box and I worked my way down to the fill in ornaments in the last of the tree ornament boxes, the general “in the house” decorations were in their own 2 boxes, etc. Now they were all mixed together to distribute the weight. Not at all convenient for unpacking and repacking.
The last 2 winters we had so much snow - continuously (last winter we went through a month or more of major snowstorms every 2-3 days) - that the decorations were packed into their boxes, but by the time we could move the boxes to the (detached) garage for storage it was almost summer and we left them stacked where the main tree had been - which left all of the furniture which gets moved around to fit in the Christmas trees and such also not put where they belonged.
I have come up with a solution. I found a spot where the boxes will fit in our basement. We have a small “closet” with our gas meter in it and there is space between the side of same and the shelves holding bolts of fabric where it looked like the boxes would fit. I cleared out the area - what looks like used plastic drop clothes, and empty bolt cardboard centers (kept in case we ever needed to wrap large cuts of fabric onto them - like we ever would) with the plastic that had been over the original fabric also kept - were all thrown out - the cardboard put in for recycling. I moved the remaining items out of the area. I found not only do the boxes fit the space, but the widest dimension of the boxes fit so they will fit in more compactly then I thought - good if I they do not all fit in one stack (we have low ceilings even in the main part of the house). I also found out that I had more of certain preprinted panel baby quilt fabric - I used to make and sell panel baby quilts) that I thought I had no more of. I am not interested in making a quilt, but I had finished two embroidered teddy bear pieces from a kit and wanted to make 2 other pieces to go with them and had envisioned embroidering the decision two of the bears from the quilt panel - one each - on matching squares to make a 4 square hanging piece, so by cleaning up a bit I now have the teddy bears to copy, which thought I no longer had - a bit of a reward for the cleaning.
Now I am able to store the boxes in the basement. Weather will not affect being able to store them. I will not need husband to be able to access them and he will not need to go climbing up. Weight does not matter as much anymore and I will be able to repack everything as it used to be.
The outside Christmas lights were also stored in the garage and needed, even more dangerously, for him to climb on a ladder and then hand the box down to me while balancing on the ladder. They can now go where the other ornaments used to be, still a climb, but safer. I suggested we split them into 2 smaller boxes to deal with the rafters problem and make them ligher - maybe even switching with 2 smaller boxes I had some decorations in and I would take the large box for the decorations in exchange for the smaller ones. He will also have more room to store wood in his shop. I cleaned the large box from the lights well and this idea worked - 2 smaller, lighter boxes of outdoor Christmas lights - stored in the rafters of the garage - and a nice large box for wool.
Better all around such a simple idea.
Have you taken down your Christmas decorations and tree? Has everything been put away yet?
I have since taken down and stored the rest of the ornaments from the main and studio tree as well as stored the Christmas decorations from the main floor of the house. After finishing this I found a Christmas doll who had evaded me. She will be put into the “soft” decorations box shortly. I also took down and stored the dining room tree and it’s ornaments. It’s ornaments are all collectible brass ones from Colonial Williamsburg so they are being stored upstairs as they were before as I don’t want them in the damp basement.
Why publish this now? Well, missing from the above is putting away my (our?) little village of teddy bear figurines. We both love it so that it is always hard to put it away. This past week I spent 2 days packing up the little bears, their tree and some buildings (every teddy bear town needs a honey store, a church, a first aid office and a fruit store - right?).
I have been asked what a teddy bear village is. I had a large number of teddy bear ornaments and they were taking over our main Christmas tree. So we bought a table top tree and moved some of them to that tree and put it at the top of the stairs so it could also be seen from the main floor of the house. I then added some little bears I had - some on little ladders decorating the tree - and it just kept going. It is amazing how many (cheap) small bear figurines with a Christmas theme there are. Not all of them are specifically Christmas - there is a small band of bears playing at the church while others are singing. There are bears at a phone booth making a call (an inch tall). There is a polar bear helping himself to a certain cola which uses him for ads. There is a “craft” fair of bears with small craft like items. There is a gazebo in the park (as of 2014 it even has lights). There is a parade and bears watching the parade - well I guess you get the idea. Many, if not most people would think we are crazy, but we think it is cute.
Well, that means 95% of my Christmas stuff is stored. The only items left (other than the doll who hid) are some other bears that are displayed in the living room and could not be stored until the village was as they store in the box the village is on the top of.
Well, luckily I do a lot less for Easter. Unless we start doing an Easter teddy village - we are kicking around the idea of making it seasonal...
Thursday, December 17, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART 2
Well in the last week I have managed to put out most of the Christmas decorations that go inside the house. I have learned over the years the order that the decorations have to be placed in - as well as the order they have to come down for storage. The decorations, their storage, placement, etc. need to be organized almost more than the house in general does or it will take too much time to put out and put away. I also have a system for storing the empty boxes in the basement (where they are not stored during the year), but it all depends on everything being done in the right order - putting up the decorations and taking them down. The trees are put up last and taken down first.
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Our dining room is decorated, sort of, colonial. This means that the decorations are greens (plastic ones) and some bows. Decorating for the holiday was much simpler then. The decorations were natural - a few bits of greens, not many of them. We put small pieces of greens on the corners of picture frames, on the colonial style brass light fixture - with red bows, and a small wreath. There is a (fake) garland of greens on the front window. In a bowl on the dining room table I have some fake red berries in a bowl - they just look nice. Some candles and a small nativity my husband made decades ago finish the room.
The entryway also has a few small (fake) greens and a small glass Moravian star. I wrap the bottom section of our staircase with a (again, fake)garland of greens with red bows at the ends and in the middle.
The living room on the other hand, there is a bit much. There is a 3 piece teddy bear bell band which plays carols, 2 Christmas stocking holders waiting for stockings, 2 angels holding lights on a table, Lego Christmas figures - Santas, elves, snowman, soldier, a snowman I made years ago from a sock, and a santa my husband made, also decades ago, from paper. To be added to this after the tree is at least set up, will be an assortment of elves, Santas, and angels, ranging in size from about 3 inches tall to about 3 feet tall - the larger ones were gifts - they will stand together by the door to greet us when we walk in. I also will put out a Christmas pillow with embroideries (by me) on each side, a green garland across the back windows with a teddy bear Christmas picture (also embroidered by me) across the 2 back windows, and a Mrs.Rudolph Reindeer doll I made will sit comfortably in a chair. We usually put out 2 stockings each for us - one to use and one I embroidered for each of us. There are also some small stockings with (yes, again) plastic candy canes in them that we put out for show with the names of some of my dolls on them. A beaded tree I made once. Then at some point the trees will be done.
Our studio - behind the kitchen - has a small tree waiting to be decorated. It will get items we have made over the years.
Even the kitchen takes a hit and gets decorated - I change the decorative potholders (as opposed to the ones I use) to Christmas ones (yes, teddy bears again) and I put a few pairs of Christmas teddy bear salt and pepper shakers joined by a pair of Christmas tree ones.
Strangely after I set all this up - and it took part of 2 days as I didn’t have a lot of time either day to work - it seemed to me as if I waved my arms and it all appeared and sorted itself out.. Unfortunately when January comes and it all has to be put away, it will seem like much more work.
I suppose I should mention to explain some of the items mentioned above, though I planned/plan to write about these matters later and the organizing problems they cause. We have several hobbies. First, we are both craftspeople. We work in variety of media at an assortment of crafts. My first love is hand embroidery and I make dolls and sew also. My husband works in wood, leather, paper and also sews, and makes dolls and I am sure I left out some of his crafts. Secondly, if it is not obvious, I collect teddy bears - stuffed ones, figurines, and ones of assorted materials such as coal, glass, wood... Lastly - and the oddest of the hobbies - we are 1770's (late American colonial period) reenactors. It is a period that we both like and it affects how we decorated the house - more or less.
By this time next week I hope to have the 3 downstairs trees (main, studio and one - new this year - with brass ornaments collected over the years from Colonial Williamsburg) finished. If I am lucky I will also have the teddy bear village that goes at the top of the stairs and the Christmas tree that goes with it done also - but generally I am working on the bear village/tree on Christmas Eve and sometimes also on Christmas Day.
Do you have something special you set up every year and Christmas would not be Christmas without it? Have you found ideas that help speed up the process of decorating and undecorating or a better way to decorate?
Thursday, December 10, 2015
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - PART I
Well it is the time of year for holiday decorating. Everyone has their own traditions - traditional Christmas, modern Christmas, minimal Christmas, Chanukah, the new traditions that have come with Kwanzaa, etc. I tend to over decorate. We don’t really get gifts, so the decorating is most of the non-religious part of the holiday for us and I get a bit carried away.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
We have our outside lights up - we put them up Thanksgiving Day weekend - we put color small lights on some bushes and a small Alberta Spruce (“Christmas tree”) and white small lights on other bushes and a holly tree. Last year we added small red lights around the white base to our standing mailbox - sort of makes it look like a candy cane. We have also added gold garland last year and this to the tree. This year we also added light up candy canes. Now most of this cannot be seen - our van is parked in front of it on the driveway, but it is there. We have a plastic wreath on our side door and a larger one on our front door - the one on the front was copied from one we saw several years ago at Colonial Williamsburg - only we used plastic fruit on it, so it can be reused year to year. There are plastic greens hanging from the lights on either side of the front door.
We store the outside decorations in our garage and in our shed. We have a large plastic box in the garage - kept in the rafters - which holds the lights. The lights are wrapped up (I use my shoulder and elbow to wrap them) with 2 bag ties around them to hold the circle together and then each is put in a gallon size zip bag which has the air removed and is closed. Also in this box are the needed extension cords (always use one rated for outdoor use if you are using them outdoors) and 2 boxes that spike into the ground and each allow 3 cords to be plugged into them. We put one on the each side of the front of the house to allow us to plug everything in. It is hard to reach the rafters where the box is kept, but it is the most convenient place to keep it. Do you have your outdoor decorations packed so they are ready to go next year? It makes it easier especially if the weather is bad. Last year I fixed a set of lights after we took the lights down - I made a note in my computer/cell calender so I would not forget it this year as it was stored in a different spot - we did need to replace 2 other sets though.
Inside the house I have taken out my assorted fabric decorations from their box in the basement. I collect teddy bears so I have a number of them for the holiday along with dolls, angels, a couple of elves, reindeer and a snowman. Some sit on the back of my sofa, one reindeer - Rodney by name - sits on top of the door bell chimes box, some sit on a side table - the doll gets to sit (“ride”)on a reproduction of an 18th century toy horse my husband made. There will be more soft items to come - ones we have made as well as larger ones we received as gifts in the past. Our Christmas stockings are also kept in this box as is a Santa hat. We have 2 sets of Christmas stockings - the ones we use and the ones I embroidered - both sets are hung up at opposite ends of the living room - but not yet - it is too early for stockings. We also have a stocking that husband put up as boy at his parent’s house and another smaller one he put up at his grandparent’s house. I also put out some decorative candles I have.
Much of my decorating stuff has to come out in a certain order (and go back in reverse) as items have to be moved. I had, for example, to move some teddy bears in the upstairs hall to be able to get to some items stored in the trunk they sit on - but to move those bears, I had to move others onto their line to see Santa so the bears moved from the trunk have a place to “sit”. That has been done and I have access to trunk. I have been moving boxes of bear figurines to the living room (and managed to drop the trunk top on my arm once - Ouch!). Tonight I set up the angel bear figurines on top of our TV (it is an “old fashioned” analog TV as we don’t use it much - mostly while setting up and taking down Christmas decorations). The rest will go on 2 shelves in my corner unit and as I go some figurines there get packed into the boxes as they get emptied - hence why the angels get set up first and packed last. This takes a bit of, yes, organization to get everything out and then stored back. Do you have stuff that has to go in order like this?
I did take time to donate some items and get them out of the house. Last year I put aside some Christmas items - a very small tree, a box of serving pieces I once received as a gift, and window candle lights (we have replaced them with LED ones). DARN! - that reminds me I have not set up the LED candles in the window! Hold on a minute while I run and take them out and make a note so I don’t forget tomorrow to turn them on and set them. .......................... Okay, I’m back -thank you for waiting. After I finish the post I will make sure they still work (and have batteries). I also donated 3 jackets, some gloves and some sneakers and a pair of shoes I have never really worn. I have a decorative wall gift received from a friend - not my style and it went in it’s box, along with some small household items we don’t use. More room in the house and someone else can use it all. (Plus the income tax deduction.) I plan on collecting some more items to decorate next month - but that is another post. Remember anything you donate now, before the end of the year you can take as a deduction for this year when you file in early 2016. (Tax deduction mentioned for US taxpayers who itemize their deductions.)
Well, this post is getting a bit long - I will have to continue the subject next week - but the important thing to remember is that it all has to be organized to find it easily and set it up, and then to re store it afterwards. Do you know what you will be doing for Christmas yet? Can you find your decorations? Please feel free to join the conversation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)