Thursday, January 17, 2019

Cozy Morning Thoughts

I wrote this on Wednesday but didn't have time to finish.

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I woke up to the sound of wind again.  What's with this weather lately?  I had to struggle to open my car door and keep it from slamming yesterday, and my hair is just hopeless.  Graysen and Katherine laugh at me when I'm buckling them in because my hair is going crazy, and that makes them slower than ever to get settled so I can get out of the wind!

I'm emailing back and forth this morning to my friend Jan who is 2000 miles away, but we can share our thoughts as we think them.  And we have some crazy ones!

In doing a little transcription, I never know what kind of things I'm going to type.  My favorites are podcasts because they're usually clear and many times teach me something.  Last night, I had a sermon from a church, or maybe a retreat, in California.  The subject was how life is changing so quickly and how we're becoming slaves to technology, the media, just the fast pace of life.  I agreed with it all except for loving to be connected with people that I can't be with in person.  I do waste a lot of time though.  Once upon a time, I would get a letter, read it, answer it and not spend much time on it.  Or a phone call.  Now, I could spend an hour just reading emails, checking finances, checking the blogs I like to read - not even Facebook any more.  I get so side-tracked with wanting to know more about things.  I sometimes look at my search history and have to laugh.  The topics usually start with "how do you ... "

I've worked hard on my clearing out some clutter and took one bag of donations to the car and another box to the garage to think about.  That hall closet that I cleaned - I've left the door open some just to enjoy the space before we fill it up again.  Projects today are dismantling and cleaning the vacuum cleaner and changing the filter and revisiting my two label makers.  I've somehow abandoned them for one reason or another, and I need to find out what the problem is, because I really do need some labels that aren't handwritten in what Mike called my childish handwriting.

So, my only closet that isn't for clothes or sewing stuff.  This was when I first opened it to get serious about it.  Layla had played in there and pulled the cord off the vacuum cleaner and knocked down some bags, but I can't blame her for all of it.  We piled things in there when we first moved and haven't changed much, and that was 3 years ago.


Besides the coats, I don't even know what that stuff is on the shelf.  I see a bag of birdseed, vacuum cleaner parts, a box of batteries that I don't know if are good or not.  And a bag of almond flour.  There is also a huge looseleaf notebook full of instruction manuals for things we own or once owned.

We tend to stick things in here on the floor that we don't have room for in the kitchen and toilet paper and paper towels.


This door shelf is one of the best things ever, except I forget what's there.  I go there most often for tape and cleaning things.  I store toothpaste and bathroom cups and my Brother P-Touch and its stuff.


Not terrible, but I just don't remember what's there.

Layla found this interesting for awhile and then went to take a nap.



I took a lot of things and found them new homes and made this space more useful.  I decided I didn't need all those vacuum cleaner attachments if I was going to only use the carpet one and one small brush attachment.  So they went to the garage.  Well labeled though, because one day I will wake up and decide I really need a hardwood floor cleaner.


Now, it's mainly extra bags, overflow from the pantry, my little tool chest, and paper goods.  Elise and I both brought in something like a 36-roll package of toilet paper, so we should be good for a while.  They stack so nicely against that wall.


The vacuum cleaner fits nicely once more, and that top shelf is pretty neat now.  


I made a lot of room here by throwing away a bunch of stuff or putting it in the bathroom cabinets.  I see that I once made a list of what was on the shelves and taped it to the door, but then I forgot the list was there.  This should do us for another 3 years.  It's scary to think I might still be in this apartment 3 more years, but it could be worse.  I kind of like it, except for the rent.

Layla and the girls have a pretty good relationship.  She's friendly and curious with them, and they think she's the best thing ever.  She got tired and lay down in a doorway, and I heard them playing so nicely and laughing a lot, so I went and looked.



Layla's favorite toys are Polly Pocket clothing from the toy boxes.  They're rubbery and small, and she can toss them in the air.  When Elise gets home from work, she finds several pieces lined up at her door for her.

I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it was good for 30 minutes of fun.  I think they had the idea she would get up and use the lined-up clothing as a bridge or a street.  

Life is good except for battling insurance companies over my accident coverage.  I'm learning a lot, more than I want to know.  How no matter how you try to see the goodness in other people, some of them just fool you.  

It's almost the weekend, and we're in for more than a week of rain, but I hope the winds are gone for awhile.  Good stay-at-home weather anyway.

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