Ice Cream and Junk

Here I sit at the computer....

and joining me is a big ol' bowl of Neopolitan ice cream.

Mmmmm.



It's the cheap stuff, but that doesn't matter. It tastes good tonight.

With each mouthful I am very careful to move the ice cream around in my mouth just the right way, for fear that the coldness will hit one of my teeth that need desperate attention from a dentist.

The cold ice cream sliding down my throat into my stomach is refreshing. The hot and humid weather has taken it's toll on so many of us that anything cool is refreshing.

The cool breeze tonight (yes.... there was actually a cool breeze!!!) at Jared's baseball game was SO cool and refreshing that I actually got chilled! Can you believe that? I had to go to the car and get my jacket. I sat there thanking the Lord that I actually had to go and get it! The Wellington air is almost always fresh; but in the last few weeks with that humidity, the air wasn't much different than here at home. That's very unusual for Wellington.

('Scuse me while I take a bite of my melting ice cream.......)






Rain is predicted for the next few days. It will help to cool things down, I'm sure; but unfortunately I didn't get the lawns cut today. Oh well.... what's a few more days, eh? Just means the mower will have to work a little harder.

The last few days have been filled with me trying to "get organized" here in the house.

When you live with your "junk" "stuff" for so long, I think you don't even notice it. You just work around it. After being in hospital with Blake, I come home and the "stuff" just sort of jumps out at me.

I feel that way right now about my office. It used to be the boys' toy room. We converted it to an office a few years ago, and I gave away many of their "baby" toys. The closet, however, is still full of some things, and this week I have tried spending a few hours sorting.

I have been extremely successful and am proud of myself for giving many things the ol "heave-ho". Not to the garbage bin, of course; but rather putting it in boxes; then I will be calling my sisters and saying, "Get over here and get what you want before I put it out at the edge of the road with a big FREE sign."

Oh I did that last year and it felt sooooooooooooooo gooood!!!! The stuff we had wasn't bad enough for the dump, but wasn't anything we were using here, or else the boys had outgrown it; so I thought, "Why not GIVE IT AWAY?". I couldn't believe how happy people were to receive things for free.

I thought about having a yard sale and giving half the proceeds to an organization, such as Samaritan's Purse; but I couldn't imagine sitting outside all day for days on end, watching for "customers". I felt led to "give it away", and that's what I did. I had over eight small and large tables FULL of "stuff", along with numerous coats and snow suits..... oh it felt so good to watch people put it in their vehicles and drive it away.

When last summer was over, I only had one small box of items that were left. I decided to set them out again this year rather than send them to the dump. I also had only one small garbage bag of things that I sent to the dump.... some stuff had gotten rained on and was mildewed. I think that's pretty good for eight whole tables!





(Mmmmm.... my ice cream is gone now.... I've been sneaking bites in between paragraphs. It was deeeeelightful!).






Back to my office..... the closet is likely going to be as full when I'm done as when I started; but at least the stuff we don't use anymore will be gone. I'll be replacing the empty shelves in there with stuff that's been stacked up here in the office.

I had three boxes of books in that closet and I've weaned them down to one. One box I will keep; one box is going to the roadside for 'give away', and one box is going to the recycling centre.

On the floor of the closet is a whole bunch of remote control items that the boys have received over the years. They either don't work, need batteries, or just aren't interesting anymore for the boys. I'm sure my nieces and nephews will enjoy them. My one brother-in-law is good with electronic stuff, so maybe he'll be fixing some of these items so his kids can use them.

I've got lots of paperwork to sort through as well...... I keep so much stupid stuff. It doesn't seem stupid at the time, but after twenty years you look at it and you think, "What in tarnations did I keep THIS for????".

It's funny, eh? Things that were so important to us at one time..... now it's just junk. And why does it take us so long to realize that?

I heard a good quote the other day from Everyday Cheapskate: "BUY WHAT YOU NEED, WANT WHAT YOU HAVE".

Oh I wish I had heard that one many years ago! I'd be cleaning less junk stuff out of my house! hahaha

Well, I've spent enough of your time blabbering on about nothing at all. Just felt like sharing all that with you, I suppose.

Blake has spent the last few days visiting my parents just up the road a few kilometers. He's feeling much better. Still experiencing some back pain, for some reason; but the Remicade is doing what it's meant to do and healing up those intestines. It's so good to hear him laugh again.

I thought the other day that perhaps Blake's face looked swollen.... then I realized he was just actually putting his weight back on! hahahahahaa. His cheeks looked so chubby. A few weeks ago I thought, "If he doesn't start gaining weight soon, I'm gonna have to go to the toddlers clothing section and buy him some underwear!" hahaa

Jared already went through his closet and gave Blake a couple of pairs of summer shorts that he [Jared] had outgrown. But they're still too big for Blake.

Wannett said she'd go through some bags of clothing that I gave her a loooong time ago (clothes that were too small for my kids now but her kids would grow into them). She said, "There must be some shorts in there, Blake, that will fit you!" hahaha.

It won't be long, though, and our oldest boy will be a pork chop once again. (Sorry, Blake, forgot that you can't eat pork! hahahaha)

OK, folks, I need to bring this post to a close because I'm just ramblin' on.

Maybe tomorrow, if I have the chance.... after finishing off that closet..... I will write a post about my new great niece. Yes, that's right. I'm a great aunt. Too young, of course, to be a great aunt [snicker]; but extremely proud. That's all the details you're getting for now.

Now go scoop yourself a big ol' bowl of ice cream... and enjoy!