How is your day Today, plans and achievements 2024....

packleader said:
Frustration is paralyzing me; or, the curse of having too much stuff accumulated in life.

For at least the tenth time, I am in the process of making a renewed effort to "downsize" my belongings. Each time I am getting rid of a little bit more. In retirement I have the time to do it. But if after my death I leave the job to my working family, they won't have the time, and it would be even more frustrating to them.

I thoroughly dislike doing it, and I always find good excuses for putting it off. But it has to be done. Last year I got rid of a three-foot stack of my college papers. It was heart breaking. I only kept the diplomas. Question: who will ever look at them? Should I also toss them? Sentimental value is the dilemma. Those pieces of paper are an important part of my life.

On the positive side: going through tons of paper stuff is like re-living my life. There are handwritten letters from my mother and my aunts who died a long time ago. Tears are coming into my eyes. Toss them? Not at this time; perhaps next time.

I gave away to Goodwill several bags of clothing, and they will get more. And then I have a box of colorful ties that I wore in the seventies. I still love them but will never again wear them. What shall I do with them? They are still dear to me but utterly useless.

We still have a 1986 Ford F-150 pick-up truck with a move-on camper. We took trips to Florida, New England, Canada, and Mexico when the price of gasoline was still 60 cents a gallon. The last trip, I think, was to Death Valley over Thanksgiving many years ago. Now totally useless. My excuse for keeping it is to have an emergency shelter when the expected and long overdue “Big” earthquake will hit us and damages our house.

Then we have a 12 x 24 foot shed crammed full with, for example, a box of computer games the kids played. And then there is another shed with all my gardening tools including, for example, an electric Bosch Hammer that enabled me doing many projects in the garden.

Bottom line: memories are paralyzing me of doing what needs to be done. Memories are sabotaging me.

Below are pictures of my stuffed full and overflowing walk-in closet, and some of my 1970's "hippie" ties that I wore to work.
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I will NEVER toss my birth certificate with a swastika as a seal (a poor copy) and my U.S. Naturalization Certificate of 1970.View attachment 343197

Below is the large tool and storage shed behind our carport. Heaven knows why we ended up with 10 suitcases (only a few are visible below.) On our first 2-months family trip to Europe in 1990, we carried 6 suitcases and even a porta-potty for the VW Joker Camper we had booked in advance. Those were the "good old times" that are nowadays unthinkable. I mean a "porta-potty" on an airplane from Los Angeles to Brussels and back. BTW, when we flew 5 miles above Greenland, my then 8-year old daughter saw white polar bears on the white snow plateau below, and you better believe it, LOL.

Bottom right: our 12 x 24 ft storage shed which used to be our teenagers "party" hideout. In the center is our little chicken coop; and on the right is my daughter's car in storage. She is working in Mainland China and is visiting us at least twice a year. Los Angeles to Hong Kong is 14 hours non-stop which is the same flying time as to Sydney/Australia, while Los Angeles to Frankfurt/Germany is only 12 hours non-stop, flying over Winnipeg, Greenland, off-shore South of Iceland, and over Scotland.
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I don't think you should dump everything. When someone dies, those who remain may regret not knowing more about the person who died. If not, the family can throw it all away, but keep it organized and labeled so the family knows what they are throwing away. However, if it is just clutter, then dump it. Papers about your life are not just clutter.
 

Yesterday and today, my daughter and son-in-law are taking my barely five year old grandson to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific staying overnight at a nearby hotel. Since he also wants to see tigers, my son-in-law agreed that we'll take him to the Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

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StarSong said:
Absolutely true that it's rarely done on purpose. But nevertheless, it happens frequently.
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I once took a woman who lived in a nursing home to the dentist. When I was about to take her home someone handed me carefully wrapped dentures and explained those dentures were not hers. :ROFLMAO:

I don't know how the nursing home staff resolved that problem.
 

packleader said:
Yesterday and today, my daughter and son-in-law are taking my barely five year old grandson to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific staying overnight at a nearby hotel. Since he also wants to see tigers, my son-in-law agreed that we'll take him to the Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park.

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That aquarium is a super-cool place! I took some of my grandkids and they got to pet the rays. They were so jacked over it, it was awesome.
 
packleader said:
Yesterday and today, my barely five year old grandson is visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific staying overnight with my daughter's family at a nearby hotel. Since he also wants to see tigers, my son-in-law agreed that we'll take him to the Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park.

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How wonderful to have a child to rediscover the world with.
 
When I went on my morning walk around 6:15, temp was 'balmy' 63 as I went to buy today's NYT
I had planned to do more packing but its been a partly sunny day temps in low 70's I couldn't; motivate myself
On my mid morning walk went to the mailbox down the street continued and walked over to Marcia&Dave's house 'spur of the moment'. I walked up the porch, Tage started barking not knowing who it was, I walked in he was so happy to sele other e me, he gave me a smile/tail wagging. When I walked into the living room, talking with Marcia, he jumped on the sofa waiting for some TLC . As I bent down to give him a hug, he gave me his paw which he usually does,so funny
After lunch& nap I went outside to community garden where a couple other residents sat and enjoyed each others company. This is one of the things I will miss sitting out there during the summer months as I've done for all these yrs
 
The new flower garden is almost all done. I ran out of mulch just as I was finishing up. Drat.

It was a very productive day...flower garden, vacuumed, washed up the dishes, got my work stuff ready for morning. Now it's almost bedtime😥, but not until I have some ice cream🍨. Definitely earned it today.

It was hot. Hot I tell you!🥵 Yanno, it was so hot that just now as I was vacuuming, I gathered up my two space heaters and put them away for the season. Imagine. I'm a person who's always cold. It looks like the being-cold season is over. Yay! I even uncovered the a/c like I've been threatening to do. It hasn't been turned on yet, though.
 
Georgiagranny said:
The new flower garden is almost all done. I ran out of mulch just as I was finishing up. Drat.

It was a very productive day...flower garden, vacuumed, washed up the dishes, got my work stuff ready for morning. Now it's almost bedtime😥, but not until I have some ice cream🍨. Definitely earned it today.

It was hot. Hot I tell you!🥵 Yanno, it was so hot that just now as I was vacuuming, I gathered up my two space heaters and put them away for the season. Imagine. I'm a person who's always cold. It looks like the being-cold season is over. Yay! I even uncovered the a/c like I've been threatening to do. It hasn't been turned on yet, though.
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Only 50 deg here thank goodness... our hot summer will come very soon tho'.. and no AC...
 
Beautiful day here today but very strong winds.....11pm now and the winds have all died down


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Trila said:
I sympathize with you! I have similar issues. All of this "save stuff" has reached a point where it is actually affecting my mental health. I can't stand it!!! I get angry and/or depressed, mostly just frustrated!!!

I grew up in a frugal family of 'savers'. Not quite to the 'hoarder' stage, but not too far away, either. After all, you never know when you might need an item....best put it in the closet! 🙄

So my closets are full to the point where I can't find anything, and mostly don't even know what I have. I want to clean out, and get rid of everything, but.....
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I would suggest not to look at the big picture. Do a little at a time. Hopefully it will snowball as you start to see progress.
 
I managed to clear out a bookcase. Found junk and tossed. I think I'm going to offer my art books to DGS. I have a small collection of Impressionist works and some soft cover illustrators and fantasy artists. Also some cookbooks.

I used to look at them often, but I haven't for some years. I doubt I'll miss them. It's not that they're in the way exactly, but I want someone to enjoy them.

Now the shelves look better with neatly arranged books and a few framed photos.
 
RadishRose said:
I used to look at them often, but I haven't for some years. I doubt I'll miss them. It's not that they're in the way exactly, but I want someone to enjoy them.
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I did the same with my pottery books a couple of years ago. Found out my neighbour is still potting and she was thrilled. I gave her everything I had and asked her to pass on anything she didn’t need to the local pottery club. It feels good to clear your life of things that you’re no longer using.
 
Our book club is reading A. Cleeves' first Vera novel, "The Crow Trap" I enjoyed the book, but you know me, I had to ferret out the episode of the "Vera" tv series that correlates with the book and see how they compared.

Well, there really wasn't any way the book could go straight to screenplay but it does seem like they emptied out the loose pieces of a puzzle box and put them together completely differently, haha. But the show is always well done, I'm enjoying watching it.

Couple thing: Brenda Blethyn is great... comedy is usually understated/snarky. They did have a funny/touching scene in this episode. Joe's wife (with two small children and a baby of four months) goes MIA one evening and the two older siblings sit in Vera's jeep (Rover?) while Joe looks for her. Vera, never a great one with small kids, tries to entertain them... first with a blown up latex glove with a face drawn on it. (Minimal success) Next she tries hospitality... "You hungry?... let's see..." she rifles through glove box... Offers them a bag of Fisherman's Friend cough drops... I laughed heartily... I had some of those when I was in England and they are potent, for sure! Not exactly kiddie treats.

But I thought it was a good subplot with an important message... Don't just pooh-pooh a young mother's not coping with the responsibilities of many small kids (or even one)... take post-partum depression seriously and get her some help.
 
Before the sun even came up I:
~Cleaned the litter box
~Sorted laundry & replenished the laundry supplies (from larger containers) that I take down to the laundry room.
~Hand washed and put away the tin pans and the pots that were soaking. Meant to do them last night but I fell asleep.
~Trimmed my hair

I intended to take the train to the waterfront park mid morning since it was going to be hot, but got comfortable while watching TV and realized I didn't feel like going. I wound up sleeping for most of the afternoon. After I ate a quick "linner", I used half a hand towel (which is now a rag) to wash the scratching post I'm donating with a Lysol and water mixture, did two rinses then dried it with a hair dryer.

I'm going to put the scratching post in a 13 gallon bag so my son can take it, the porpoise bed (already bagged) and cat food with him in the morning. He'll drop those things at the shelter then head to Costco which is not far from there. Well, I fell asleep at the computer while typing this post, was awakened by Deja, fed her, ate a snack and took my nighttime meds. I took the cat food out of the plastic bag they were in and put them in the Fancy Feast boxes. Some are in cans, some in plastic containers with soft tops. Now they'll be more neatly contained and better protected during transport.
 
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Started off in a bad mood about the neighbors starting the noise again this weekend. But paid a bill which was a big deal with my negative disposition.

Talked to a couple people on the phone, ate some dinner and am watching the end of Virgin River.

Edit: Just watched the end of Virgin River which ended on cliff hangers. I didn't realize until after watching the whole thing that it's not done. Season 6 is expected in 2025. Yack. I was hoping I was going to get some closure from this. Instead I got another show on hold. Sigh.
 
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Hi, kids. It's morning again so I have to go make the world safe for democracy with croissants 🥐🥐.I hear tell that we're going to start selliing lots of different kinds of filled ones besides the chocolate that we already have.

It was supposed to rain last night but according to the radar won't even start until around 8.

Y'all behave while I'm at work. You know who you are...
 
packleader said:
Frustration is paralyzing me; or, the curse of having too much stuff accumulated in life.

For at least the tenth time, I am in the process of making a renewed effort to "downsize" my belongings. Each time I am getting rid of a little bit more. In retirement I have the time to do it. But if after my death I leave the job to my working family, they won't have the time, and it would be even more frustrating to them.

I thoroughly dislike doing it, and I always find good excuses for putting it off. But it has to be done. Last year I got rid of a three-foot stack of my college papers. It was heart breaking. I only kept the diplomas. Question: who will ever look at them? Should I also toss them? Sentimental value is the dilemma. Those pieces of paper are an important part of my life.

On the positive side: going through tons of paper stuff is like re-living my life. There are handwritten letters from my mother and my aunts who died a long time ago. Tears are coming into my eyes. Toss them? Not at this time; perhaps next time.

I gave away to Goodwill several bags of clothing, and they will get more. And then I have a box of colorful ties that I wore in the seventies. I still love them but will never again wear them. What shall I do with them? They are still dear to me but utterly useless.

We still have a 1986 Ford F-150 pick-up truck with a move-on camper. We took trips to Florida, New England, Canada, and Mexico when the price of gasoline was still 60 cents a gallon. The last trip, I think, was to Death Valley over Thanksgiving many years ago. Now totally useless. My excuse for keeping it is to have an emergency shelter when the expected and long overdue “Big” earthquake will hit us and damages our house.

Then we have a 12 x 24 foot shed crammed full with, for example, a box of computer games the kids played. And then there is another shed with all my gardening tools including, for example, an electric Bosch Hammer that enabled me doing many projects in the garden.

Bottom line: memories are paralyzing me of doing what needs to be done. Memories are sabotaging me.

Below are pictures of my stuffed full and overflowing walk-in closet, and some of my 1970's "hippie" ties that I wore to work.
View attachment 343187View attachment 343186

I will NEVER toss my birth certificate with a swastika as a seal (a poor copy) and my U.S. Naturalization Certificate of 1970.View attachment 343197

Below is the large tool and storage shed behind our carport. Heaven knows why we ended up with 10 suitcases (only a few are visible below.) On our first 2-months family trip to Europe in 1990, we carried 6 suitcases and even a porta-potty for the VW Joker Camper we had booked in advance. Those were the "good old times" that are nowadays unthinkable. I mean a "porta-potty" on an airplane from Los Angeles to Brussels and back. BTW, when we flew 5 miles above Greenland, my then 8-year old daughter saw white polar bears on the white snow plateau below, and you better believe it, LOL.

Bottom right: our 12 x 24 ft storage shed which used to be our teenagers "party" hideout. In the center is our little chicken coop; and on the right is my daughter's car in storage. She is working in Mainland China and is visiting us at least twice a year. Los Angeles to Hong Kong is 14 hours non-stop which is the same flying time as to Sydney/Australia, while Los Angeles to Frankfurt/Germany is only 12 hours non-stop, flying over Winnipeg, Greenland, off-shore South of Iceland, and over Scotland.
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Do you have any local vintage shops? Perhaps look online. Those hippy ties would probably be snapped up by some trendy vintage clothes shop.

I think things like clothes are just things and, if you are not wearing them, best to sell or donate them. I tend to keep some of my old teeshirts and use them as rags or dusters.

Personal things, like the letters you mention, I would keep. Have you mentioned those things to your family? It might be that they would want to keep the family history stuff.

I only keep things which I know I would regret getting rid of so, I don't have much clutter but, I think I would tackle it in a methodical way. First get rid of anything you don't use or need. If you still need to cull some of it, then look at things which you wouldn't miss if they were gone. If you decide not to keep the family history stuff, at least think about creating a file on your computer and scanning it all in.

Good luck (y)
 
Busy day yesterday but, today looks like another sunny day so, I have a few things to do and then I plan to sit in the sun this afternoon and relax. I also have a parcel being delivered so, hopefully it will arrive early as some friends are meeting up later and we might join them, if we are done relaxing in time. Have a good day everyone. 😊
 
Myra said:
I worked today and then came home and did some cooking and sewing and washing. I penned some letters to some friends. I then fell asleep watching TV. I made myself a pot pie, bagel and a hot cup of tea for dinner. I played a little solitaire and just finished reading. I'm going for another cup of hot tea and some more TV before sleep.
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You certainly accomplished a lot Myra! And you had gone to work too!
 
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This morning I have a meeting with the manager to sign my new lease. My rent went up only ten dollars so I am happy with that. Then I am donating some items I have in my storage locker to the group of tenants who are helping to keep our building clean. There are some good sized boxes in my storage locker taking up space that I saved and don't really need. So taking them out to the dumpster today. Then just my regular chores (meals, dishes, cleaning the bunny cage, etc.).
 
Georgiagranny said:
Hi, kids. It's morning again so I have to go make the world safe for democracy with croissants 🥐🥐.I hear tell that we're going to start selliing lots of different kinds of filled ones besides the chocolate that we already have.

It was supposed to rain last night but according to the radar won't even start until around 8.

Y'all behave while I'm at work. You know who you are...
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So GG....you keep making these croissants and telling us about them. Now when are we going to get some?! :LOL:

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