Monthly Archives: August 2012

it’s Parade Day!

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It’s Parade Day in my community. It is now 7:55 a.m. The Parade is at 5:30 p.m.

This parade will travel past my house. I love the fact that I don’t have to travel down the blocks to find a spot where we can view the parade. Actually the best part of having a parade go right past your house is the fact that the bathroom is near. No more hunting for bathrooms for the Grandkids during the parade.

What surprises me is that when I peek out my front window this early morning there are already chairs and blankets lined up and down the street. The chairs put there by parade goers that want the best seat and are afraid there won’t be room. When I see those chairs the anxiety starts to rise in my heart.

Do I need to put chairs out this early? Will I have a place to sit in my own front yard? Will my grandchildren have to fight for a seat on my lawn? Where are my chairs? I better get dressed, comb my hair and rush out to reserve the curb.

Is that rational train of thought? Absolutely no! Will I do that? Possibly.

What is it about us that causes us to be afraid there will be no room for us. What is there about us that the anxiety (chairs on the lawn at 7:00 a.m) amps up our adrenaline and makes us follow suit? What will happen if I don’t have front row seaat to a parade that is mostly full of cars, trucks and tractors?

We do that everywhere. Remember the long lines at Best Buy and Walmart for days at the start of the Christmas shopping season waiting for the Black Friday deals? What would happen if everyone would chill out and just arrive at the time the stores opened or a few hours before. The lines would probably be the same. You possibly could get the same spot because everyone arrived 1 hour instead of days before. It is the shopping frenzy, the scare tactic of not getting the good deal and our own inside anxiety that erupts into insane actions.

Back to the subject of parades. Parades have changed. In my youth Parades were made up of elaborate floats with many colors something like the Rosebowl Parade but not made of flowers. They were beautiful. For a little girl it was exciting to see the girls in formals on the beautiful floats. There were many bands so it was easy to tap your toes. It was a different era but one that everyone should experience in their life.

Oh no, it is 7:06. I better get my chairs out. I better rope off my lawn and put a sign that says,”My grandkids only.” After all I am sure there is not enough candy going to be thrown in front of my home for anyone but my grandkids. They only got 4 big bags last year. It was because of all the other kids that got their lawn chairs on my lawn first. I know there are at least 3 more bags of candy to be had if I patrol this year. Oh, no another chair has been put on the lawn. I’ve got to get going.

How Did I Accumulate All This Broken Junk Jewelry?

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Again, it is amazing what you find in the piles of stuff in your basement. I had the idea at one time that any jewelry I picked from a garage sale or inherited from dead relatives that were broken  could be fixed. If it couldn’t be fixed it would be a beautiful addition to a bird house or painting or whatever my mind could dream up.

I tossed all these little trinkets in a box in the basement. When I found it again the little trinkets were woven around one another. Do you suppose old junk jewelry has a life of its own and grows and weaves around each other something like a snake? That must have been what happened because I certainly wouldn’t have done that.

I picked up the bits and pieces and sorted them. After I sorted them I thought “What am I doing to put these in? Why am I keeping these? The creative part of keeping junk hasn’t happened yet.” I kept on sorting and sorting and sorting. I found some really neat stuff.

Some pieces would make good earrings. Some pieces would make a good play piece for my grandchildren. Some pieces could be re-strung. I got things sorted and decided what I needed to get rid of.

I picked up all the pieces that I sorted  and put them neatly back in the box together. We will see if they grow around each other. Yes, you guessed it. Those old junky pieces are going back into the pile in my basement. I am not ready to give up the creative ideas I have with the old pieces of junk. I got rid of zero pieces. What can I say. Do I say not as I do?

How Many Hooks Do I Need?

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One of my basement pipes decided to leak this spring. It happened  in my craft room. This is the craft room that I had semi-organized. In my life that means I know some of what I have and more of what I don’t have.

When the pipe leaked I had to dump everything into small containers and then into one big container to get them out-of-the-way. It was a big dumpfest. This week, after recently staying in a house with no clutter, I decided to tackle my basement clutter. It may have more to do with getting rid of an old buffet to make room for more clutter than decluttering. I have to move the clutter before we can see the buffet to move it to the curb.

One of the boxes was full of hooks and doo dads. I looked at all the hooks in dismay. I had just purchased new hooks for hanging pictures. It was money I apparently didn’t have to spend. I had many hooks in this heap.

I wondered how many hooks I needed. If I used all the miscellaneous hooks and nails etc. I would probably be very old.

I threw some and then I sorted and put them in a case with see through windows. I will label the drawers. If I need a hook I will know where it is. My hardware store is going to miss my hook business.

I did part with some, kept a few and let out a big whew! Now on to the broken jewelry mess.