Thursday, January 10, 2008

Slow road to recovery

               

       Slowly I have been feeling better.  Well enough to work on my shop and do some packing.  I sold my MIL's Skookum dolls for just under $600.  Sold one of the medals my FIL had and some handkerchiefs.  I also wrote to a couple of museum's about the picture and never heard back from them.  Fine.  I will have it framed and hung.

    I am just floating in tea and honey.   It is the only drink that worked for me for the last 3 days.  Finally late last night my temp broke for the last time and I am feeling better.

    Sitting around listening to the radio.  Listening to the tears heard around the world.  My take on it?  I watched the video of Ms. Hillary crying and listened to the radio.  Well from now on instead of crocodile tears to me they will always be Hillary tears.  My granddaughter is much better at it and could give her some lessons.  But it seemed to have worked for her.   Might have to try it sometime.  Anyway I am tired of the campaign.   So today I have music on and even thinking of cleaning my dusty neglected house.

     How when the roads are covered in snow, and it is snowing, does my house get dusty?  We didn't get the snow they predicted but it was enough for the person stuck in my ditch to have problems.  One year we had 4 cars and a dump truck in the ditch.  Then the really big tow truck they sent for the dump truck got stuck.  Oh the cheap entertainment of that fiasco.   Just rolled up the blinds on the picture window and sat down for a front row seat.

     Nothing has been done at my MIL's.  I suppose tomorrow I will go back.   The sons are afraid to throw anything out in case it is the wrong thing.  Throw out the old makeup I tell them, throw out the old letters, cards, dust rags, MOM and Mylanta bottles.  The industrial size bottle of fibercon.  The 400 magazines.  The saved scraps of old gift wrap and flat bows.  The 400 address labels sent from charities hoping to talk you out of a buck or 2.  If I can figure it out, and I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the box, they can also.  And always but always keep in the back of your mind that we can't, simply can't keep it all.

     Maybe I should send them away for a few months.  Gather some friends and go to work.  Clean the place out.  I told my husband if he has lived without this childhood memento these many, many, years he can live without it forever.

     We moved a lot when I was growing up.  My mother was poor and we were always going to places we could afford better then the place we were in.  Things got left behind and thrown.  Given away and forgotten.  I don't have many things from my childhood.  Actually I have none.  I have my grandmothers ring, my mom's wallet and stories.  Some pictures.  Period.  But I think they always knew they had the things, without the problem of storing them.  So I have to break through that or else some day my sons will be doing what we are doing.  The pictures will even mean less to them then they do to us.

      I don't mean the family pictures of parents and grandparents and great-grandparents.  I mean the woman I went to school with new grandchild or dog.  Cousin Sally's sons graduation picture of a nice kid I never met.  Those type of photo's.  Jim's new car, Billy from next doors birthday party pictures.  Isn't that cute.  These must go.  They mean nothing other then Oh Look at this, who is this?  Do you know what I mean.  Does this make sense to anyone but me.  This type of stuff it driving me nuts.

    So anyway.  This is where my head is today.  You can tell I am feeling better.  My brain is racing.   So I will put some of this energy into cleaning my house.  Take care all.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am glad that you are feeling better. When a person ceases to exist there is a lot of junk to do away with. I know this 96 year old woman who has cleaned just about all her things and given what to who she wants to have them. Her house is spotless. Furniture is even scarce I would hate for anyone to have to dispose of my things. I have a lot of junk myself. Helen

Anonymous said...

I had to clear out my Mom's house....man was it a job! I couldn't believe the stuff she "hoarded" in the corners. Just remember it can't be done overnight.
Feel better.
Pam

Anonymous said...

i'm glad you are feeling better.  it sounds like you have your work cut out for you.  i know it's difficult going through those old mementos, but it has to be done.  thankfully, they have a practical and logical helper.  hope it doesn't go unappreciated.  :)
gina

Anonymous said...

I hope you feel better...and yes there is a lot of work to go through belongings of our loved ones after they pass.  More than you would expect there to be.  Hope each day gets better...in many ways...hugs and love,
Joyce

Anonymous said...

So glad you are feeling better.  Sounds like you are getting lots accomplished, and that has to help you feel better too.

Greg

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie, I was looking for the link to your journal and found this one among others.  But, I must admit the title of this one had my interest.  I have a community journal that I'm sharing with several other women on the road to getting healthy.  Mine is losing weight also as is for several women in the group.  

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear you haven't been feeling so great and hopefully you continue to feel better with each day.  

It's hard going through the belongings of loved ones.  We moved around a lot when I was a child.  So much got lost in the moves, thrown out or just MIA.  I don't have much if anything from my childhood either.  I may not have items but, I have memories!

I wish you the best in your weight loss journey and I hope you don't mind if I come visit you again. :-)

Monica
http://journals.aol.com/monicasmemoirs/midnight-conversations/

Anonymous said...

Perhaps leave a list of things to do while your at work. Apparently they can't understand that these are items now, they are NOT your mom. Memories we keep in our hearts not in our hands. I'm all too familiar with what your going through hon. Thankfully Doc's Mom did not have an entire house to go through. But in many cases it was the same, she never threw anything away. After a while it got to the place of dumping entire drawers , it wasn't worth sorting through some of the stuff......She had triplicate of almost everything she owned. There was so much stuff that still had the tags on for someday, or just in case. I told Doc, I don't ever want to leave that legacy behind. If we don't use it and haven't needed to in the past year, I'm not storing it , it's getting donated or thrown out. I have a whole corner of my basement with nothing stuff from his Mom's simply because no one had the heart to admit they didn't need nor want it. I'll give it a few months and start systematically giving it away or donating it......

It's a long road hon, I hope your able to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. I wish the men in that house would do more. Your BIL probably isn't , figuring the longer it takes , the longer he stays rent free living off of everyone else. Hopefully your son will be able to purchase the house for himself. Your in my thoughts dear friend, stay safe and loved. Please in the midst of all this don't forget to take some "Julie" time. (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

LOL...I also have to wonder where in the world all the dust comes from.  I have friends who were military brats.  They definitely keep a sparse house which I would love to be able to do.  Moving a lot definitely gets rid of the packrat mentality.  Chris

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pic on the left (especially).