This weekend was so wonderful! Mom and I accomplished so much towards our goal of getting rid of old stuff and becoming more organized. It feels so good! I know I keep saying that over and over and over, but it's true!

Our garage ended up taking a lot more of our Thursday than we originally thought, but we got it all done just as the sun was setting. We purged tons of stuff - I still had old crap from college in there! - and organized everything into bins which we labeled so we can find stuff quickly and easily. It looks great, and now we have a lot more room to move around out there.

I went through my bedroom on Friday, and got rid of a lot of unworn, practically forgotten jewelry and shoes. Now all my shoes fit in the two shoe holders I bought a while ago, and all my jewelry will be displayed so I can actually see what I have, and can, therefore, wear some of it. Mom saw a really cool way to display earrings on one of those craft shows, which I'll be making soon. Basically you take an old picture frame, remove the glass and backing and stuff, staple some screen on the inside, and voila! An easy and decorative place to hang your earrings! It really only works for the dangly ones, however, but I have a nice jewelry box in which to store the posts. I'm planning on doing a similar display with my necklaces - I came across an old frame in the garage which will be perfect, and yesterday I purchased some white hooks to screw into the wall and hang my necklaces from. It's gonna be cool!

Saturday we took off from our cleaning and organizing frenzy, and walked up to the wine and chocolate tasting the Downtown Association was holding. We didn't do the wine tasting because we didn't feel like carrying wine glasses around, plus having to carry them home, but the chocolates were free, so we sampled a few as we went through the quaint little shops downtown. We have to wonder how some of these little places can make it. Selling antiques, hand-crafted items, and fancy frilly things. How do they manage? And the four beauty salons/spas? Oh, and the fifth one that's "coming soon"? I just don't get it.

Anyway. We were finally able to do one of the things we've been wanting to do for about a year: sit, relax, and have a glass of wine at Frankie's Deli! We enjoyed a wonderful Chardonnay from EOS and some more chocolates before finally heading home. Frankie said she'll be opening up on Saturdays as soon as the weather warms up, so mom and I will be able to walk up and pick up sandwiches for lunch after having our coffee at Carlene's! That will be very cool!

Today was yard work day. Yuck! My least favourite chore! I'd rather be "Clean Sweep"ing the kitchen and den combined, without a lunch break, than be out cleaning up the crap along the sidewalk, trimming the trees and bushes, and cleaning out the gutters! Gah! At one point, mom, while we were sifting through the crap we'd scooped up along our sidewalk, sorting out the garbage from the rocks from the yard waste from the dirt, asked me if a condo was starting to look like a better place to live than a house, and I had to admit it was! The thought of spending my weekends doing yard work really does not appeal to me very much at all.

Still, when it was all done, and I'd showered all the dirt and leaves and gunk off myself, and settled into some soft, comfy yoga clothes, and curled up with a cup of white tea and a homemade cookie from my grandmother, it all seemed worth it. The yard looks great, the gutters are clean, the garage and most of the house is clean and organized, and it feels wonderful! So wonderful!

Reading: You've Got to Read This ed. by Ron Hansen. This week's stories are: "A Mother's Tale" by James Agee, "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin, and "Pie Dance" by Molly Giles, as well as the short stories submitted by classmates, one of which is, gulp! MINE!

Classic Book: Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.

Previously: Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Listening to: Big Daddy Weave, Nate Sallie, Kelly Clarkson, Casting Crowns.

Writing: Nothing right now.

Gratitude: Getting a lot of really icky jobs done around the house.