Phase One of Operation Purge House a success
A tiring but productive weekend, for the most part. Indeed, I did pretty much everything I wanted to do, and the couple things I didn't get to I can easily take care of tomorrow.
Friday was a lazy day. I had zero energy. I just catnapped and watched episodes of the Red Green Show on YouTube (I love that show!). I did go through my closet and filled a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes I no longer wanted and got a basket of my clean laundry put away, but that was the end of my productivity. Feel slightly guilty, but considering the success of the rest of the weekend, only slightly. After a frustrating (and boring- and frustrating because it was boring) and depressing work week I think I just needed to recharge.
Saturday was much, much better, productivity-wise. I wound up going through much of the house, and filled bag after bag. I'm sure there are some spots I missed, but I think between Saturday and Sunday I did the bulk of the purging I needed to do. Only big area I need to tackle is the attic. I had hoped to do more up there, but when I went up, I suddenly discovered why my place had been so blazing hot the past month on hot days- I forgot to vent up there >.<. Big oops. Yeah, it was easily 90 degrees up there. I filled two small boxes but that was all I could tolerate. When I came back down to the second floor, it felt like I stepped into an air-conditioned room.
That evening, I went for a swim, then joined my lil sis and a couple of other friends for a fun night of Improv, followed by dinner and ice cream at a locally owned Italian place I hadn't been to in AGES. That was fun, and what a great way to end the day!
Sunday, I filled a few more bags and, with roomie's (considerable) help, filled up my car with donations to Goodwill. The final tally: 15 bags, two small boxes and two now-empty CD holders. Also, I had one bag of garbage, and one bag of recycleable stuff. I thought about trying to do more with the attic but by this afternoon it just got too hot. Hopefully we'll have temps in the 70s sometime during the next couple weekends, so I can tackle the attic.
So after my Goodwill run and a couple other stops, I spent some time with my mom this afternoon, always fun! We drank tea and caught up, and I even helped her make her famous banana bread mini muffins. OK, I sprinkled mini chocolate morsels into the already batter-filled muffin forms. Not much of a cook, ha ha! It was still fun. Also retrieved some children's books I had over there that I plan to try to sell sometime this week, and sorted through a trunk of old horses, mostly Breyers, that I also want to try to sell. I gave mom the plastic, cheap horses to give to her program kids, and will collect the Breyers ... probably next weekend. Never thought I'd sell those, and I know I'll feel a twinge of sadness. But I'm serious about wanting/needing to downsize and purge.
After mom's, I went for a nice swim, followed by a quick grocery run... and now I'm on here, ha ha!
So, all in all a very productive weekend. Tomorrow, I need to do a load of laundry, plus take care of Fab and Nico. Also, I need to go up to the attic and retrieve my stuffed Easter bunnies, plus some other stuffed animals in my bedroom. I'm keeping a few sentimental ones, but the bulk I'm going to bring Tuesday evening to give to a friend and theatre colleague, who has a friend who is collecting stuffed animals for The Cleveland Clinic. I figure that will be two wins in one evening- I can continue my purging mission, and I can help kids.
And that reminds me- not that I could forget- Tuesday is THE DAY for the play reading! Sooooo excited! I've got the photo copies all ready, plus a sign-up sheet. Just need to get some pens for people to use to take notes, plus a small pad of paper for myself. I'm looking forward to this. If the Facebook invite/rsvp section is any indication, it will be a great turnout!
Also finished a couple more books. Kind of raced through these because on one I was in my final renewal, and the other has a lengthy waiting list so I knew I wouldn't be able to renew it. But I finished- and enjoyed- both.
The Book Mouse's Book Report
33. The Last Empress, by Anchee Min. I'm not sure how much of this book is history and how much is speculation and interpretation, but what I do know is that it was hard to put The Last Empress down. The story, told in first person, is about Empress Tzu-Hsi (Empress Orchid, or the Dowager Empress). This is a sequel to Empress Orchid, and takes place after the death of Tzu-Hsi's husband Emperor Hsien Feng. The empress finds herself trying to educate her son Tung Chih, the emperor's only heir, into assuming a role of leadership during a stife-filled period of China's history. Unfortunately, Tung Chih is not only an incompetent leader but dies young. Tzu-Hsi's adopted son, her nephew Guang-hsu, is only a slight improvement. Tzu-Hsi finds herself battling both adversaries and differing factions within China, and from the western countries and Japan looking to seize control of the crumbling empire. I get the impression from what little I've read that Tzu-Hsi is, even now, considered a controversial character (she certainly was a lightening rod for controversy when she was alive). Loved the layers, the descriptions and the symbolism. I can see this made into a movie (if it hasn't been already). All in all, I really enjoyed this. Will have to add Empress Orchid to my reading list now (yeah, nothing like reading the sequel first; ah well, this book stands well on its own).
34. Pioneer Girl, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (edited by Pamela Smith Hill). I had to wait several months to get this from the library, but it was worth it. This was a fascinating read for me. I grew up reading (and re-reading, and re-re-reading) the Little House books. This book includes a draft of the autobiography of famous author Laura Ingalls Wilder. The autobiographical material is, perhaps, about 100 pages or so. Much of the book includes a history of how the books (both Pioneer Girl and the fictionalized Little House series) got their start, and annotations throughout the autobiography (some pages are nothing but annotations). Indeed, the annotations are almost overwhelming, but worth the read. If you have time, I recommend reading the autobiography, then going back through and skimming the autobiography for context and reading the copious amounts of notes and history that go with it. Pioneer Girl is darker than the Little House series; in it, Wilder describes the loss of her baby brother, a frightening incident with a drunken man and the many illnesses that struck. One thing that really jumped out at me is how young she was when she was asked to teach. I knew she had been a teacher, but thought she had been in her early 20s. She MIGHT have been as young as 15 (the annotations point out in this section, as well as several others, where historical events don't necessarily jive with Wilder's recollections), and was no older than 18 when she first headed a classroom. Wow. I can't even imagine. Fans of the series should appreciate this novel, and while it deals with some darker themes, preteens may enjoy it as well, if they aren't overwhelmed by the plethora of historic detail. Also loved all the photos and illustrations throughout- those were a nice touch.
Friday was a lazy day. I had zero energy. I just catnapped and watched episodes of the Red Green Show on YouTube (I love that show!). I did go through my closet and filled a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes I no longer wanted and got a basket of my clean laundry put away, but that was the end of my productivity. Feel slightly guilty, but considering the success of the rest of the weekend, only slightly. After a frustrating (and boring- and frustrating because it was boring) and depressing work week I think I just needed to recharge.
Saturday was much, much better, productivity-wise. I wound up going through much of the house, and filled bag after bag. I'm sure there are some spots I missed, but I think between Saturday and Sunday I did the bulk of the purging I needed to do. Only big area I need to tackle is the attic. I had hoped to do more up there, but when I went up, I suddenly discovered why my place had been so blazing hot the past month on hot days- I forgot to vent up there >.<. Big oops. Yeah, it was easily 90 degrees up there. I filled two small boxes but that was all I could tolerate. When I came back down to the second floor, it felt like I stepped into an air-conditioned room.
That evening, I went for a swim, then joined my lil sis and a couple of other friends for a fun night of Improv, followed by dinner and ice cream at a locally owned Italian place I hadn't been to in AGES. That was fun, and what a great way to end the day!
Sunday, I filled a few more bags and, with roomie's (considerable) help, filled up my car with donations to Goodwill. The final tally: 15 bags, two small boxes and two now-empty CD holders. Also, I had one bag of garbage, and one bag of recycleable stuff. I thought about trying to do more with the attic but by this afternoon it just got too hot. Hopefully we'll have temps in the 70s sometime during the next couple weekends, so I can tackle the attic.
So after my Goodwill run and a couple other stops, I spent some time with my mom this afternoon, always fun! We drank tea and caught up, and I even helped her make her famous banana bread mini muffins. OK, I sprinkled mini chocolate morsels into the already batter-filled muffin forms. Not much of a cook, ha ha! It was still fun. Also retrieved some children's books I had over there that I plan to try to sell sometime this week, and sorted through a trunk of old horses, mostly Breyers, that I also want to try to sell. I gave mom the plastic, cheap horses to give to her program kids, and will collect the Breyers ... probably next weekend. Never thought I'd sell those, and I know I'll feel a twinge of sadness. But I'm serious about wanting/needing to downsize and purge.
After mom's, I went for a nice swim, followed by a quick grocery run... and now I'm on here, ha ha!
So, all in all a very productive weekend. Tomorrow, I need to do a load of laundry, plus take care of Fab and Nico. Also, I need to go up to the attic and retrieve my stuffed Easter bunnies, plus some other stuffed animals in my bedroom. I'm keeping a few sentimental ones, but the bulk I'm going to bring Tuesday evening to give to a friend and theatre colleague, who has a friend who is collecting stuffed animals for The Cleveland Clinic. I figure that will be two wins in one evening- I can continue my purging mission, and I can help kids.
And that reminds me- not that I could forget- Tuesday is THE DAY for the play reading! Sooooo excited! I've got the photo copies all ready, plus a sign-up sheet. Just need to get some pens for people to use to take notes, plus a small pad of paper for myself. I'm looking forward to this. If the Facebook invite/rsvp section is any indication, it will be a great turnout!
Also finished a couple more books. Kind of raced through these because on one I was in my final renewal, and the other has a lengthy waiting list so I knew I wouldn't be able to renew it. But I finished- and enjoyed- both.
The Book Mouse's Book Report
33. The Last Empress, by Anchee Min. I'm not sure how much of this book is history and how much is speculation and interpretation, but what I do know is that it was hard to put The Last Empress down. The story, told in first person, is about Empress Tzu-Hsi (Empress Orchid, or the Dowager Empress). This is a sequel to Empress Orchid, and takes place after the death of Tzu-Hsi's husband Emperor Hsien Feng. The empress finds herself trying to educate her son Tung Chih, the emperor's only heir, into assuming a role of leadership during a stife-filled period of China's history. Unfortunately, Tung Chih is not only an incompetent leader but dies young. Tzu-Hsi's adopted son, her nephew Guang-hsu, is only a slight improvement. Tzu-Hsi finds herself battling both adversaries and differing factions within China, and from the western countries and Japan looking to seize control of the crumbling empire. I get the impression from what little I've read that Tzu-Hsi is, even now, considered a controversial character (she certainly was a lightening rod for controversy when she was alive). Loved the layers, the descriptions and the symbolism. I can see this made into a movie (if it hasn't been already). All in all, I really enjoyed this. Will have to add Empress Orchid to my reading list now (yeah, nothing like reading the sequel first; ah well, this book stands well on its own).
34. Pioneer Girl, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (edited by Pamela Smith Hill). I had to wait several months to get this from the library, but it was worth it. This was a fascinating read for me. I grew up reading (and re-reading, and re-re-reading) the Little House books. This book includes a draft of the autobiography of famous author Laura Ingalls Wilder. The autobiographical material is, perhaps, about 100 pages or so. Much of the book includes a history of how the books (both Pioneer Girl and the fictionalized Little House series) got their start, and annotations throughout the autobiography (some pages are nothing but annotations). Indeed, the annotations are almost overwhelming, but worth the read. If you have time, I recommend reading the autobiography, then going back through and skimming the autobiography for context and reading the copious amounts of notes and history that go with it. Pioneer Girl is darker than the Little House series; in it, Wilder describes the loss of her baby brother, a frightening incident with a drunken man and the many illnesses that struck. One thing that really jumped out at me is how young she was when she was asked to teach. I knew she had been a teacher, but thought she had been in her early 20s. She MIGHT have been as young as 15 (the annotations point out in this section, as well as several others, where historical events don't necessarily jive with Wilder's recollections), and was no older than 18 when she first headed a classroom. Wow. I can't even imagine. Fans of the series should appreciate this novel, and while it deals with some darker themes, preteens may enjoy it as well, if they aren't overwhelmed by the plethora of historic detail. Also loved all the photos and illustrations throughout- those were a nice touch.