Tag Archives: pesky chores

The big box

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I made myself a treat. My husband had to meet with clients over the weekend, so while he was busy, I bought two pounds of little neck clams and made myself a feast. I had clams while I was visiting Seattle, of course, but I can never get too many!

I’m finally attacking some chores that I’ve tried to avoid. When I say avoid, I mean I’ve successfully put them off for years!

First there was a huge box that my brother mailed to me in 2015. I know the date because its stamped across the two-foot by three-foot-long box on the UPS label. It was a box from Mom. I hadn’t looked at it until after she died. When I was getting ready for my trip to spread her ashes on on our riverfront property, I thought perhaps I’d take a peek inside the box. I found several photos to share with family and promised myself I’d get into the box when I returned.

The box had lived in our hallway closet in Palm Springs until we moved. Then it found a home in a hallway closet in Arizona.

I ordered a couple photo storage boxes and decided I needed to sort through the photos from mom’s childhood through my adulthood. The keepers are now in a 11.25″ X 7.75″ box.

I discovered tiny little photos from my mom’s childhood of relatives I’ve never met. I think Mom said she had a Brownie camera. I wonder if that’s what made the teeny tiny photos?

I found color polaroids from my childhood. Photos from our trip to Hawaii when I was in second grade. Vacation days in Victoria BC where my brother and I were dressed up like we were going to church. Several years of birthday parties with neighborhood and school friends.

Mom also had tons of photos of my children, from when they were babies to beginning grade school. I did more throwing out than saving and felt somewhat satisfied to toss the huge cardboard box in recycling.

Now I have four boxes out from the same hallway closet to conquer. I’m on a roll and don’t want to stop now. These boxes are full of framed photos. I think I’m going to take the photos out and if I want to keep them, store them in a photo box. The frames I’ll take to the Kiwanis Thrift Shop. It will feel good to get rid of all this stuff that’s sitting in boxes for years. These are boxes that were stored for years in Palm Springs and rather than making decisions about them before we moved, I moved the boxes with me.

Here’s a photo my mom took of my husband and me when we first got together. My husband was my son’s age!
Do you have any chores or boxes in closets that you’ve avoided?

My head’s spinning

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cactus in bloom

I can’t seem to get a grip on today. I arrived home yesterday afternoon from visiting my kids and taking care of my son. I felt exhausted from nonstop people, travel, and a sense of urgency in doing whatever I could to help out in my son’s household.

I slept soundly. I didn’t need to get up and trek to my son’s house in the early morning hours and cook his oatmeal. But today, I feel out of sorts. I have lots of pesky chores to do. Phone calls to make. Trying to get re-established in my normal routine.

I feel haphazard. I flit from one task to another, never quite completing what I had set out to do. It’s like my head is spinning, looking for that purpose I had during the past seven days, taking care of my son. Being mom. Spending time with my daughter.

The kitty welcomed me back and wanted lots of attention. My husband is thrilled to have me to talk to. But my body and soul don’t feel grounded today. I feel out of sorts and unable to feel ready for my normal routine. I think I’m still tired. I could use a day to laze around, reading a good book

Olive the cat sleeping on cat grass
Olive asleep on her cat grass doesn’t need me the way my kids did.

Have you ever felt out of sorts after traveling? Do you take time to recover from a tiring trip, or do you dive right in on your to do list? How do you best transition from travel to every day life?