Out With the Old

Inspirational song: When the World Is Running Down (The Police)

I don't think I intended for today to feel like a clerical day, but I'm glad that it did. I had a handful of errands that needed to be done, and it always makes me feel clear-headed to get through the menial stuff. While I was on the go, I finally got a trunkload of items I no longer need to the consignment shop. I had been filling a large laundry basket as I went through closets, and the first heaping basket is gone. That's one out of about fifteen that I need to do in the next year, to lighten my load physically, as well as mentally. I am no hoarder, but I do have more than I need, considering we are a family who moves so often. And since we do all the packing and loading and moving ourselves, it's important to pay attention to every pound hiding in the closets. And believe me, there's a lot of weight lurking there, and in the garage. Fourteen more trips to the consignment shop? At least.

I need to pay attention to the things that do and don't work around here too. I can't consign broken items, and I need to take a hard look at things that are reaching the end of their life spans. Once upon a time, things were built to last for a very long time. Now I look at how much I own that was designed to become obsolete very quickly. We still own two desktop computers that were purchased in 2008. One of them has an incredible amount of data stored on it, but it is barely functional at this point. I am no longer able to update it, not by my choice, but because the operating system has hit its wall. I don't know what to do. I don't want to replace it with another desktop, and I haven't done any research on laptops to see what would last longest, but I just can't let all this data evaporate. I think I need to filter through it, and thin it out as much as I need to do with my closets.

Tonight was supposed to be a game night. But it is always so hard to get people together in the summer, and tonight was no different. We had too few players to play bunco, so we sat and talked and made a few plans. It wasn't what I intended, but it felt good on a day of organization. 

Today's pictures included taking stock of the wildlife in the back. There are more of the banana spiders like the palm-sized one in front, but the ones in back aren't quite as large yet. But the more pertinent detail to notice is that there is a breeding pair in the knockout rose bush. Just what I needed, a million of these things. Well, if that doesn't take care of my mosquito problem, what can?