Today I am thankful for...
The place in my life that I am at right now. I am happy. I have a wonderful husband and daughter, a house full of rescue animals that are living good lives, access to organic local food, a safe environment to raise my little babe, a warm home to shelter me from the freezing weather, family that supports us in many ways, and the opportunity to stay at home and try to be a constant, supportive, caring, creative mother.
This past week we have been cleaning out the attic and giving the house a good purge of unwanted and unused items. Some people have a hard time with this, but I really enjoy it. It just feels good. By lightening up the load in the attic, I feel like I have lightened a load on my shoulders also. (I know, so dramatic, but I really do love getting rid of things!) However, it is never just as easy as throwing something in the trash, recycling, or Goodwill pile. There are memories attached to most of these items (not the half-full can of dried paint) and so there was a lot of reminiscing going on this weekend. Much to the lament of my sentimental mother, I am so very unsentimental. I don't know how or why it happened, but over the years, I just became that way. Every year it gets easier for me to throw out pictures from my childhood. I'm not talking about family photos of course, but those stupid, embarrassing pictures from school. That boy I had a crush on but only ever spoke like 4 sentences to - yeah, so in the trash. The girls that were my supposed BFF, yet we never spoke after the last day of high school - in the trash too along with their big bangs. The scenery pictures when I was trying to be artistic but had no clue what I was doing (and it showed) - good riddance.
When cleaning out the house, I try and keep this thought in mind - "If I move to (insert your dream destination here), would I take this with me?" If it is even a "maybe", then it is probably not worth keeping. The sentimental side might say, "Oh, but what if your daughter wants to look at the pictures of you from when you were in 7th grade?" Okay, so I'll keep a couple pictures, but not the whole lame yearbook. Some things are questionable, like the charcoal drawing I had done under the Eiffel tower in France on a high school trip. No, I don't want to display it - it doesn't even look like me. But it is kind of fun to pull it from the dusty box and remember exactly where it was done. Some items are a definite yes to keeping. I found a letter from my grandfather that was written 7 months before he died. He never finished it because he had Parkinson's disease and it got too difficult for him to write. But the few paragraphs that he did manage to write say all that I need to remember about the relationship that we had.
Here are some snapshots from the week.
(I found this sweater in the attic - we had originally gotten it for our Corgi, Birkie, but she didn't really need it. However, Chippy is very sensitive, both emotionally and physically, and so this is just right for him.)
(A yummy breakfast of Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with my own Blueberry/Raspberry Syrup.)
(One of the "keepers" from the attic. A card that my husband made for me when we first met. He used a comic from an old Far Side calendar. Starting his frugal streak back then!)
(I don't know if this is a long term keeper, but I'm holding onto it for a little because it makes me laugh. A momento from my hard core animal rights days - and I still wouldn't eat him!)
(My grandfather, who died when I was 17, made this chair for me when I was a little girl. He was a skilled woodworker who made many things for his home and toys for my brother and I. I put this down in our sunroom last night and this morning my little babe discovered it. Even though it is technically too big for her right now (and dangerous), she insisted on sitting in it. She would sit for a couple minutes while I rocked it and read a book, then crawl down and start the process over. This is an item that I am sentimental about.) - snapshot view didn't capture all of it
(My little babe now loves playing with her father, who acts crazier than I do. I think the joy she brings now makes up for the first 6 months.)
So here is a New Year's cheer to cleaner attics and closets, good memories, embarrassing pictures, appreciating the events and people in our past who helped to make us who we are, and for being thankful for the life that we are living now!
I welcome any bloggers to leave a link to their Thankful Tuesday post in the comments section below.