Monday, July 12, 2010

Great weekend!

I had such a great weekend! Not so much in the fun category, but definitely in the productive category. Out of my weekend list of 17 things, I managed to do 12 of them!!! That's 2/3 of my list!! Woohoo!!! And I got a nap or two in there, I got to hear my son laugh, and I actually enjoyed a large political picnic where it even rained a bit. Apparently, put a cute baby in a bib that says "wee-publican" and he's a huge hit!

I cleaned out the sloppiest box of precious papers of my husband's on Saturday morning while he was not at home. The contents went from a box about 30 inches by 15 by 15 (with lots of dead bugs in it), to a box 9inches by 6 by 18. Let's see..... a bit of rapid calculation.... that's less than one quarter the volume of the previous box! And the best part about the new box size, is that it can fit on top of a copy paper box on my shelves! All awards, group photos, and bound booklets kept. Large label (on both ends) that says what job he was leaving with this box and what year that was.

AND! I set the huge empty box on the front porch and after our regular huge trash bin was full, we filled the empty box up with other empty boxes and trash!! I love throwing things away!

For years, I've been an empty box keeper. I'd keep boxes forever because I might need a box just that size. Sunday, I asked Hubby if I could throw away several empty boxes that are in his office. He just froze. "You mean you want to throw away a box?" "Yes" "By all means, go do it right now before the urge is gone!" So I did.

The ONLY time my box keeping tendencies have been a help is with LL Bean returns. I started keeping one (just one!!!) of the large shoe boxes that they use to send us replacement shoes. So whenever Hubby has determined that his shoes are worn out AND he can do without shoes like that for 4 weeks, I whip that sucker out and we can have them in the mail in just a day or two! And yes, that particular empty box has a special place in the closet. The shoes go out, replacements are returned, and THAT box goes to the special place in the closet. Quite the little system.

For those of you who don't know, LL Bean has a lifetime warranty policy. So if you wear out an item, and send it back with your receipt (we keep a file of receipts), they will send you another very similar to it! Hubby has been getting at least two pairs of shoes per year from these folks since he was about 14 - when his feet stopped growing. We just wish they sold shingles, tires, and oil filters.

My baby likes to shake laundry. Last night I piled like 5 loads of laundry on my office floor and parked in front of the TV with my baby. For a while he just ignored the laundry and paid attention to every cord that was even kind of visible. But after I made a stack of his bibs.....oh my!! He knew these were his wanted to play! He does this thing where he'll hold a bib in one hand at shoulder height and shake it up and down, watching how it moves. Then he transfers it to the other hand does the same thing. Back and forth and back and forth. Then flings it aside and goes for another.

By this time, I had piles of hankies, washcloths, kitchen towels, baby washcloths, and T-shirts. He views this as FAR too neat and orderly. Let's shake all those too!! So many of the stacks had to move to the futon in short order. While his back was turned, I restacked the bibs. He turned around and found his gift of orderliness. Must destroy!!! While he shook and flung those, I got another load's worth of laundry folded and put out of his reach. Then he noticed another neat pile of laundry. While crawling toward that, I restacked the bibs and pointed at them! Disaster averted. I like this game! And so does Quint. You don't actually fold bibs anyway, so why not.

He also at one point put a bib on his head as if it were a cap and looked around, whipping his head around to feel it move on top of his head, while keeping it up there! I had to laugh and baby clap at that one. He beamed! I love this little guy!

I've gone through the rag bag and picked out things that are obviously rags, stacked them neatly, and put them in his toy basket. I also realized that I have some socks in the rag bag that look better than the socks I wear on a regular basis. Hmmm.... must think about that...

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