Day 2--Done! LOTS of Little Stuff

Arg. Lots of little things done from the cedar closet today. Many, many pictures in the bottoms of containers, in plastic bags, in fire boxes; most of them were from my parents' house.

It's very slow going. But it's going.

Here's the closet now, with some bins put back, after having gone through and gotten rid of stuff that wasn't necessary, like power bills from 1967.

I got all the suitcases and tote bags put back, but they're on the floor. I'm not crazy about that, but I need to figure out what else to do. Also on the upper shelf are bags and boxes with keepsake T-shirts for both kids and me that I "plan" one day to use to make each of us a T-shirt quilt. "Plan" being the operative word here.

Anyone need any Beanie Babies? I went through a collector's phase a number of years ago and have over a hundred, mostly bears. I need to find a place to pass these along to...I don't want to just donate them.

Tomorrow I'll post progress to the areas that have been housing the boxes pulled out...they're still a mess, but the mess is getting smaller!

And once it's daylight, I'll post a pic of a treasure I found tonight...a dollar coin from 1884! My granddaddy was a coin collector, and this was one of several I found tonight. It was the oldest one, and I couldn't get a good picture because of the glare of the flash and turning the flash off made the picture fuzzy. I'll wait for natural light.

Progress! Gotta love it.

Day 1--Complete!

I got through the first day of the Great Closet Cleanout. Wow! What a mess.

I rehung all the clothes...that I didn't get rid of...on matching red hangers from the Container Store. Very cool. I rewashed all the blankets that were in the floor, and they are now on the shelf.

Here's the pile of stuff I'm getting rid of:


I did got through one bag of stuff from my parents' house that had a lot of old pictures. Here's one of my dad that I don't remember ever seeing before. He's missing a front tooth, so he must have been about 5 or 6.

I also found JJ's Cub Scout patches in a box of his books, magazines, etc. from when we moved from Texas. It had never been opened in 8 years. I needed the patches for his Eagle ceremony back in March. Just a tad late. But at least I found them

I can't wait to see what treasures I find tomorrow!

The Great Cedar Closet Cleanout

We have lived in our house for 8 years this August. I can say without a doubt that the most abused location in our house is the basement cedar closet. (Well, and maybe the garage.)

The cedar closet is intended, I'm sure, to store out-of-season clothing in a location where the moths can't get to them. It's a really nice closet...except it holds everything but out-of-season clothing.

Gulp...here it is...

I'm so ashamed.

Where's the Clean House team??? Niecy??? Mark??? Trish??? Matt???

It's awful...just stuff piled on top of stuff. Things from my parents' house, things from when the kids were small, Scout stuff, BLANKETS (why we need so many of them I'll never know), SUITCASES AND TOTE BAGS (ditto), old bridemaid's dresses, my wedding gown (that one is staying no matter what)...I even found some old fossilized dog poop on top of an old Target bag (the chihuahua will apparently go potty anywhere).

After a couple of hours of moving everything into the clean basement, here is the cedar closet, ready for its makeover...

The only thing I couldn't move out is the dresser. It's full of old clothing and topped with more crap that needs a home.

Tomorrow...going through boxes and bags. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.

Down By the Bay

My Nicky has gone for a week to Boy Scout camp. (Sniff)

I'm sure he'll have a wonderful time, but I'll miss him.

I took some thing over to a committee member in our troop who's heading to camp tomorrow...some missing papers that were turned in today, some counselor forms (I'm hoping the dads there will have some extra time and become counselors for merit badges), and I picked up some good headphones for Nicky's iPod. The man lives over near the beach, right near the Chesapeake Bay. I took advantage of my lighter schedule today to take a little walk down to the Bay.

Rain was moving in to the north...getting mighty dark there.

A boater was taking advantage of the nice, though VERY hot weather.

The place I walked to was a memorial for those who've lost their lives in the line of duty. Mostly for the local police, fire, etc. These beautiful flowers grace all sides of the memorial.

We need to take advantage of living 7 miles from the Bay. It's so beautiful here.

Flower Power!

I love flowers. They make me happy. Since I rarely receive flowers from any of my guys, I usually buy them myself while grocery shopping. Yesterday, I hit the mother lode. Our Safeway had just gotten in a supply of Gerbera daisies. Wow.

I got some for the dining room...white...with a couple of green hydrangeas thrown in...

Some for the kitchen table...one bouquet of yellow and a beautiful bouquet in orange with yellow centers.

Look how beautiful they are!

Nicky made a lovely potted plant holder for a Boy Scout project this week; he earned the Carpentry merit badge, one of the "historical" ones being offered only this year of the Centennial. He painted it his favorite color: red.

So I found a potted Gerbera daisy in bright yellow...the green wrapping detracts from it a bit, so I may remove the paper.

This is in the living room. Right by the TV.

Gotta love flowers!

A Dignified End

Last night our Boy Scout troop participated in our American Legion's annual Flag Retirement ceremony. This year the ceremony was preceded by the dedication of a new fire pit, built by 2 of our Scouts for their Eagle projects. One Scout built the pit (he was awarded his Eagle Scout badge in February) and the other Scout built the patio surrounding the pit (his Board of Review is next week).

JJ got to participate in the presentation of the flags, even though he technically is no longer a Boy Scout, having turned 18 last week:

Unfortunately, the cermeony had to be indoors, as the heavens opened right as everything was being set up outside. Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for us all to go outside for the retirement.

The troop waits with their flags for disposal ( Nicky is at the back).

Bryan, the potential Eagle Scout who built the patio, helps lay a flag on the grate for retirement.

The camera darkened a bit for this, but here is the fitting end to a good and loyal life.

Our troop and the general public pays their respects.

It's always an honor to participate in this ceremony. God Bless America.

He's Only Just Begun...

Thursday, June 10th, 2010...2 very special occasions. It's JJ's 18th birthday, and also his graduation day from high school.

Wow. How did we get here?

From this...

...to this.

Wow. My handsome, grown son. Wow.

The happy graduate with his Grandpa, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Lori from St. Louis, and Grandma.

With Uncle B and Aunt Stacie from Georgia.

And with the happy family...brother Nicky, Dad and Mom.

Congratulations, my JJ. And Happy Birthday. This is only the beginning!

Playing Tourist in My Own Town

My brother B and his wife Stacie are in town for JJ's graduation. Since Stacie has never been to Washington, we decided to take a whole day and see as much of DC as possible. We did a pretty decent job. :) We were exhausted! We must have walked over 10 miles.


Here's my brother and his obligatory pointing-at-something picture, in this case, the US Capitol. What a dufus!


Stacie's holding up some weird sculpture at the Sculpture Garden near the Smithsonian museums.


JJ and Nicky are with Aunt Stacie and Uncle B near the White House. The President was not at home on Tuesday. :)


B and Stacie doing their best impression of the Washington Monument.

The World War II Memorial--it's very awe-inspiring.


The Vietnam Memorial--The Wall. Wow. Too many names here. Way too many names.

I love this view down the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Capitol. Beautiful.

JJ and Nicky pay their respects to Mr. Lincoln.


The Korean War Memorial. The detail in the faces is unreal. It really looks like the soldiers are looking right at you.

We also did the Air and Space, American History, and Natural History museums. It was a great day, but very tiring.

Washington is my kind of town...lots to see and do...and learn from.