Tackled

We have started the new year off with amazing progress on several huge undertakings. Yesterday, we cleaned out our pantry - entirely. Shelf by shelf. It saddens me how much food we tossed - things that were open and never finished and therefore had lost their 'crunch', etc. But as J. said 'no guilt - it's amnesty day - let's just clean it out'. So we did - and it looks great. Though it's still a complete PITA to find anything but that's just the nature of the pantry itself. Built into a corner, the shelves are very, VERY deep. Deep enough that H. was crawling into the pantry on his stomach to reach the corners for me and most of his body was inside. So it's hard to keep things within reach and all visible. There's only so much 'front row room' available, kind of like the Toyota Corolla. We have an inventory now and will be eating off the pantry for the next few weeks to cull out even more - and then will keep a running list of what's in there on the inside of the door. Also planning to list available snacks so the kids know what's available and won't forget about things like Wheat Thins, cereal, etc. We won't buy so much - go back to buying what we need for the week and not 'stock up' as much, since we never seem to use some of it. Should cut down on the grocery bill a bit.

Today, we worked on the garage. Unearthed many treasures, including several kitchen things I've been looking for since we moved in SEVEN years ago. The coffee grinder, a waffle iron (since replaced - soon to be donated), a silver bread basket (which I look for EVERY fancy dinner we have and have never found until today), some myrtle wood salad bowls given to us as a wedding gift by J.'s cousin (my recall of exactly who gave them to us and for what occasion amazed J. - sadly, however, my short term memory is not that great) and the knife and serving spatula from our wedding cake. OH, and the coffee grinder - so now I can finally buy whole beans again. Haven't wanted to do that since I had nothing to grind them with and didn't want to spend the $$ for something I knew we had...so now it's located.

Which of course leads to issues because there's nowhere to put these newly located items. Kitchen cupboards are pretty darn full. But that will be my task over the next couple days - to try to clean out the various other cupboards and hopefully cull out and find places for these recent finds.

The other treasures revealed included Zeek the Zebra - he was in the basket of my first two wheeled bike when I was around 7 or 8. He is 40 years old and his age is showing. He's lost an eye and is pretty 'old' looking - but I moved him into the house, into a keepsake box I keep upstairs.

Also unearthed was a photo collage and one of the pictures is me and my dad taken on January 1, 1963 - me on his lap sitting in his chair with the Christmas tree next to us. I would have been 2 1/2. It's a great picture and it was neat to find it close to 47 years TO THE DAY later.

I just lost the "c" on my keyboard. Have lived months without the left shift and control keys - but losing a letter is not something I can live with too long. So I'll try to get the computer in to the 'shop' tomorrow and pray they are able to fix all these things. Can't believe a Dell laptop is falling apart. I must type too hard.

J. returns to work tomorrow. Poor guy. I sort of return to work tomorrow since I have my entire desk here (including my work laptop) and have a few things to work on before returning. The boys are heading to the mountains with friends tomorrow to snowboard for the day, which lets J. off the hook, since he was going to take them on Saturday. So now, he'll be home to help with the continued culling of the garage, cupboards, closets, etc.

We sold the second Wii to a friend from church whose kids are thrilled to have one. They all pitched in their Christmas money to get it and we are happy it went to someone who looked and looked and couldn't find it in the stores anywhere. We sold it for what we paid for it and were just happy to not need to return it. The Wii is a huge hit - LOVE IT, LOVE IT - we are ALL playing and really having a good time and it was a huge hit at the New Years eve party as well. So more Wiis will be flying off the shelves as many more people are now convinced they must have one. Glad we can assist in the commerce. As the stock market continues it's sad decline.

That's all the news. I'll see if I can scan the photo and also try to capture a picture of Zeek and post my first pics on the blog sometime this weekend. No promises, but I'll try.