Purging before Party

Two dogs and I took a few minutes yesterday afternoon for a neighborhood photo run.  It had been yet another busy day preparing for the upcoming weekend when 30 family members come to the Lovestead for dinner.  

Bill and I haven't exactly fulfilled the ten-year purge that he suggested last year, but we have made several trips to the transfer station, and more will come before Friday. 

His thoughts at the time were that we should throw away everything we haven't touched for ten years.  Good idea but easier said than done.

For example, in those boxes underneath the counter in the shop off from the house are lots of papers, some of them still valuable, like my college diploma and some written material upon which I would like to expand----some day.  That may never happen, but it's nice to have the basic foundation still on hand.

I don't even want to talk about the hundreds of Willie's socks, packed away along with all his college stuff in one attic store room upstairs.  

One never knows when old what athletic socks will come in handy.  So, that stuff will stay, especially because removing all those items involves too much bending over under the low ceiling for this old body.   

How about what's left of my teaching materials?  Let's see---it's been nearly 15 years since I stepped into a classroom to teach English or journalism.  But still, one never knows . . . .

Instead of purging, yesterday generally included table-cleaning and table-cloth sorting and decorating-strategy and removing-more-cobwebs time.  

We're also developing more contingency plans for both dogs and people in case of possible rain Saturday night.   

The comparatively squeaky clean shop ((at least compared to what it was two weeks ago)  will get the nod if we have rain, but I would much prefer to have our dining time spent on and around the deck. 

If only we could trade weather days when events like this come up.  

I would have exchanged yesterday for Saturday, for sure.  Perfect weather, beautiful sunshine, pleasant temperature, heightened fall colors, even though we're still a ways off from the absolute glory of autumn. 

Today looks like another beauty, and I might even have time to enjoy it before the final assault which comes tomorrow with lawn mowing and vacuuming and other last-minute items.  

Reunion revelers start showing up Friday.  And, happily, all thoughts of purging, cleaning, rearranging stuff, etc. can be put to bed for another ten years.  I hope anyway!

Happy Wednesday.