Traveling Down Memory Lane

The preparation for the move to our new home is in full swing. The garage sale is over and it was certainly prosperous for all of us involved. I met my financial rewards with what I had hoped to earn. What a wonderful, gratifying feeling to have that behind me. Preparing our move has certainly been "a trip down memory lane." As I have taken the time to look into every box it has brought with it a lot of emotions that go clear back to my childhood. That is a lot of years, folks! Some things were more easily thrown out or sold than one item in imperticualr

My Dad always enjoyed making things for me anytime of the year. It did not have to be Christmas or some other special day on the calendar. However, one year probably as far back as fifteen years he made my sister and I an outdoor two-wheeled cart. He used old lumber that he always had lying around from some other project. The cool thing about the cart was that he used old antique wheels given to him by a really good friend of his. That made it even better for him to make something for us. Every spring since that time I have always enjoyed it in my yard with flowers. The wood on the cart suffers damage every year from the weather. Tim has spent time keeping it together by replacing some of the original wood. I have given it a fresh coat of paint every spring so that it may continue to be a bright spot in our yard. Needless to say, I truly hope that the cart will stay with me or my children and their families for a very long time. I am looking forward to moving the flower cart with us to our new home, so that I and others that visit us will also enjoy a true labor of love from my precious Dad. Enjoying the out of doors was his favorite thing in the whole world. That is why keeping something made by him that can be enjoyed outdoors is so special to me.
Traveling down memory lane has been fun and also comforting. There are simply certain special things in our lives that will always connect us to someone close to our heart.

The Dawn of a New Day

Here it is "the dawn of a new day". On my last post I blogged on moving from my home of 22 plus years to a newer ranch home. Our home has been on the MLS listing for 17 days and has shown all but 2 days of that time. We have had 2 potential buyers back for the second time and tonight we have the 3rd second time potential buyers coming back to take another look. In my mind I have moved on to our new home. I am thinking about how to decorate, what colors for the walls, and where I will actually store all of our things. Last weekend was the big basement purge! I and a co-worker are having a huge garage sale soon. Tim and I have moved items from the basement to the garage for lack of a better place to go. Sadly, it is very gratifying to be pitching things that at one time I couldn't even begin to part with. Old things of my adult children. I know when I decided to keep it 25 plus years ago in my mind I jut knew that my children would certainly want the valuables of their childhood. Wrong!

We really do live in a very disposable world. What once meant the world to us doesn't mean a thing months or years down the road. The majority in the present generation of young adults do not have the sentiments that some of us have on items that were made by grandma, grandpa or even the generation of "greats". My generation has a better understanding of the labor of love that went in to homemade items. Now that a move is in store for Tim and Jenny it is time to clear our lives and become free of stuff taking up space.
The "dawn of a new day" brings a chance to make memories, reminisce, cherish valuable moments no matter what we are doing. The stuff in our lives, is just stuff! What is the most meaningful are relationships of all those at home, work, and wherever else we hang out.

My new uncluttered existence is feeling really good.