One Sentence Post Saturday - Singing as a Dead Celeb

You know you are becoming unhinged when you can amuse yourself singing "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on The Roof as the late, Great Katherine Hepburn.

Chaos of Clutter

I have enjoyed many different types of careers within my nursing career including 12 years spent as a homecare nurse. I like caring for patients and families on their turf. I learn so much about a person from their environment, it is an extension of their personality and often, pathologies. One memorable case really opened my eyes to the obessive compulsive disorder of hoarders.

This dear, sweet elderly woman lived alone in a 1200 square foot California bungalow with two bedrooms and a bathroom. I will have to take the fact there was a second bedroom on faith as the house, except for a narrow pathway, was unpassable. There were old newspapers, junk mail, catalogs, paper bags, and all manner of detritus stacked up on every available horizontal surface. It was a canyon of stuff leaning up against the walls in the hallway and the kitchen. Only one half of the stove top was accessible as the other half was covered with pots, pans, dishes, and trash. The patient had a double bed of which a narrow section was open for sleeping as the rest was covered with more newspapers, magazines, craft projects, and stuff. It was amazing as this woman was adamant nothing get thrown out. Needless to say, the house was a huge fire and safety hazard, especially for an elderly person with limited mobility. I worked with the community Fire Department and Social Worker to address this extreme situation. It was heartbreaking to see this, especially how distressing this is to the hoarder. It truly is a mental illness requiring professional pyschological assistance.

I am not a fan of tchtokes (knick knacks in Yiddish), but I enjoy art and have a few collections of things that are meaningful and bring me joy. I have to work hard to keep the clutter/mess monster at bay. It seems to be unavoidable fact of civilized life that stuff will creep into my living space. I have learned a few things so my house doesn't need an intervention from the city including:

I sort mail at the recycling bin, try to keep junk mail from entering the house.

All the stuff like bills, statements, important paperwork, I try to follow the mantra, "Handle paper only once". Which means, I will sort it, file it,or act on it, not bury it with the magazines and forget about it. No, no, no. Well, that's my goal anyway, my reality, well, Flylady I am not. Not even Flygirl. More like Penguin Waddle girl...

Anytime I get something new, like a new kitchen gadget, I will get rid of a something else in the kitchen. Or if it's a new pair of jeans, I will donate a pair of pants or other clothing (doesn't even have to be mine, could be the kids). This is based on the input/output system where your house is a closed system and if you take something in, you must also eliminate something, kind of like a living thing. Pretty cool, eh? We always keep a box in the garage for donations and just put them out there as they become redundant or outgrown, etc.

I plan for purging stuff on a semi regular basis or when the mood strikes. I like to enlist the boys in cleaning out old stuff when they expect an influx of new stuff like before the holidays or their birthdays. Our youngest son cracked me up when he brought me his old bathrobe to donate to Good.will after getting a new one for Christmas.

The mood to clean struck recently(like a blue moon, not too often) to clean out some closets and donate pillows and blankets to a local animal rescue, New Leash on Life. I was inspired also by the Blanket/Clothing Drive sponsored by AntiBloggedy which has a cool prize if you are struck with a mood to straighten and donate to a worthy cause in your community.

I appreciate the opportunity to clean up my act and do something for someone else too. Thank you and I would appreciate any tips you have to keep your environment or life more streamlined and peaceful.

CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome

Ghost Story

I answered a meme awhile back and listed having a ghostly experience as one of my random things. A bloggy buddy of mine, Lori requested more information, so here is my story.

I was a camp counselor as a teenager for many years in rural Indiana. This girls’ summer camp was located on the banks of the Little Miami Whitewater River. In addition to the cabins on the bluff overlooking the river, there was a former large hunting lodge used as the mess hall, dormitory, lounge, and infirmary for the camp. It had been added on to in a haphazard fashion over the years and had interesting hallways with windows facing other rooms.

I was in the infirmary of the lodge alone early one bright summer evening; at least I thought I was alone. I heard footsteps down the hallway and went out to look and even though I could hear the footsteps just a yard or two away from me, there was nothing. The steps came closer and closer and then a shaft of frigid air passed right through me (literally took my breath out of my body and away) and the steps continued. I hightailed it out of there.

The Little Miami Whitewater River has experienced severe flooding several times in the last century which unfortunately resulted in the loss of many lives. This included the area surrounding the camp and the campfire stories told of a cabin filled with campers being washed away into the boiling and black water during a storm. I don’t know if it was one of those poor, restless souls come to visit me or something else, but I won’t rule out the possibility.

4th folder 4th picture Tag

I was tagged by dear KimboSue for a Photo Treasure Hunt tag where you
1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more people.

This is a picture of my oldest son taken a couple summers ago in our neighborhood pool. Yes, there is a child underneath that hair.

I would like to tag

AntiBloggedy
Rambler
Are You Kidding Me?
Dairy of Wicked Step Mom

Four is a sacred number in many cultures and religions including the Zia tribe of New Mexico, The Four cups of wine drunk during Jewish Passover, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. We have many examples in biology and nature. The four chambers of the human heart, a four leaf clover, hmm, it's wonderful to meditate on this and I thank Kimbosue for helping remind me with this fun Tag treasure hunt.

Perfect Moment Monday - Kvell

Hello, and I am back in the saddle again for the Perfect Moment Monday Round Up led by dear Lori of Weebles Wobblog. (Such an adorable blog name).

This perfect moment occurred several weeks ago and it is the kind of moment that makes a parent "kvell". (Yiddish word meaning to beam with pride and pleasure.) I know my husband sure was when he came home from a Los Angeles Clippers basketball game with the boys. My husband, K. and our two sons, along with about two dozen Cub Scouts and grown ups attended a game at the Staples Center as part of a Cub Scout outing. A fellow Scout dad works for the basketball team and arranged to have eight boys act as color guard, i.e. carry the flag for the opening ceremony and National Anthem. Very cool. The Scout Leader drew eight names out of hat and our son, S. was chosen. One of the younger boys who wasn't chosen really wanted to participate and apparently had a major meltdown over it while still on the charter bus. S. volunteered to let this little boy take his place. The little boy's grandmother told S., "No, Thank you, he needs to learn that he doesn't always get his way." (Wow, way to go, Grandma!)

When my husband came home and related this story, I joined him in walking on air. Our son was matter of fact about offering his place. His compassion and kindness created a perfect moment or Mitzvah for his parents. (Mitzvah is another Yiddish word meaning good and honorable deed. Gee, I didn't know this was also going to be a language lesson today.)

Our son, as the oldest boy in the color guard, held the flag during the ceremony and was high fived and fist bumped by quite a few of the players. I venture to say, that was a perfect moment for him.

Thank you for allowing me to share this perfect moment, that is part of the joy.

New Year's Resolutions - NOT!

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, for me, it isn't a powerful agent for change. The closest I got to a New Year's resolution was last year after the retail excess that is Christmas motivated me to quit using plastic shopping bags. It was easier than I thought and it felt good to cut down my bag consumption from 350 bags a year to about 50 bags. I like the idea of creating change to be other-directed, in this case, for our landfills.
So in the spirit of my non resolution, I am going to continue to work on being kinder and more forgiving of myself because I am learning it all begins with me. I anticipate and will work to create this for myself and those in my life. I think the key to this is to foster an attitude of appreciation which is something I have sorely lacked this holiday season. I have acted like this holiday was something to be endured instead of enjoying it. So after gaining this insight, I "caught myself" feeling appreciative for:

My dear Brother in law and sister in law who visited us last night and said that next year they want to share the holidays with us which we haven't done for many years.
My mother who can be challenging to be around was very concerned and calls daily while I recover.
My husband who has been working his butt off taking care of me, the house, and the family forgives me when I am a grumpy bi+ch.
Feeling better and more human everyday after going 4 rounds with the oral surgeon. (Note to those anticipating oral surgery, it hasn't been that bad, Really!)

"Patience is the gift you give others, Tolerance is the gift you give yourself."

Glass Jaw

I thank you all so much for your well wishes and empathy.
I think wisdom teeth extraction is alot like mining only with smaller tools and I was probably nuts to do it without being put to sleep. After working in surgery for seven years, anesthesia is much more frightening than the procedure. So as I recover, I certainly have developed a new appreciation for solid food. I never thought eating chocolate pudding would be BORING! I am craving anything with a crust which is strictly verboten. I have developed a keen understanding of the term, "glass jaw". I don't recognize the inside of my mouth anymore, it's a whole new world. I wish I could blame this silly post on painkillers, but they make me sick and sleepy so I am doing just fine with Vitamin "I" aka Ibuprofen.
I just wanted to thank you all so much for your support and I hope you enjoy something chewy, scrumptious, and solid, like a crisp apple or juicy steak, or lobster, or OMG, I am torturing myself. Back to the ice bags and insanely stupid TV.