Good Ridance!

I love throwing things away. By throw away, I mean “get it out of my sight.” It could be giving something away, donating, recycling… whatever! If I’ve had it and get to get rid of it, I’m happy!

Here is a small sampling of things that give me pleasure:

• Clean out the fridge and throw stuff away
• Discard old clothes from the closet and donate
• Recycle a shampoo bottle
• Use up food from the cabinet

If you looked at the photo of my desk last week (click here), you wouldn’t believe me when I told you that I like to throw stuff out. Paper, filing, and Rachel Ray are my nemeses. This week, not only did I defeat some swarmy piles of paper, we reorganized the office and gave 3 lovely pieces of furniture to good homes.

In a moment of clarity on Monday, I realized that, in a few short weeks, we would need to sleep when my pregnant sister-in-law, Rebecca, comes to visit with her baby, Annabel. Our choice? Buy an air mattress or a futon. Since we’d like to be moving soon, though, we balked at the idea of spending money on something that we might not need in our new home. What to do? I turned to trusty old Craigslist and found a free, clean futon. (No, really, it is.) 5 minutes after the first realization, we were set to pick up the solution to our problem later that night when I got off of work.

And then it hit me. Where were we going to put this large piece of furniture? I rushed home, posted the three items in the office that we’ve wanted to get rid of on Craigslist for free, and left for work. Within 30 minutes, all three pieces were promised. Within 4 hours, they were emptied out and gone! A few hours later, our office was a disaster, but it had a new-to-us futon and a finally assembled bookshelf (from that last trip to IKEA). We’d been putting off doing much with the office because we didn’t want to spend money, but in reality, putting several hours of craziness into it made it so much better … and no money was spent! (Plus, we got to build the dog tunnel.) Quite an accomplishment for one day.

Now, that desk piled in papers- GONE! It’s no longer a source of guilt and frustration, because it’s not there any more. Hooray! If you can’t beat it… get rid of it!

We now have a guest room (aka an office with a futon) and less cluttered house. Eventually, I’ll get to the rest of the filing and clean out the closet, but for one week, this is good enough.

Dog Tunnel

Tonight, instead of blogging, Chris and I made a dog tunnel.

Honey's head in tunnel

Using the IKEA box that we had just emptied, we coerced a very skiddish dog into crawling all the way through.  This was hysterical, joyous, and really talented!  We totally high-fived when we did it!

On one hand, we had success in teasing Honey through the tunnel.  On the other, it made me sad that Wholesome Hounds didn’t really make it, since the Just Liver Treats were what convinced her to go all the way through.

Honey's butt in tunnel

Either way, Chris and I had an awesome time rearranging our house and getting the dog to belly crawl through a box.  Very successful night.  I’ll let you know tomorrow all about the changes to the house.

Tonight, I’ll remind you that we got our dog to walk through a cardboard tunnel.  We’re (read “Chris is”) that good.  He’s got a knack for this dog!

It’s Sunday Night

Reasons I am not posting a thoughtful, contemplative note this evening:

1.  I had an extremely busy and fun day, and I’m spent.  We went soaring through the redwoods while ziplining this morning at Sonoma Canopy Tours (my first time ever!) and had an awesome and humungous lunch at Howard’s Station in Occidental.  Then I drove all the way home and tutored.  Plus, after all that, Chris and I spent 1.5 hours cursing IKEA and saying WTF as we put together our new bed.

But look!  We did it!  It is great in our room, and even though it doesn’t match any of the rest of the furniture, it somehow pulled it all together.  The room feels proportioned; the bed is the right height; and we even get some under-the-bed storage.  It sure makes me thrilled about my new plan to get our house in order…  Except the vacuum broke again.  Damn you, Hoover!

Honey and Chris enjoying the bed

2.  I keep forgetting that tomorrow morning starts a 9 day cleanse with my friend, Chandra, who lives in New Jersey.  Since I just remembered (for the zillionth time in the last 3 days) that it begins so soon, I am spending some time planning and steeling my mind to the challenge ahead, i.e. no coffee, which she just reminded me of.  It’s a good thing that I (actually remembered for a brief moment on Friday and) ordered extra veggies and fruits from the CSA for the upcoming week.

This is the plan:  2 days eating raw foods, 5 days juicing, and 2 final days eating raw foods.  It’s an interesting way to end year 32 and begin 33!

3.  See numbers 1 and 2 above.  Nighty-night!

Wonderstore

There are few places on earth where you can buy a bed and Swedish meatballs.  Or curtains and lox.

I have a love/hate relationship with the megastore, IKEA.  Ever since reading Corderoy as a kid, I have wanted to get locked overnight in a department store.  IKEA would be the perfect place; its model apartments would provide hours joyful exploration.  And you could have an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord.  Amazing and incredible!  I’m going during the day, though, so there’s no chance that I will be left behind by my owner and get to do that.  A girl can dream, right?

Also, it makes me think about what my life would be like if it were “better.”  What if I had less stuff?  Or if my house were clean?  Or if I didn’t move every year and could actually bolt stuff to the walls?  Would I be organized enough to fit my family into a wall-less 400 sq. ft. home?

haha  Definitely not.  No matter what.  Ever.

There is another part of me that is always wondering if the quality is good enough, why they cover everything in plastic veneer, and how badly the environment was damaged to create what sits before me.  And somehow, I still want to purchase almost everything.  In the past, I’ve spent so long there, that I’ve left completely dehydrated with a headache and sore feet.  I now bring a bottle of water and Advil and wear comfy shoes.

Tomorrow, I brave IKEA once again, and I’m going to ignore those aforementioned thoughts in order to buy this bed:

The Rykene fram is solid wood!!! At IKEA!

We have been sleeping with our mattress on the floor for 6 months, which probably doesn’t help my allergies.  So I’m splurging and spending $129.  Not only is the price right, but it’s one of the only things IKEA makes that is all wood.  And I can be happy with that.

Throw in a lunch of meatballs and a few hours of meandering and daydreaming, and it’s a pretty perfect afternoon.