Category Archives: life

grade school autographs

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One of the best (and worst) things about packing up a house you/your family has lived in for 50 years is finding things you held onto, thinking you’d value them so you couldn’t get rid of them.

Well, I’ve found a ton of stuff. Some mine, some my brother’s, a ton of mom’s. Not so many of Dad’s things.

Among my things was a little autograph book from when I finished Junior High – Ursuline School in Athens.

The poor little book was falling apart but I photographed the autographs for posterity. A lot of these people I don’t remember or have lost touch with over the years, some I’m lucky enough to still have in my life.

  • Peter Pontikos is still in touch with my brother.
  • Valerie is still one of my besties!
  • Ditto for Jeffrey!
  • And Zina. I had stayed in touch with Christine as well but she passed away. 😦
  • I can’t remember who RJ is but I hope he’s ok.
  • My darling brother!

One thing I always say is that I never win things. As in luck. I have won lots in my life, but always for work I’ve done. This was the second thing I won in my life – an essay competition.

That same year I won a drawing competition for an animal welfare society with a poster showing a puppy who just wanted a loving home. We never got the poster back. Mom still laments its loss.

The stack in my old bedroom.

Today was another day of packing and stacking. Well emptying cupboards and piling up things for mom to sort through. I am trying to be ruthless but you know mothers… I have to make sure I’m not giving away anything she wants to keep. So I piles tuff for her to check out. And only toss out what is obviously not worth keeping.

z

a little christmas

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Somewhere among all the sorting and searching and packing and getting rid of stuff, I took the time to make a little Christmas display for mom. I’d seen this on Pinterest and though mine is nothing like it, not vintage, just cheap dollar store decorations, it inspired me to make my version.

This is how the frame looked before I painted it white. Too gold for me. Now you can only see bits of gold.

I added two photos of the grandkid/great grandkid for mom and voila, a little Christmas in our 70s kitchen.

The little trees and little house light up.
In my clearing out of old drawers I found this key. No idea what it’s from but I love it!

The beauty of this frame is that it can be used for anything, any time of the year. All you need is imagination.

Meanwhile I’m working out daily. Up and down 2 flights of stairs countless times. With weights (bags and boxes). I’ll have a body to die for come spring. And no gym fees!

Today I went up and pretty much finished the laundry phase of the tidy up. My theory is that once the laundry is empty of stuff that’s been in there for decades, there will be room for newer stuff mom can’t bring herself to get rid of.

Actually, I’m still storing old stuff in there – stuff I brought from Australia that don’t fit in my little house, old photo albums and sentimental stuff my brother and I both left years ago etc. The only stuff I’m getting rid of is the stacks and stacks of old clothes, linen, towels and bags etc. Things which were stuck in there and forgotten. Some of the stuff is still in its original wrappers.

My pile of stuff to donate is growing. The pile of stuff for mom to sort through is growing. And I’m listing the odd thing on Facebook. A lot of stuff would sell well in a garage sale, but we don’t have those here, and FB isn’t a good place to sell things worth little money. Athens is too big for someone to drive to pick up something unless its worth it.

If the weather is good tomorrow I’ll have another go at the ivy. Well, after I finish up upstairs, photographing and listing.

For today I’m done. Tired. Sore. Worn out. But satisfied that things are happening.

z

Update:

I found some old baubles so I was able to give the frame a more vintage look after all!