Because you need to see more weirdo photos...

I did not sleep much last night, and yet my beloved Bettina had arranged for us to spend the morning together watching our most favorite movie: Independence Day.  In the sixteen years we have been friends, we have watched it many, many, many times.  We know all the good lines and all the good scenes.  Offering to watch it with me while Skyping, too, is her way of saying, "I love you, Myrtle!"

While I did snooze a bit during some of the movie, I failed to nap all day.  Amos, however, is quite serious about his napping.  This afternoon, he crawled in my lap and fell asleep for two hours.  Is he not most adorable????

SIGH.

I simply cannot believe, at times, what a gift I was given in this puppy dog.  EVEN with the still lingering potty training issues, Amos brings me such joy and such companionship.  While I would very, very, very much like him to finish this potty training stuff, I am happy to announce that he has learned: upstairs, downstairs, basement, and attic.  And he has learned to go up and down all of those stairs.  In the attic, he LOVES racing around in circles about the chimney and will sometimes get in a few more laps before actually heading back down the stairs.  But because I no longer have to carry him down, I do not mind.  Plus, he is hilarious when he does his laps.

Anyway, to the boring/weird/dorky photos.

I have been fighting to stay awake all day because I am hoping that if I am extra tired, I might sleep better tonight, my first night back on the Loestrin.  And, well, since organization gets me all giddy, I decided to go ahead and tackle the utility closet (the old coal bin room) in the basement.  I think most people would have found it perfectly passable, given its contents, but there was certainly room for improvement.

Here is the view standing out in the main area of the basement looking in.  You will notice that the top of the shelves and the old cabinet is now empty and cleaned.  What you cannot see is in the corner by the door on the top shelf is the circular saw. I screwed two hooks in the wall above it to hang up my two extension cords.  I also organized my tape into two baskets: 1) shipping/art and 2) mechanical/utility (yes, I even have a roll of aluminum tape for duct wor and sheet metal).  The shelf above the tape is the last of the packing paper that I use in mailing things.  I have my wrapping paper container and the hose and attachments for the shop vac.  In the background, you can see the long shelves that line the back wall.

A lot of my work was reducing things once more.  I ended up with two bags of trash--I hate that I paid to move that stuff--and a bag of recycling for items that were left behind by the previous owner in the antique cabinet that I had been ignoring.  I also grouped items and utilized a set of plastic baskets from my elementary school teaching days to keep things in a certain place on the shelf.  For example, the white basket has the pump from my fountain because I decided that it would be best not to leave it in a block of frozen water all winter.  Did you note my boxes of nails, screws, and hardware whatnots stacked between my drill and my small tool box?  I once spent two entire days picking through everything I had and sorting it all out into those craft boxes.  That was some really fine organizing time!

Here, you can see my errant basket math.  The wire shelf pieces are from my old home.  I would like to utilize some of them in my closets, but the clothing bars are in the wrong direction in my closets.  They are on the short part instead of the wide part.  I want them redone and a shelf put on top the length of each closet.  At that point, I will add some of these wire shelf pieces and then give the rest away.  As you can see, I have more painting supplies than anything else I think.

One little victory was that I found a glass door knob set that someone gave me, which I kept of course, but forgot that I had.  The door to the living space in the basement did not have a door knob.  Now, it does!

Anyhow, I can now say that not a single area of my home remains unorganized, un-cleaned, un-reduced, etc.  Of course, there is always room for improvement.  Remember?  I still could reduce down the research articles and books from my graduate degrees, my luggage, those hats, and the clothing from Africa.

So, with the day drawing to a close and fatigue pulling on ever cell of my body, perhaps I will sleep tonight. Perhaps I will be exhausted enough to set aside the fear lingering still from that dream that I may find a bit of much needed peace and rest.


I am Yours, Lord.  Save me!