I have not been blogging lately, as life has provided me with many activities to keep me extra busy...such as flooding my basement, while I was visiting my daughter up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. There is nothing that takes the vacation right out of you as much as coming home from a relaxing trip, then running downstairs to get something and discovering a pesky flood. It was caused by a compression coupling coming apart, which joined some plastic tubing behind our ceiling tiles, and although it was just a steady drip, it must have been dripping for many days because the carpeting was completely saturated. In fact, if it had been cold enough for the water on the carpeting to freeze, I suspect I could have had a wonderful ice-skating rink right there in my basement. After I had completed the process of throwing myself on my family room couch, while holding my head and repeatedly saying "woe is me...woe is me" the requisite amount of times, the arduous task of cleaning up the flood began.
This brings me to the sorting out of the seven million boxes of accumulated junk that we had stored in our basement. Now, my husband had an "attitude of gratitude" regarding this development.
"Amy, you should think of this as a blessing." Dave sagely advised me. "This gives us an opportunity to rid ourselves of all the unnecessary items that we have had downstairs and never got around to sorting through."
The problem with Dave's theory though, was that I felt that he wasn't sharing that blessing in equal proportions to me... although he would dispute this statement. (You will just have to trust me on this one. Despite his denials, Dave was practically an atheist when it came to this particular blessing. Besides, I am the author of this blog, so my version wins.) I moaned and grumbled as I made my way through box after box; separating the items that could be saved from those that could not, and the items that we no longer needed but that were still in good condition, that I could donate to the Salvation Army. I still have many more boxes to go through, but yesterday I decided to take the first load of salvageable, but useful items, to the donation center. Unfortunately, due to a mental lapse undoubtedly caused by overwork, I brought Dave along with me. The problems began to surface, even before we arrived at the site.
"Hey, why are you donating all these duffel bags?" Dave questioned me in an alarmed tone of voice.
"It is because you have somehow managed to acquire 10,000 duffel bags, Dave. I figured that I could give away five thousand of them, while still leaving you with the other five thousand that you can continue to never use."
"What are you, nuts?" Dave replied. "I need these duffel bags. These are in great shape."
"Yes, I know, Dave. That is why I am donating them. I am sure there must be other men who need to keep thousands of unused duffel bags in their basement and I think it would be generous of us, if we gave them a turn."
Dave then proceeded to remove several of the duffel bags from the "donate to the Salvation Army" pile and place them in the newly created "keep these things I will continue to never use, but would like Amy to sort through again following the next flood" pile. Things got even better when we actually arrived at the site. While I was removing the items I wished to donate and had placed in the body of the van, Dave, I discovered, was in the back of the van finding other items he would never use and returning them to our vehicle. I would also like to note that he did so with a speed never evidenced once, during the "sorting through the seven million boxes" stage of this process.
All is well though, because I have learned from my mistakes. I have always believed in the adage that "the more you possess the more it possesses you" and I will be donating plenty of other items to the Salvation Army...including the ones Dave put back in the car. I can do that because I have learned from my second mistake, as well...to never take Dave along with me, when I am making my donations.
Hope all you are enjoying a dry summer...at least INSIDE the home in which you dwell. Blessings! ~~Amycita~~
This brings me to the sorting out of the seven million boxes of accumulated junk that we had stored in our basement. Now, my husband had an "attitude of gratitude" regarding this development.
"Amy, you should think of this as a blessing." Dave sagely advised me. "This gives us an opportunity to rid ourselves of all the unnecessary items that we have had downstairs and never got around to sorting through."
The problem with Dave's theory though, was that I felt that he wasn't sharing that blessing in equal proportions to me... although he would dispute this statement. (You will just have to trust me on this one. Despite his denials, Dave was practically an atheist when it came to this particular blessing. Besides, I am the author of this blog, so my version wins.) I moaned and grumbled as I made my way through box after box; separating the items that could be saved from those that could not, and the items that we no longer needed but that were still in good condition, that I could donate to the Salvation Army. I still have many more boxes to go through, but yesterday I decided to take the first load of salvageable, but useful items, to the donation center. Unfortunately, due to a mental lapse undoubtedly caused by overwork, I brought Dave along with me. The problems began to surface, even before we arrived at the site.
"Hey, why are you donating all these duffel bags?" Dave questioned me in an alarmed tone of voice.
"It is because you have somehow managed to acquire 10,000 duffel bags, Dave. I figured that I could give away five thousand of them, while still leaving you with the other five thousand that you can continue to never use."
"What are you, nuts?" Dave replied. "I need these duffel bags. These are in great shape."
"Yes, I know, Dave. That is why I am donating them. I am sure there must be other men who need to keep thousands of unused duffel bags in their basement and I think it would be generous of us, if we gave them a turn."
Dave then proceeded to remove several of the duffel bags from the "donate to the Salvation Army" pile and place them in the newly created "keep these things I will continue to never use, but would like Amy to sort through again following the next flood" pile. Things got even better when we actually arrived at the site. While I was removing the items I wished to donate and had placed in the body of the van, Dave, I discovered, was in the back of the van finding other items he would never use and returning them to our vehicle. I would also like to note that he did so with a speed never evidenced once, during the "sorting through the seven million boxes" stage of this process.
All is well though, because I have learned from my mistakes. I have always believed in the adage that "the more you possess the more it possesses you" and I will be donating plenty of other items to the Salvation Army...including the ones Dave put back in the car. I can do that because I have learned from my second mistake, as well...to never take Dave along with me, when I am making my donations.
Hope all you are enjoying a dry summer...at least INSIDE the home in which you dwell. Blessings! ~~Amycita~~
tell Dave I sympathies
ReplyDeletewifey always throws my stuff away surreptitiously
that is the only way we can do it, gene! ;)
Deletealways a pleasure Amycita......
ReplyDeletewell, maybe you should be thanking dave...he is the one who provides me with most of my material. ;)
DeleteThanks for the giggle. I know full well, this would have been reversed in my house. I save EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeletewell, then it is clear that you should have married dave, instead of me. i am a "less is more" kind of person, while dave is a "more is more" type. lol! thanks, for visiting and leaving a comment, fayth!
DeleteFayth,I'm with you girl!!,lol!!. We are both like the little kids in the Verizon commercials!!. More!!,More!!,We want MORE!!,MORE IS BETTER!!,lol!!. Right Girl!!,lol!! David
ReplyDeletePoor Dave
ReplyDelete