Stuff on its way out

I did it! Three boxes and four grocery sacks of decluttered Stuff from the garage, a big box of more didn't-sell-at-the-garage-sale Stuff from the house, and it's all sitting in the entryway for a charity to pick up. WOOHOO! They better leave the dogwood tree alone, heehee, as it's not labelled for pickup. 


Now I have that look, the one that scans every nook and cranny of the house for more Stuff to get rid of. Time to put the true junk in the trash can, finish sorting the kid detritus for the keepers and toss the rest in the trash, and fill the car trunk with recyclables. Then I'm bagging up magazines for the boys' school's paper-Stuff recycling drive. We're gonna clear out the corners; she's on a roll!

Milky Way vs football season

It's August, and the Very Big Lights for nighttime practices and games in the Local Big University's football stadium are on most nights now. As they will be until December. I can see them from our upstairs windows looking north about 2-3 miles. Besides the blinding experience this provides when we drive -- frequently -- on a certain street near the stadium at & after dusk (I use the sunvisor to block the lights!), my main thought is: will this light wash out my chances of seeing the Milky Way this fall? Maybe it's not a problem; our backyard is on the opposite side of the house, and the biggest light pollution (!) is the single light on the street near the park, a yearround thing. I'm still delighted to have seen the Milky Way from my backyard.

Book Stack Changes

Yep, another library trip. Yet again Son2 got some novels (Star Wars) despite my efforts to steer him toward books with pictures! He loves to "read" in the car just like big brother, and announce things like, "I'm on Chapter One, page two!" He also practices his counting to 100 with the page numbers.

Son1 (and I!) picked up the requested Book Six in the Young Underground series; I got mixed up so we checked out books 7 and 8 last week and are impatient for book 6. More fun in post-WW2 Denmark with kids' adventures and a little faith mixed in, very nicely and with a light touch despite my doubts. We're both hooked on this series.

Son1 also got two more Bionicle "novels," and the second and third Wrinkle in Time followups, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I read the first and second books as a kid, but not the third. I'll be reading these too.

My requests and interlibrary loans arrived! I waited for a while for Bill Clinton's My Life. I wonder how many people requested it -- they have nearly a hundred copies in the regional library system! I used to read autobiographies and bios all the time, and this summer I've picked it up again. If I'm still up for it, I'm planning to try George and Laura again after W.J. Clinton's book.

Interlibrary loans: How Cities Work: Suburbs, sprawl, and the roads not taken and Suburban Nation: The rise of sprawl and the decline of the American dream. Yep, I really like urban planning, smart growth, community stuff. I heard an author interview on public radio awhile ago with some great discussion about suburbs. After some Amazon wandering and the library catalog, I found these books in the system.

I also borrowed Edge City (sort of about suburbs becoming their own economies), but I'm going to wait on that 'cause the nonrenewable ILLs go to the top of the stack.

Only now, upon blogging about it, do I search the Diane Rehm Show archives and find what I heard was the second hour of the June 29 show, with David Brooks, author of On Paradise Drive. A request has now been placed via the library's online catalog.

Two of the ILLs' back cover blurbs refer to Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which I loved when I read it long ago. I may or may not be able to concentrate enough to read all three of these books over the next few weeks, but we'll see.

Oh, and I returned From My Mexican Kitchen (just couldn't get into it right now).

Pics from the last 8 days

Son2 observing Son1 being "crushed" by the giant woolly mammoth (sculpture) at our local natural history museum. 


The boys frolicking near the Celtic cross on the church grounds after our all-ages evening vacation church school a week ago. It's all about the wall. Silly boys! 


This wasn't all on one day -- you knew that, right? I mean, it could've been, technically, but it wasn't. Anyway, check out the at-dusk visit to the snow-cone stand. Flavors: Son2 - peach. Son1 - toxic waste (it was grey, I kid you not). Dear husband - lemon lime. Me - brown cow (chocolate and coconut). 


For your viewing pleasure: a simple yet effective way to display books for the kids. Summertime only, believe me! Have I mentioned that we decorate in Children's and Family Activities?? On the left: ancient history and Olympics, with fiction in front. Middle: Vote! and related books. Right: a mix of mostly picture books. 

Let's learn to read... tshirts!

Lately Son2 (age 4 1/2) has been asking to read. I've brought out the Bob books that Grandma C gave us and we've worked through the first four books. After we've sounded/read through each book, Son2 reads it again to anyone breathing — Son1, Daddy, me. Daddy is very patient at teaching him to sound out the words.

Just now I heard Daddy patiently teaching Son2 to sound out "Nittany Lions" from the Penn State tshirt he's wearing. LOL!

We are a Penn State family (we met there in grad school, meteorology) -- or at least we grownups are. Son1 is seriously inclined to the local school, OU, to our chagrin (did I mention we're a PSU family?!?). Son2, well... obviously dear husband is working to avoid a similar fate for him, our sole Sooner-born offspring.

News flash: Son2 just ran to Daddy from the bedroom and showed off his Penn State tshirt. For now the indoctrination is working, heehee.

Meteors, ice cream, wash-n-wear house!

I LOVED seeing even just a few streaks of the Perseid meteor shower last night. I was up way too late yet again, but just before I went to bed (midnight!) I remembered the Perseids. For the first time in years, it was a clear night.

I turned off all unneeded lights in the house, and stepped out into the backyard. After about 10 minutes of meteor- and star-watching, I was able to see many more stars than when I first stepped outside. I believe I also saw the Milky Way! I live at the southern edge of our town of 100,000; there are only a few much smaller towns beyond us; our subdivision property backs up to a 7-acre park; the land falls away gently in that direction (southwest), and... it was quite lovely.

I'm thankful for "earthgrazing" midnight meteors, not too many lights, and a cloudless and starry sky.

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Recipe for a happy kids-and-mom moment yesterday: serve ice cream as snack and call it good. Son1 and Son2 were sooooo happy, and I love doing crazy things like that. Makes for joyful times.

I'm thankful for midday ice cream, "why not?" decisions, and happy kids.

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It was windy this afternoon, and the clouds looked suspiciously rain-showery in an unorganized way. Then! Suddenly! The skies opened and big fat raindrops drummed on all surfaces! I ran to close the open windows near books and carpet (all upstairs), and afterward got around to closing the front windows in the dining area. No worries, even though it had rained about two feet into the house through those windows. No problem!

Our floors in the living areas are finished concrete and there was no furniture or anything else near those windows. I got a cleanup towel, wiped the windowsills dry (and clean -- bonus!), and dried the floor. The concrete is our foundation, which previous owners had prepped, stained slate gray, and finished to a gloss that's not slippery. It looks good, feels great on bare feet in our hot summers, and stands up to anything. Spilled oatmeal? Play dough? Bright colored drinks? Ill children? Super easy cleanup, and no worries about stains or what stayed in the carpet.

I'm thankful for the gift of a wash-n-wear house!

Stuff update

News flash: if, after wayyyy more than 48 hours (and a sleepover, my excuse), the closet Stuff is still lining the hallway, the kids can help -- especially if some of it is their Stuff.

Here's how: keep drinking your coffee and reading when the kids discover that the row of containers on top have THEIR detritus from the last 6-12 months, and haul it off to their room to dump on the floor for seriously fun exploration. Let the floor remain covered in old kid detritus for two more days, then drag everyone's derriere in there, and start sorting.

A trash bag within arms reach is extremely helpful. Also, I made them put their sorted things in common. I.e., put Lego stuff in the Lego bin... huge pile of goofy little toys in a big bucket just for goofy little toys... stickers and animal-shaped erasers from Grandma C to the art and writing/doodling cupboards, respectively...

As it turned out, I was DONE allowing them to pile up every semi-demi-hemi-precious object in their small "it's mine" boxes. Instead, all cars together, all Lego together, and if you can remember which is yours, enjoy the thought while you play. Extra-special stuff may still be squirreled away, but let's discriminate a bit as to what is "special," shall we? I ought to write that thought on my arm in pen for my own Stuff!

Now, to finish the ex-closet Stuff. Perhaps I ought to direct the kids' attention to the other containers of their Stuff. Or, now that I've gotten rolling, drag the trash bag over and deal with it myself, eh?

The last part of this Stuff turns out to be kitchen Stuff that I've lived without for 15 months. I'm putting 90 percent of it out for the charity pickup that's coming next Wednesday. My goal: a HUGE pile for charity, and get the nooks and crannies of the house clear once again!