Decluttering the office

You are going to be so proud of me! I'm so proud of me! 

OK -- before being proud, I'm pretty embarrassed, and I think I should preface what I'm about to share with you with this statement: 

My name is Elaine, and I am a hoarder! 

This all started because we were pulling samples for Quilt Canada, and one of my colleagues always has labels on all her samples. I have to blame someone, and she gets the blame today! Although this blame is a POSITIVE thing. She uses laminated business cards. So the question was, did I have business cards, or would I need to buy some? Could I use paper or some other form of paper and pre-cut them? 

I bought laminating sheets (a few that self-laminate and some that need a machine). Our new central library has a laminating machine for the public to use. I managed to find the laminating sheets at Wal-Mart. But what about cards? I've been mulling that over on the walks and decided I might need something slightly larger than a business card. I wasn't sure, and Wal-Mart didn't have business cards, so I would have to go to Staples. 

I was certain I already had blank business cards, but where were they? I knew they would be in the office supply cabinet if I had some. 

So, yesterday morning, I opened the doors. ACK!!! While everything was in one place, that's pretty scary, and let's say that it was hard to find anything in there, and there literally was no more room. 

The office supply cabinet

So, I tackled one shelf at a time. I was only going to go as far as finding those business cards. I started by putting stuff on a chair, which was silly. 

Starting to unload the cabinet

Only office supplies were supposed to be in that cabinet, but I found two pieces of office clutter. Look at the date!!! I'm sure I will find a lot of that kind of thing in the rest of the office. And did you notice that I seem to gravitate to the areas behind doors in this space? I can't seem to tackle the visual clutter sitting on the tables! Well, I am, but it's slow going. 

In the recycling!

I found an empty wrapper of printer paper. Seriously? 

Why?

I found some cute little cards for messages I probably bought to put in M's lunch. 

The front

The back

I had quite a few. There were two different messages, and I found some other inspirational cards later on. 

A pile of those little cards

OK—so I started on one shelf, which progressed to two, then three, and soon (OK—several hours later), the cabinet was EMPTY!!! Doesn't it give you a good feeling to see an empty cabinet? The old me would have been trembling to see all my precious stuff out of the cabinet, but the new me was excited, and I couldn't stop. 

The cabinet is empty

Here are some of the treasures I found. 

I know you're asking yourself, how many office supplies does one household need, and what was in there? Journals and notebooks, along with the office supplies. I had a thing for journals, and shockingly, I had several of the same kind! Some of them were generic ones, but some of them either had a bicycle or sewing theme or were orange. How many journals does one person need? 

What's even worse is that I went through them, and often, I found something written on the first page—and that was it! Not all—I'll say that 90% of the journals were brand new, and some are still in their original wrapping. 

I wasn't going to throw out a perfectly good journal, so I ripped out the pages with crap on them. I had two piles - one from M and one from me. M's is in the recycling, and I'll go through my small pile in greater detail because I question my sanity when I quickly glance at some of the writing. Remember -- this is all about me and my memories and then it can go! 

What I ripped from the journals

But the piles of what I ripped out are small, as you can see above. Some of M's stuff was cute. Look—she made a quilt pattern for me. 

A quilt pattern for Mom!

I found packages of decorative writing pads, and if anyone would like them, they are yours! I don't know if they would be good for journal making, as many of them are directional in the portrait style, but I don't want any of them. 

Sheets of decorative paper for the printer

Yes -- I did find office supplies and some photo paper. That stuff I kept for the moment. 

Some actual office supplies

Did I find business cards? So help me, but yes, I found business cards. In fact, I found at least five bundles of them. If I had rushed to Staples to buy more, I would have kicked myself to the curb!

Business cards

There were several tubs in the cabinet, and one of them was filled with block pads of paper—most of them never opened. OH GOSH --- some of this stuff dates back to the days when I worked for Hewlett Packard, and I haven't worked there in over 25 years! I had an entire stack of paper with my name on it, as we used to handwrite notes on documentation. I kept that since it had my name on it, but so much of it went. 

Blocks of note paper

OK -- so I know you're asking yourself - what the heck did I do with the stuff? I had already started a donation box, which I found in the pile of boxes in the office. That pile was temporary, and I've been keeping any decent-sized boxes so I could use them as donation boxes. 

A donation box was already started

The kitchen looked like this at one point, and it was bad - there was stuff everywhere. I attempted to deal with the giveaway stuff as I decided what to keep and what to toss. 

The keep pile

At the end of that exercise, I had EIGHT boxes of stuff for donation. I'm going to call my local school and ask if they want the boxes of office supplies, which are mostly sketchbooks, journals, school notebooks, loose-leaf paper, pads of paper—both lined and graph—and little notepads. The white box on the wall is for the thrift store. 

Boxes for donation

Can you believe that? Why do I get myself into these messes? I swear every time I spotted a cute journal, I purchased it, even if I already had the same one at home. It was a disease, and I know that I went shopping for something to do. I wasn't always happy to stay at home for the entire day, so retail shopping was my therapy. Thank goodness, I've curbed that habit!!!

I found some cord name clips. I found TWO packages of the darn things. Who knew that I already had something that I needed.  They are in the basket of cords, and I'll deal with naming them later. 

Cord naming devices

Speaking of business cards, I also found boxes of my business cards. Seriously? How many does one person need? I haven't dealt with those yet. 

Already printed business cards

The clean-up job took about four hours from start to finish. Once a donation box was filled, it was hauled to the front hall to lessen the mess in the kitchen. I had sorted it into piles as I went, so putting it back in the cupboard was easy. 

The after!!!

Oh, my God! Does that even look like the same cupboard? Did you notice there is ONE completely empty shelf? I can't put anything on it at the moment as it's missing one support. BUT I have a bag of them in a closet in the basement, and I know exactly where they are!!!

There are TWO shelves of blank journals! I will never use that many in my life, but for the moment, I'm keeping them. I think I'm allowed after everything else that I gave away. I thought it might be hard, but my mind was now set on cleaning up the mess, so it was much easier than I thought it would be. 

Do not judge me! This cabinet can definitely be reviewed again, but for the moment, it stays the way it is. 

One shelf is devoted to envelopes, one to sketchbooks, two to journals, one to printer paper, one to random stuff like empty folders and business cards, and one to small pads of paper. 

While it was extremely satisfying to see the amount of empty room in the cabinet, there was nothing more satisfying than closing the door and ACTUALLY hearing CLICK as the doors were able to shut properly. 

The doors can shut properly!

OK—I confess that I went into the office and opened that door several times to survey my work and to hear that click!!! 

I didn't tackle the top of the cupboard - perhaps today, but it's stuff I want to keep, and now that there is an empty shelf, once I get the support, I can eliminate everything on the top. 

The top is next

And so, without any thought, that cupboard in the office is done! I must survey the other areas and see what goes next. NO -- I need to take the same amount of time and tackle either the desktop or the table top and do the same thing. Most of what I find will be tossed in the garbage or recycled, and it's going to take longer and have less visual impact, but it must be done. 

While I'm super excited about what happened, I can't believe I accumulated that much stuff. But we're going to move on—there's no sense lamenting what we can't change. The most important thing from that is to learn never to do that again. 

Does anyone need some help? I'm getting pretty ruthless these days, and I can talk you out of keeping most things!

Now for those hooks, I purchased the other day. This is what they look like, and their job is to connect those metal shelving units to each other. In the case of warehouse storage. 

New metal hooks

What I used them for is to hang my digital cutter mats!! They are very sturdy, so I can easily hang multiple mats on one hook. Since I can access the back of this shelf as well, I'm going to purchase another box of hooks and hang ALL the mats up. Currently, they are stored on the top shelf.

Hanging the digital cutter mats

Gosh—I love when things come together, and the more you play with decluttering, the easier it becomes. On my walks, I think about possible storage places. I will say that I LOVE this storage shelf for all the bits of my embroidery and sewing machines. It's all in one place, it's easy to get to, it's large enough, and it was the best $100 I spent. 

If you are looking for this type of shelving, DO NOT buy new. Many warehouses are going out of business or replacing their shelving; tons of it can be found on Facebook Marketplace—at least in my area. 

Some are assembled, so you'll need a van to move them, or some are already apart. I want to buy two more shelves as I have another problem area and didn't know how to address it. But when I thought of these shelving units (on wheels), that was the answer to my problem. I hope to get that resolved in the next couple of weeks. 

On that note, I'm off to spin class this morning!! I'm so excited. That's because of my cleaning. Imagine what I'll be like when the entire office is done!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The long way home!

I'm home! 

It was a long journey home! And while I appreciate help when packing up, I really don't need it or want it. I always feel RUSHED, and I shouldn't, but I do! But I got the luggage packed, and then the question was -- how much does that suitcase weigh? I knew I would be borderline as I had left some room for the samples I needed to pick up in Montreal, but when I weighed the case, it was just over 50 lbs, and that won't do. 

I switched a couple of things around, and that was better. Let's hope that all is well. I didn't even get the fabric I wanted, knowing I wouldn't have room. Sigh -- I can always call them and order it. 

The day went very well; for the most part, I'm getting those sewing terms in french more and more solidified in my head. I mentioned that I have one more critical deadline that I can't move, and it is due Tuesday morning when I need to be back on a plane. I have to make a presentation. For the life of me, as I rehearse it - it's in FRENCH, and it has to be in English! It might take a day or two for my brain to convert back. 

So back to the trip home. As I finished the presentations, I saw it was snowing. Great! I received an email from Air Canada earlier in the day saying the weather might impact my flight and I could make changes if I wanted. No room to make changes. 

I took Uber to the airport. Now that was an adventure. When I first moved to Montreal in the late 70s, I was warned about the crazy drivers in Quebec. As I  drove along the 401 and the closer I got to the border, I had visions of total craziness. However, it was better than I had envisioned. 

However, my Uber driver was ALL the crazy drivers rolled into one. We left the store at 5:30 or somewhere around there. We were to arrive at the airport at 6:20. I figured there would be some delays because of the weather and the traffic. Well, he did everything that makes me cringe when I see other drivers do it - we wove through traffic, scooted out in entrance ramps to get ahead, and I swear he tailgated all the way. His brakes will not last long. 

The arrival time changed to 6:25, but by the time we got to the airport, he had made up the time - in rush hour traffic! Plus, it was snowing, so drive with caution? Nope -- not that guy, and for the most part, he was keeping up with the traffic - OK -- so he was trying to be ahead of it all. 

I arrived in one piece at the airport and went off to get that large bag checked. There's nothing sweeter than seeing the bag disappear without being flagged for weight. By my scale, it weighed just under 50 lbs. 

Bye bye luggage

Remember that I had good intentions to do those Adventure Labs when I was at the airport? I was so tired or whatever that I remembered them when we were halfway to Toronto. Sigh..............

They asked if people wanted to check in their carry-on luggage for free as the flight was 'busy," and I thought -- why not? I had to wait for my other bag, which meant one less thing to carry, so I only had my backpack and jacket. 

OK -- I understand that some people don't travel much, but really! The way they board the planes now is by zone. Zone 1 first, then Zone 2, then young children and their parents, of course. There's a separate line for Zone 1 and Zone 2, and zones 3 - 6 are all grouped in one line. As they were about to start the boarding process, I wandered over to the Zone 3 - 6 line, where there were about 10 people ahead of me. I was in Zone 3, and I happened to glance at the boarding passes of the couple in front of me - Zone 4. 

And here's how the conversation went:

ME: "I'll slip ahead of you since I'm in Zone 3." 

Them: "Well, this line is for Zone 3 - 6!" 

ME: "I know, but they load by Zones, so Zone 3 goes before Zone 4."

THEM (the lady to her husband): "It's OK -- it doesn't matter - let her go ahead."  

        (the man): Grumble, grumble

They literally thought I was trying to get ahead of them in the line. I noticed the boarding passes of those directly in front of me were in Zone 5. Sigh.....................

So the moment of truth arrived when they announced that there were now boarding Zones 1 - 3 (NOT 4 or 5), and I went right to the front of the line as I was the first passenger in that line in Zone 3. Yet, I had to scoot past all these other people. If you are NOT in Zone 3, stay in the line, but stand to the side!!! It's not a big deal, but as I had my passport scanned, I glanced back to give the line a GLARE!

I get that you probably don't know if you don't travel, but then pay attention to what is happening around you. This boarding thing happens ALL THE TIME!!!

When I got on the plane, I saw this on the windows -- snow and ice. Yeah -- that means we'll have to de-ice before we take off. 

Snow and ice on the window

This was the weirdest boarding process I've ever seen. I sit in my seat, and only a few other people are coming on board, and this entire row is empty. I sent a picture to the Monday sewing group, and then WHAM! The plane fills! But man -- people are funny! There was plenty of room in the overhead bins. But they constantly tell people to put the suitcase in the overhead bin and the second bag under the seat. A man sat in the aisle seat of the middle section. He put his suitcase in a completely empty bin and then put his second bag and jacket. There was still loads of room in the bin, but he shut it so only his stuff would be there. Did he think this bin was just for him? 

An empty row!

It's fascinating to watch the behavior of other people when traveling! 

So we're on the plane, which is a good sign. Then we have to wait because someone is stuck in immigration, and yes - we'll have to de-ice the plane. We were almost one hour late taking off. The flight was uneventful, although we had some moments as the aircraft descended into Toronto. Lots of bouncing around, and then we HIT the runway with a huge BANG. That felt like a slight misjudgment of the altitude. The pilot may have missed it by one meter, and we were in the 787, a huge plane. 

And to top it off, there was no gate, so we sat on the tarmac to wait for a gate. We finally deplaned, and then I was off to wait for my luggage and hoped both bags got through OK. To tease us, they started the carousel but then stopped it. One man, standing beside me, kept muttering to himself and checking his watch. I swear --- when you travel, especially by plane, you CANNOT have an agenda these days. You must be 100% flexible, and hope it all works out. 

Finally, the luggage started coming, and my huge bag was the first to arrive. I waited and waited, and at last, the smaller bag came, but it was behind another large suitcase, so getting off the carousel was a joy. 

Then down the escalator with two suitcases to get to the Uber pickup spot. Gosh -- can you believe -- I took Uber three times in one day! While warm outside, it was VERY foggy, which probably also accounted for that huge BANG when we landed. 

This driver was just a regular guy, and the trip was uneventful. But it was after 11 PM when I arrived home. Let's say there were two very happy girls to see me. Lexi is pretty aloof -- OH, you're home, and she stands there for a pet. Murphy goes ballistic! MOM'S HOME!!!!!

I forgot to mention my walk in the morning. I'm slightly behind on the walking challenge, but not by much. I might be able to make it up today, although I have a super busy day. I decided to walk to that park along the waterfront. Oh my --- what a beautiful place. The girls would be so happy there. 

The waterfront park

I continued walking and found a marina and this protective piece of land. The marina side was frozen, but the St. Lawrence side was not. 

A spit of land to protect the marina

Not that I was about to find out, but I was curious about how solid the ice was on the marina side. Then I noticed a guy out there. I wonder if he was ice fishing? I was NOT going to rescue him if he fell in! 

The view into the marina

But it was a beautiful walk, and this would be a great place to walk the next time I'm in that location. The location was beautiful, and I bet the place is packed in the summertime! The only to get there is to cross Highway 20 on the pedestrian walkways. I don't think there's a parking lot. OH -- of course, you could get there by boat! There must be a way to get there by car if there's a marina! 

Here's a view of the ships in the port with all the containers. 

The Montreal Port

I took the bike ramp rather than the stairs to get extra steps. Man -- they make the slope so gentle that even kids can ride up there! 

The bike ramp to the walkway over the highway

I kick myself for not remembering those darn geocaches at the airport. I knew I would still have some to do here, but now I have more. And I do NOT have time! Let's see how today goes -- I've already been cutting fabric, and I have quite a bit to do, and the deadline CANNOT slip, so that may mean missing a few hours of sleep. Why didn't I do more before? Because I was stupid busy - that's why! 

I've been very good at keeping up with my little Happiness journal. Some days have two entries, and some have one. Those are from 2012 and 2013. But now it appears that I completely dropped off the radar! How will I fill that little book going forward? Well, let's just see, but it's kind of neat to just write a few sentences before bed. 

My Happiness Journal

Not sure if I want to carry that extra weight on that hike, but I might take paper and write a sentence, and then when I get home, I can transpose it into the book. That might be a good option. Everything in that pack must be there for a reason, and a book to write in? I don't know. 

Miss Lexi is right behind my chair -- not wanting me out of her sight? No idea where Murphy is -- she's probably watching the nature channel out the back door and counting down the minutes until 7 AM when she can go outside! 

As much as traveling is nice, it's best when you get home! I will enjoy the next couple of days before I'm off again. But that trip is only three days and will go by fast! 

Remember to check out the last entry for the QUILTsocial journal cover I made. I LOVE the cover, and it was so much fun to do! As I said earlier, it's a great way to use up odds and ends. I have so many plans for future projects that I can hardly wait!!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!

It's all about the SNOW!

OH MY GOSH - I read the comments and HAD to take a picture. Tammy suggested I get some post-it notes for my new notebook. 

Ah --- I don't think that's necessary since I have an ENTIRE drawer of them in my desk. Oops -- how did that happen? I never use the darn things, but I should get out one of those small arrow packs and use them for my notebook! I also have BIG plans for that notebook, but I'm not ready to share them. 

A drawer of Post-it notes

Thanks, Tammy, for the suggestion, but I'm good! 

Remember Lexi and her courage; well, this was her yesterday. Not only is she in the office with me, but she is on my left side between myself and the bookcase. A tight spot -- yep --- she's cured! OK -- so she's not cured because the second I move, she freaks out and runs out of the room, which is hard since the floors are wood and she can't get a grip. She does NOT like slippery stuff. 

Mom -- I'm right here, and I'm not afraid!

And she's happy to lay right behind my chair. What a big brave girl!!

Mom -- I can see you! 

Meanwhile, Murphy is going for the sympathetic look. If she lays on my paperwork, then I'll notice her? 

Mom -- Play with ME, not the paper!!

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. I didn't wear a hat, and while it wasn't cold, it wasn't super warm either. The wind was nippy at times. However, I managed to get my KM for the day. There was no snow, and all the sidewalks were dry, with little or no ice. 

Shortly after I arrived home, it started to snow. We knew it was coming. At one point, I looked out the front window, and it looked BAD. This was sticky snow, which must have been blowing right at the windows as they were covered. 

The snow was clinging to the windows

And then we got more snow, and now we could barely see out the window. Murphy was NOT impressed as that is her window, and she couldn't see anything. Not that there was anything to see, as no one was outside! 

The windows are almost entirely covered

So she went out to the backyard where it was snowing, but no windows to block her view! She loves the snow, and more so than the Husky in our house. 

MOM -- it's so much fun in the snow

Before I went to bed, the entire front window was covered, and you couldn't see out at all. 

Total obliteration

This is the view this morning. The snow has gone from the window, and it looks like our WONDERFUL neighbor went up and down the sidewalks with his snow blower last night. It stopped snowing at about 9 PM, but I wasn't going out to shovel. 

The view this morning

There's not that much snow to shovel. The big question will be, is it ice or snow? If it's snow, this will take little time; if it's ice, that's another thing. So thank you to our wonderful neighbor for helping out. Even the windrow is pretty decent. 

So loads of work got completed yesterday. The writing is done, so that's a good feeling, but only to know that it starts again on Monday. And if you want to read what I've been writing, check out QUILTsocial this morning. It's about the PFAFF powerquilter 1600, an AMAZING sit-down quilting machine. If you struggle to quilt on your domestic machine, you NEED to check this out. I must admit that I liked it so much that I bought one! Shh!!!!! But you all knew that.  

I also finished the applique and finished most of the piecing on my current project. I hope to get that one quilted today and finish off the binding. Once that's done, I still have a "few" projects that need to be done ASAP for next week. But I've got time. I have five presentations this week for work, which hopefully won't take too long to put together. Some of that work is already done; it needs to be compiled in the right spot. And only have three classes this weekend, so I'm in good shape. I have no downtime, but I shouldn't complain since I spend quite a bit of time walking each day, and that's really my downtime. 

Oh my --- here's a view from Nigeria. The overpass railing is much more substantial, but can you imagine a handcard on our highways? Not happening here, but I'm sure it's a common site in Nigeria. 

A handcart on the highway through a major city

Here's a story to read about a long-lost quilt. What are the chances of this happening? But what a happy ending. It makes me think of the signature quilt on which I found my Grandparent's signatures at a Presbyterian Church Quilt show many years ago. 

I have two homework follow-up emails to send out, and then I'm caught up for February, which is good since today is the last day of February!!

Well, it's time to get moving! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

The snow saga continues

I PROMISE this is the last day I talk about the snow. It's just that the saga is so ridiculous that I can't help but laugh. What happened yesterday is so silly and proves that grown men have infantile behavior. And that's all I'll say about that. 

So here's what I found in the morning when I got up. Apparently, the backhoe came back in the night. Usually, the BEEP BEEP BEEP wakes me up, but I must have been tired -- I heard nothing. So imagine my surprise when I looked out the window to realize that they had been back. 

But wait -- what's this? The opening in the windrow has NO snow in it, and there was just a small ridge out from the end, which was a non-event. 

The opening in the windrow at the end of the driveway

That's exciting, or so I thought until I took the dogs for a walk. 

This was the scenario at my neighbor to my left. Sorry -- it's hard to see, but there were a few bit snowballs in that opening, but it wasn't bad. 

The neighbor's driveway

Then the next neighbor to the left has this???? Seriously?????  The %^&*&^ backhoe driver dropped the blade and removed the ENTIRE windrow from the bottom of her drive. You can see how high and wide it was, and he removed the entire thing. She doesn't even have a car! 

The windrow was completely removed!!!

And then the neighbor to the left of her had this. The blade was dropped at the end of his driveway - well out in the street. This driveway hadn't even been shoveled, no cars had moved, but he cleared some of the windrow. 

The windrow was also removed in this driveway

Sigh..................   I'm the one with the biggest windrow, and for some reason, I've ticked him off big time. Let's hope that we get no more snow this winter. Or nothing significant that requires the backhoe to come by. I'm getting tired of his behavior. But obviously, the city listened to the complaints as with no doubt, my two neighbors complained as well. What he did to the three of us was totally unacceptable. 

Yes -- there will be loads of quilt pictures tomorrow. Today -- well, this is what you get. This was the sky yesterday morning. So pretty. And the best part is that the sunrise and sunset are noticeably earlier and later, making the days longer, which makes me happy!!!

Sunrise

When I let the girls out yesterday morning, they made a beeline to the gazebo. Will they ever let that rabbit rest? Will the rabbit ever move out? I think there's quite a build-up of snow and ice, so they can't get right under the gazebo at the moment, but that won't stop them from trying. 

Looking for the rabbit

And there's the goofball on the run back to the house. 

Murphy on the run

Not to be outdone, here's Lexi at the front door waiting for a walk. Yes -- she is howling! No cowering like Murphy. Nope -- she's pretty vocal -- it's time to go. She used to get so excited that she would paw at the door, and I quickly discouraged her from that. How? It was easy -- whenever she pawed the door, I walked away, took my jacket off, and let her stew. She quickly learned NOT to paw at the door. And I swear, she's looking at me out of the corner of her eye!

Howling to go for a walk

And later in the day, she's looking quite bored.

Bored

And what's this all about? A nice comfy bed to sleep in, but no, she has to sleep on the part of the blanket that's been pulled from the bed. For whatever reason, she LOVES that quilt and doesn't want anyone to touch it. Murphy is allowed, of course, but no one else. 

Sleeping on the blanket

And then, in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Who could that be? Oh, it's a delivery. What's that??? 

I had to laugh when I opened the package. Look what arrived!!!  Thanks to the person who sent it -- you know who you are!!! I know who it came from and sent them a note! 

A new journal - I LOVE the cover

Yes --- that describes me to a tee!! And I had mentioned that I didn't need any more journals, but you know what? I have a purpose for this. The book that I use for my sew-along projects is almost full. Actually, I started using that journal many years ago. The front of the book was partially filled with notes from quilt show meetings, some drawings by M, but the back of the book was empty. So I started at the back and worked my way to the front. Well, I think I used the last page the other day. So the timing is perfect!!!

The first quilt that I put in my original book was Sylvia's Bridal Sampler which I taught at Ruti's Needlebed. That was in 2011!!!  Here's a link to that show and tell if you want to check it out. 

The first sew-along that I led was in 2003!!! And since then, the numbers have grown. I've probably taught close to SIXTY of those sew-alongs! Yikes -- and since I wasn't good at getting them done by the end of the class, that's a LOT of UFOs to deal with. 

The sidewalks, for the most part, were in good shape yesterday. A few had narrow paths, but at least it was dry. A bit of slush in some places, but nothing insurmountable. 

Almost clear sidewalks

Look how beautiful it was yesterday! The sky was blue, the temperature was above zero, so no hat. It was glorious! Summer is coming! 

I passed the house with the missing shingles. Still missing! Rain is forecast today -- can you imagine the mess in that house? 

The roof -- still not repaired

I still have a couple of things to finish writing, but I took an hour yesterday and watched one episode of the baking show while I did some tidying. It involved sorting scraps, so watching a show was a perfect task. I was entertained while I sorted through the scraps and a win-win. 

I did a bit of cutting, and I'm prepped for Monday sewing with some mindless tasks, which involve finishing things from previous class assignments this month. I am NOT letting myself get behind! 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's time for spin class. Only three more classes to show proof of vaccine. Yeah!!! I don't mind, but it's a hassle with all the stuff we have to show when we enter the gym. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!