Lots of folks are posting (downright adorable) photos of their kiddos’ First Day of School pix. As we don’t start until September 8th and FOURTEENTH, respectively, I am not those people. Due to those samesuch constraints, my work output this past week/weekend has been- ah- lacking. Let’s go with lacking. But lest you think my cluttery weekend didn’t allow for self-reflection, I tell you NAY. Here are two things I said aloud in the past 48 hours: 1) I’ve decided that, {Read More}
First Father’s Day without him, a.k.a. Hiding out in the records.
June 22, 2015 By 3 Comments
Possessions are not people. They do not have the power to physically, truly, replace a person nor bring him back nor make things good again. And keeping every object that someone you loved once loved is not a sustainable, good, or fair practice for any party involved. I know this. I’ve told myself this. I remind myself that I know that I told myself this. That said, I own a goodly portion of my Dad’s record collection. Like, hundreds. And {Read More}
The Secret To Marriage. Kinda.
November 10, 2014 By 7 Comments
Friends, I think I’ve figured out the secret to a happy marriage. And yes, it only took me 6.5 years. And yes, this is a terribly materialistic story. Right before last weekend, P.J. emailed me a listing for a gargantuan estate sale. A big ol’ antique store and theatre prop wonderland was shuttering after over forty years of collecting Chicagoland treasures. And when he sent me the email, I knew it was true love- because P.J. a) prefers to not {Read More}
Clearing Out The Clutter, Crate By Crate.
March 17, 2014 By 10 Comments
While my Lenten resolution to not scream at my children hasn’t been going craaaaazy well (maybe I’ll try again full-force once everyone can sleep in their own beds and pee in the correct receptacles), I am proud to say that I’ve been a champ at clearing out the clutter ’round here. Kinda. To date, I’ve sorted and tossed roughly eight or nine moving boxes worth o’ stuff from the deep, dark recesses of…our shelves and cabinets. Like- stuff in plain view {Read More}
100 Things In My House? Never.
March 6, 2014 By 16 Comments
I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately which concern how to “edit” one’s possessions and how to make do with less. Dave Bruno’s 100 Thing Challenge comes to mind. I love the idea of only keeping things around which are extremely useful, extremely beautiful, or extremely sentimental. It’s a great idea. Probably a very healthy and happy-makin’ idea. But it’s also an idea that makes me Ugly Laugh 0ut of my nose. People who tout the 100 Thing lifestyle? {Read More}
The Glass Menagerie.
October 18, 2012 By 3 Comments
All the miniatures and their brethren at the shop. I do not own ALL of these little guys. YET. There are some very important stories going on in the world right now. Stories about things that make an impact. This is not one of those stories. This, however, is the story of how I lost a very important collection. And how the collection began. And how the loss of the collection raised stress levels in an already borderline crazy person. Namely, me. {Read More}
What A Charming Little Hoarder.
September 19, 2012 By 4 Comments
And now, a smattering of the kitchen cabinets that are abysmally disorganized and full of weird junk. (Don’t worry, I’m purging the oddities as I go. I’m not just, like, hoarding and cataloging. Much.) Here’s first of three cabinets which house our seltzer. THREE. Ain’t no one needs that much seltzer. And there are so many random boxes of stuff all shoved in here- this, our narrowest cabinet- that the box of stretch fruit got compromised. Poor stretch fruit. And ah yes, {Read More}
The Mug Of Your Dreams And/Or Nightmares.
September 17, 2012 By 11 Comments
The year is 1999. My sister Chelly is 12 years old. (I am…roughly six and a half years older. Still am.) Her assignment in middle school ceramics class? Make a mug. But give it a face. Some personality. Maybe a tetch of creepiness? And oh, how she delivered. The mustache, the eyeballs, the world weary sentiment that reads: Just One Of Those Days. (Which is hilarious on many levels, but especially when you think about how it came from the {Read More}
