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12:06 a.m. - 2005-06-19 At Peace With This....For NowWe spent the day cleaning out the garage. The kind of garage that contains everything but the kitchen sink. Oh...let's see...there was the lab chair my brother in law gave us 20 years ago that has been holding up a bag of garbage ever since. We gave it back to my brother in law. There were remnants of my little garden shop that I closed 2 years ago...things I felt I NEEDED to keep that I was finally able to part with. There was an old tire that my husband felt compelled to keep but has lost his compulsion now that it means moving it. The kitchen sink went out with the last garage cleaning 5 years ago. Oh....and the bag of cork. I am surprised that Mike never asked about the bag of cork. You see, both of us being former winos popped a lot of cork in our day. Mike used to throw the cork from every opened wine bottle into a bag in the garage. He faithfully saved cork up until 13 years ago when I stopped drinking and he stopped drinking wine and went exclusively to beer. When I would ask him why he needed a bag of cork, he would very seriously reply, "Someday there will be a cork shortage and I will have all the cork." I threw the bag of cork out 10 years ago and now and then he will wistfully say, "I wonder what happened to that bag of cork." He consoled himself by figuring that it was in the garage somewhere buried in other equally useless items. You can imagine that a man who keeps bags of cork for an impending cork shortage also keeps other useless items. For 30 years Mike worked at an industrial battery charger factory. Long before I met him, 28 years ago, he brought home parts, assembled several makeshift battery chargers and mounted them on hunks of plywood. They were uncased, disembodied pieces of sharp things, lugs, nuts, bolts and rats nests of wires that served no function than to be schlepped from apartment to apartment to house where they have remained for the last 20 years untouched and unused. I was hoping that these items would finally be given a decent buriel but he insisted on bringing them to our new home. When I made the comment that they hadn't been used in 28 years and why keep them, he got mad and mumbled something about the shit I get to keep and got that little boy hurt look on his face and in the name of staying out of an argument, I helped him schlep them one more time to our rented storage area. Come garbage day we will load the curbside up with debris and the only things remaining in the garage will be bicycles, a shelving unit, garden tools and an old potting bench. Those items the movers will take. We also cleaned out the attic. All that is left to pack are the kitchen things, some knick-knacks, clothes and the pictures on the wall. We will no doubt be finished with that come moving day and yes.....in spite of all the worrying and bitching I have done...moving day WILL come. I have come to terms with the money I will have to dish out to the buyers to mitigate the radon and I guess now I am rather thankful that things were not worse than that. In spite of all the bitching I have done, in hindsight, this has been a fairly easy deal. We sold our house for what we wanted, without a realtor, found a dandy house the same weekend...made our bid...signed our lives away and managed a closing of 2 properties in 3 weeks time. This radon thingy was the only hitch. I know people who have been through much worse...and so... I go to bed tonight content. Tomorrow there is much to enjoy. Mom in laws birthday, fathers day and our new house which we will surely be moving into. Our cousin's Lori and Amy are taking us out to dinner. Their treat, and it is a great new restaurant I have never been to. Hope you all have a great Sunday...I'm sure ours will be. (Aren't you all glad to see a posting that is not bitcing about something.) Like Pollyanna....I am going to try to remember to play the "Glad Game". P. I. Yarnsmith
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