Midlife Memoirs

Not As Easy As It Seems

I've been working on the fifty percent business for the past week. Some bits are going better than others.

Oddly enough, sorting down my yarn to a reasonable limit wasn't as hard as I had expected. Although, I now need to find a way to sell it on and recoup some of the costs.

I've also decided to sell off my old DSLR (Canon 20D) and lens combo. I haven't figured out how to dispose of the Selphy 600 photo printer - that may just end up at a charity.

The stumbling block seems to be clothes. It's not that I can't get rid of clothes - that's not really that hard for me to do. The problem is that I have different sets of clothes, including some that would fit me if I lose about 10 pounds - not an unreasonable goal. What do I do with those?

Some of the items I can actually wear now, it's just they don't look as good as they would, others are shorts or jeans that really have to wait (or is that weight?). If I save bits of two separate wardrobes, that's far too many clothes, and definitely defeats the purpose of the exercise. On the other hand, I would end up spending money, later, to replace clothes that I really like.

Right now there are piles of soon to be discarded clothes (the definite ones) in the living room, and boxes of unwanted yarn next to the dining table (all one big room, actually). I try to clean things up a bit each night, so Steve doesn't have to walk through a huge mess. (Small mess, I don't care, but big messes bother him more than me.)

In the end, I know this will all be worth it. There is already a bit of free floor space in my walk-in closet!

Fifty Percent

Steve and I have been looking for a new church in San Francisco, since that is where we now live. One of the recommendations we received was for a group that is more of a monastic movement with a practical application in reaching out to the community. Elements of the group's activities sound intriguing, but as an adjunct to a regular church, not as our main church family.

One of the things they have done in the past is to voluntarily get rid of half their belongings, selling them and giving the money to support a charity. I have been struggling for years with "things". I sometimes feel so burdened by the number things and lack of space to hold them.  (Some people would debate whether or not I have a  lot of things, but when you live in a 2 bedroom apartment, it really is an issue.) So the idea of setting a goal of fifty percent reduction caught my attention, whether for sale or donation.

Last night I prayed and made a list of categories of things to be halved.

Today I start with clothes. After that, I'll tackle art supplies, and then perhaps the hardest category - knitting and yarn.

Back?

Seems I've gotten back in the blogging mood. Wish there was more going on in my life right now, but it seems limited to scanning old family photos and documents, spending time with Steve, knitting, and being lazy. The last being the only big issue.

With looming possibility of surgery, the impetus to clean and organize my room is gaining strength. The one big block to this is the project of scanning - which creates all sorts of mess, despite best efforts.

It's Official

According to the doctor I saw to day, I have "a bum knee". Great medical term, that. It's the result of a fall I had in October. It was clear that something was wrong, as it swelled up considerably when I did it, and took weeks to get to the point of even being able to walk without crutches.

Monday I have a appointment with orthopedics to see if they need to do an MRI and possible surgery.

Meantime, a cane usually gets me a seat on Muni...and I'm not supposed to go on long walks.