Day 1090

My Dad would have been 95 years old today if he'd been healthier. The last birthday I remember celebrating with him was his 80th. After that, he began to go downhill quickly. Although my Dad and I were never terribly close, I find that I am becoming more and more like him as I grow older myself. I've never seem to acquire Dad's good habits; just the bad ones. Dad could never throw away anything. When I was settling his estate, I discovered a large dresser filled entirely with socks. There were stacks of old National Geographic magazines five feet tall. Shoes never became worn enough to actually throw away, and even paper grocery sacks were carefully folded and placed near the refrigerator for some ambiguous future use.

I don't think I've gotten this bad, but Janet says I'm headed down the same cluttered path. I can certainly appreciate the benefits of keeping only what you need. I'm just having trouble actually getting rid of anything. In an attempt to declutter, I thought I'd throw a few things away this afternoon while I was packing up photo gear to take back to the storage warehouse.  I threw away all the phone-books in the house. There were quite a few. I haven't looked up anything in a printed phone book for years. Google seems just fine for finding just about everything. I threw away a lot of catalogs for the same reason. You can always find a wider selection of whatever you're looking for online these days. Some three hole paper punches got dumped. If you're trying to git rid of paper, what's the point of a three hole punch?

Janet was packing up things for her storage warehouse as well. Yes, we both have our own storage warehouses. If she ever got into my space, she would just throw everything away. I leave her space alone as well. I know I would be continually retrieving things she no longer had a use for. It works better to have two storage spaces. At any rate, we filled up both cars with stuff that didn't need to be in the house any longer and the place looks a lot tidier now.

The dogs had a great time at the dog park today. You could tell that Dash had been missing his off leash time. There was a nip in the air and both dogs raced around making up for lost time. Dash even played with other dogs, which is something he only does when he is an exceptionally good mood. Dot never plays with the other dogs, but enjoys the opportunity to stroll around at her own pace, smelling everything in the 22 acre park.

There's a doctor's appointment on my calendar for tomorrow. I can't even remember what I'm seeing the doctor for this time. I guess I'll find out when I get there.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day