Day 2893

When I was younger I thought I would never live in a cluttered house filled with decades of forgotten and unnecessary things. That was something my parents did. How times have changed. Now, our house suspiciously resembles every older person's home I can remember. There is too much furniture. There are too many things hanging on the walls. And the closets are filled with too many failed attempts to declutter.

Tonight, Janet wanted to make holiday dog biscuits, but we couldn't find the bone shaped cookie cutters. We wouldn't have thrown these things away because we've used them too many times. Where were they though? We couldn't find them in the kitchen. They weren't in the utility room. I even got a step ladder and looked in the ceiling level cabinets above the clothes closets. These hard to reach cabinets have become a temporary purgatory for things we no longer need, but can't bring ourselves to throw away. It would have been far easier to go to a store and buy new cookie cutters, but that would be admitting that you've totally lost control of your house. I was unable to find the cookie cutters, but eventually Janet found three of them at the bottom of a drawer filled with cloth dinner napkins we never use.

After finishing the grocery shopping, I went up on the roof and was pleased to see that everything was dry. It looked like this would be a good day to continue my repairs. I hauled a bucket of the silicon elastomer up on the roof with a rope and immediately spilled some of the messy stuff on my shoe. I've learned to wear worn out clothes that I can dispose of if necessary, but I still try my best to get the coating material on the roof instead of spilling the stuff on me. It was nice that it was warm today, but it would have been even nicer if it weren't so windy. Applying a glue like substance with a paint roller on a windy day is just asking for trouble. I used about two gallons of the elastomer this afternoon and repaired a lot of bad spots. I also ruined a pair of pants and had to clean my hands with nail polish remover when I was done. I really wonder if I am ever going to finish this job.

Dash refused to walk again this afternoon. I don't know what motivates this dog. All week long he has been eager to take a walk around 3 PM. We followed the exact same routine as we do on weekdays, but was just wasn't interested. It is so difficult to get all his protective gear on that I thought I'd leave him suited up in case he got interested in walking later. This was a mistake. The knee brace is good for walks, but hampers his movement around the house. Instead of being sensible and taking a nap on a rug, Dash immediately tried to hop on the bed and fell over. I took everything off and made sure he was OK and then just gave up for the day. Dash didn't get an afternoon walk.

I saw lots of Christmas trees strapped to car roofs when I was out today. It still seems early to me, but I guess I'll need to start thinking about putting ours up soon. So much can change in a year. Last Christmas Dot was still with us, Janet hadn't been diagnosed with cancer yet, and I could still pretend I had a viable business. Somehow we survived. As the year draws to a close, there is a lot to be thankful for and a lot to be apprehensive about as well. This year has been a roller coaster. I'm hoping that next Christmas I can look back at a fairly uneventful year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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