Merry Christmas!

Gems here, wishing all my blogging friends a Happy Christmas!  Today I am busy getting the house ready for the big day....slightly behind schedule due to work, family illness, and some general poor planning on my part!  Yet, it is with all the spirit of the holiday that I can say, 
I heard an angel voice through the chaos and the noise...  This calmed me down, reminded me why I am dashing around like a demented reindeer, and made me happy to be a part of my favorite time of year.  That voice I heard was not, in fact, one voice but two...my boys singing Christmas songs up in their rooms...having fun as they wrapped gifts for one another!  


Prompted by Jenny Matlock over at her blog.  Click on the button to read other entries and see the rules which I try oh so hard to follow...

Oh Christmas Tree!

T'was the night before Christmas

And into the house

Came a treat so splendid

From old Uncle Klaus

With sausage, red pepper

And garnish galore

Aunt Mary was drooling 

And asking for more

We undid our belts

We dived right on in

But saved a few bites

For when St. Nick would drop in!

This week we have a picture prompt from Jenny Matlock.  Click on the button to see what others made of this interesting picture in no more than 50 words!

The Way It Is!

It doesn't have to be this way....but it is.  I am not sure where the fault lies, or if, in fact, there should be blame given at all.  But the bottom line is depression is something that seeps into your very being, saturating you with darkness, denying you small moments of pleasure, and robbing you of the opportunity to function as a human being.  Doctors try concoctions, therapists nod with sympathetic understanding....while you fade away.  

It doesn't have to be this way...but somehow there seems to be no other way to be.  

Jenny Matlock over at ...off on my tangent gave us 100 words to work with today.  The prompt is in bold.   

Sixteen

Who am I?

What will I become?

I am not someone

Who knows where I belong.

This is my autobiographical take on myself at 16.  One of Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus prompts.  She only gave us sixteen words to use today...gulp!    Take a look at some real writers by clicking the button below. 

Feelin' Groovy

One thing I have learned in my blogging journey is the wonderful friends I have 'met' and the great support I have received.  Fellow bloggers pick me up when I am down, come to may aid, and even fly across the country to walk with my family on the Light the Night Walk for the Cure in honor of my son who has just beaten cancer.

Ashley over at The Mommyhood Adventure has blessed me with a wonderful award for which I am very grateful.
I'm supposed to start by telling you 7 unknown facts about myself. So here goes:


1. I am afraid of lobsters
2. I love Pearl Jam (okay, most of you knew that)
3. I have friends who would drop everything for me and be with me in a heartbeat (I truly appreciate them)
4. My sons are amazing for many reasons
5. I married my husband after 10 days together (long story)
6. I went on safari in Kenya and watched a lion eat meat about 3 feet away from me
7. I wish I could sing...I would be on stage if I could!

Now I need to pass on the award to blogs I enjoy.

French Garden House

3 Meadow Lake Cottage

Knees and Paws

Please hop on over to these great blogs and have some fun.

I hope everyone enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving and are ready to roll into the holiday season with energy and excitement!
xxx

Black

Hello fellow writers!  I am about to do my usual thing and attempt to follow the prompt to the best of my limited writing ability.   This week Jenny Matlock has assigned us the following: Use the picture - a black canvas, to create a 25 limit centus.   Click on the button below to link to the meme and read wonderful examples of real writing!  

I was inspired my the words on my favorite singer/songwriter...Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam.  These are not my words, they are his...but they are part of a truly lovely song about love lost.  My entry is in bold. 

"Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay...

Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.

All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything..."

Sorry, too long, totally not my own work, but this came to mind immediately after seeing the prompt picture.  


For those who are regulars and know about Superman Sammy (my son who has been fighting leukemia), he is now OFFICIALLY OFF TREATMENT!!! Our canvas is no longer black....but we look forward to painting many pictures on it as we enjoy our lives together.  If you would like to celebrate with us and help fight this dreadful disease,  please visit: Sammy's Page




For your pleasure:

I Hope I Never Lose...

I hope I never lose my appreciation for the life I have. Although there are many major setbacks, particularly with my own child’s health, I am blessed with a wonderful family, friendships and relative stability. I live in a wealthy nation, I am educated, and I never go hungry. While I could look at those with more and feel slighted, I don’t. I really do understand how lucky I am, and I never want to lose that.

When we go through hardships, friends can be so crucial to both mental and physical survival.  Relying on others can also have a negative effect; one feels helpless, useless, a pain in the neck.  Yet, if we really stop for a moment and give ourself time to realize it is okay to accept the help of others, two things happen: first of all, those helping feel good about doing it, and secondly, there will be a time when  the need for support lessens and one can ‘give back’ in some way. 

So what is my point?  Well, I have learned many lessons related to all of this in the past couple of years.  I have accepted help and now have several projects in motion to ‘give back’.  When I saw a writing prompt about what I hope I never lose, my answer came instantly to me.  I have perspective and appreciation for life which, only a year ago, I would never have imagined having. 

A Challenge for You...and a Way to Promote Your Blog!

Friends are the most wonderful people.  Some are fun to hang out with, others are casual acquaintances, while a few are beyond "there for you" when you really need them.  I am blessed with many friends and especially blessed to have a few who are my rocks.  One such "rock" has created a fun Change Challenge to help raise awareness and donations for my son, Sammy's Light the Night walk.

Many know Sammy has been battling leukemia for over two years.  While we celebrate the end of treatment in a few weeks, the picture I took today (see above) clearly shows how much of a toll the chemicals we have to give him to fight the cancer takes on his little body.  This is "Steroid Week" an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy.  Hence the need to continue looking for cures and medicines that are less harmful for patients: Sammy is disabled...hopefully able to recover once treatment stops...and we have to monitor him forever to see if late-effects do more damage as he ages.

If you want a fun challenge, promote your blog, and help kick cancer's butt, click on over to Shannon's wonderful blog designed to help Sammy and the thousands of others fighting now and in the future.

Children

Children are the greatest people on Earth. They speak from the heart, make no judgement about a person based on physical features, and have a knack of making me smile even at my darkest times.

Children don’t come with a handbook, which can lead to a number of issues with their upbringing and dealings in general. Despite every attempt at reading the Mommy Handbook, Parents Guide to Babies, How to Raise Kids who Love Themselves, etc…you could never find one book that actually gave you an answer to the particular question you had at the time….and there have been many questions!

Children grow and change.  Again…no handbook for this!  Children have their own point of view and you have NO idea where it came from….surely you made YOUR point of view very clear about respecting others and their differing opinions?  Why isn’t the message getting across like YOU want it to?  Why does your child insist on thinking and doing the opposite of what you want?  Oh yes, because you are trying to raise them to be thinkers!  Now, where is that handbook?

Children are exhausting!  They can run faster and longer and with a much higher pitched squeal than you ever did.  They can function on minimal intake of nutritious food and need less sleep than those books we now store in the garage say they MUST have in order to be human!

Children also love to REALLY need to have the latest and greatest gadgety thingy that has just been advertised, just like all the others that now lay broken in the garage along with the handbooks!

But what children REALLY are cannot be put into words.  The first smile, gummy and drool filled.  The hand that fits so snuggly into yours as you walk along the beach collecting shells.  The excitement of Christmas, the Tooth Fairy, the night before their birthday.  The scraped knee and the knowledge that only YOU can really make it better.  The kiss goodnight, sleep tight, mind the bedbugs don’t bite!  The words that come from the person who loves you most in the world…”I love you Mommy.”  And the knowledge that this little person means more to you than anything in the world as you utter, “I love you too!”

Forgetful

FORGETFUL!  That has been me of late.  Not just now and again, but all the time!

Take today for example: I prepared the lunches this morning and toddled off to work with the kids ready for school, only to discover that the lunch bags were still sitting on the kitchen counter instead of in the car!  ”Bother!” I said to myself…or something along those lines.

By lunchtime I had forgotten to call the doctor to cancel an appointment that  I only remembered I had this morning, thus had not arranged for someone to pick up the kids, hence the need to cancel….

At pick up, I had my youngest son’s backpack all ready to go, turned to talk to someone and promptly walked off to the car without said backpack!

Now I am home with my stale lunches, the backpack is still at school, and I am sure there is something I need to do now, I have just forgotten what it is!!!

Tuesday Tunes: Lonesome Tears

Lonesome Tears by Beck takes me back to living in a small apartment in Scarsdale, NY with my husband, new baby and two cats.  Beck is not the cheeriest songwriter in the world, but the album this song is taken from, Sea Change is well worth listening to.  I played it the night after my beautiful cat, Beetle, was put to sleep at only two years old.  He had kidney failure!

Now I am not a big cat lover, but Beetle was special...he just got into my heart and was my 'baby'.  (Don't worry, I loved my real baby a whole lot more and in a very different way.)  But my lovely little, kooky cat had left me and I was really sad.  Driving home from a class I was taking, Lonesome Tears came on and I just pulled over and blubbed my eyes out! I still can't listen to it without thinking about my Beetle.

I recommend ignoring the video (I don't like it much) but just closing your eyes and listening to the song...that is the best way to enjoy it!

Irish Breakfast

Link to the SOOC website by clicking the camera for background on this meme and links to other much more professional-looking pictures! 

A Good Irish Breakfast!

When my mum comes to visit from England, we tend to be tourists and do things I would not normally do in the place I now call home.  But for some reason, as many tourists do, we still cling to what we know...hence my mum ordered a good old Irish breakfast at a good old Irish bar in the heart of good old...Connecticut.  Go figure!  

Hurricane Irene Lamps

Given that I am sitting basically right in the path of Hurricane Irene, I decided to be a little more proactive than usual about preparing my house for an emergency.  I am usually not one to fuss over minor storms but this one has the potential to knock out power for a few days and I am in no mood to be the mug who was too stubborn to get ready for it.

During the last blackout, we packed up and headed over to friends who still had power.  I know driving is not an option...in fact, I have heard that even if we need to evacuate, there is no where to evacuate to!  Bugger!

So, as I am currently de-cluttering, getting my creative juices flowing ready to begin crafting again, and I need to organize candles for the house, I decided to create pretty hurricane-style lighting for the impending darkness.


Below are my candles set out ready to go.  I am a Nervous Nelly when it comes to candles as I know many house fires are started through neglectful use.  Hence you will see that I have some kind of container or holder for every candle I am using.  The reason for putting some candles in the vases is to prevent my boys and cats knocking them over.

The silver serving dish and bowl are my Pottery Barn staples which have been used through the years for pot-pouri, chips and salsa, and shell displays.  

The vases are weighted down with decorative ricks from Michaels which usual adorn my lily display...I stole from other projects for this occasion...all can be put back again after the storm blows over.  The stones also serve as a way to raise the candles up a little within the vases.  If they are too low down oxygen does not seem to reach them and the flame goes out.  Finally, the rocks stabilize the candles and make them safer.

Now all I need to do is place them around the house and wait for 'whatever' is going to happen.  I hope all those in Irene's path stay safe and escape the potential tree and power-line damage that is predicted.  xxx 

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality photos...I am not hunting down my camera right now as we have our deck furniture in the living room (remember all my storage is taken up with the yard-sale stuff I can't sell today because of the weather)  and just snapped the pictures with my phone.  

My Eternity

Although forty years have I walked the Earth,

Through family triumphs and pain,

I have so much to give to thee,

But so little time left in our eternity.

I love each child more than

Love itself.

 You are my soul, my life, my friend.

But so little time left in our eternity.

So with wisdom banished 

For today,

I have to declare,

Surprise!  I'm pregnant!

So little time left in our eternity,

But now more happiness to share! 

A prompt from Jenny Matlock over at her wonderful blog.  We had 100 words plus the prompt (in bold) to use this week.  Click on the button to join the Saturday Centus or view other entries.  Also click HERE to mix up the memes a little...you'll understand when you look!  

3 in 30 - Thwarted by a Hurricane!!!!

In an attempt to make myself a better person...or at least a more organized, healthier person, I am trying out a new challenge. I can be found at http://3in30.ashleypichea.com/  Today's update on the three goals:

1. Get to bed at a reasonable time: I have been getting up much earlier in an attempt to knock myself out by the end of the day.  Unfortunately,  yesterday I just crashed and slept on the couch for about three hours.  Then I was awake and feeling ready to rumble at bedtime!  I do know that once school starts and I am up at 5:30 every day, I will be finally achieving my goal...perhaps even finding I am too tired to do anything but sleep!  It always takes me time to get back into teaching...it's exhausting....but I do love it! 
2. Set reasonable limits on my blogging:  Yes!  This has worked out well this week.  I have been busy with getting my classroom ready, enjoying day trips with the kids, catching up on bills and other things I want finished before school starts.  I still went online and posted, but I was not a manic fixed to the screen for hours.  I did miss the time I usually spend reading and commenting on other blogs, but I think I will set aside one night a week to really have fun with that and then do more on an 'as I can' basis.  
3. De-clutter my house: Well, the tag sale was ready to rumble this Saturday....until we were issued a hurricane alert for Connecticut and I decided I really don't want my clutter to destroy everything in its path as it blows through the neighborhood.  So no luck this week.  I will postpone and hold a September sale with the proceeds still going to the charity.  My revamped garage with mud-room will have to wait until another day!  What grieves me the most is the fact that I wanted to de-clutter the storage area in the basement too, so I could start doing my craft again.  The basement looks worse than the garage right now but c'est la vie!  On a more positive note, I did manage to take more clothes to the charity store...some progress has been made :)

Pop over here to read about an idea I had to mix up us meme people a little!!!

Let me Introduce....

No...I'm not starting a Blog-Hop or anything that elaborate...I'm not that adventurous!  But I am going to try something just to see how well it works.  I hope everyone benefits from it in their own way; be it in finding a fellow blogger with a common interest, increasing their following, or getting ideas for their own posts.

The main idea is:

• I will introduce a follower and explain what I like about their blog, a brief synopsis, and any other pertinent details I feel should be included.  
• I will provide a link to the blog.  
• You may then, if you wish, visit the featured blogger and peruse their site.  Now, many of us head straight for the meme we are working on and don't read much else from the blog....try having a look around.  I fell into this category for a while and then devoted more time to reading blogs and discovered a plethora of wonderful information or interesting facts, and beautiful photographs! 
• Hopefully, you will want to follow the blogger and let them know about yourself.  Please let them know you were introduced by me...but there is no need to link back.  
• If you enjoy my blog, you can also mention me to your readers.  If they become followers, I can feature them one week.

Today I'd like to introduce a blogger who has saved my sanity on many occasions.  Galen Pearl writes over at her blog, 10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place.

The blog itself offers very gentle guidance on ten steps Galen feels will help us be happier:

10 Steps
1. Give yourself permission to be happy.
2. Decide if you want to be right or happy.
3. Give up the delusion of control.
4. Feel your feelings.
5. Make haste to be kind.
6. Judge not.
7. Practice compassion.
8. Forgive everyone.
9. Develop an attitude of gratitude.
10.Be here now. 

We have been taking the journey together, as have many of her followers, and the steps are discussed, analyzed, suggestions are given as we take on the journey.  

The most valuable aspect of the blog, for me personally, is the lack of judgement or intolerance: each visitor may share their thoughts and ideas openly..safely...honestly...and without fear.  Any religious affiliation, or lack thereof,  is welcomed sincerely.  

Galen offers wisdom, opens up debates, and allows the reader to consider for herself what she will take form the reading.  I have not always agreed with Galen...and she has not always agreed with my responses, but neither parties ever feel wrong.  

I have never been to a retreat to find inner peace, but this blog is as near as you can come to it in the blogging world.  This is my serenity!

Tuesday Tunes: Almost Lover

The band, A Fine Frenzy is a new find for me.  This song: Almost Lover is one of my favorites from their album One Cell in the Sea.

I am sure we have all had someone be our almost lover...that one special person who we just could not push past friendship, or who just wasn't meant to be.  I certainly had my girly crushes in adolescence and this song would have meant everything then: remember the pain and agony of teenage love?

Yet my almost lover actually turned out to be my best friend and husband...yep!  We were meant to be...eventually!  I had the pain and heartbreak of not being with him for over five years...after meeting back up for ten days, we decided to marry...our wedding was twelve years ago, and we are Always Lovers now!  One day I'll share that story.

Yard-Sale - Getting Ready!

In my opinion, a home should be a place everyone feels comfortable.  This can be tricky as, what is comfortable to one, may not inspire the same feeling in another.  Take my house for instance. The boys are very comfortable with junk everywhere; it makes them feel at home.  I, on the other hand, need a sense of inner-peace when I am home...clutter gone, order abounding..you know what I mean.  Guess who wins the war on feeling at home?  

As a goal of mine this month is to de-clutter, I decided to host a tag-sale.  The boys were put to work on sorting out toys, dress-up costumes and games they no longer want.   I gave the boys stickers and markers and had them sort out their own junk and put prices on them....(giving the okay first!) 

Remember I had actually created a pathway between the junk so we could access our house through the garage?  Here is my nice little walkway:

The bed is like-new but we have been really lazy trying to sell it.  Some of those toys haven't been in a child's hands for years!!!

More sorting and labeling....this part took about an hour....just with the items you see in the picture.  Kids can be so meticulous over the junk they would never play with but just might want to keep...just in case!!!

As well as tackling my closet, I also paid a visit to my in-laws' house and took away all the things we have been storing there for several years.   They very kindly offloaded a huge pile of their own unwanted items too.  The nice little walkway is no more!!  Now I have to sort through this lot!

And this!!!!

I cannot wait until Saturday!!!!  

By the way, the whole thing is not just to give me peace of mind over clutter.  We are raising money for CureSearch, an organization that provides much needed money for research for pediatric cancers.  We lost five of our little friends over the last couple of weeks to a variety of childhood cancers and it will be in their honor.  This is the reason the clutter has not just been taken to a charity shop...that would have been so much easier, but my heart is with the children!

Jack and Sammy will also host a Lemonade Stand which I am hoping will keep them busy and stop them noticing some of the toys I'm slipping into the sale!!!!

If I Die Young...

If I die young,

What will I have left behind?

Two beautiful children

who are brave, handsome and kind.

A loving husband who

gave me his all.

My beautiful family,

where no deed is too small.

But if I die young,

I will always know

How my sons' understand 

that my soul will still grow.

Into Heaven's sweet arms

I will gently be welcomed.

My life will go on  

My dreams still remembered.

If I die young

Although sad it will be,

I will always live on through my dear family.  

A prompt from Jenny Matlock over at her wonderful blog.  We had 150 words plus the prompt (in bold) to use this week.  Click on the button to join the Saturday Centus or view other entries

SOOC - The Happy Meeting

Link to the SOOC website by clicking the camera for background on this meme and links to other much more professional-looking pictures!

The Happy Meeting

Taken at the Norwalk Aquarium on my phone.  The two of them just seem to be saying hello!  

3 in 30 - Update: What a Mess!

In an attempt to make myself a better person...or at least a more organized, healthier person, I am trying out a new challenge. I can be found at http://3in30.ashleypichea.com/  Today's update on the three goals:

1. Get to bed at a reasonable time: yeah...I give up!  Until I am forced to get up at 5:30am every morning for work, I really am not going tot get to bed very early.  Fail!
2. Set reasonable limits on my blogging:  Yes....I actually had a couple of days where I had already set blog posts to activate and I didn't log on! 
3. De-clutter my house: Does this count?

Okay, I am trying to get ready for a tag sale to really de-clutter, but OMG this is killing me!!!!  I did more closet cleansing and now also have a trunk full of clothes for donation.  This means I am in the process of de-cluttering, even if my house doesn't look like it yet...right?  I will have a longer post on this yard-sale malarkey...it's quite an adventure! 

Tuesday Tunes: Long Road

As my first EVER trip alone with my hubby is coming up - The PJ20 concert at Alpine Valley, I have been continuing to build my knowledge of the Pearl Jam catalogue...I'm doing very well..and have favorite bootlegs, preferring them to some of the studio versions.  

While I know Pearl Jam is not everyone's 'cup-of-tea'...they were not mine either until about a year ago...I have to post my favorite songs somewhere.  So I hope you all enjoy this beautiful song, very simple and moving, about sending soldiers off to war...rather apt!  

The great Neil Young accompanies Mike and Eddie in this version that was played for America: A Tribute to Heroes Benefit.

Enjoy!

Monday Musings - The Beach

LLanbedrog Beach, N Wales

Summertime means beach-time!  I love the ocean and the feel of sand between my toes.  Funnily enough, I am also totally phobic about shell fish and other creepy-crawly things found in the water - yep, the kind of phobia people have about spiders and snakes!  Show me a lobster and I can get to the next state in about thirty seconds :)

But the beach is a beautiful place with happy memories.  I cannot stay away from it.  My house has shells adorning it, my 'happy place is a small, shelly beach in North Wales.  I am drawn to the magnificence of the ocean, the vastness, the beauty, and even the danger.  There are beautiful creatures dwelling within the waters such as whales, dolphins, and seahorses.

The sounds of the ocean bring about inner-peace and calm. Soft waves lapping the edges of sand take me back to childhood digging and trench-making.  Sandcastles reaching to the blue skies!  I can feel the soft sand running between my toes as I stroll along the shore, hunting for sea treasures and interesting driftwood.

I love listening to the ocean when the waves become excited, crunching the pebbles and shells with more force, running in and out with playful glee.

I feel the power when waves crash onto rocks with crescendo! No longer playing, but showing off the might she possesses...thrilling my senses.

Then there is the millpond: hardly moving, no real sound, stillness!

How can the ocean be so many things?  I love her in almost all her manifestations.  I fear some of them!    But I will always live nearby, close enough to visit and say hello.  Able to see my old friend no matter what her temperament. The ocean makes me feel at home.  An old friend, warts and all!

Straight Out Of The Camera

Oh my!  I have found my photography heaven...a meme which requires me NOT to edit or rework my pictures.  I am so happy :)

So I can now snap away and not feel like a loser because I haven't had time to install Photoshop on my Mac...I did have it (the easier version) on my PC, but that conked out just after the warranty expired...wouldn't ya know!  Click on the camera above to link to the meme.

What are the rules for SOOC Sunday?

•On any Sunday you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own)

•that hasn’t been tweaked or altered in any way (cropping is OK).

•In other words Straight Out Of the Camera.

•Link to Murrieta365 in your post so others will know where to go if they want to join in the SOOC fun.

Here is my first picture.  Each Sunday I might add some detail, a story or a poem...or just leave the photo to speak for itself.  

Taking a dip

Friendship

Laugh Out Loud!

Life can have its ups and downs.   We might find ourselves looking over to that green grass on the other side of the fence.  Life can be tough, challenging, exhausting!  But....if we can do one thing to immediately boost our mood, it would be to find something, once a day, that really makes us laugh out loud!


A fun prompt from Jenny Matlock over at her wonderful blog.  We only had fifty words including the prompt (in bold) to use this week.  Click on the button to join the Saturday Centus or view other entries.

Ocean

Ocean.  

Deep, mysterious, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. 

Might and magnificence,  

Mysteries within it,

Incredible calm beneath the turbulent waves.

The ocean challenges: 

Surfers ride the mighty waves, 

Fishermen brave the squalls to find the best catch, 

Divers defy the mighty beasts that dwell in the dark waters.

Great ships lie in the murky depths, tombs, monuments of a past age…

Beauty abounds in this glorious ecosystem, 

Sustaining life within, 

Life on Earth, 

Our life!

You can also view this post here.

So How's It Going?

In an attempt to make myself a better person...or at least a more organized, healthier person, I am trying out a new challenge. It can be found at http://3in30.ashleypichea.com/  Today's update on the three goals:


1.  Get to bed at a reasonable time: Um....well...ya see....eh....okay, I admit this one is not my strongest point at all!  I really do try hard....there is just so much to do...and I need to relax after I've done it all before hitting the sack...and I really want some alone time too....and I can't fall asleep anyway, so what's the point?  You guessed it...I failed miserably and have no excuse except it just isn't me right now.  I am, however, exhausted through the day so I am going to be persistent, keep this goal and work harder at it.  


2.  Set reasonable limits on my blogging:  I have done fairly well on this one.  There were a couple of nights where I began the crazy "I need to blog and respond like a mad woman" routine, but I generally managed to do other things during the day.  Exhibit A:  Me taking the boys to Quassy Amusement Park - well worth time away from the computer :)

 

3.  De-clutter my house: I have decided to have a yard sale....there will be a great big clear-out and I will make some bucks for Sammy's team for Light the Night.  Right now I have more junk than ever becasue I spent today going througth my in-laws' attic retrieving all the things we stored up there before moving into our current house.  Now my previously 'almost sorted-out' garage is OVERFLOWING with 'things'.  I have chosen to close my eyes to it and keep saying, "It will all be gone by Saturday....it will all be gone by Saturday."  Oh I hope so!