2023 Declutter #3 - Morgan's art work

As I was looking for something else in my room, I saw a cardboard portfolio that had "Morgan's art work" on it. I hadn't looked through it in a long, long, long time and I knew it was time to say goodbye to it. I felt kind of bad about bringing something I'm getting rid of to someone else's house, but . . . Morgan just laughed and said, "I'm proud of you, Mom." He's so sweet! 

 

I told him and Angela that I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane (for him) and an insight into her husband (for her). I didn't care if they recycled, tossed, did a burn . . . but I didn't want to house them any more. I looked through and was surprised at what I had saved! From preschool through at least middle school, I kept dozens of pieces of his work. Here are two I snapped pics of:

 

 

 

Yep. From Christmas THIRTY-TWO years ago! Alex was almost a year old, so this must have been from Morgan's old preschool before we moved to Jordan.

  Morgan created the magic dream bunny story. In ninth grade, he used the story as his children's book. I hope he still has it! This was on a giant piece of paper (at least 2'x3' . . . ) and sounds like a kindergarten or first grade thing.

 

There were also a few really cool architectural-type drawings from when he was older. I had to resist the urge to capture everything digitally! Even my digital world is pretty cluttered. But I'm making progress. . . and I love my kids and their creativity, kindness, intelligence, humor, . . .

2023 Declutter #2 - books

I thought I'd do a post a week about this topic, but I'm on a roll today! I've done at least two book "mini-purges" before, but I realized that I've intended to bring some Christian / inspirational books with me to a Minnesota Quilters meeting for a while. We meet at the same location as The Recovery Church, which has a shelf that's like a Little Free Library. Well, I have plenty of books just sitting around! Donation time at this week's meetings . . . 

 

As I looked through these books, I kind of wanted to re-read the Ortberg one . . . but I have so many books on my shelf! I hope and pray these will bless someone else. 

 

I have a few (many) books for my daily devotions time. As I finish them, I will donate them. Progress means moving forward . . .

2023 Declutter #1 - Brooches and Pins

This is minor, but it's a start! I haven't worn brooches or pins for a long, long, long time. I decided to keep the top three (far right in this pic . . . ). The books pin is with my quilting stuff. If I ever make an "all about Jeanne" quilt, books will be a key part of it. The two dragonfly pins will go to Strawberry Lake and be added to a small wall hanging I have there. I love dragonflies! They eat other bugs and they look cool.

All the rest of these pins will go to the next MQ meeting for the "free" table. The ones that don't get taken will be put with my Goodwill stuff. Why I've held on to them for the past few decades . . . no idea. I'm not sure how many of them I've used since the 1990s. Seriously!

Rent (aka La Bohème)

I watched La Bohème in September out of curiosity. I've had Rent DVDs from the library since then but finally watched the movie version this morning. It seemed quite timely to talk about rent, evictions, and starving artists. But as much as I can see how it was inspired by La Bohème, it was definitely modernized.

There are same sex relationships and a transgender character. There's drug addiction, a cinematographer, and protests. 

The cast was simply amazing. Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, etc. I confess that I was working on a sorting project as I watched, so my attention was divided a bit.

It was longer than I anticipated (135 minutes), so I only watched the intro of the version filmed on Broadway. I'm sure the stage production is also amazing, but there are so many things you can do in film that you cannot do on a stage. 

The story made me sad and a bit reflective. I have a better understanding of the story now, so when I see  and hear references to either La Bohèmeor Rent, I will "get it." Time to return these to the library!

Opera

I had requested La Bohème on DVD from the library because I was curious. I'd never seen it, nor have I seen Rent (yet). I read enough to have a sense of the story and to know that Rent is loosely based on La Bohème.

The library kept renewing it for me because I kept not watching it. I was pretty confident Louie wouldn't be interested in seeing it. Finally, my renewals are up and it must be returned! I watched it last night.

1. I'm super glad it automatically had the English subtitles. Italian opera is relatively incomprehensible to me.

2. Not everything that was being sung had a subtitle . . . 

3. What? What happened between the second and third acts?!?! How did Rodolfo and Mimi go from being madly in love to jealous and fighting? Did I look down at a project for a crucial few moments?

Most of all, watching this made me think of my mom. Every once in a while, she would listen to opera on NPR. I would complain and ask her why she liked listening to "people screaming in Italian" so much. She pretty much brushed me off. I wish I could ask her genuinely now . . . what about this appeals to you?

I don't regret having watched it. I enjoyed seeing Pavarotti and the other performers. I have a deeper understanding of the story (so when it is referenced, my cultural literacy is improved) and now I can watch Rent. Win!

I also have to say that I had a positive opera experience. High school friend Leslie invited Jenifer, Connie, and me to see a show when she was involved with Minnesota Opera. I mostly admired the costumes and read the words on a screen to the side of the stage, but I also remember that Alan Page was there! Thanks, Leslie, for sharing that experience.

Church Humor

 I don't even remember who said this, but it made me laugh and I jotted it on my bulletin . . . I love being able to "save" things on this blog and de-clutter my physical space. I hope someone else reads and enjoys this.

 

"I'm a 'prison singer' - you know, behind a few bars and missing the key."

 

Me too! I'm a poor singer, though I love to sing. This just really tickled my funny bone!

Sometimes You Just Need to Put It in Perspective

Back in the 1990s, a wonderful student of mine named Danielle Norris asked me to write her a letter of recommendation for college. She included money for postage. She was one of those extraordinary students (and yearbook staffers) for whom I would have done almost anything. Here are those pieces of ephemera:

 I later received an invitation to her graduation party. I don't know why I wasn't able to go . . . because this was over twenty years ago! I had received a bunch of address books from my aunt and one of them said "Danielle" so I set it aside with the invitation, intending to get these items to her. (Along with a cash gift, I hope, but again - this was a long time ago!)

At one point in time, I tried locating Danielle and / or her parents. It had been long enough that they no longer were in the Jordan area. I have no idea if the East Coast address I found was accurate or not. 

Once again, these items got buried in my numerous piles of stuff to do / deal with / follow up on. (I have sooooooo much stuff and am trying to let it all gooooooo!)

Blogging helps me to let go. Slowly but surely, my house is getting less cluttered. I'm trying to be careful about not buying things I don't need. I'm trying to donate, recycle, and toss. I don't want to leave a legacy of clutter for my children at the end of my life. Here's one more "thing" done and gone. 

 

If Danielle ever reads this, thanks for being an amazing student and wonderful young woman. I hope you're experiencing the best that life has!

The money went into my "Buddy Barrel" - for kids ministries. The address book went into the Goodwill bag. The papers are in the recycling bin.