Storms Past, But Coming Again and Cleaning OUT

Right now it is very humid out, and we are currently under a tornado watch until 8 pm. Tornadoes are actually a very rare occurance up here - I've always thought because the presence of so many mountains and trees makes it difficult for those circular winds to develop, but I'm not sure whether that's fact or not. But for whatever reason, we very rarely have a tornado in our area, for which I am thankful. Right at this moment the sun is actually shining, but there are thunderstorms all around us, and by tonight it is supposed to be cool and rainy.

When I got home from work, the rain from this morning had already passed, and our cats were enjoying one of their favorite spots by the sliding glass door. In the first one I woke them up by getting out the camera, but then they decided there wasn't anything special going on and went back to sleep.

After a bite to eat for lunch, I went upstairs and tackled the closet. Just beginning a job like this makes me glad I have a few years to downsize all of our possessions. We have stuff packed in there pretty well!

Over here are the mini-photo albums that have pictures of my newborn nephew from 12 years ago (he was the first baby of the next generation, so there are LOTS of pictures of him!) with my Dad who passed away three years ago and over there is the extra monitor that Harry just HAS to keep around for when he might have to work on somebody's computer, and over here is extra blankets and pillows for the maybe one time a year when we MIGHT have company and need another blanket and pillow. And of course the extra chairs that we never use for our dining room table and all of the various duffle bags and suitcases that we use when we travel. Whew - what a job! Not so much because of the size of the room - it's not that big of a closet, but because of that age-old "what if I need it someday thought" that just seems to be wired into us. So I keep plugging away - the photos will come out of the photo albums and into photo boxes and at some point scanned and onto the computer. Harry kept his monitor for the moment, but in a few years it will be time for that too to go bye-bye.

It doesn't look like I got too far, the above picture was taken AFTER I got rid of a bunch of boxes and a cake plate, and an old velour blanket and a bunch of clothes. I sure do admire those people who can begin and complete this process in a matter of months, but I am very glad I'm not one of them!! :)

A little bit of the "to get rid of now" pile...