In the words of Grand ma Rita Lawlor, "It's not easy getting old!" And our response to her, being young and snarky, was always, "What's the alternative?"
I"m thinking Rita was a lot smarter than we gave her credit for. She did not like the aging process and was quick to make that fact know to whom ever would listen. Let me join her in her cry, "IT SUCKS TO GET OLD !" And I don't even consider myself old but my body sure does feel old.
After two and a half hours of packing up Kyle and Bridget's condo my body feels about ONE HUNDRED AND TEN! And it is only a one bedroom condo. Given, it is on the third floor and there is no elevator, right there I am exhausted just climbing the stairs to the condo. Once inside we knew we were in for a long afternoon. (K&B have sold the condo so Ger and I offered to save Bridget a 10 hour trip down to empty the place of their possessions. We didn't have any boxes but we did have a bunch of cloth grocery bags that came in very handy and a whole box of plastic garbage bags. Between that and the creative packing of dishes into the insulated picnic bag on wheels we were good to go.
As with any house, it is always amazing the amount of crap you can accumulate in a very short span of time. (I'm not saying that the kids have crap, it is just a term of endearment for someone else's stuff.
Having just returned from time with Aunt Ann Marie and friend Gloria I was itching to do some CLEANING AND THROWING OUT. Glo and Ann Marie are kindred spirits in the "Pack Rat" department. If they have one mug, they have forty. If they have one pot they have twenty. Their cabinets and drawers are filled to over flowing and I am always wanting to empty them out and throw out half of what is there. This is NOT to say there is anything wrong with these 2 wonderful ladies. Rather it is a sad reflection on my anal OCD and the fact that I have way too much time on my hands.
I get goose bumps on days when I can stay home and clean out a cabinet or a drawer. The Joy of Tossing just makes my day.
But today I just got to pack up. There was a minimum of tossing and a maximum of bending and stooping to empty cabinets and drawers. At one point Ger was laying on the floor of the bedroom pushing things out from under the bed. It was only by an act of God that he was able to get back up and on to his feet. It was one of those times when you really hope there are no hidden cameras. I performed the same contortions when trying to get up off the kitchen floor after emptying the cabinets under the sink. We did a lot of laughing at each other and were very grateful that we did not have to carry the 30 some boxes and bags down the 3 flights of stairs. That job has been relegated to the poor realtor who is handling the sale.
We packed up sheets, towels, dishes and cleaning supplies. Kid games and toys and an assortment of books. How did they end up with so much stuff?
As Ger said as we were driving home, "If Kyle decides to sell his 4 story house we are busy the day he packs all that stuff up!"
Ger is now asleep in front of Fox News and I am headed out to the pool. I do see a nap in my future. That and a couple of Aleve should get these old bones to settle back down. Thank Heaven for our kids who see to it that we have things to do to stay in shape. If it wasn't for them and the Grand kids Ger and I would REALLY be a couple of old farts.
No comments:
Post a Comment