My mom just spent her entire summer letting her garden go to shit so she could spend every weekend moving grams out and getting the house emptied in order to sell it. And I think part of that process was fumigating it and a lot of burning.

She is now, in between still obsessively shopping at Goodwill and retrieving chaise lounges from the dump that she had given to a neighbor, starting to systematically purge the garage and barn, while trying to tame the garden.

I don't know how I'm so lazy with her work ethic when she's arthritic, diabetic, has two shitty knee replacements, high blood pressure, leg cramps, a crappy husband who wakes her up out of a deep sleep when she has a known problem with insomnia.

But, yeah, she's aware of the "stuff" problem and is trying to be good about it. She'll call me up and ask me about such and such, and I'll tell her to just close her eyes and stuff it in a black bag. Or, yes, I'll take it to give to the ed department. No, I haven't wanted that dollhouse for twentyfive years.

Yeah - my parents have the lake house and their 3 story house AND three story barn stuffed with random crap. Like my siblings and I need or even want 15 vintage/antique wagons.

Flew to NYC this morning. I took the subway uptown and spent a couple of hours at the Met. I only managed to see most of the first floor before closing time.

The Met takes days to do completely!

If you have a free afternoon, you should head up to the Museum of the City of New York. Very cool.

I won't the rest of this trip, but I'll make a note for the next time I'm in NYC. Which probably will be soon.

I miss New York so much. Philly just isn't the same. At all.

When my dad died, my bro an I were looking around the house, and we suddenly realized how much random shit there was. We decided that we would each take what we wanted, scan the pictures and share them, and estate sale the rest.

I love the Museum of the City of New York! And El Museo del Barrio across the street had a big renovation a few years ago.

On my way out tonight, I slammed my finger in the door. I am pleasantly surprised at how typing isn't so bad, given how swollen and bruised it is....

Obviously, my family is dealing with my grandmother's stuff now. She gave out a weird selection of stuff in the will, so there is a lot to figure out still. My mother and her siblings are going to do a first round of picking/negotiations, and then we'll all have further dealings with me and my cousins. Then we're selling/donating, and I guess the siblings will split the money? I honestly think the only place where there might be an issue is that my uncle insists he doesn't want any of the money.

I vote use the china! My mother started using hers regularly not that long ago, and it's great. So keep it, but not under the bed.

That sounds like a wonderful solution.

I've had a trippy day. I'm just about done with this wretched cold and was toying with heading down the shore to see a band. They'll be in the city later in the week, but I was thinking get in some beach time... see them twice...

There is this boy person though. And he'll maybe/probably be at the show. And I really want to see him. And I really don't want to see him. And I'd be going all by myself (though I'd likely run into people there). You know how it goes.

And I'm JUST better and wouldn't be getting home until 3:00 am... That's a loooong day with a lot of public transportation on the heels of just feeling better.

But I really want to go. So I decide last night to make up my mind in the morning.

I wake up this morning dizzzzzy. Ugh. Not going. Then I open my eyes and its GORGEOUS outside. So I'm going. Then I walk into the kitchen and roommate is there and not at work... and is crying... she's had a death in the family and is flying to the west coast tomorrow morning at 6:00. 3:00 am now means rolling in as she's heading out to the airport... yeah, not going.

Today was quiet. I went for a walk, watched a movie. She went for a run. We ordered Chinese. I'm going to ride with her to the airport in the morning. The dizziness abated... residual goo in my ears no doubt.

I go on the book of the face. I've gotten a few odd messages from a kid I knew in middle school in the past little while. He's had some legal problems. He's had some health problems. His wife left. His dog died. His life has fallen apart. He is heavily medicated and/or having some neurological problems. He has either confused me with someone else or invented some whole history because he keeps addressing me as "baby". Until today I just ignored it, replied that I'm glad he's feeling better. It's uncomfortable but its not horrible and I feel bad for the guy and have no wish to upset him.

Today, however, he got quite direct. Thinks we had a fling in high school. Starts describing it pretty graphically. I tell him he's confused. And he needs to stop. He doesn't. I tell him again that he's confused and whether he believes me or not he has to stop. He doesn't. So I block him.

I know it was the right thing to do, but its still sad.

Laura,

I had no idea your mother was robbing the cradle! I LOVE it.