She Believes She Can Fly

Note: Five minutes after I left the living room, Alabama scored their first touchdown of the game. I fear this means I won't be allowed back in front of the TV for the rest of the NCAA Football season. Also? Go Penn State!

We tried to clean out the kitchen pantry/closet combo today. It didn't go nearly as well as our previous unless-you-need-it-or-REALLY-want-it-you-throw-it-away cleaning sessions. The small pantry was full of things that we need, or that we want to attempt to sell or give away, and it really felt like we pulled it all out and then put it all back in. I did manage to wrap a box full of glasses in newspaper. So hey - one box packed!

The larger closet is the Home of Christmas, which basically made it my mess to clean up. On the bright side, we finally got all of Christmas put away (shameful secret: up until this morning, our Christmas wreath and my Advent calendar were still hanging on the walls). I also did some cathartic throwing away - Christmas ornaments that had been purged from my Dad's collection by the WSM and "gifted" to me. Every time I saw the boxes, I got angry. And now I'll never see them again. Somehow that works for me.

While I was sitting in the midst of piles of boxes, Elphie was doing her manic run around the apartment, jumping on as many boxes as possible. At one point, her little flying squirrel trick fell short of her aim. How short? Well, one of her back feet landed on my left forearm. I ended up with two scratches - one superficial scratch about 3" long, and another that was about 2" long and much deeper. And I had one of those moments, looking down at a little mock-up of the Grand Canyon on my arm and knowing it was about to fill with blood. And it did. Yes, I washed it. Yes, I used soap. Yes, I slathered it with Neosporin and covered it with one of those giant knee-sized bandages.

After that (and the previously unmentioned broken thumbnail on the same side), my cleaning mojo was gone. We did what we set out to do, but it just wasn't as fun this time. Next week we both have two days off - the same days even! - so we'll have a day for fun and a day for gutting work. And maybe some more actual packing. I enjoy that part too.