The Importance of the Dumpster

An unexpected effect of spending a month away from home, was an increased desire to have less clutter and a realization that I could get rid of more of the Stuff I thought I still needed. I've been riding a wave of nesting energy from coming home with fresh eyes. I'm throwing away more than ever, and increasing my frequency of donation drop-offs.

But last Tuesday, someone threw a wrench in my system. Someone (or someones) filled up the dumpster bin at our apartment. Like filled up. To the top.

The day after it had been emptied.

There wasn't even room for the daily kitchen trash! We put the trash in anyway. (I made Darren do it. And the neighbor's husband jumped on the lid to try to squish it down.) But we were way above the "do not fill past" line. It really stressed me out.

It took me a few days to figure out why I was stressed. (Aside from the obvious: The kitchen trash stinks. I need it out of the house!) I couldn't throw things away because my trash bins were full. My de-cluttering momentum came to a full stop. But my nesting energy didn't.

It was the last week before school started and we wanted to have fun. We did have fun. We threw a birthday party and had dinner company. But I couldn't wait for the week to be over and trash day to come so I could move forward with cleaning things out of the house.

Trash day came. The truck didn't come at it's normal time. I checked the trash bin every hour (yes, I know that's weird). When the garbage truck finally came, I was so excited I think I hollered like it was Christmas.

How strange are the hangups we have when we're trying to change!

The Beginning! (Of the Epic Summer Road Trip)

Someone didn't want to sit in his car seat.

Friday, July 7 Drive from Home to Sacramento

Certain moments during the beginning of the epic road trip felt unreal. This was the first one. I almost couldn't believe that I actually had the car packed (and the trash taken out, and the fridge cleaned out, and the dishes done, and...). I found myself thinking, No way! This is it? I'm really driving away from my house and won't be back for a month? I can't believe I didn't have a melt-down!

My niece, who was staying with me for a few weeks, was helpful with Davey. I firmly believe that babies should be held as much as possible. I'd like to do that holding, but I don't have the leisure of holding Davey all the time like I did with Lilli. In order to accomplish anything, I usually have to have someone hold Davey. My niece did a wonderful job.

I started a few hours after my target departure time. But this is normal for me, so I didn't get stressed or upset about it. Google says you can make the drive between home and my grandma's house in about five hours. Darren can. And my dad can. But the kids and I can do it in about nine hours. Eight if we're lucky.

Saturday, July 8
Visiting Grandma and Friends

Darren has weekends off of work, so he came up from Modesto. We were so glad to see him! He took the kids to the library. We spent lots of time with Grandma and her foster pup, Cali. We also had Uncle Jason and his boys over for dinner and swimming. The kids played hard.

Sunday, July 9
Citrus Heights Ward

I love the church's LDS Tools app. We looked for the closest LDS chapel and picked the 11:00 Sacrament meeting so I could sleep in not get up early. I didn't think I knew anyone in that particular ward. I was surprised to discover that I knew, or had connections to, about seven people and families there!