Time for a Party

My husband is having a birthday in less than a week. My two women friends and I are planning a short musical set for the occasion. Our vocal trio is called HeartSong. A few close friends and neighbors are invited to attend. There will be red beans and rice for dinner, and his favorite birthday cake and ice cream, of course!

Since there will be more people here than usual, I decided to temporarily move out some of the items taking up space in my living room. So I’ve rented a 4′ x 8′ storage locker that is very close to home. Books, sewing projects, papers to be filed, mementos, photos — all these and more are “out of sight, out of mind” — at least until after the party. Then my plan is to tackle the boxes one at a time until the storage space is empty.

This morning when I told a friend about renting storage space, he said “It’s hard to get out of those.” It will take discipline to deal with my belongings once and for all, I know. But I’ve done it before. Years ago some family members came to town for a wedding and stayed with us. I rented extra space then — temporarily — and after the wedding, I emptied it out successfully.

It’s hard for me to make so many decisions about things that have accumulated over the years. Here’s a case in point: I have a rainstick that was made in Indonesia. However, somehow, there is nothing inside to make the sound! No rice or beans, and no visible opening where they were put in or taken out. I thought about this a lot. I looked and looked at it to see if there might be a simple way to open it up and add the insides. So I passed it on to a handy friend for consideration. I might still get it back, we’ll see.

When I spend that much time thinking about each item, it takes forever to make much progress! The idea of throwing anything useful in the landfill is abhorrent to me. But that’s a story for another day.

Happy birthday, honey!