"I'M STUFFING THE DOG BEDS"

       There are three people who will laugh and know right away the meaning of “I’m stuffing the dog beds.”   Years ago when we were moving out of the home our children had grown up in there was a frenzy of activity on the final day.  No movers for us.  We were just going a few miles up the hill from Pasadena to Altadena.  We had hired a few big guys to help us and we had all our girls helping.  Most of it was moving boxes and furniture, but it was twenty-five years of accumulation.  Plus I will now out myself as a bit of a “collector.”   I am not a hoarder - and I know this because mostly my stuff is quite organized and useful, or might be some time in the future!  The location for most of these treasures was a basement that was really like an old cellar.  When the house was built in 1908 it had been accessed from the outside.  Somewhere along the years a remodel put stairs leading down from the kitchen.  Let’s just say that our children made the basement into a haunted house more than once, and just the steps down, past a crawlspace lit by far off outside screen vents, creeped people out.

       To be fair to myself, I had spent hours sorting through (I swear I did throw some things out) and boxing most of my supplies.  Oh, I forgot to say I’m a bit of a crafter, or crafting supplies collector, but that is another subject.  I think you can see that this is an area that I didn’t really want any help preparing (meaning I did not want my husband anywhere near this stuff.)  He had the garage - I had the basement!  The other bit of a “black hole” was the laundry room.  Of course, there was the easy stuff in there like the washer and dryer, ironing board, iron and laundry supplies.  But there were also some of the drawers full of an assortment of useful tools and misfit fit pieces you might need.  Doesn’t everyone have a junk drawer (or drawers)?  We also keep the pet supplies in there.

       The stage is now set for a moment my daughters will never let me forget.  I might add at by way of explanation, that I am a combo of a big preparer, with lists galore, and a bit of a loose cannon when the moment finally arrives.  At this point in the move I was all over the place tying up loose ends and answering every question.  In my over-preparation I had wanted to make sure the dog beds were clean and had new stuffing, not wanting to move dirty dog beds.  I know, many people would just throw out the old beds and get new ones, but not this child of a depression era mother.  I had taken out the old stuffing, purchased new stuffing and washed the covers, not quite finishing (another subject) with the re-stuffing before moving day.  When it came time to move things from the kitchen and the laundry room I ran into the laundry room with the stuffing and shut the door.  Unfortunately, I was needed to answer a question and one of my daughters found me on the floor in the process of stuffing.  When she exclaimed, “What are you doing?” I answered, “I’m stuffing the dog beds.” 

                                      

Shanky Girl our visiting dog

                                 

       She was, as most would be finding their mother on the floor of the laundry room midst dog bed stuffing at the height of moving day, incredulous.  After exclaiming, “What?” several times she ran to get her sisters, muttering, “They’ve got to see this.”  I, of course, did the only thing I could at this point and finished the task.  This moment has been brought up occasionally over the years, usually when I am way off task in a group endeavor.  Although, I feel like what I’m doing is legitimate, I can see a pattern.  Which is why I was able to catch myself the other day in a “stuffing the dog beds” moment.

                                

This is after I'd already thrown some things out! 

                            

       We have been re-doing big sections of our back yard for months. Like many household projects, it has expanded and taken over much of my time. Now, the finishing details are colliding with our travel to our son’s wedding and our return to host a reception in our garden.  I have so much to do in so many different areas that my lists have lists!  Having the whole house and garden ready, and leaving my animals and garden care organized for the house sitter is my priority.  Yet I found myself in a full on “stuffing the dog beds” moment and again, once I had started I had to finish.  For months I have wanted to clean out a storage box of yard equipment by the back door.  Every time I opened it I thought about it, and several days ago I impulsively dumped out its contents.  This is no quick task as it involves throwing things away - always hard for me because I am worried that I might throw away the loose glove then find the partner, or the loose lid might go to something or “maybe I’ll need that someday.”  As I sat on the terrace surrounded by the random contents I had dumped out, I realized that it must be somehow soothing to me to take on a task where I can see an end, when I am in a stressful, seemingly endless endeavor.   Now I have an organized storage box and a little insight into why I can get off track in the middle of a long project.