2nd Moderna Done. Come On, Antibodies!

I got my second vaccine on Friday at lunchtime. By Friday night I felt extra tired, so I went to bed early. Yesterday I felt blah all day, I woke up with a headache and had random joint pain and felt tired all day, but still managed to pick up Sophie’s prescription and do laundry, etc., nothing strenuous. I just felt like I had a hangover without the party.

I ordered kung pao shrimp from my favorite family run takeout joint for dinner, and felt fine by 7 p.m. Never underestimate the healing power of Chinese food.

I should rub some sauce on my ankle, because that is still annoying. The swelling and bruising are fading, and my left foot is taking on a weird pale yellow tinge as the bruising fades, like it has jaundice. I need to take ibuprofen and hobble to Publix later.

Now that I’m going to be working from home permanently, or at least as long as the job lasts, I’ve been evaluating what I want to change in my home office. That, of course, led to an evaluation of ALL OF MY SHIT, because that’s how my mind works.

I feel a serious urge to purge, update, and in a small, cheap way, redecorate.

I’ve been holding onto clothing I haven’t needed or worn in a decade or more, because, 1) I spent good money on that! and 2) But what if I need it later?

Will I ever need it later? Really? What are the odds? For more than half of my closet, it’s slim to none.

This week’s mission will be to tackle just one kitchen cabinet. My kitchen is small, and I own WAY too many cups and mugs and odd glassware that never gets used. I never drink from tiny juice glasses, I never use those lovely little china cups with their own tea strainers for loose tea. (I do have tea strainers for loose tea, but I use them in my regular mugs.) I saved a box from a Chewy delivery and some packing paper, and this week I will take an hour to pack up all the things I never use and donate them.

I have old glassware and stuff that belonged to my mother, it’s not really heirloom, it never gets used, my kids don’t want that shit, none of us have room to store things “just because” – why am I keeping it? A sense of duty? Toward martini glasses nobody ever used? I think my parents drank martinis now and then on special occasions, 50 years ago. Do I feel sentimental toward them? Not a bit. I’ll put them on eBay just because they are legit “vintage”, and if nobody wants them, they, too, will get donated.

An interesting thing about these vintage glasses is how petite they are, compared to modern glassware. The fattening of the American public can at least partly be attributed to how portion sizes have changed. Those dainty glasses were for sipping elegantly at a cocktail party. Now martini glasses, wine glasses, etc. are like freaking Big Gulps.

So after sitting with my ankle elevated for a week, I had plenty of time to ruminate on my clutter. Time for A Purge. Swedish Death Cleaning Time. Note: I didn’t read this book. I’ve read articles about the concept. It’s pretty simple: You probably have a bunch of shit your kids will not want to deal with. I know I do, because I am still dealing with MY mother’s shit and she died over a decade ago. It’s ridiculous when you think about it.

This week, I will do the kitchen glassware, and the old china cabinet full of my mother’s old shit. Yes, I called it shit. She never used it, she “saved it for me,” she’s been gone for years and I’ve never used it. I’m not sentimental about it. I swear I packed and moved it out of her house, into mine, hauled it halfway up and down the east coast and into this condo out of a vague sense of duty, and that’s just stupid. I will not inflict this shit and the guilt that goes with it on another generation.

Time for a fresh start, and kitchen cabinets that aren’t a fucking Tetris game. I’ve realized that I’m living with 25+ year old crap instead of things that would suit me better, because why? I don’t know why.

It’s going to rain this afternoon. I think I’ll start on my closet today.