THE TIME IN BETWEEN * GETTING ORGANIZED AGAIN

The Time In Between by Maria Duenas - This is the story of Siri, raised by a single mother who works as a seamstress for a dressmaker in Madrid. It takes place in the 1930s in the years between the two World Wars. Siri's mundane life takes a twist when she meets a new man while engaged to a safe one, around the same time that she comes into a large amount of money. The characters, (Rosalinda Fox, Juan Luis Beigbeder and Surrano Suner were real people during that time), the history, the story and the settings are unforgettable, so yes, yes, read it.

I've just been googling, and hope that Rosalinda Fox's book, The Grass and the Asphalt will be reprinted, because currently it is virtually impossible to obtain a copy. It also appears that there was a Spanish Made for TV movie of The Time In Between, and today I'll see if our wonderful librarians are able to track down a copy of that. I don't care that I don't know Spanish. I'll watch it for the love of the story, and I'll understand almost every word.

Getting Organized. AGAIN
A couple of days before I left on my second trip to California, I emptied our attic of almost all my stuff. This little chore had been concerning me for a couple of years, so finally, impulsively, I pulled down the rickety stairs over the back stairwell, and ventured up there. It was cold and yucky, because Steve has filled it up to hoarderdom. There still exists a main path, but the stuff in the corners and against the walls has expanded out to the path. What a mess. Thinking about that, I hope I die first. Thinking about that, I get very sad for whoever will have to deal with our attic, including and maybe especially myself. I brought down everything except the box of my childhood dolls and something else that was heavy. I'll get those in the next day or so, though, even if I have to bring them down one by one. Here's what my office and the upstairs hallway looked like after I'd emptied the attic: (By the way, it really is a mystery to me why my Mac Mini desktop computer takes ages to load in my iPhotos. . The computer is only half full of data. I would think at 80 or 90% it could start bogging down, but not before then. I do like the different desktops, though. I think they came with that last upgrade.) ANYWAY, all this stuff, or at least 90% of it has to GO. I washed all the clothes, and ironed them, and today I'll try them on, or tomorrow. I really want a sunny day to try on. Most of them are summer things. (Did I think I'd be wearing them in my retirement?) Probably because it's my favorite season, and saved sweaters still have a place in my regular closet, or in my project pile for shrinking, felting, making into purses, pillow covers and I don't know what else. I really want to take some "after" pictures that show this room cleaned up. Don't know when I'll get to it. As motivated as I am, it's a grey day, my hands are freezing, and I'm still in Morocco because I moved into that book last week, and don't want to come out. A little while ago, I had every intention of walking to the library today, but I suppose I'll drive. Yesterday I did my first PX90 workout, which was more painful than difficult. Phone's ringing...just a minute.

It is now an hour and a half later. My friend Liz was on the phone, which was an appreciated distraction from the tasks at hand. (Thanks, Liz!) I was hoping that she might be able to go for that walk to the library, but no such luck, or perhaps it was lucky since I don't want to go anyway. I took my shower and have been trying on the clothes that I washed and ironed. So far half of them are going into the garage sale pile, including a vintage Coca Cola tee shirt that I never liked and never wore because it has red trim at the neck and arms. A Sweet Baby Jane top all cotton, cool looking because it has an appliqued tiger on the back. (for the Detroit Tigers plus I liked the applique idea). I saved a couple of tops temporarily to use as garden tops, and a couple of tee shirts that might make it into a tee shirt quilt or other memory of the shopping I did and things I wore in other places and times. I'm still nowhere near ready for the "after" picture, still have clothes to try on, and haven't read the paper yet. Sitting her looking at a pretty colorful pile of silk ties that I used to wear with my business suits. Could I do a poster sized color block and frame them? Do I want to? Why am I writing rather than doing? OK. Once again. Here I go.