Things. Boxes. Dog beds. Organizing.

SUMMARY: I despair of ever having the time or energy.

Oct 2005: This is what the entry to my office used to be.  Clean, simple, no boxes (well, just one temporary clear plastic one) in the aisle (and Jake). Made me look almost like a neat, tidy, organized person. Plus room to stroll through. I'd love to get back to that.  NOTE that the side of the kitchen table where I always sit is above the big bed. That's relevant here. Some differences that can't be helped: No Jake. The starry doormat seen at the bottom no longer exists. The purple wastebasket broke (sob!). The boxes on the bookcase are long gone. (Carpet color didn't change; differences in cameras or processing.)

Oct 2019: Main differences: The dogs almost never used the smaller bed there: Either used the big bed or lay under the table. So I moved that bed under the table.  (The big bed is still there, with that burgundy/black cushion on it.) Therefore the wastebaskets moved farther to the right (can't see them). The filigree metal screen (you can just see its edge on the right in 2005) (it's about 5'x5') moved to the left side because it blocked me from accessing the wires for equipment on the desk. Boxes boxes boxes. On *both* sides (you can't see the right side much). Almost all of them have been there 3-4 years (much related to my parents' estate, but not all). Makes me nuts every time I walk through there. But then, I'd have to look at each one and either make a decision of some sort (hard) or do with it what I had intended (often time-consuming).  Exercise pen unfolded in front of some boxes. Actually it's there so that I can sometimes move it to block their access, either into or out of the office. Too much stuff on lowest shelf of closest bookcase. (Bringing over all my parents' slides & photos is a storage challenge.)

The Heart Is Filled with Joy and Pain

SUMMARY: An unexpected painful result from a photo search.

I searched for "tika"/"box" in my photo catalog to find a favorite of her doing the Get In The Box trick; I adore this shot. Always makes me smile--she was so good at this and of course loved the rewards. Standing there while I took the shot was another thing entirely, but she did it. ("Give me treat, stop photo doing thing.")

And it popped up with this immediately next to it. Tika in a box forever. No treats can be given.

It has been over 4 years now; seems like just last month, I can remember it all, and this slammed it all into my mind and gut.

To mitigate the sad with the happy, I re-edited the Amazon box photo to be brighter and sharper and clearer than my original edit nine years back, and to bring all the glorious golden life-light back into her eyes.