Well I have had another great week in New Jersey with Sybil and her family. Mike very kindly picked me up late Monday night at the airport and I spent the next day sleeping in (to be honest I have done this everyday) so by the time Sybil and the girls got home from school I hadn't been up that long.
Actually that's not true - I got up mid morning. So definitely a sleep in but not all day.
Tuesday night Sybil usually goes to Zumba but this week decided to go out for dinner with some work friends. I was all fired up to do some exercise but who's going to refuse stuffed prawns and a peanut butter/chocolate dessert. In my defense, of the six full days I have been here I have gone for a run on four days. Once was at the gym while Sybil did a class and I ran for an impressive (if I might say so myself) 65 minutes on the treadmill.
Wednesday was a half day for Sybil so in the afternoon we did a bit of shopping which included looking at bench tops for her new island counter in the kitchen.
Thursday was Thanksgiving and we headed to Rumsden to Mike's sister's house. As well as Mike's side of the family I was also able to meet Sybil's sister and her family. It was a lovely day (with may too much food - although I did restrain myself and wasn't a complete pig) and it was great to feel so welcomed by a group of people who didn't know me from a bar of soap.
Or as my dear friend Karen says - from a can of paint.
Friday is called Black Friday here (can't actually recall why) and there are tons of sales like we have on Boxing Day (they don't have Boxing Day here - to them it's just the day after Christmas or December 26th). Some start at the ridiculous hour of 3am and people line up early to get the great deals. Last year someone was trampled to death in the rush to get inside the store. It's scary how crazy people get about sales. It's just material things, certainly not worth dying over. Everyone just needs to calm down.
We actually did go to one shop - Kohls, pronounced Coles - but at the decent hour of midday. I bought a few things which included two pairs of Lee jeans at the staggeringly cheap price of about $17 each. They are hugely expensive in Australia so it was a great buy. I then gave a pair of my older jeans to Sybil to go to Goodwill (like the Salvation Army op shop) so now I own three pairs of jeans. Not a lot to some people (Nicole!!!!!!!) but I don't think I have ever owned three pairs at once!
Naturally all that shopping needed to be rewarded with a trip to the movies. We went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Bob and Fiona had raved about it after to going to a preview or premiere or something like that. It was so well done. The amount of work that goes into the stop/go method of filming is amazing!
Anyway the work on Sybil and Mike's ensuite/bathroom area is due to start in a few days so the bedroom closet (sorry - wardrobe) needed to be emptied. Mike had already done his part so Sybil and I started working on hers. As well as moving it out the plan was to go through it all and get rid of things. I was the one trying to get her to put as many clothes in the Goodwill bag as possible while she spent her time justifying why she should keep things. She was pretty good actually and ended up getting rid of about four bags of clothes and shoes. Considering she had clothes in there that she hadn't worn since 1996 (the drycleaning tag was proof of that), then four bags was actually a small taking. Why she needs about 10 pairs of black pants, 15 pairs of sweatpants (tracksuit pants) and about one thousand t-shirts and windcheaters I will never know. But apparently she does. And she has promised that once the work is all done and the clothes are going back in the new walk-in-robe that she will go through them all again to see if there is anything else that hit the dust.
Baby steps is the best way to go.
Plus I told her that they need to be in order of seasons, type of clothes and colours (in that order) so it all looks nice and neat (the OCD in me). She can also find what she wants much easier that way. Not too mention realise that she has more black pants than she really needs.
Apparently I am coming back to do that for her. Which suits me juuuuuust fine!
I am looking forward to it which is very sad I know. I really need to work on that show "Clean House." Anyone know someone in the t.v. industry that might want to start it up in Australia?
And employ me.
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