So... I'm back. I haven't felt like writing in so long because it just felt wrong to be writing about the little daily parts of life when I knew so many people in so much pain. I just couldn't bring myself to do it because it all seemed a little irrelevant. My brother flew home for Brian's funeral, which was yesterday morning, and has been spending a lot of good quality time with Adam and their group of friends. I'm so glad he decided to come home, even if it was brief. I think it's important to go through these things together, and I feel like he never could have dealt with such a tragedy by being so far away. It's only too bad that I won't get to see him, as he flies back early tomorrow morning.
Things have been rolling forward, as always, here in central NY. We're still tackling the great weed-out of '08, which has been very effective. Ever since we moved in together a few years ago, B and I had never really weeded out our old clothes, crafts, sports equipment, etc. So we've been hitting the task pretty hard the last two weekends, but there is still a ways to go.
My mom gave me the wise advice to catalog everything we're donating to the Salvation Army so that we can get the tax write-off. If you go here, it brings you to the Salvation Army Valuation Guide where they give you a list of items and tell you how much you can count as a donation per item. I took that info and made a whole spreadsheet in Excel with built-in calculations so it does all of the work for you. If anyone out there has a clean-out ahead of them and wants me to send it to them, let me know. Right now we're up to 7 boxes of items totally $2010! Once you have your list they'll stamp it for you when you donate the items, which legitimizes your write-off.
Have a good weekend, especially to B's dad who celebrates a birthday today! Another year wiser.
4 comments:
Ooh, I didn't know SA had a value list like that. Wish I'd known sooner. Oh well. Hope it helps with your taxes!
I would love to use your spreadsheet!
You are too much. I'll have to remember you and your spreadsheet when we clean out our closets in the spring!
Don't worry about writing about your little things in life. They still make up you and your life, and your observation of Adam and his family clearly shows me that you care. Anyone who knows you, knows that, and we have to grab onto the small and simple joys whenever we can find them.
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