...across the room into my office/laundry room....

I'm so glad this freezing cold hasn't affected my brain so much that I couldn't have thought of cleaning out my office/laundry room this week. Who knew it would take a week of picking away at it to get it to the place where I know that if I open a door or drawer it will be neat, tidy and clean.

I also had no idea what a treasure of memories would be unearthed in all those binders and file folders. Just call me PackRat from now on! I absolutely must share some of my treasures with you.

Like a list of similies and metaphors emailed to me by a friend which included:

*Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

*She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

*The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for awhile.

Then there are the emails my little grandson dictated for me to send to some family members, like:

*Dear Papa, I wish you would let me go home but I can't go home yet at dark. But why? Because I'm a boy that's all I am. No, because I'm a bigger boy. That's why.

*Dear Uncle "L", I hope I miss you. Uncle "L", guess what I did. I skated with my class and that is why I miss you all day long.

....and then the response from Uncle "L".... "WOW! You can skate! I like that! You have to come and visit me soon because pretty soon you will be a Gretzky and then you won't have time to visit an old old cowboy uncle!"

Next I found the cookbook I made for a skit I did with a friend..."Emergency 911 KOOKING BOOK....meatless cooking with toe fu by famous french chefs Shee-Shee and Fee-Fee LaFlour. Some of the chapters are: French massage while cooking; Something could be in the oven; Afrodezzeeak cooking with oysters, peanut butter, all natural, in ze raw, it could be sushi or it could be someting else...ve vill let you figure dat out on your own! Oh my! We did have fun with that! LOL! That was our second book. The first one was called ""Celebrity Kooks...baking for dummies by Shee-Shee and Fee-Fee LaFlour.

Of course I kept all the knock knock jokes I used to tell my grandbabies. They loved them. "Knock knock", "Who's there?" "Jewel", "Jewel who?" "Jewel know who when you open the door". They always begged for more and I made sure to memorize some for meal time laughs :)

I came across a heart wrenching letter from a young family member struggling with some very difficult issues and trying to find her way through, and the most lovely poems, songs and letters from my daughters, a letter from a special old auntie, and so much more. Imagine my surprise at finding four sets of markers of every colour under the sun and reams of paper for the grandkids to use when they visit when I thought all that I had was in my kitchen junk drawer!

Shredders are miraculous machines. I don't know what I would have done without ours. Three large garbage bags of shredded paper is already stuffed into the recycling container and I could probably fill another two or three. I'm still hoarding, I know that. Next time around I will do as my grandson does and I will perhaps work up the courage to "face my fears" of shredding something I think I may want to read ten years down the road. Oh well, I've made a start and my office has experienced a much needed purge!

Having said that, I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping those wonderful memories and allowing them space in our homes. All these precious pieces of paper warmed my heart and put a smile on my face as they reminded me of all the beautiful people God has placed in my life. I am SO BLESSED!