Loose Ends
Things to see before I…
Susan Nienow

Some have written books on this topic. The travel agents love it. I have my own list, unpublished until now, and every time I read about these lists, I add something to mine. At the top of my list is my desktop. Sometime before I am unable to appreciate it, I would like to see my desk totally clean - not as in dust-free but as in "everything is finished, filed, paid, read or written."

I would love to see the last page of my successful diet journal. I know. Now "diet" is out and "lifestyle change" is in. They both mean burn more calories than you eat. I plan to buy a journal any day now. That ought to burn a few calories.

January is a good time to start since it follows the holidays which can be described as cream cheese opportunities. I even have a cookie recipe that calls for cream cheese. I just heard someone say that 97 percent of all diets fail. What a great reason to change the name!

Along those same lines, I would like to see myself dressed in my flowered bellbottoms from the '70s - with the pants zipped.

A computer that works the way I think would be a definite on my list. Computers, my other half often reminds me, are logical and "think" in a straight line. I know they don't really think. If they did, they would know that if they don't give me a break, they can be replaced.

I would like to see one of our resident deer eat the weeds in my flowerbed and the grass growing in the driveway.

I would like to see my house totally clean, all at one time. Spring cleaning-type clean - web condos, windows, baseboards and all the places I can't see without daylight and my glasses.

Speaking of the house, I have never had one that was completely furnished and painted. That would definitely be on the list. My bathroom has three splotches of paint on one wall. Eight months ago, we tried to find the right color for the walls. The answer was "none of the above." It's not that there are only three possibilities. We just lost interest when it wasn't easy. Who wants to rush into painting?

I would like to see the bedrooms upstairs. They are currently home to my kids' belongings. No need to paint the walls - the plastic storage bins are stacked head high against the walls. Pictures for the walls would be a waste, too.

Not mentioning names here, but I would like to see the walls of the garage, too. My other half has nearly reached his goal of owning one of every tool made. He won't admit to that goal, but the evidence speaks for itself.

We're at a standoff there. He says he will clean out the garage if I plant the daffodil bulbs that are languishing in the wheelbarrow.