Let's see...today is the big "Saturday," which means no school for the girls. I'd love to be able to say that we were just going to sit around and "veg," but that's not the case. Jenn made breakfast (homemade pancakes) which is one of the kids favorites. What keeps us from just doing absolutely nothing today is the fact that we are still surrounded by small mountains of cardboard. There are boxes piled here, boxes stacked there, mounds upon mounds of emptied box contents clinging to all the piles of boxes, like the foothills cling to the Rockies. It is like having our own mountain range running right through the house. Every time you go from the bedroom to the kitchen you have to travel the dread pass. "People have been lost going that route during the winter," I warn Rachel. "You ever heard of the Donner Party? Make sure you take enough provisions."

"Oh, Dad!" she chides, never really having heard of the Donner Party. I'm not sure if our public education system worries me more (her not knowing who the Donner Party was -being in the 4th grade) or if I'm worried more about what I'm not missing.

We have so much stuff still in boxes, yet our lives are continuing very well with out it. Whatever is secretly hiding in those hard paper squares obviously isn't required living material. Just knowing I've acquired so much extraneous material in order to pad my life concerns me. I think I know why I'm concerned, but if I ponder it too long, I'll become convicted and want to do something about it (like level the mountain range). Instead, I'll do what I always do and stop considering. I will say that it might not be a bad thing to take all my "superfluous life" up to a really cold, abandoned mountain pass, and see if it couldn't help some other struggling travelers reach their goal, instead of them turning on each other. ~ Reflective Jeff