meanness versus boldness......

ok, so now that my mother is out of town, i have begun a systematic sorting of her clutter.........bottoms to cracked disposable plasticware that seem to have no lids......ripped recipes where the bottom portion is gone...church bulletins from our hometown dated 7 years ago....last year's christmas catalogs.....leaflets for money-saving offers.........that is the stuff my mom cannot seem to part with......so i have thrown it away for her....so can either be furious or delighted when she gets back.....and either way there will be less stuff for her to take care of in the end.....i have already accumulated a mountain of trash bags in her garage...all to be taken away before she comes home.....bigger stuff is a bit more complicated.....while she must have 300 paperback books.....none i would care to read....i do not feel comfortable donating these to the goodwill without consulting her.....i'll just suggest that when she gets back.....and the clothing.....same deal......she has lost enough weight that most doesn't fit, but she clings to these things for some reason......again...i would be happy to carry it all to the goodwill, but not without her blessing first......and so i have half-cleaned.....i have done the stuff i can do while she is still lucid......knowing full well that at some point i will have the chore of shoveling out everything.......and so i mentally take notes as to what is worth keeping and what could be donated....and what i will send straight to landfill.....i did find a stray certificate......to my dad from harry truman for his service to his country.......and even then they must have used a stamp of some sort because it didn't look like a legit signature.......ah well......now i am going to sit back with a cold beer in a hot tub.....and not watch the superbowl......and think about all the stuff my children will have to drag out of THIS house when i am gone........