Since I did a little shopping yesterday I had company today. On Saturday I found a great sale price on a good variety of mp3 players that went on sale Sunday, so I picked up three as soon as Office Depot opened. They're "low end" SanDisk Sansa Fuze (2gig, with expansion slots) compared to the high-dollar iPod gadgets, but they're good compared to the iVo and other gadgets we'd tried and with these you basically get the functionality without the status name and price.

Yesterday afternoon the 16-year-old came in from the weekend at Dad's, got his hands on his mp3 and memory card and sat down and did a little teen-aged magic to set it up. I'm still reading directions, but anyway, the bug bit. Today the 20-year-old called and said "I'm bored, I'm coming down for a visit" and I responded "so you want to come to dinner when you pick up your new mp3 player?" I had planned a treat of country style ribs for my son and I tonight, but quickly picked up more country style ribs, invited the kids' dad over, and on short notice had dinner for five instead of two.

Having kept the kitchen and dining area clear is what made this possible. It's easier to cook and much faster to set up the table. A year ago this impromptu dinner would have been a nerve-wracking nightmare with all of the moving of stuff off of the counter, the table, the counters beside the stove. People would have been instructed to avoid piles of stuff on the sideboard or stacked next to to the peninsula counter. Tonight I moved easily from one task to the next and seated everyone comfortably. De-cluttering really does pay off.

SRS