And behold...

My room is finally clean and ready for my parents visit this weekend.

Yes...I'm one of those guys. Years of living on my own without visitors (other than my kidlings) has spoiled me from the chore of keeping my room well maintained.

I will say it's a therapeutic task, one that I need to make more of a habit.

Somewhat on the same subject, this is one step toward my goal of self-improvement. It's just one step, but it's a whole lot easier changing one thing at a time rather than overwhelm myself by doing it all at once. There's just too many things to change without wanting to hide my head in the proverbial sand.

Moving on, the room overhaul was therapeutic in that I had the opportunity to condense some boxes and finally use my bookshelf for something other than displaying random junk. I actually have books on my bookshelf now! Who knew Toby liked to read?...y'know...other than me. When I have more time this weekend, i'll organize them by genre...then it'll look like a real bookshelf (I'm just a poser right now).

Speaking of which, here's a question to my reader(s), how do you organize your bookshelf? Title? Genre? Author? Size/shape?

Sadly, I have been living in said place for 2 years now and I never really unpacked. I guess I thought i'd be outta here by then. Like so many other things in my life, I should've known better and just unpacked.

Here's a list of junk/keepsakes from my recent 'room maintenance' project;

• Spongebob Mug and Shaving kit - I'm listing these together because they're gifts my children gave to me. Although I doubt I'll use either one of them, I still keep them simply because my kids got them for me.
• All of my old journals - When/if I ever get a bird, I have plenty of material to line the cage. Maybe one day, i'll transcribe them into electronic format (after considerable editing of course).
• Globes - I'm a big fan of globes and pictures of our planet. From Space, it looks so peaceful and quiet. Even if I can't be an Astronaut when I grow up, I still want to see Earth from Space. My life will be complete when this happens.
• Kid toys - how they ended up in my possession, I have no idea, but there they are!
• Old Clothes - My only motivation for keeping these is that one day, I'll be slim enough to wear them again.
• More fucking books - Not books on fucking mind you...just books I will likely never read...ever. My favorite book I will never read; 'The Idiot's Guide to Prayer'. The only reason I picked up this book is because I was so amused that anyone would even think of writing it. Okay, so maybe I'm the idiot for contributing to another idiot's salary. I can live with that.
• Photos - What can I say about old photographs other than I should probably ask for albums in which to place said photos?
• Random Womens' email addresses and contact numbers - Why I held onto these for so long is an utter mystery to me. I blame the fact that I didn't allow myself very long to pack before I had to leave my last residence.

Note to self...throw away my ugly history with women before I have to look through it again.

• Drug paraphernalia - I know I'll never use my 18" bong ever again. Maybe I'll keep it around as a Vase? Hah, maybe after Mom and Dad leave.
• Old CDs/Mixed MP3 CDs - I must've spent half my time reminiscing over music I haven't listened to in years. It's time to start ripping CDs again!
• My former roommate's junk: A painting of a Buffalo (i'm thinking of letting my daughter paint on it to give it some character), a Camo colored Camel pack, and a bag of weed that looks to be older than my kids.
• Paperwork - Let's just say I'm as unorganized as I am lazy...maybe these two are somehow related?

That concludes the cleanup operation. Now I just have a significant amount of laundry to do in the next few days. Fortunately, I took care of ensuring my room doesn't have that strange herbal smell any longer, so I don't think my parents will be too disappointed in my living situation.

Suggestions?

Anyone have any suggestions on where to visit here in the Bay Area?

I was thinking of taking them to the Chabot Space & Science Center, but I'm not sure if my kids will like it. Also, I thought they might like a visit to Japan Town. Unfortunately, I haven't done a lot of touring around yet even though I've lived in the area for a few years now.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

And that's all I have for you today. Cheers!