one step closer

The lady who is doing my estate sale in two weeks came today to take pictures to post on her various advertising sites.  I was afraid she would look at all the stuff I had dragged out of the many storage places in this house, throw up her hands in disgust and say something like "Nothing here is saleable. Give up now."  But no, she took lots of pictures (for about an hour and a half) and seemed to find several things very promising.  From old silver to dishes to stuffed animals to dolls to the motorcycle in the basement, it all looked good to her, so hooray, lets get on with the show.

A wonderful weekend of theater.

Early this morning I returned from a wonderful long weekend of theater in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The weather was rainy and cold, the food was delicious and the plays we saw were outstanding.  One Shakespeare "The Taming of the Shrew" - hilarious; one period comedy "She Stoops to Conquer" - funny play, gorgeous costumes; "The Diary of Anne Frank" - brilliantly done; and the musical "Carousel" - amazing singers and dancers.  I enjoyed every play, and as usual, I was entranced by the stage sets.  Probably my favorite piece was the white, gold and silver carousel that the actors could actually ride on.  The Anne Frank set was pure genius.  The director of our local church theater who organized this trip assured me that we could have similarly awesome stage sets if we had a stage six times as large as the one we have now and a hundred thousand dollars to spend on each set.  Sounds good to me but I think he'll have a hard time selling the idea to our church Session.

more "treasures" unearthed

My daughter came over today and we made great strides in getting more things sorted for the big sale.  Among other exciting finds: two big boxes of children's books.  I really thought all of the books were on the shelves but not so.  Also found one shoe in good condition but can't find the mate.  One bag contained several puffy Christmas snowmen and other ornaments that neither of us could remember ever seeing before.  I suspect that elves are sneaking in while I'm sleeping and leaving more stuff.  That would explain some of the weird noises I hear in the night around here.

a pricey lesson learned

I needed a cashier's check or money order today, in order to submit an application for an apartment,  so I went to my local bank, because that's where my money is. I was told that a cashier's check would cost $7.00 while a money order was cheaper - a mere $5.00.  This seemed excessive to me but I was in a hurry so I purchased the money order.  Later this afternoon I was shopping at Kroger's and, on a whim, asked the lady at the customer service desk how much they charge for a money order.  Her - answer 69 cents.  Guess where I'll be going from now on!

learning the limits of a small car

A few months ago I traded in my larger suv for a cute little Fiat.  While it's being lots of fun to drive and the cost of gas is definitely better, I realized this week that it's not great for hauling stuff.  I wasn't surprised when I realized I wouldn't be able to haul my new storm door home, I'm not even sure that would have fit in my old car, but I was amused this morning when I went shopping for 4 replacement four ft long florescent bulbs (see yesterday's blog) to discover they didn't fit well in the back of the car.  They did fit across the back seat so I made it home ok.  Now I have another problem. Four friends and I are going on a bus trip to Stratford this weekend.  In past years I have driven us all to the meeting point because everyone and their luggage fit in my car.  Not this year. Someone else will have to drive.  Hummm, perhaps that's not so bad.  Good little car!

snap crackle pop

I do know how to change a light bulb.  I'm not completely clueless about household affairs, but I'm afraid I'll be calling the electrician again tomorrow.  Last night as I was working in my kitchen, my big nice overhead florescent light made a funny kind of snap crackle sound and both bulbs went out.  Now I've had florescent bulbs burn out before but always one at a time and with a lot of dimming and flickering. So, I'll call in the pro.  Ah well, I need to clean the shade anyway.

ham and bean soup as a bribe

We finally got a good start on cleaning out my basement garage today.  It;s such a wonderful big room with all kinds of shelves for storage - and all full.  Everything from a wedding dress to stuffed toys to a high school diploma (1971) and three yearbooks from Central HS ( 1947 and beyond), electronics, photography equipment and so much more.  I was able to get things rolling by bribing my kids and their families with homemade ham and bean soup. I must say it turned out very well.  My daughter-in-law contributed brownies to the meal so it was a win-win situation.  One more week to get everything sorted so we can start the pricing process and I think I'm going to make it.

One step forward, two windows back.

I was so excited this morning. A couple of days ago the painters had come to power wash the outside trim on my house and today it finally stopped raining and they came back to start the actual painting. Yea! one step closer to getting this house on the market. Until....the painter led me around to the back of my house to show me a window with a seriously rotted frame.  It has to be replaced. I already have 5 replacement windows on order.  I decided to replace the bad window and the one beside it in the same room. The funny thing is I've been calling the window company fairly regularly to see where we were in the process. I've been getting calls back and reassurance that things were progressing, but today, when I called to say I needed two more windows, hey, presto! My salesman was at my door within a half hour. Go figure.

fire, flood or tornado?

A lot of talk on the news today about flooding, because of all the rain we and other areas have been experiencing. It got me wondering, if my house had to be destroyed would I prefer that it happen by flood, fire or tornado.  Assuming no injury to person or pet, I think I would prefer that a big wind come and just carry everything far, far away.  This attitude may have something to do with the fact that I am still sorting through mountains of stuff.

kudos to nurses

I spent most of today at Parkview Hospital.  Nothing wrong with me; I drove and stayed with my brother who needed to have a suspected blockage in his heart checked out.  Everything is fine with him, thankfully.  I was interested to watch the nurses and other health staff as they worked.  While I was in the waiting area I saw families being tactfully taken to private rooms to discuss the prognosis of their loved ones.  Every nurse I spoke with or simply observed seemed unfailingly kind and, when appropriate. cheerful. I had a flashback to the night my husband died at the old Parkview and I remember with sincere gratitude the nurses who held on to me and helped me understand what I did and didn't have to do. Let's hear for nurses!

poor timing

I heard an interesting comment on Dr. Oz today.  I don't usually watch his show but I knew that they were going to be talking about Alzheimer's and foods you should be eating to help your brain.  Happy to report that I am eating most of what's on their list, most of the time.  However I was surprised to hear the guest expert refer to Alzheimer's as "type 3 diabetes". I know, of course, that too much sugar isn't good for a person, and I generally try to control myself but I do wish I had heard this before I consumed a dozen Lion's Club donuts in three days.  Ah well, I'll start being careful tomorrow.

Thanks but no thanks.

Scrolling across the bottom of my TV screen this evening is an announcement that says "The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood for Van Wert County until 8:15pm." Not a Flash Flood watch or warning, just a Flash Flood.  I don't know about Van Wert but we've had plenty of rain, without someone adding a Flash Flood to the mix.  Thanks anyway.  We'll pass.

Considerate rain

We seem to be having quite a bit of rain lately.  According to one weather person we broke a record yesterday for amount of rain in one day.  But so far the rain seems to be working well with my schedule.  Yesterday for example It was pouring down rain as I drove out to Woodburn, but cleared up before I got out of the car.  Stayed clear the rest of the day until I was visiting with my son and family, gushed down again while I was there, then stopped before I had to drive home.  Very nice.  Today, it rained as I was driving to church, stopped when I got there, rained again after I got home this afternoon.  I haven't gotten wet at all and my car looks like it's been through a car wash.  Excellent timing, very considerate.

Going home again

I spent most of today in my home town, Woodburn. It was Woodburn Day in the Park with a parade, good food, Lion's Club donuts, yummm, and a place where high school alum could gather in air conditioned comfort.  It was all very nice and I had a good time visiting with friends but I couldn't help remembering what Woodburn Days was like when I was in high school. Back then it was a three day event with carnival rides, arcade booths run by exotic looking carneys, cotton candy, a parade of course, and fireworks on Saturday night. I met one of my weirdest short term boyfriends at Woodburn Days, but that's another story.  I miss the way it was but I saw lots of young families and little kids running around today, having a wonderful time and making their own memories.  Woodburn is 150 years old this year, still the smallest city in Indiana, with a population of about 500 and a city government. Hang in there little city.  You've got a lot of life left in you yet.

perhaps I'm overly suspicious but...

Heard on the TV news this morning - a man defending himself from a scandalous accusation claimed that "He didn't know that the women at an 'organized sex party' were prostitutes."  Really??

Penny the Pug

I met the newest addition to the family this morning.  Penny the Pug has joined Stella (a boxer) and Wallace (a mystery) as the dogs in my daughter's household.  I applaud the choice. She's cute, even though she has a squishy face, and little.  I noticed right away that when she jumped up on me she only reached my knee - my kind of dog.  Admittedly, she looks like a toy that the humans brought home for the big dogs to play with but they all seem to be getting along ok. And the good part is she's already over a year old so she won't get much bigger. As I said, my kind of dog, but no, I don't want one!

I may be a jewelry junkie.

I'm sure there are worse addictions.  I went to a friend's jewelry party this evening with every intention of not buying anything.  Well, you can imagine how long that resolve lasted.  But I'm sure I will enjoy my new necklace and watch.  Got home from the party to find a voice mail from my daughter "Please call." so I did.  She told me excitedly that they have rescued a third dog, a 14 pound, one year old pug named Penny.  So far all is well and the dogs seem to like each other.  I'm happy for them but when it comes right down to it, I'd rather have jewelry.

Nope, I still don't like it.

I am not a picky eater.  In fact I hardly ever met a food I wouldn't try. For example, I discovered while traveling in Croatia last year that octopus salad is really delicious.  But I draw the line at tomato soup. Don't like it, never have.  One Tuesday a month we have a Session meeting at church preceded by a light supper.  Over the years these have tended to be delicious. I remember one baked potato bar that was outstanding.  Tonight the menu included egg salad sandwiches (yummy) and tomato soup.  I was assured that this soup was someone's special recipe, homemade, and really good, so I tried a small bowl full.  My mother taught me to be polite and always try a bite of everything.  Well, it tasted like tomato soup.  Sorry, still don't like it.

This year I have apples.

Late year my wonderful old apple tree, which, by the way is very organic since it's never been sprayed, had absolutely no apples.  After the bumper crop the year before this was quite a shock.  The year before my grandkids and I made two large batches of apple butter.  I suspect that last year's lack of apples had something to do with the really terrible winter.  Earlier this spring the tree had absolutely beautiful blossoms, and happily, there are lots of little green apples on it now.  It looks like well be making apple butter (unless of course the house sells before the apples are ripe). Pretty sure I want the house to sell more than I want to make apple butter, but maybe I could offer a year's supply of apple butter to anyone who buys the house.

Still more sorting....

Continuing in my cleaning out, planning to downsize process, I cleaned out the linen closet.  It's a decent size linen closet with five deep shelves which were quite full, to put it mildly.  When I was finished, the only things I felt I needed to keep fit easily on one shelf.  If I can keep this ratio going - selling, donating or tossing 4/5ths of everything I own, I should fit into a nice little 2 bedroom condo or apartment with no problem.  Of course I may hit a snag when it comes to my clothes and dishes.  Maybe I'll aim for half in those catagories...

down memory lane

More sorting today.  This time I was working my way through cabinets and drawers full of old family pictures, some framed, some not.  Somehow, I seem to be the one who has accumulated pictures, not only of my own immediate family, but all the photos that my dad, mom, stepmom, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and kids have decided that I should keep.  I did manage to condense masses of pictures into two fairly small plastic bins, mostly by taking many of them out of frames. I enjoyed paging through 8 albums that my stepmom put together.  They are a photo journal of hers and my dad's life together with several family pictures I don't remember seeing before.  I also loved seeing my dad's pictures (not in albums, just bundled together) especially the ones he took when he was stationed in Brazil during WWII.  I found, in one bundle that my husband must have stashed away, bunches of newspapers from his mom's home town.  Each carefully folded paper contained the obituary of one of her brothers or sisters and her mother's.  It was sad but fascinating to read when and how they all died. My mother-in-law was one of 12 children.  Happily, among all the obituaries, I also found the announcement of her wedding with a description of the ceremony.  Old small town newspapers wrote much more satisfying announcements than those found in modern newspapers.

My patriotic duty!

I consider myself a patriotic person.  I put my flag out on national holidays.  I honor national heroes. So it came as a real shock to me this morning to learn, on the news, about a national observance that's been going on since 1938 that I had never celebrated before.  Today is "National Doughnut Day". You can be sure I won't be skipping this important day ever again.  It's my patriotic duty.

Well, I didn't lose the farm....

But I didn't win much either.  My daughter asked me to put $10 on black at the roulette wheel and it disappeared in a poof of red 14, and that's pretty much how the day went.  I guess I'll have to pay for the new carpet the good old fashioned way.  Where's my visa card?

wishful thinking...

Today I got a bid on what the new carpeting that I need to put in my house will cost. Tomorrow I'm going to Firekeeper's Casino with a friend to play a little blackjack and throw some money away on the poker slot machines.  Wouldn't it be lovely if I could win enough money to pay for the carpet? Ha, ha, ha!! But a girl can dream.  Stay tuned.

Will wonders never cease?

A friend and I drove out to our hometown, little old Woodburn, Indiana, for a meeting this evening to help plan, what else, a high school reunion.  We were shocked to discover, as we drove into town, that Woodburn now has - wait for it - a McDonalds!  Hard to believe, I know but there it was.  We were awed.

What a relief!

I've been dealing with a mystery plumbing problem for the last 4 months or so. Three times over several weeks I've discovered a small puddle of water in my basement playroom.  I don't have a cat any more so I couldn't blame it on her.  I couldn't really tell where the water was coming from and was beginning to imagine al sorts of scenarios, a cracked foundation? leaking water heater? leaking water pipes? I was finally able to get a plumber out here today.  After trying to reach   my usual plumber for over two weeks with no response, I called Korte and they sent someone out the same day.  Turns out the problem was a plugged drain. Easy fix and all is well.  Now I can go ahead with new flooring. Yea! This getting a house ready to sell is a nerve wracking process but is reinforcing for me that I am really, really ready to down-size.