Sympathy transcends politics.

Regardless of my political leaning, I can't help feeling deep sympathy for VP Joe Biden and his family on the death of his son Beau.  No matter the cause, parents should not have to deal with the death of a child.  It simply isn't the natural order, and I can't imagine a greater grief.

another hurdle crossed

All of my grandchildren have, at one time or another, expressed some concern about my plan to sell my house and I will admit there are a lot of happy memories attached to this place.  Today I had a chance to spend several hours with my daughter's two kids and we used some of the time to sort through stuff that needs to be kept or can be sold. They thoroughly enjoyed searching for treasures, began to realize the necessity to get rid of lots and lots of things, and perked right up when I said the place where I'm thinking about renting has a pool.  So, two more converts to my cause.

A scam? What do you think?

I had a phone call yesterday on my cell phone. After several hellos back and forth because of a bad connection a young sounding man, in very broken English, informed me that the US government was going to award me $9,000. Lucky me!  Being the skeptical person I am, I laughed and hung up.  Then I looked at the caller ID and it read Washington, DC.  I thought that was kind of a cute touch.

Have I railed about mail lately?

Some time ago it was all over the news that the US Post Office was upside down financially and considering reducing the number of mail deliveries to private homes in a week. Based on the contents of my daily mail I think I'd be fine with a once a week delivery.  It is handy that I recycle things these days, as I walk back from the mailbox I can pitch nine tenths of what I've pulled out of the mailbox directly into the recycle bin. I guess the best thing to be said about the daily walk to the mail box is that I do have to get out and walk, so perhaps I should be thanking the postal service for its concern about my health.

another step in the home sale saga

Don't look up.  That's the lesson I learned when I was pondering how to clean up my furnace room to make it show well.  The furnace is ok, the jury is still out on the water heater, the softener works well. All seemed pretty good until I looked up and notice the sagging strips of insulation in the ceiling area of that little room.  So I called Momper because they remove insulation, a gentleman came out this afternoon and looked it over, agreed with me that there really is no reason to have the insulation there at all.  So now I just have to wait for his quote.  I'm aiming to have this house on the market by mid July but there is still a lot to do. It's amazing what you can accomplish if you spend enough money.  Sadly, everything I'm doing is "maintenance" (some much too deferred) that really won't add to the sale price of the home, although it may help it sell faster.  Time will tell.

Will I really miss it when it's gone?

I've selected a dealer to conduct my estate sale.  At least I've decided who I want to use.  I will contact her tomorrow.  Now I need to decide what to sell and what to keep.  Some things are pretty easy.  I will keep my bed for instance, and most of my bedroom furniture, and I won't have any problem selling some of my exercise equipment and the old piano.  However, I have a lot of stuff that has memories attached. So I think the question is will I still have the memories if I sell the stuff? For example, my husband and I traveled in the southwest several times but do I really need 17 pots and figurines? Perhaps one would do?  Pictures are good, nice and flat; they don't take up much space.  I could even copy bunches onto CDs to give to the kids if I get really organized.  Yikes! There's that pesky word 'organized' again.  I'd better get started.

How frustrating is this?

Local newscasters just can't catch a break.  Earlier today a local news station reported that "breaking news!" there was a report of a hostage situation in a bowling alley in a small town near Fort Wayne.  Police had surrounded the place, ambulances were standing by, and people were being evacuated from nearby homes. A reporter was on site waiting for information from the local police.  Now, no one hopes for bad news, and I'm happy that nothing evil happened, but the report I just heard on the 10pm news was a bit of a let down.  The police eventually entered the building and found no one there. The end. Talk about an anticlimax.  I suspect that everyone involved is feeling a little bit let down.