Book Review

We had a nice visit at my parent's new apt. in the retirement home. We haven't been back since the day we moved them in and there were boxes all over the place. It was nice to see it all unpacked and looking like home for them. They have just enough stuff so it doesn't look too crowded but does look personal. I especially love the patio and the garden spot that mom is having the gardeners create for her. She had them take out all of the blooming flowers (pink and purple) and put in more ferns and plants. She wants her area to be different from the rest. She has brought some of her desert rocks and some pots with white & orange flowers. We had a nice visit but since we had Cameron and Faith with us, it was a little harder. They were good, but there is no yard to send them out to play, only the patio and garden and with the apt so small, they get on our nerves after awhile. They tried to play quietly, but it can only be that way for so long. We were there for over 3 hours. But, we all enjoyed the visit and I am glad to see how happy they are. They have one unfriendly neighbor, he scowls at the kids, but we just ignore him.

I should also mention (to my nieces especially) that I am now reading the Stephanie Meyer books. I read Twilight and loved it and am now 3/4 the way through New Moon. I am not liking New Moon as much, but will definitely keep reading the next books. Our public library has them but there is a waiting list. As soon as I finished Twilight, I put my name on the list for Eclipse because I figured it would take me that long to read New Moon. Linda has Twilight and New Moon, so I only need to reserve the others at the library. Very interesting books, who would have thought?

Why the yard sale you ask?

Just a glimpse at how much stuff I had accumulated in my closet. Yes, I have a large walk-in closet, but even so, it was ridiculously full of STUFF. I took it all out (over spring break and Ray was gone to MS) and then refused to put anything back in that I had not touched for a full year. Therefore, I got rid of craft supplies (and many enrichment night started-but-not-finished projects), clothes, shoes, etc. I had old roadshow scripts, cards from every occasion, talks we gave at church in 1988, etc. Yeah, it needed a spring cleaning. It is so amazing now to open my closet and realize how big it is.

So, if my closet looked like this, can you imagine what my garage and storage unit looked like?

Back to reality- school bus accident

So a nice smooth weekend means a crazy work week- it's Tuesday and before I even got to work, a driver called my cell to tell me another bus had been hit and they had just called 911. It was just around the corner from home, so I was first on the scene. It looked worse than it was. There was metal all over the road. But, our bus was actually parked at the curb, picking up a student and a truck driving east into the low sun, sideswiped the bus. But it did a lot of damage to his truck. He had 2 kids in the truck and we had 3 students (1 wheelchair) in the bus. Luckily, the girl picked up was already in her seat and seat belt on because the impact was significant. There were no injuries. But it was a rough way to start the day! No, I didn't take any pictures, my boss came with his camera and took pictures while I did the report, so i have nothing to post.

River Day! all about relaxation

Well, we finally did it- we took a day off! I mentioned before, i feel like we have been moving for 4 weeks now. Every weekend we moved "stuff" around -to and from storage to the yard sale and then to the church, glad that's over. So we actually planned a day at the river for Saturday. Ray, Brandie and kids came in late Friday night. We got up and packed a lunch and took off for the river. We ended up at Mayflower Park (6th Ave) and got a picnic cabana with access to a little beach area. We set up the easy-up, launched the sea-doo and we were good to go. It was only 100 degrees, so it was hot enough to appreciate the river but not too hot to sit out in it. We perched the chairs in waist deep and just kicked it. I actually borrowed Linda's copy of "Twilight" and got into some serious reading. We took turns taking kids for rides on the sea-doo and see who could "spray" the group the most. We just about had the river to ourselves and that's the way I like it. So, after 7 years of owning a sea-doo, for only the 2nd time, I actually took it out myself (with Faith and Robert). I am actually afraid of the river because of it's low spots, sand bars and just the other boats and crafts riding, but this was a perfect day for me to ride. The guys all played some boccie ball and did some not-too-serious fishing also. It was a great day. We went home, jumped in the pool for awhile and then barbecued some ribs. We celebrated little Robert's 6th birthday. If only every weekend could be so simple!

some pictures (if I do it right!)

Today's blog is just sharing some pictures to go with all my previous posts. Okay the first 2 pictures came out. This was G & G the night before they moved from Blythe and then they are in the new apartment "pooped out" after the move (pictured with a few little helpers)

Yard Sale- too much work!

With my parent's move and downsizing, they left a lot behind. Some of it was stuff that Amy wants for a future house/apt. and some of it I wanted but had to clean out some of my stuff to make room for it. So the yard sale actually took a whole week of work to make it happen. Luckily, we had mom and dad's empty garage to use while sorting through everything. Last Saturday we spent 4 hours cleaning and sorting through the storage unit. Then once it was clean and had lots of room, we started taking stuff from our garage and from mom's garage to put away. We then brought all the yard sale stuff to the empty garage and all week long we tried to sort it and group it. I put an ad in the paper stating 6-11 AM on Sat. So, at 4AM, Amy, Ryan and I went over and start pulling the stuff out and put it on mom's long driveway. We had so much stuff and it took us the full 2 hours to get set up. We had like, 20 bags and boxes of clothes and didn't have time to sort it. So that was an unorganized mess. But I sold all clothes for $1 a bag and if they wanted stuff, they had to dig for it.

Well, we got slammed at 6:00 AM. The vultures were waiting. And the first ones there are the "professional yard salers" who come for the bargains on the big items. That was okay with me. I really wanted to just clean up and get rid. Since the driveway was so long and I was the only adult working the sale (Ryan, Cameron and Faith were there too, but Ray and Amy had to work) I know I got ripped off. I cannot remember selling lots of stuff, some big items, some newer items, but they were gone in the end. Like I said, I don't mind if they really needed it, but I hate to think it was just to re-sell or for their own profit.

But at the end of the day, we had got rid of a lot and we had pocketed some money and the kids had sold lots of their toys and each earned about $10 of their own. Even Ryan got about $5 in tips for being helpful. I didn't try to make big profits and some people took advantage of that, but I had 2 different customers who insisted on paying more than I was asking. And we sold a lot of items for a quarter because the kids and I saved quarters in our FUN FUND jar all summer long to do one fun activity at the end of the summer (which we still don't know what we are going to do) so, all quarters all day from every sale, went into the quarter jar. Now we will just plan our fun day and spend our money. They were real good in the summer with daily chores while we worked, and even did a reading program with me that added quarters to the jar. I think we will do something in San Diego, but not Sea World. Maybe Legoland or maybe just the zoo and museum/ aquarium.

Now we will take all the leftover yard sale stuff to the church on Thursday and the church is having their annual "Rummage Give-away". I did advertise the give-away at my yard sale too. Now I will have to learn to stay away from yard sales to keep my house from getting crowded again. The cycle continues. Oh well, glad that is behind us.

This coming weekend will be just fun and relaxation. Amy is off, Robert, Ray and Brandie and kids are all coming to Blythe for a day at the river. We will take the waverunner out and spend the day on the beach. We plan to bbq some ribs and just kick back. Big Robert's birthday is Friday and little Robert's (Ray and Brandie's) is the 27th so we are celebrating both. Robert has not been "available" to celebrate a birthday for 12 years, so we are going big on this one. I will write more next week (and by then I should have pictures downloaded to add).

The MOVE

Well, Grandpa and Grandma are settled into their new apt. They packed way too much stuff! I think they forgot how small the apt was. But, we could not convince them to trade the BIG desk for a smaller one or to leave behind a shelving unit. So we took it all. Thank goodness they had a couple of workhorse neighbors who owed them some money and helped them load up to pay their debt (side note: and glad one was obviously "on something" because he had the adrenaline of superman!) Ray and Bob, Linda and I were all there to supervise and help in little ways. The truck and trailer were loaded by 8:00 AM and mom and dad drove their car off into the sunset without looking back. Ray and I and kids were going to drive the truck but gave them a good 1 hour head start. At that end of the move, Kathy, Chuck, Josh and Angie and kids and Ray Jr with his 4 kids were there to help unload which gave Ray, Ryan and Dad a little break. After we got all the stuff in the apt. there wasn't much room to walk around. We all left them there to unpack and rest up before they had to go to the dining hall for dinner.

We spent the night with the Middoughs having pizza and playing cards. We were tired but had a great time. Thanks Kathy and Chuck. We went to Sacrament meeting with Ray and kids (Brandie had to work) and then we left for home by way of Covina to check back with the folks.
They had obviously been up late or got up early and had been busy unpacking. The apt was taking shape. But they also discovered they had too much stuff and sent us home with 2 coffee tables, 2 book cases and lots of tote boxes. They also found out that they had left behind some stuff they did need. So they are settling in just fine. They were real happy about the meals they had except dad decided he needed to eat a little less each time because he is not used to 3 meals a day at those intervals (7:15 , 12:00, 5:00) He wasn't hungry at the right times! Mom has to walk a good 2 block walk to the dining hall, so good exercise 3 times a day. The nurse had been there and did a full assessment on them (documented every bruise, cut, cross toes, etc on their bodies). I think all the residents saw the 6 little kids visiting on Saturday and enjoyed having them there. The kids were a little bored but we walked around and met some people.

All in all, the move went smooth and I haven't cried yet. I thought it would be harder. I am going to the empty house today to clean, maybe it will hit me then. C'est la vive! (spelling?)