The Attic, Part I

Today, was our first foray into the attic.  Mom insisted she should go up and assist, but we managed to make our start without her.  OMG.  OMG.  OMG.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures of when we started, but I believe you will get the picture of the insanity.

The supervisors.

Don't forget, we had to take the stuff down the attic stairs and down the house stairs to the porch.  Here is what we managed to do, before Amy got tired.

I think I counted 30 bins and bags.  The Purple Heart people will be here on Monday to pick this up.  I am embarrassed to say that the bins are mostly my own stuff - clothes, holiday stuff - but I do feel good about letting it go.  
Sorry, but the dress that I bought to go to court in Fairfax County for my first speeding ticket when I was 17 is gone.

Amy has listed some things on Craigslist.  The green wrought iron furniture (not snapped up yet) and my hammock (bought today by Raoul) and the fun buy is the rocket.

We all have wonderful memories of this rocket in Sissy and Granddad's backyard.  Amy had it listed under rocket, but a guy named Jeremy saw it in the ad for the hammock and he was so excited! He called Amy and asked if the rocket behind the hammock was for sale.  He had been looking for a rocket carousel  ride for his 3 year old daughter.  He has his backyard set up with all  of these rides and he really wanted a rocket.  Amy and I are thrilled that it is going to be set up for another generation of children to ride.

And on the topic of kids, my neighbor, Hudson, turned 3 today.  He is truck and tractor crazy, and his dad rented a digger for him to "play" with.

David and Hudson

I thought this was terrific!

Well, that's all for today.  It is Bud and Chipolte time!

Love, 
Leslie

Yak Traks

If you live anywhere that ice may appear, you need to have yak traks.  You can buy them on Amazon.  They go on any shoe that you might wear outdoors.  I have them on an old pair of Land's End moccasins.  And I leave them on.  You shouldn't wear them indoors, because you can slip.  But outdoors on ice ~ they are golden.  You will not slip on ice.  It is sleeting outside and I took the dogs out.  Not one slip.


And for all of my family who have them and haven't worn them......shame on you.  You will never slip on the ice again.


Today, another company came in to give Amy an estimate on what needs to be done in the basement - insulation, etc.  It appears that in our basement, in the crawl space, there are two vents to the house.  So cold air does come in.  He wants to use foam insulation and wrapped insulation in the basement.  Sounds like a great deal.  


We are having Amy's favorite electricians out to fix a couple of bad switches and put a motion detection light on the back deck.  And to change the lights on the front porch.  And we are having Serve Pro coming out to clean the basement.  All things that should have been done years ago.  I am not sure why Mom and Dad never did these things, but they are being done now, which will make the house much more sellable.


And when we are in the house in Durham, any problem areas will be fixed immediately. 


On the storm front, we dodged a bullet again.  We may get two more inches of snow tonight on top of the sleet, but it is not 2 feet.  It is fun to watch the CNN weather men panic about the snow, and I am glad it is not here - at least New York and points further north are prepared and can handle it.


Amy got a new mattress that came highly rated.  She got a twin size and it is on the floor (we got rid of the twin beds).  It was delivered in a box this morning.   It is supposed to be better than her fancy temperpedic one. 


And the Purple Heart people came and picked up all the stuff on the porch.  Yippee!  I will have more for next Monday. 


I have a cold and it is making me tired.  Stay safe and cold free. 
Love,
leslie

Exhausting, but Good

Unloading 25 years of crap is totally exhausting.  My knees may not survive.  I have stuff on the front porch for the Purple Heart people to pick up.  I think Amy was laughing at my signs on the stuff so there is no mistake.  

I used paper plates to write PH on.  I would have more, but I said only 8 to 10 bags.  I will just have them come out multiple times.

The 1-800-Got-Junk guys were here on Friday.  I sat in the basement and froze going thru Dad's filing cabinet.  He had his taxes from 1957!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the way to the last year he did them!!!!!!!! Including the guide from the IRA for the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I shredded a bunch and Amy thinks we should get a metal trash can and burn the rest.

The guys brought two trucks and are coming back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The attic wasn't touched - Mom was stressing out because she is positive I am going to toss something valuable.  Really.

Here is the last of my books.  I weighed one of the boxes - 30 pounds!!!!  So, this is at least 300 pounds that will not be moved.  Very cool.  I didn't weigh the first batch, but I bet you could say the same weight applied.

Tomorrow a plumber comes to look at Mom's bathroom - Amy had a company come out to give an estimate to fix both bathrooms, fix the ceiling in the old computer room, and to re-insulate the basement. 

I am going to take a run to the dump with all the recycling bags and I have 3 bins for MADD. 

The last of my books (I didn't notice Bennett until now!!)

Exhausted but feeling good.

Love,

Leslie

Nothing is Ever Easy

Today I got Mom to her regular MD - wanted to make sure all was well with her medications and that we have enough to carry through to North Carolina.  And, I had to get her on an antibiotic because she broke two teeth (didn't tell me) and I had to get her on an antibiotic before her emergency dental appointment tomorrow. 


And, of course, it snowed today.  Supposed to be a light dusting.  We got a couple of inches - enough to close schools early and cause a mild panic.


Moving south can't come soon enough.


I am doing the shredding of documents and was going to take a load of electronics to the dump - but I will do that tomorrow, hopefully, or will wait until Saturday.


The dry wall guys come on Friday as do the 1-800-Got-Junk guys.  It is good to get started.   


And, I told my Victim Impact Speakers last night that the meeting was my last in Anne Arundel County.  All of us got a bit teary eyed but everyone is glad for me.  We are going to dinner to celebrate.


:) Leslie

Stuff, Moving, Stuff, Moving ~ it Never Ends

This is a quick note, old friends are taking me to lunch in about an hour, so I need to get moving.

Many thanks to Torii who helped move MANY boxes of books!  She brought boxes and went and got more boxes!! I cannot tell you how helpful she is to me!  

Nancy came and got the piano - her movers were here for 40 minutes and gone.  

The 1-800-Got Junk guys are coming.  I have made doctors appointments for mom so she is ready to move.  Of course she says she broke a tooth and has to see the dentist on Thursday and her MD on Wednesday to get prescriptions and an antibiotic for the dental work.

Purple Heart bags and boxes and bins of books - the beginning.

The piano leaveth.  That it is under the blanket.

Without the piano, the room looks bigger and brighter!

The corner junk is gone - Thank you, George!

More later, 

Love,

Leslie

Chapter One

Chapter one is complete.  After mass aggravation by the new owners, Amy finally closed on her old house.  The buyers were demanding and kept changing their wants.  In a small retaliatory manner, the new pantry light is the ugliest light in the world and there is a small pee stain in the hard wood floor in the study.  Too bad.

Amy got her work computers up and running, got her stuff set up in the middle bed room and I have made the computer room a complete disaster.  I have emptied the closet, got 8 black garbage bags ready for the Purple Heart Association to pick up on Friday morning and have started getting books in boxes ready for Torii.  And, it feels really good.  

We have agreed to put on Craig's List the green wrought iron furniture, the snow blower and assorted tools and the generator (as is cheap),  the Ikea book shelves and anything else we can think of. 

Chapter Two begins tomorrow.  

Love,
Leslie

First Day In

Amy said that she wanted to get up and get out by 7 am since the cleaning people were going to be at her house this morning at 8am.  I woke up at 6:45am and got up.  A car drove by.  Buffy was in the hall and Amy's door was open, so I thought "She is up and gone."  So I got back in bed.

Nope, Amy was not gone.  She evidently shot up at 8 and surprised me!!!!!! I imagine that we will get our schedules straight eventually. 

And, it has stopped raining.  Thank goodness.  It is cold, though.  Back to work.  Still boxing up the last remaining bits of Christmas and putting them in the basement together.  Thank the Lord that I am not that crazy lady with 184 Christmas trees that she puts up every year.  But I do think that maybe I have too much.  And then I think, maybe....but it is pretty, so ok.  But I did get rid of a bunch. 

Time to get motivated.

~Leslie

Amy's Final Day in House and First Day Here

For the move, of course it is raining, raining, raining.  And there are slick places.  I took the dogs out and slipped a bit, because I thought I would not need my yak traks.  Guess again.

I did take some pictures so you can see some of the chaos.

The computer room is a disaster!  I am cleaning out the closet and making several trips to Good Will.



Working on the closet.

Amy's temporary home - please note that I washed everything on that bed for her.







  

Actually, it is ok.  Still exciting! 

Torii called last night to invite Mom, Amy and me to her house on Valentine's Day, which is so very nice!!!!!! And, in our chat about purging, I mentioned my books and she is going to come over on Saturday and we are going to box them up and she is taking them for a book selling event to raise money for scholarships!  How cool is that!

So, here is to good friends and family!
~Leslie

Moving at Amy's

I don't know how people do it!  Moving is difficult - and we really haven't really started here!  But here is Amy's chandelier being moved:

Taking down the chandelier.

Putting it into the crate that they had to build for it right there.

Packing it up.

Very cool and impressive. 

I, in the mean time, have an incredible mess putting away Christmas.  And purging Christmas.  But the good still outweighs the pain in the tookus factor.

:)Leslie

Why is Taking Down Christmas Not Fun?

I guess that is the eternal question.  Why is taking down the decorations not so much fun?  I have got stuff piled up in the dining room and I am carefully packing it up - and deciding what to keep and what not to keep.  I am also repacking, trying to get it all organized for the move. 

It is, however, somewhat enervating to clean up and reorganize and dream about how it will look in the new house.  Very exciting!!!!!!

But, also time consuming and going up and down the basement stairs are tiring.  I know, get over it. 

Mom is going through a box of papers and now I am off to the drug store, grocery store and post office. 

On the positive side, the lights are down off the porch - our tree is still up and lit - so it is ongoing.  I seem to remember having the tree up in the Arnold house until the Valentine's Day blizzard.  Just a fond memory, not a hopeful wish.

Crack that whip!
~Leslie

OMG!  Amy's house is EMPTY!!! She is a machine!!!!!!

We Have A House!!!!

It is so exciting!  Amy got the house she wanted - we all wanted - it is perfect and ready to go!!!!! All it needs is a dog door!  It has sidewalks, fenced yard, master bedrooms on the first floor, lots of space, a screened porch!!!!! It is really a dream home and is ready for the Thomas family.

I don't have the exact address - it is Pump Station Lane in Durham. Yippee!!!!

Unfortunately, the Polar Vortex is Back

We had our first snowfall yesterday.  I knew I had put the snow shovel out in preparation of winter, but yesterday I could not find it.  So I was using the broom on the deck and literally never looked behind me, where the shovel was leaning against the window.  Waiting for me.
I am taking the shovel with us to Durham, just in case.



My little neighbor, Hudson's, first snowman - so cute!!!

My supervisors.

I had looked at the weather in Durham yesterday when our high here was 21.  It was 41 in Durham.  Oh, I wish!!!!!!!!

It is going to be very cold here  - wind chills of 5 degrees - it does make me long for heat and humidity.  I will not miss this at all.

On the academic side, my 3rd year law student niece, aka Maren, did pass her classes - she was worried for some reason.  She is always studying!  This is also a plus to moving to Durham, mom can actually go to Maren's graduation from law school.

Time to take the dogs out.
~Leslie

On the Hunt

Well, it is happening.  Amy is in Durham looking at houses.  I believe she looked at 5 today and is going back tomorrow to look at one in particular.  It is very exciting and scary ~ this is a huge change!  But a positive one.

I have told several of my MADD friends and I just sent a letter to Lisa, who is the Director of MADD Maryland and told her that I was moving and that it would probably happen in 8 weeks.  Wow.  I am crossing bridges.

Buffy is staying with Mom and I and is currently snoozing by Mom in the hallway by the library. Buffy is being very good and she even ate a little!!!!!

It is a very strange upper 50's day and I should get the outside decorations down, since it will be 30 degrees colder tomorrow.  Time to put up Christmas and purge some more.  

Much love to all!
~Leslie

Happy New Year!

It has been very quiet.  2015 came in and much to Mom's dismay, too quietly.  Amy got what Maren had and stayed away.  Mom appears to have something, also.  Sore throatish.  Her cardiologist pronounced her very well.  He did tell her to get more exercise.  Okay.

I have the bowl games on, gave mom some popcorn and wine and all is well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and happy New Year in 2015.  I know I plan to.

Love, Leslie