Missed Deadline

Well I didn't make it.  I'm really close though.  I think I would be done if I didn't have to keep doing things over and over and over.  And if stuff didn't happen that takes the wind out of my sails.  So Sunday the house itself was almost done.  I was down to finishing up in my room.  When I returned on Monday garbage had been strewed around.  My goodwill pile was a mess.  My bedroom was a complete disaster as someone had again thrown all the garbage around and the gun safe had been broken into.  I didn't even know that could be done.  So I filed a police report and funny how quick Mike and friends disappeared while I was talking to the cops.  Mike claimed he had nothing to do with it......evidence says otherwise.  So I spent three hours Monday night just redoing what was already done.  Picking up the garbage.  Rounding up all the stupid Goodwill stuff. 
Today I spent five hours cleaning my room and vacuuming the whole house.  So again it is just about done.  Hauled all the Goodwill stuff out to the garage.  The house is down to the gun safe being removed and the dining table being hauled home. 
The garage on the other hand is a mess.  But the house is about done.  Looking at the positive side.  A guy is coming tomorrow to take some of the Goodwill stuff since Goodwill is still not open.  Hopefully enough is done to start moving forward on getting the house on the market. 

Sister Love

I video chat with the littles a couple times a week.  We send each other GIFs.  One child likes to show me all the new filters on video chatting and the other likes to ask for special snacks. 
Cassie posted pictures on facebook of the kids playing in the backyard and this picture made my heart happy.  The little man is helping his younger sister up on the doghouse.  He is being a good big brother.  I just love it. 

Song Book

It was lost for a time.  I don't know where it was or when it returned.  But this is my dad's song book.  It is filled with the lyrics to a lot of songs that he liked to sing.  My dad played guitar for fun and sang.  I can remember many many times when he would get out the guitar and we would sing.  My song is not in the song book.  I guess we just knew it by heart.  It was "Poor Folks" by Bill Anderson. 
I posted these pictures on facebook and lo and behold Myrt told us that she typed up a lot of those songs for the song book.  She, too, liked to sing.  Myrt was our old neighbor in Minnesota.  We reconnected on facebook and boy am I glad that we did.  The only way to know things now from the past is from others. 
I found out that many people had memories of this book.  And that makes my heart happy. 

Tonka

We bought a Tonka truck for the little man back when he was small.  Like for his second birthday.  We lived on property and it would be a great place to play with them.  And Tonka had started making metal ones again which meant it could last a long long time.  It survived being in the toy box "jail" at Papa's house.  When he finally got it back he wasn't overly interested. 
It sat in the garage until today.  I asked the little man if I could give it to his little brother.  He liked that idea.  I kind of liked the idea of them playing together in the dirt with the truck and whatever else they might have.  So the Tonka will travel cross country with me this summer when I go.
I realized today that I think I have more stuff to take to them than what will fit in my car.  The bikes and the green machine take priority.  And then after that I have many bins filled with toys to fill in the spaces.  Told Cassie about way too much stuff and she said her priority was the outside stuff and she wishes they had it now.  Sorry.  It's all waiting until the trip.  And her priority aligns right with mine.  I am going to go through the bins and consolidate some more.  Maybe get rid of some more.  It is still going to feel like Xmas again, just like it did when the toy box got unlocked by the locksmith. 

Two More Trips

Hahahaha.  I keep thinking I have two more trips.  And then I go to make one of them and find a whole bunch more stuff.  I'm thinking my two more trips is going to actually be like ten.  I am making great progress, but it just keeps coming and coming. 

Things Change

I talked to the realtor today.  The virus has definitely changed things.  A lot.  So her suggestion now is to maybe find a handyman who can fix the issues with the house.  Hoping for one that will take payment out of escrow.  If she can find one we are going that route.  If we sell as is now we are looking at less than $250,000 before all the fees.  If we put the money into it we could now double the amount put into it. 
I am to keep working on getting it empty.  And it is getting there.  Ever so slowly. 

Homebody Almost

I made muffins.  I tinkered around the house.  Laundry, etc.  I didn't plan on doing anything or going anywhere.  I'm finding I need more down time to recoup.  My knees feel better when I'm not overdoing  it. 
Then the call comes.  I need to go pick up a prescription for Mom.  And also she could use some pants that are smaller.  So up and out of the house I went.  Walmart actually had some pants on clearance.  That made me happy.
Took over an hour to get her prescription.  I was told it hadn't arrived yet and to come back around 6.  So I walked in at 6:15 and was told the delivery still hadn't arrived.  But then they went to do some checking.  After awhile they came up with the package.  They had discovered that it had been signed for earlier and put some place odd.  I'm just glad they found it.
I dropped off all the stuff at the memory care unit.  Hoping that Mom is doing okay.  It's over two weeks since we have seen her. 

More Done

Picked up Mya and we went to work.  She stayed in the kitchen cleaning out the drawers and cupboards and wiping stuff down. 
I loaded up another load in the car.  Sooner or later I am going to run out of stuff to move.  But it just keeps coming out of the woodwork. 
My good will pile grows, but they are now closed.  It is what it is. 

Not Today

Mya had offered to help me clean at the house.  I put it off till today.  Then when she texted to find out about it I pushed it off till tomorrow again.  I know I am making progress but some times it just feels overwhelming. 
Instead I worked on getting a few more things put away and I cleaned the bathroom and the floors.  It's something, just not what I really should be doing.

Little Things

Woke up this morning and looked outside.  It was foggy.  But not so foggy that I couldn't spot these two deer come sauntering by.  I just watched them walk slowly by.  Appreciating the little things.  

Grateful today for a place to live and food in the cupboards.  Grateful for the ability to watch wildlife.  Grateful for the love of our pets.  Grateful that the little woman and the little man are safe and sound with their Mommy and happy.  Wishing I could see Mom, but grateful that she is well taken care of.  

Oy Oy Oy

This morning I see a  little link on hotels.com about the coronavirus.  Seems they were going to allow people to cancel, with refund, or change their reservations.  Emails to come soon but you have to do it at least 24 hours in advance.  Well doesn't that just suck?  Since my reservation is for today.
Jodi ended up catching a cold so she opted to stay home.  Perfectly fine with me.
I drove to Astoria and checked in at the hotel. Every one was so friendly.  Took a nap and then drove down to Seaside for a few.  Maybe a walk on the beach.  That didn't happen.  My knees are still complaining.  I bought a hoodie and then sat on a bench just taking it all in for awhile.  It wasn't terribly crowded.  There wasn't anything to do as most shops were closed.  Restaurants were closed.  That was all fine with me as I just wanted to soak up some ocean vibes and recharge. 
Headed back to the hotel with some Taco Bell.  Holed up in my room with the window open so I could listen to the water and the seagulls.  Watched several "Dirty Jobs" on TV and relaxed.  I had a nice view out my window.  Practiced my social distancing by staying in. 

Bigger Dent

In this space lives Betsy, Monsta and Willow. With me comes Mica and Sunset.  Betsy guards the bed because Mica is under it.  She spends a lot of time just watchig and waiting.  Willow just comes and goes.  She doesn't really seem to care about Mica.  Maybe she senses that Mica is old. 
Sunset, on the other hand, is another story.  Willow does not like her and so Sunset has not ventured back in since she went outside.  She is living in the hot tub.  Okay.  We will wait it out and see how it goes.
Dale met Pat and I at the house and loaded up his trailer again.  He estimated about $50 and it was $52.  Pretty good guess.  That is a big load off my mind. 
I did not make my goal of being done by the 15th, but I'm pretty sure I should make it by the 1st.  And I guess that is all right because of the current state of the day for the country.  I don't know if people are buying houses right now. 

A Big Dent

I spent a good chunk of the day bagging up trash.  Some was real trash and some was just stuff I didn't want to deal with.  It was nice to not make so many trips up and down the stairs.  I think they may be the death of my knees yet.  Funny how I haven't had problems with my chronic tendinitis in a couple of years.  One move with stairs and it is back with a vengeance. 

Moving Day for the Furniture

Always in the past my/our stuff has moved via pick-up truck or u-haul.  And that means mostly the stuff just gets stuffed and moved.  Anything that needs care usually goes in a car. 
Today a moving company came.  They only moved my furniture that I am keeping.  Everything was wrapped and moved with great care.  Everything arrived in perfect condition and very quickly.  The whole thing went smooth and was done in about three hours.  They were happy to find out the refrigerator was not going upstairs.  ;p
As I always say, where my bed is is where I am.  That means I am moved.  Not all my stuff, but the big stuff and me. 
Now to get at getting the rest done.  Dump day is Friday.

Just Tired

Tired of packing.  Tired of moving.  Just tired overall.  I have a day at the beach planned and paid for for this weekend.  Wondering how that is going to play out.  It is a non-refundable reservation. 

Yeehaw

Well part of the day went as planned and part didn't.  The carpet guy came when he was suppose to.  He had cut the carpet before loading it in his van.  I was a bit apprehensive.  It all worked out though.  Took him until 1 p.m. to get done though.  Looks fabulous. 
Since he ran so long I did not make it to the funeral.  It was at 1 p.m. in Amboy.  So I took the opportunity to go to the grocery store.  Amazed at the things they were out of.  Like flour.  Guess every one is baking now. 
The Comcast tech was already there when I got back.  Made me anxious when he told me he was taking my box.  Wait...what?  My programs are not stored on the box.  So I have a new little tiny box and all my stuff was there. 
Took a load of boxes over.  Time to rock and roll.  Movers come on Wednesday morning. 

Packing

Now that I have some boxes I am back to packing.  The cupboards are looking a lot empty.  You have to look through the mess to see what is missing.  I'm not a very organized packer.  I will get it done though.  It's going to look interesting on the other end.
I stopped briefly at Pat's to give him his birthday presents.  He had informed me last week that today was strictly a gaming day and he was going out for dinner at Guiseppes.  He liked his tool holder for the CNC machine stuff and of course he was happy with the new organizers for screws.  The old ones were Dad's and they are very very old. 

Back to Osaka's

Mike and I arrived about noon.  Mike was done by 1:30 taking the rest of the heavy stuff out of the room and putting it elsewhere.  I got it all swept and it is ready for the carpet installers on Monday.
For Pat's birthday I suggested we go back to Osaka's Japanese Restaurant.  He thought that sounded like a grand plan.  It was very quiet.  Probably due to people actually staying home.  We both had New York Steak and he had shrimp also added to his plate.  It was very delicious.  Last time we were there we had the little man with us and Rebecca.  All kinds of food that the little man would eat. 

The Room

Today was work on the room day.....again.  I had already carried down most of the smaller stuff.  We went through boxes of crap and disposed of a lot.  We found a few treasures. The stop sign was my dad's.  We figure we are pretty safe from prosecution now.  The sign is made out of wood and there haven't been wood signs for a long long time.  Found a piece of cardboard with drawings that my friends George and Tod had done.  I can remember spending  hours watching them draw and draw and draw.  Practicing their art.  That is what these were.  Just doodles that they gave to me.  But it made my heart happy to see them again.
Then I got a call from Mike.  He was being released until his bed date at inpatient.  So we stopped with the heavy stuff and left it for him.  Won't hurt him to work a little bit.

Success

Found Remnant Ranch or as it is now known 360 Flooring. Found a nice end of a roll and figured in pad and installation and it came to $606.  Really that is not bad considering the size of the room is 12.5 by 18 feet.  Scheduled to be installed Monday morning.
Then I hit Xfinity about changing my service and seeing if I could get the bill lower.  I need a tech because nothing has ever ran to that room as far as internet/TV.  He played with my bill and got me down almost $75.  I could have went a little lower and got less TV, which was okay, but it only gave me 20 hours of playback.  And considering I have 13 hours of "The Walking Dead" right now....I like to binge that one when it's all done.  I need the 150 hours that I am used to having.  I've never used close to it, but I don't always keep up with what is saved.  So I could keep that savings from the channel line up but then I would have to pop monthly for more DVR time.  So we just kept it the way it was and I'm all good. 
Making more progress.

Searching

Searching for carpeting for the room upstairs.  I figure it would be a good sound barrier.  I don't know if the price of carpet has went up or the price to have it installed.  Granted it is a good sized room.  My bids ran from almost $800 to just under a thousand.  Wait...what?  For the cheapest carpet you can buy, for one room.  I hate to say this but that is ridiculous. 
I was rather disappointed when I drove up to the Remnant Ranch and it was no longer there.  I have gotten great deals there and installation is reasonable.  Naturally I could not remember what their name was when I was at the old location.  So after I got home I searched and found out it had moved and changed its name.  So perhaps tomorrow I will make another trip out there and see about pricing.  Otherwise I am going to buy some rugs and just cover the floor with them.

Got email from Brookdale.  They, along with the rest of the sr. places, are requesting no visitors through the corona-virus thing.  Okay then.  Poor Mama.  I will see her next week though as she has a doctor appt.  They are still letting us take them to appointments.  But I will have to go through a quick health screening first.  Joy.  Should be fine though.  I haven't travelled and I am not sick and I have not been around the one man in CC that has it. 

Cough

I got a call today about Mom.  It seems she has a cough.  And so they are faxing the doctor's office to see what if anything they should do about it.  Well I am absolutely sure it is allergies because all the  pink trees are in bloom.  But the world is in such a panic over the corona-virus.  Mom hasn't been anywhere to be exposed to it.  If it was at the memory care unit she would not be the first one with symptoms and it would be too soon for her to show any.  We'll just let that play out. 
Although I did have a horrible thought the other day.  If a virus like that went through a unit like that...it would still be a blessing.  A death for almost any other reason is preferable to a death by dementia. 

Ads

I let google put an ad on my blog.  It is on the right hand side by my lists.  I am always amazed at what ads google has chosen to show.  Sometimes it pertains to something I have blogged about.  And that makes sense to me.  If I wrote about something of interest and someone wanted to check more into it, it could be nice that the ad is right there. 
But today the ad is for machining parts.  Now I have blogged about helping my brother with his CNC machine, but not so much the machine.  I have blogged about the product he is making.  So there is an ad for the parts that he uses in his machine to make stuff.  I'm not too sure how many people who use that kind of stuff may be reading my blog. 
Anyway it doesn't take much to amuse me sometimes. 

Mom

I checked on Mom to see how she was doing.  Got there at lunch time and she was eating.  She seems to be settling in okay.  Still restless.  But maybe not as much.  We walked around the whole square with many little breaks.  They have chairs sitting all over for the residents to take a break in. 
I had noticed that her bed had been changed.  Nothing was said to me.  That was a blessing.  I know why it was changed.  Complaining to me would not have meant that she is never going to make a mess in a bed again.  It just is where we are right now.  She is some place where they just realize how it is and deal with it.  There are many people there to help and it just gets done. 
I'm happy that I can just go and see Mom and not worry about what complaint is coming this time.  Because really.....it doesn't matter how many times she takes off her socks.  We are just taking life one day at a time.  Like always. 

Out With Jodi

Harvey's gave me tickets.  So I asked Jodi if she wanted to go.  There was actually an early show.  So we did.  About the time we get to the park and ride at Delta Park we got talking about that accident from last night.  She made some comment and it really made my bones feel it.  Again.  I asked who was the driver who caused the accident.  Well it was one of my old neighbors from the apartment.  Mike's girlfriend had been staying with her so we were a little more connected the last few months than we had been after we moved from the apartments. 
My heart instantly broke for her boys.  For her parents.  We will probably never know just what was occurring that made her try to pass in the southbound lane and hit that minivan head on.  We can only hope that the investigation and autopsy tells us something. 
That news kind of put a damper on the show for me.  But the guys were funny.  We had seen the first guy before.  And his spiel was different this time.  That was good.  Jokes aren't usually too funny more than once.  It was good and I'm glad we went. 
We were home in time for old people bedtime.  ;p

Moving Day

First I again missed out on hiring movers.  And nice of the cheap ones to let me know last night at 6.  That kind of messes stuff up for finding anyone else.  So I texted Pat asking for ideas.  He came back with one friend was available later in the afternoon and he sent me a link for a furniture dolly at Lowe's. 
I gathered up what I thought I needed from home.  A nightstand and a lamp and some fresh linens.  Headed to Brookdale to drop those things off and then to Pat's for awhile.  Went and got the u-haul and then we were off. 
Oh my gosh.  It was only three (yes three) pieces of furniture to move.  We did the bed first and it was horrible.  Tempurpedic mattresses are heavy heavy and flimsy flimsy.  Who knew.  The first move we had movers.  The second move we had young guys.  This move we had us.  We managed to get the three pieces of furniture moved (although techinically the bed was six pieces).  And we were tired. 
When we got to Brookdale Pat's friend was there and helped with that part.  It went so much quicker than the first part.  Then the guys left and I finished putting stuff away.  Hanging clothes and whatnot. I waited a bit to see how Mom was going to do.  So far so good.  She had coffee with some new friends in the dining room.  I think it is going to be much better.
Then on the drive home at Brush Prairie there were big signs that said the road was closed.  That is never a good thing when there is no construction going on.  Detoured at Brush Prairie and made it home.  Got on the computer and saw there was a bad wreck down in the dip.  Three dead, one being a child.  I could feel that in my bones.  There but the grace of God. 

Paperwork

Today I went to Brookdale to sign a bunch of paperwork.  Mom is set to move in tomorrow.  Diane got a discount on the room rent for the next year.  That means that Brookdale is cheaper than Highgate was.  That makes me happy.  I signed all the paper and wrote the big check. 
Now to get ready to move Mom. Again.  Oy.

Slow Progress

I can tell I am making progress.  I'm not sure anyone else can.  Took another load to the Goodwill after my driveway free sale.  I did get rid of some stuff off the driveway.  That made me happy.  I don't have enough stuff to make it worthwhile to have an actual garage sale.  So I just put some stuff out on the driveway with a free sign. 
My dump pile is growing.  Going to need Dale to come back soon with his trailer and get rid of it.  I have stuff ready to go and sitting by the door.  So it is actually starting to look like I'm not making progress.  But I am. 
Then on the other end I am also making progress.  I can't make up my mind where I should work hardest. 

Assessment

I met the nurse and Diane at Cami's for the assessment of Mom.  Mom engaged and was responsive.  I haven't seen this part of her for awhile.  Naturally she insisted she can do all her care taking herself.  Getting dressed, managing her meds, showering, etc.  As soon as Mom started answering, I took a step back and stayed out of her range of vision and shook my head with the real answers.  Mom showed how she doesn't like my sense of humor sometimes, and then showed that she has the same sense of humor.  Cami made sure they understood that Mom is always on the go, go, go.  It was a good assessment and I felt like they got the information they needed.
Outside they told me that Mom does need to move.  She needs more interaction, needs her walker so she can keep roaming if she wants, and less frustration.  They caught right on that Cami is tired and frustrated and that that isn't going to change as Mom is not going to change for awhile.  They also made the comment that after the phone conversation with Cami, that if that was the criteria they used they would not be taking Mom either.  But that is not the criteria they use.  It was like she was purposely trying to make it so Mom couldn't move there.  Just bizarre.  I think Brookdale is going to be just where Mom belongs right now.  And again hindsight tells me I should have moved her there the first time.  C'est la vie. 

Brookdale

Somehow, sometimes I get lucky.  I called Brookdale today.  It was one of the places I looked at when I moved Mom from the assisted living to a memory care unit.  I really liked it and should have paid more attention.  They accept medicaid after a two year spend down.  But I took Mom to see Highgate and she liked it.  So that is what we went with and Highgate does not ever accept medicaid.
The lady who answered the phone seemed so familiar, but she wasn't at this Brookdale when I toured before.  But she was at Creekside when Mom first moved.  Small world.  I still liked her and felt like she was helping me.  So I went and again toured and talked.  We have an assessment scheduled for tomorrow.
Everything that I told her was right on for dementia.  And they are certainly used to people who roam and have Mom's other issues.  I'm just feeling blessed that they had an opening.
After taking care of that I went to see Mom.  Cami seemed mad that I was going to move Mom even though I had told her on Friday that I thought I might.  On Friday she told me no other AFH would take her because of all her issues and if I hadn't lied about that she would not have either.  Then she gave me the spiel about how residents in her home are family and they are not in a facility.  That may be true, but the workers in a facility are not worn out from staying up with my mom.  There is a night shift.
The move is scheduled for Friday.

Shamrock Progress

Gofer day got all messed up this weekend.  Pat had to work on Friday.  So today became gofer day.  He picked up the small shamrocks from the powder coater.  So today was set up for the engraving and get started on that.  Each one took about twelve minutes to engrave.  Ten got done.  I think Mary is going to be pleased.  Pat will work on them this week.  He will pick up the two big ones on Friday.  After they are engraved that job is done.
I included a picture of the cast offs from the torsion bar we tried to make.  I just think they are cool looking and colorful.  Many different shades of blue depending on how hot the metal got in the lathing process.