We're Close

The realtor called today.  They want closing to be next week.  She wanted to know how it was going at the title company because it can't close until they are done with this old mortgage.  She was happy to hear we were making headway. 
Here is hoping the rest goes according to Hoyle because next week will come fast. 

Oy

When Mom bought her house she took out a small mortgage.  There were some things she wanted done to the house and she used the money for that. 
Fast forward.  That deed of trust still shows on public record.  The title company tried to get info from the bank but they could not find the loan at all and said it must have been sold.  So the lady from the title company and I did a three way call with that company and naturally they could not find anything either.  So the plan was that company would keep looking. 
Well as I go through stuff I found an old credit report Mom had run and it showed that mortgage.  Now we have an account number and should be able to make headway.  The funny thing was I had commented she wouldn't have had that little mortgage very long.  It was a 15 year one.  The credit report was run just before she was 18 months into it and she had already paid over half. 

Parking Lots

I have spent the last six weeks moving. Back and forth between houses.  My big outing is the grocery store.  And then I spend a lot of time in parking lots.  It seems that every week and sometimes more than once in a week, I get to go sit in the Kaiser parking lot and wait on a prescription for Mom.   Then I get to take it to where she lives but I can't go in.  So it is another parking lot while I wait for someone to come get it from me.  It's quite an exciting life.  Grocery stores, gas stations and parking lots.

Lazy Day?

Not really.  More like a rest and recoup day.  Saturday I fell.  It's funny how as time goes by you notice different things that hurt.  Mostly it is my ankle.  And so I am trying to stay off of it while it heals.  I don't think I broke anything anywhere.  Just some bruises and a wounded ego.  I am definitely getting older and less limber. 
So I spent much of the day vegging on Netflix.  "Waco" was kind of interesting. 

On The Board

We put up a whiteboard to keep track of our plans.  Top of the list was fix the riding mower.  All the parts arrived last week.  So all the parts are now on the mower.  I guess there is still a pin that needs to be replaced but it isn't affecting the use of the mower. 
Deck down and the lawn looks very nice.  I notice each weekend something different gets moved so it can be moved under.  So this weekend was the boat and it is now sitting in the front yard.  Mica thinks it is a great place to hang out.  She can get under cover and she can be high to survey her new domain. 
We have a lot of things on our list.  Most of it outside stuff.  But it's all on the board and the first thing is crossed off. 

Found Some

Today Norman would have been 87 years-old.  I found one of the pictures I wanted to post before and a couple of others of family.  Still in that nostalgic frame of mind.
It is a slow process to go through all the pictures.  So I'm doing it as I run across them.  Scanning, cropping and naming.  Trying to date them if I can.  Throwing out a bunch.  Trying to consolidate so they aren't going to take up so much space when I'm done.  Digital pictures are so much easier to handle.  Digital are easier to share also.  I sent the one of Duane and Lillian to Duane on his phone.  I thought he might like it.  Carey has been taking all the ones I've posted of Dad on Facebook and put them on her phone and then she is having some printed off.  No postage that way. 

Happy Birthday Mom

My mom turned 77 years-old today.  She did not get to share the day with us and we didn't get to share the day with her.  We thought about her.  I imagine that senior living places will be the last things to be released.  And until then life keeps marching on.
I talk to someone at least once a week where she lives.  Mostly they call me to update me on meds.  There have been some changes since she moved there.  She has lost a little weight.  That doesn't hurt anything as she still had a little excess, but they want her to eat.  It is part of her anxiety.  She can't sit still and eat.  Hopefully the new meds take care of that. 
When the virus stay home is lifted we will have cake and presents.  The good thing is she won't know we missed it even if we didn't want to. 

Home All Day

Amazing.  I went no where today.  I stayed home and worked on my incoming pile.  I did manage to make a small dent in it.  I had a box of recycles.  I think I will never be done pulling out paper that is saved for no purpose. 
Looked at a bunch of pictures and scanned more for Carey.  The first picture here is when Dad was hauling those huge things and had to have a pilot car.  Mom and Dad bought the sign for the top of the car and Mom ran pilot for him.  It was good money while it lasted.  The second picture I believe is from Mt. St. Helens after she blew and people were allowed back up.  There was a group of pictures and it looked pretty devastated. It's always interesting to look at the old pictures of the house and seeing how the neighborhood grew up.  Trees that are now there and weren't back in the day.  It is way too easy to get stuck in the picture world.  People that aren't here anymore.  Places that don't look the same.  Kids grown up. 
It was a good day to stay home.

Done

One small dump run.  And we were correct.  There was no waiting in line today at all.  After the dump we ran some more scrap to the scrap metal guy.  Stuff that wouldn't fit in my car well.  Then Joe loaded up the rest of the wood and the stuff he was taking.  I loaded up my car with what was left.  Pat still has to do his run to get the table, washer and gun safe.  Other than that I am done. 
Here is hoping the sale proceeds as planned.  The buyer's loan is in underwriting so I assume that is a good sign. 

Dump Runs

Yes that is plural.  Joe has a small pickup so we can only haul so much.  It was two trips today.  The transfer station was very busy.  We spent a lot of time waiting in line both times.  But we got it done.  There was one more load to do, but we chose to postpone that one.  That waiting in line is just too much when we had already done it so much.  It is suppose to rain tomorrow so maybe it won't be so busy.

RIP Norman

Today Uncle Norman was laid to rest.  There was no service.  The Corona virus has made it so there are no funerals as groups can not be larger than ten.  So Aunt Betty, Duane and I attended the internment at the cemetery.  Norman's pastor was there and said a nice prayer. 
Norman was the kindest man I knew.  He was funny and he liked to look at old cars.  He used to smoke a pipe and he was the only one who could do that and it didn't bother me.  I guess it was a matter of the tobacco that he used.  We always looked forward to his trips up here from his home in California. 
Then he moved up here after his wife died.  He lived at Mallard's Landing for a long time and then in the end was at an adult family home.  He managed to catch the Corona Virus.  For a quick minute we thought he had it beat, but it surprised us and took him away.  He was 86 years-old and had many stories to tell from his life.  He is survived by his sister, Betty, three step-children, two nephews, me and the offspring and grandchildren of Dave. 
He was hardworking, responsible, personable and he had the nicest smile.  I was always happy he was part of my family and I will miss him.  I like to think he is up there somewhere with Dave having a smoke and watching out over us. 
RIP Norman.  Light and love on your journey.  Hugs when we get there.

At the cemetery Betty brought an arrangement.  I brought whirligigs.  One for Norman and ones for the other special men in my life.  It was an absolute beautiful day for an internment.  Betty and I and Duane walked around and visited our family there.  We had stories to share. 
I had more pictures I wanted to attach to this post, but naturally I couldn't find them.  I do like the ones I found. 

Working at It.

The little sissy has a birthday in a couple of weeks.  If I don't do something while I think about it, time gets away from me and it goes past.  So I ordered her a small toy on Amazon.  Then I packed up a new box to head to Cassie.  I told her there are a couple of presents in the box along with the gift bag and tissue paper.  So she will put the amazon gift in the bag with the other stuff when it is all there.
She loves when a box comes.  The littles love when a box comes.  They never know what is going to be in it and there is no rhyme nor reason to what is in the box.  It is just stuff I come across that needs to go to them.  This box is for Cassie.  Sentimental stuff like the little woman's ultrasound picture. 
So the box needs to go and I need to find at least one more gift for the birthday girl. 

Good Timing

Yesterday we got the mowing done.  I also paid my neighbor guy in Battle Ground to mow Mom's yard.  Woke up this morning to rain and was going oh we are so lucky.  Sometimes I have very good timing. 
Rain outside meant I worked on my pile inside.  I emptied two more boxes.  I think I have at least eight boxes of pictures and six boxes of toys to go through.  And there are still a few more boxes of misc.  It can be daunting.  I just take it one thing at a time.  One thing.  And I made a little floor space.  That is progress.

Friday Work

We tentatively planned on Friday always being a work day.  We have been doing that for a few months now anyway working in the shop.  Now we are working outside. 
We didn't get as much done as we hoped, not that we had a big plan.  The lawn did get mowed for the second time and it looks much better.  The first mowing of the season is always crap and we let this one go too long.  Today I did the front with the push mower and Pat started the back with the rider.  He got a good bit done and then the belt broke.  Glad it was him and not me.  I am notorious for having belts break on riders.  So I finished the back with the push mower.  It wasn't too bad since he had started and it was just mowed last Friday. 
Parts are ordered for the rider so next weekend it should be back in commission.  We started talking about which projects we want to do.  I said I wanted some flowers and I was informed that if I planted them, I was responsible for them.  That is kind of a duh for me.  I don't want to plant them in the ground.  I just want a couple of baskets. 
So we are going to straighten up the front flowerbed with some weed deterrent and some new bark.  No flowers.  Pat just wants an edge so he doesn't have to mow close to the house.  We are going to get the patio cover repaired.  Somehow we need to get the moss off the roof and neither of us like the idea of it being one of us.  We are going to totally trim back the camellia.  It has grown to well over twelve feet high.  It is suppose to be a little shrub, but it is at least 40 years old. We want to make the front patio usable and not just storage.
So we have some plans.  I'm working all the time really, not just on Fridays.  Fridays are just our bigger work day with plans.  ;p

Comparison

One of the pictures I found yesterday was this one of my dad hamming it up in front of the wreck of the Peter S Iredale at Ft. Stevens.  It was the early 70's.  The second picture is of the wreck in 2014.  Nature is slowly making it disappear.  I like being able to see the differences.
I had noticed that with some pictures around the house also.  Not so much my parents' house but their neighbors' houses.  How much the trees have grown or new trees that weren't there when we moved there.  In the neighborhood things are bigger.  At the ocean things are smaller.

Small things

Awhile back my niece Carey asked me for some pictures of my dad.  She said she didn't have very many and I'm sure that is true.  My dad died in Jan. 1989.  It was a time before digital cameras and every one having a phone that had a camera in it.  Back then we had film and you had to pay to develop that film. I told her after I got moved I would find her some pictures.  

I am the keeper of thousands of pictures.  And I am not exaggerating.  Pictures come out of every nook and cranny.  Every box seems to have some in it.  I have found pictures in places they never should have been.  I don't question it...I just move them around.  My goal, if I ever make it, is to get all of the old pictures scanned onto an external hard drive.  As I ran across some, after most of the pictures got moved, I scanned them and posted them for Carey.  

Today I was just bored with the rest of moving, packing, unpacking, cleaning, cleaning, yardwork, etc.  So I got out some pictures and scanned.  To do one doesn't take long.  To do more than one becomes a process.  I spent a couple of hours just messing with pictures.

The first picture is my first Christmas.  It s a nice picture of me and my dad.  The next picture is of me and some puppies.  I'm waiting to hear from Marlys if the picture was taken in Minneapolis...I think it was and I think those were Lady's puppies.  Lady was Mom's dog and no one messed with Lady.  My dad was a trucker so Mom had Lady for company and protection.  Lady would have been one of those dogs who would go through a car window if necessary to protect her human.  The third picture is of Dad and his grandchildren.  They are the only ones he ever got to meet.  And then the last picture is of Dad and Shiloh playing the guitar.  What great memories and small blessings to have them.  

Splitting Time

I'm still splitting my time between houses.  Today I worked mostly at the house I moved into.  Did some inside cleaning and then weedeated a bit outside in the back yard.  I had some cheap solar lights that I put out.  Someone had trimmed some limbs on a tree in the front yard and then just stacked the wood.  So I got a space ready for it by the front door and moved all the wood. 
I managed to haul some more boxes upstairs.  It was finally looking like I was making progress up there and then I fill the spaces back in.  The good news is I'm almost done hauling stuff upstairs.  And it will look much better when I take all the kids stuff to the kids. 
Nothing looks completed anywhere.....but I am making progress.

Trick?

As far as I know there is no trick.  The house inspection was today.  I was there at the end of it meeting a buyer of some stuff I had on a facebook sale site.  When they were done they came and asked me what the trick was to the garage door and the opener.  Seems the inspector made it go up and go down and then up again.  Then when he tried to make it go down again the gpf tripped on the outlet and would not reset.  I had to have looked dumbfounded.  There is no trick.  I don't know why the outlet developed a problem  It worked fine the day before and it worked for the inspector until it didn't.  I'm always amazed when people more in the know than me ask me questions like that.  So then they left. 
When I was finished with my buyer I plugged the opener into a different outlet and lowered the door.  Problem solved for the moment. 
I also loaded up most of the clothing in the car and drove it to one of those donation boxes for clothing.  Got rid of that whole pile.  The pile inside the garage is getting smaller. 

Getting There

A woman came today and took almost all of the adult briefs.  She said she usually buys them at Goodwill, but since Goodwill is closed....  Well she just got what I was going to donate to Goodwill for free.  She was happy and I was happy. 
I have a guy coming tomorrow to pick up the mini frig.  Yay!
And then I had an epiphany.  I can take all the clothes to one of those clothing donation boxes that are in some parking lots.  So on my way back home I drove around a little bit and found a couple of them.  That will make my Goodwill pile so much smaller.  That will make my dump trip so much smaller.  I'm down to the stuff needs to be gone.  Joe and I are planning another dump run on Tuesday.  And then I am about done. 

Never Ending

I know I am making progress.  It just seems to be never ending though.  I put a few items up for sale on some facebook sale sites.  Here is hoping the stuff leaves.  I'm basically down to what is left in the garage.  My "Goodwill" pile is a good size.  Too bad Goodwill is closed.

Yard Day

Today was work in the yard day.  My goal, which I did not finish, was to cut up all the branches that Rebecca cut out of the lilac and rose bush.  Also included in that  pile was some nice blackberry brambles.  I cut and I cut and I cut.  And all my cuttings went right into the yard debris bin.  Until it was full.  I estimate I have about half of the pile gone.  The rest will wait until after the bin has been dumped.  

While I was cutting Sunset decided to join me.  She has been staying in the hot tub since we moved here.  So it was good to see her out and about.  The big dog was very intent on her once she realized that cat was out.  They are slowly working on getting along.  

Pat's goal was to mow the yard.  He did the front with the push mower.  He spent a little time getting the rider going and then did the back yard with that.  He said there is no way he is mowing the backyard with the push mower.  As I recall it is not the funnest job.  And I'm basing my opinion on having done it twenty years ago when I used to mow it for Mom.  While he mowed I took the weed eater around the front and straightened it up.  I'm pretty sure I gained at least three inches along the driveway and the sidewalk.  Been a long time since it has been kind of edged.  

We bbqed up some steaks.  While waiting on the charcoal we were sitting out front and Mica joined us.  She was such a happy cat getting lots of love.  

Oh Now I Understand

Yesterday I took a little nap.  Pat had went to work so it was just me and the dogs.  I'm sound asleep and my brother calls me urgently.  I call out "What?". The dogs look at me like I'm crazy and I realize no one is there.  And yet it felt just like someone was.  It wasn't a dream. 
This morning I woke up and checked my email as I do.  I had email from Betty.  Norman died yesterday afternoon right about the same time I was asleep and woke up because I was called.  No Norman did not visit me.  That has happened with other people.  But I think his death caused a disturbance in my world and that is what woke me up. 
RIP Norman.  Light and love on the journey.  Give Dave a hug for me.

Offer on the House

We received an offer on the house today.  It went live late Saturday afternoon.  There were four viewings on Monday.  Zillow had over 1000 viewings.  Nice to get the word about the offer.  Basically it was asking price.  We accepted.  Now to hope that it all falls together.  No deal is a done deal until it is done.

Will It Ever Be Done?

I swear the contents to be moved keep multiplying.  When Joe took the last load that he took it really looked like I was making progress.  And yet it seems like I am never going to be all the way moved.  And then I still have tons to do on the receiving end. 
Some of that will never be put away at it travels with me this summer.  Oy.  I'm just ready to be done. 

Day Off

I did not go anywhere today.  I just spent some time going through the cupboards here getting them a bit more organized.  Moved some stuff into the empty spaces. 
It was kind of nice having a day off and not be making trips back and forth.  I think I'm getting tired. 

Here

Today I decided I would spend some time working here.  I have spent so much time at the other house.  And I keep bringing more and more over to be added to my pile here. 
The roommate moved out so that is going to free up some space downstairs for some of my stuff.  So today I cleaned three cupboards.  There wasn't as much old stuff as my brother thought there would be.  I put in new shelf grabbers.  Now there is space for some of my spices.  I had already put a few in the cupboard. 
I had to go pick up the step stool from the other house.  I like to go at least once a day and see if anything has changed.  Nothing changed today. 

Live

Met with the realtor to give her the form I filled out.  I had a key made since I only had one.  She put it in the lockbox on the door.  She told me I could take anything from the  house suggesting the washer and dryer.  My brother may want the washer.  Other than that I really don't want much.  I don't want to mess with any more than I have to at this point. 

Paper

The realtor came over today.  I signed and signed and signed.  She also gave me the form to fill out listing what I know to be wrong with the house.  Goes live tomorrow.  The realtor told me to just keep doing what I'm doing. 
Joe came and took a couple of loads for me.  Now it looks like I am getting close. 

How To Get Done

One day at a time.  Every thing that leaves or gets throw away is one less thing to deal with.  The house looks much better but the garage is still a big mess.  Oy.  I'm just ready to be done.

Happy Lucky

Mike from Facebook came and took a good amount of the clothes that were in the Goodwill pile.  He took a couple of things also.  It made a noticeable dent and I was happy. 
My Mike had done some work and I greatly appreciated it.  So I had told him he could take the mini frig and freezer and sell them.  I guess I wasn't clear that it meant he could have the money.  If I wanted the money I could sell them. 
A couple days later the items are still there and he asks if he gets the money.  About this time he also tells me that his tax return that he owed to me for a loan got seized for back child support.  Of course it did.  I should have thought of that.  While he had cleared all the back support a year ago....more has accrued since then. So I tell him yes.  He asks for a ride with the items.  The freezer would not fit, but the frig did.  Well then whoever was buying it flaked.  So I ended up with it riding around in my car. 
So this morning I put the freezer on a sale site.  This afternoon I put the frig on a sale site.
The freezer immediately had a bite and I'm not surprised.  I had heard freezers were another of those items people were buying like crazy.  The woman came over and took it.  And I made some comment about my Goodwill pile.  She asked if she could take a look.  Dang if she didn't take the bakers rack and several pans and a few other items.  I was beyond happy.  My Goodwill pile is shrinking. 
And that means I am almost done with Mom's house.  Feeling lucky and happy.