Thursday, November 8-9, 2017 - Packing is Nearing Completion

Wednesday & Thursday, November 8-9, 2017 - Packing is Nearing Completion

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

It felt really cold when I woke up this morning and I immediately wondered if the other propane tank was now empty.  After turning on the coffeemaker, I turned the fireplace on high and a small heater behind the table on so it would warm my feet while I was on the computer.  In no time it was nice and toasty.

I look forward to the coffee getting done for that first cup every morning. So good!  When Dean got up I told him I thought the other propane tank was empty so he went out to check it and sure enough it was.  He switched it over to the tank he had filled a few days ago and we are good to go again.  Fortunately we can use propane or electric to heat Bentley, however we do have to run propane heat if it drops below freezing to keep the underbelly warm enough so the piping does not freeze.  We will be sure to be prepared for this so we are not caught without propane if the temps drop while we are here until after Christmas, especially if we run out of one propane in one of the tanks during the night.  

After breakfast I readied myself for the day and headed uptown.  I had some banking business to take care of and I wanted to get it out of the way.  I had dropped off a bunch of coins yesterday that Dean had been throwing in his nightstand for awhile.  It didn't seem like much but I was surprised to find out it was $100 worth.  Always amazes me how quickly coins can add up.  Taking care of paperwork on changes and updates to our accounts took about an hour.  I was glad to get one more chore marked off of my list.

My brother-in-law Elmer stopped by not too long after I returned from the bank with boxes for us.  He brought two sizes, one is smaller with handles and the others are much larger.  Perfect timing as we were needing more.  Dean is really going to town in the garage.  It seems like we've been working on this packing for a long while.  Well, it just seems like we've been working on the house as a whole for a long time, and when I think about it we really have been.  We started doing work to the house the first week or so of January and other than the camping trips we have done we've probably been doing something most every week since then.  We ARE ready to be done!

I started sorting through all of the stuff I moved into the living room from closets, cabinets, and the other rooms today.  I had to get Dean inside to go through a few things with him - such as all of his coats that almost entirely filled up our coat closet.  I had 3 - he had about 40 (well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration - but he had LOTS of coats).  In fact he had so many he didn't even know that one of them was his - he thought it was mine.  Once he tried it on he said, "Now I know why I bought this one."  HA!  Yes that one went in the "TO KEEP" pile along with 2 or 3 others.  This particular coat was purchased at Cabela's and had no logo on it.  Most of the coats were ones the phone company provided to him over the years and they all have a logo of some sort so he won't let me give them away except to one of the kids, and due to the lack of a logo he assumed it must be mine.  Since many are still really good coats I hope the boys will take them to at least use as a work coat for doing outside chores at their homes.

After going through the stacks of stuff I had moved into the living room and making sure like things were packed together, I felt really good about what I managed to accomplish this afternoon and Dean did a great job in the garage.  We determined that we needed a few more plastic tubs though so we decided to make a Wal-Mart run - AGAIN!!!  Since we were going to Parsons I called my grandson, Logan to see if he was home.  I had some Keurig coffee pods he said he would take and when I cleaned out the cupboards I found some food items I thought he might use - since he's living in his own apartment now.  He told me he would be home and when I asked if he'd like to have dinner with us he said of course!   We stopped at his apartment, but realized we could not give him a ride since we had taken the seats out of the van the day before so we could haul some things, so he followed us to El Pueblito, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Parsons.  We had a nice dinner and enjoyed catching up with what was going on in his life - he started a new job at one of the banks in Parsons on Monday.  He told us he really liked it.  He spent Monday and Tuesday training and today was his first day on his own as a teller.  

After dinner, Dean and I headed to Wal-Mart and picked up the few things we needed, including some of vacuum seal bags for storing items in.  It didn't take us long to get what we needed.  We got home about 7:30 and realized the CMA Awards had already started.  We forgot all about them being on tonight and I failed to record it.  I thought it was one of the best CMA shows we've watched in the past few years.  I loved that several performers mentioned the need for unity and how we all need to come together as one, and also there was more REAL country music than I've heard in awhile.  I prefer that over having all of the various rock singers participating.  I enjoy some rock music but I don't want to hear it at a country music event, unless it is a collaboration between a rock and country entertainer performing a country song.  I loved Carrie Underwood's singing of Softly and Tenderly while they shared pictures of entertainers who passed away during this year as well as a tribute to the fans who lost their lives during the Las Vegas shooting.  What an emotional moment!  

Tomorrow is another big day - we need to make sure everything is sorted and packed by the end of the day.  Heath and Brett will be here Friday morning to load everything up and move most of the items to the storage unit we have rented.  We will also be moving a few more items to Misti's, and Brett will be taking what furniture is not staying with the house back to their home.  Dean and I will still have a few things to do next week but it will be minimal compared to what we'll be doing on Friday - Moving Day!



Thursday, November 9, 2017

I must have been really tired this morning - it was almost 5:30 when I woke up, at least an hour later than normal.  I have a hair appointment at 8:15 this morning.  Last night I was checking out hair styles.  My hair has finally gotten enough length to it that we can start looking at ways to shape it up, and I found one I really liked.  I'll take my find in to Marla this morning and see what she can do.  When I arrived, I showed her the picture and she did a great job of getting it started.  Getting it closer to what I want will require letting my hair grow just a little more on the sides, but I think it may be there before we leave for Texas.

Once I was back home, I got right to work on getting everything left from yesterday sorted.  I have quite a few blankets, pillows, quilts, sheets, etc.  I used three XL cubed vacuum storage bags to put all of the items in.  We have a couple of air mattresses that we can use if one or more of the grandkids stay with us in Bentley.  While we don't carry them with us, we would be able to pick them up at the storage unit while we are home and return them afterwards.  I was able to fit them all in one of the larger boxes that Elmer brought us yesterday.  I'm sure glad I won't be the one to have to lift that box.  I struggled to get all three of the "cubes" in the box by myself.

After that it was just a matter of going through stack after stack of items and dividing them up into similar groups in order to store in plastic tubs.  Once I had everything packed in tubs, I took on the task of going through several containers of papers.  I spent the next hour or two shredding LOTS of paper.  I emptied the shredder at least 5 times.  So nice it is done though.

A little before 5, I headed to Misti's.  My sister Cindy is coming down to help her hang some pictures and possibly move some of her furniture around a bit - do you remember when I mentioned that we'd have see if Cindy approved of what we did earlier this week?  Well overall she liked it, but we did move the couch and a chair around, followed by hanging up several pictures.  It went well and I know Misti was glad to get it all done.  I also returned a kitchen chair that Dean had fixed for her and a bunch of papers I came across today that Logan and Haleigh had made at school when they were much younger.  I thought she might find a few things she would want to keep.

It was a nice evening visiting with Misti and Cindy.  I finally headed home about 7.  Dean told me he had just returned to Bentley shortly before I came in.  I was surprised at that.  I made us a quick dinner of leftovers from a couple of meals we had earlier this week - and now all leftovers are gone.  Now that means I'm going to have to cook again!  We will order food for lunch tomorrow since the boys will be here - either Pizza Hut or from our Mexican Restaurant - Mi Pueblo, so Friday night it will be sandwiches.  At least I won't have to cook again until Saturday.  

It dawned on me this afternoon that I probably should call Dish Network today to have them send boxes for returning the two receivers we have in the house so they will be sure to arrive by next week since I want them to come to this address before we leave. We will keep our Dish Network service and our receiver in the RV.  

Tomorrow is the big day - we will move almost everything to storage and then we'll just have a few other things to deal with before we take off a few days to camp with some friends.  I think we are looking forward to that more each day just to have a chance to rest before we finish up the few things we'll need to take care of when we return.  Fortunately the remaining chores will be small in comparison to the last few months.  I want to do a good cleaning and vacuuming of the house before we hand it over to the new owners and we still need to gather all of our keys, garage door openers, etc. 

We will be moving our washer and dryer to Misti's.  I plan to use it until we head south once a week.  This will be a good time for me to take some paperwork with me that I need to work on with no interruptions from anyone or a TV, before we head south.  Dean and I had a living trust prepared earlier this year and I have completed most everything but I need to go through and be sure I have not missed anything in order to have it safely stowed in a safety deposit box before we leave.  We have a 4 drawer filing cabinet and the first drawer is all of our business papers - I want to go through each of those files and make sure I scan documents we may need with us on the road - especially medical history, and be sure any old information is removed.  Fortunately, we can get a lot of the medical information online now with the portals many medical offices provide today.  In addition, we want to keep insurance info for both the RV and truck with us, along with other pertinent information we may need. Our file storage is much smaller in Bentley - and of course weight is always an issue so we want to limit paper as much as possible.  I will also be busy changing our address and phone number on all of our various accounts---utilities, pensions, insurance, doctors, and many, many others.  We do everything we can online so I will be able to easily work on these tasks in between laundry loads by taking my laptop.  I'm sure I'll think of several other things we need to do before we leave for Texas.  

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  Misti has offered to host it at her house this year.  Last night she asked me uh, what are we going to have and what is the plan for getting it all done?  We've been so busy we have not discussed it at all but we will get together this weekend and get all of that decided.  I will definitely be there to help her with all of the preparations.  I'm so thankful she is willing to act as hostess to our big holiday get together's.  We are a big group when we are all together so it requires a lot of work.  

I tried hard to get this completed last night before going to bed so I could post it, but could not keep my eyes open and I was afraid to hit send without re-reading it.  I'm glad I waited, as I made quite a few changes!  😊