Catching up last week
Jun. 12th, 2011 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chochiyo_sama
On Monday, June 6, I took mom to the doctor. She has been having an ache in her side--the same kind of ache in the same location as when she turned out to have lymphoma. Of course, she didn't tell anyone about this for a month--figuring she already had an apointment with her doctor and she didn't want anyone to worry.
While I was waiting for her, I saw a small helicopter land in the grassys area behind the clinic. That was sort of a rush. I stayed in the car because my knees were aching and I didn't want to go wandering around the clinic. I asked her if she wanted me to go in with her and she said it wasn't necessary. It was extremely hot in the car, but I opened both of the front seat windows. There was a cool breeze. When it got too hot for me to handle, I rolled them up and ran the air conditioner for a while. While waiting, I sewed. I am almost done with the blue butterfly dresses I am working on for the Marley sized dolls.
I got to see the helicopter take off again too.
After her appointment, we went to Perkins for breakfast. I had the magnificent 7 instead of my usual asparagus and mushroom omlette. The M-7 is two eggs, three pancakes, and two pieces of breakfast meat for $4.99. Not a bad deal. Mom had french toast which was slightly more expensive.
The doctor had set her up with an appointment for a CT scan on Tuesday. I told her I would take her if she wanted me to. I was anxious to get home and continue cleaning because Laurie's daughter and son-in-law were coming to look at the inside of the house on Wednesday night and I had a lot left to clean.
Well, Lily said she would drive mom in, so I was free to go home and get more cleaning done. I couldn't seem to get much cleaning done on Monday, so I mostly packed and sorted.
On Tuesday, May 7, I worked like an insane animal. I started with the nastiest place in the house--the kitty-box corner. That was disgusting. From there I did the rest of the kitchen. It looked pretty good when I was done. Next, I tackled the living room and dining room. I felt really happy about how much I accomplished.
At nearly 10 pm, DeAnn and I made a run into Owatonna. I needed to pck up some stuff for Wednesday when Kari, Mom, and the two kids were coming to help me finish up. I bought some chips, oreos, candy, buns, sandwich meat, fresh veggies, a nice looking $8 roast, and other odds and ends.
DeAnn, God bless her, helped me carry all the groceries into my house. I put them away before returning her to the loving arms of her sleeping family. When I got home, I stayed up and did a little more—not much—before setting my cell alarm for 6:30 so I could get up and get more done before Kari and Mom and the kids arrived on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, they showed up around 9 am. I had been cleaning most of the morning. I got the kitchen mostly done. I couldn’t deal with the shelves and the top of the refrigerator since my knees have been so painful lately that I can’t stand for very long—and standing on a stepstool seems like torture to me.
Kari, bless her, did that for me. She also revacuumed the living and dining room for me with mom’s heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. She vacuumed up the stairs also—that is a major pain. Wow. Things look awesome. Caleb and Mom tidied up the two bedrooms upstairs that I really hadn’t figured would get cleaned. They did a fabulous job, and both rooms look neat and orderly.
Kari and Caleb took a lot of my stuff out to Mom’s car and packed it in the trunk. They also loaded more in my car, since it is difficult for me to climb up and down my steps with stuff AND a cane. I think almost all of my books and clothing is now at Mom’s. But, I am getting ahead of myself…. They stayed until nearly 4 pm. Cora had good fun, playing with both of my canes as if they were crutches, and both kids made good use of my up and downstairs “grabbers.” I am not sure where the upstairs one is to this day. Kids are odd. They all love to play with my cane and my “grabbers.”
We had a nice lunch of ham sandwich meat on buns, cheetos, and potato salad. After lunch, I sat on my chair in the living room and sorted through the big basket o’ stuff that was next to it. It was mostly pictures and things for scrapbooks. I haven’t put pictures into an album since Caleb was a newborn. He is eleven now. Perhaps this is something I can do in my time. I don’t know what to call it, exactly. “Incarceration” is too harsh, and not really accurate. “Banishment” is what it feels like. I’d say “coventry,” but I haven’t done anything to warrant being sent to coventry. So, I will wait. Perhaps the right word will come to me.
In that basket were tons of cards that I had received after Dad died. I threw most of them away, but I couldn’t bear to throw out the ones my kids had made for me. For some reason, I felt compelled to look at each one before I threw it away—and I found a $10 bill in a card from the Baptist Church, which I had been attending pretty regularly at that time. This has never happened to me before. I NEVER find money in cards years later because I am always at the raggedy edge of poverty and the minute money finds its way to me, it is put back into the economy.
They left shortly after 3:30. I was so grateful for their help. I could never have gotten everything done before Laurie’s daughter and son-in-law came to look at the house. After my family left, I went upstairs and made my bed. After that, I lay down for a while. I was really tired from working hard and also from getting very little sleep the night before. I fell asleep—sort of a half-sleep during which I knew what was going on around me, but I was also dreaming. It was bizarre. I woke up when Susan came into my house yelling, “Is this where the party is?” She had apparently talked to Laurie and knew this was the day they were looking. Shortly after she came, Laurie and her family showed up.
They loved the house. They loved the wood work and the yard. They were not bothered by any of the problems the house has. He said they wanted a house they could “work on.” She loved the “old two-story house” look. They would like to get into it as soon as possible. I would like to take my time going through the rest of my stuff. So, it’s looking like they may be in here on August 1, which works for me.
I liked them a lot. I would write more about what we talked about and how cute their two little boys are, but I want to finish this entry and post it. I am too far behind on everything and I have a lot to do.
After they left, I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich, ate some potato salad, and tried to watch some Ghost Hunters episodes. However, I soon gave up and went to bed. I was exhausted.
On Thursday, I sorted through my big suitcase of yarn. I kept two Walmart bags full and have a third bag to donate. I need to have some fun stuff to do while I am in limbo. Ah! The correct word has finally appeared to me. It is “limbo”!! That is exactly right.
On Thursday afternoon, I peeled some potatoes and carrots and the sole onion I had left and threw it all in my roaster with my beef roast and cooked it up. DeAnn and Swayze came and got some of it for their supper too. It was really delicious. I haven’t made that in ages. I know I kept busy all day, but I don’t really remember what else I did. Ah—I did pack up all the rest of the clothes that were in my closet and put them in the big blue suitcase that had held the yarn. I took all the rest of my hangers also.
On Friday morning, I baked chocolate chip cookies and cooked my chicken on top of the stove. My plan is to turn it into chicken salad for sandwiches. I need to get some onions though, as pickles and onions and chicken go so well together in a sandwich spread. DeAnn and Swayze came over to get some cookies—I gave them half the batch and took the other half home to give to Jack and Kari—I only ate two myself. (*sadness*) While they were there, they carried more of my stuff that I had packed up out to my car.
It was pretty late in the afternoon when I got to mom’s house—around 3:30, I suspect. She and Jack had gone to the chiropractor as mom had hurt her back climbing off the CT scan table. She was in pretty bad shape. I spent the rest of the day putting stuff away in my underground lair, my place of habitation in Limbo.
I got almost everything put away. My desk is the main area that needs work, but I do not yet have all of my accessories there to get things squared away. I feel like I am going into the biosphere for the rest of my life!
While I worked, I watched The Green Hornet on my laptop. It was not what I expected, but it was okay. In my next load, I need to take my little TV from my bedroom. It has a dvd player right in it. I did four loads of laundry Friday night and early Saturday morning. Jack and Cora stopped over in the morning.
I took Mom to Owatonna to meet Kim at the nail salon where they got their toes done. I went home and basically slept most of Saturday afternoon. I was so tired and that bed in my underground lair is hard as a fooking rock. I did a lot of aimless wandering around on Saturday afternoon and evening. I haven’t really been inspired as to what I should attack next.
I want to do the fabric, but I think it would be more productive to finish getting my desk work area in order first. Well, I will be home most of next week, since I have Stuff To Do all week long. Signing off on this entry.
Limbo. Good word.
Date: 2011-06-12 06:35 pm (UTC)Are you selling the house or renting it out?
Are you going to be keeping some of your most precious furniture? Heirlooms, etc?
I know you'll keep your Grandmother's bowl. And your dolls.
Do you get the entire downstairs basement? Is this a finished basement?
You're lucky. If (when?) I have to move back in with my parents, I'll get one room. I think it's 12 by 12. The old master bedroom. They added out and up and have half of the entire second story addition for their bedroom, two double closets and master bath.
Like you I am trying to hold on for three years in order to qualify for my full retirement benefits. Of course, my full benefits will only be 80%. To get higher than that I think I have to work until I'm 67. I am a permanent employee with collective bargaining so my contract is automatically renewed. I can still be pink slipped. I am excessed this year. They offer me a new position three times. I can say no twice but I have to take the third one or I am basically fired. I have three credentials and qualify for administration so it's not like they don't have a lot of flexibility in what they offer me. But they can offer me something really shitty each time to try to get rid of me. And they are trying to get rid of as many teachers at the top of the salary schedule as possible. It has nothing to do with what a good teacher you are. If you cost money, you are a target.
I hope you continue with your writing. I really think you have a book in your. Or two. You might even have a series. You could be the next J.K. Rowling!
A few, mostly unsatisfying answers....
Date: 2011-06-13 03:27 am (UTC)I am not keeping much of my furniture. I am giving my great-grandfather's antique dresser to my niece Cora. She already has the antique bed I bought at an auction to match it. It will stay in the family, as it should. My antique sideboard is going to my sister Tammy's house. She said she will store it until I have my own place again. Realistically, I won't be getting it back. I really don't care. I'm sick of antiques. My nephew Kyle will be taking the dining room table and the sorta matching hutch, both of which I got at auctions. Niether is exceptionally valuable. I only paid $100 apiece for them. It will class up his apartment to have some "formal" furniture in it. LOL. My couch and chair, my twin bed, and possibly my kitchen table is going to my nephew Erik who will be getting his own apartment this year. He'll be in his sophomore year at college. One of the two boys will take my refrigerator. Kyle's fridge is crap. But Kyle isn't very good at taking care of things. I lent him my set of Eragon tapes and at the end of the school year, he just abandoned them in his locker. I don't care about the table and hutch, but I like my fridge.
My friends Jim and DeAnn are going to keep my zinc top table for me. It was my grandmother's kitchen table, and I love it. There is no place for it in Mom's house.
I'm going to give my queen-size bed to my friend Ingrid as she has no guest beds at her home any longer. I am going to invest the last of my money in a regular full-size good quality mattress and box spring. This yucky bed at my mom's is rock hard and must go. She is giving it to my cousin Jim and his wife. A full sized bed will give me a little more room.
I get only one room in the basement. It is a good sized room. It does have a bathroom off of it that will be "mine." The laundry room is also right off my bedroom, so I will never have to lug laundry up and down stairs again--at least not as long as I live here. The basement is nice and finished. There is a family room with a kitchenette along side of it.
I will be keeping my grandmother's blue bowl and the set of vintage green mixing bowls I bought at an auction years ago. I'm keeping my Cutco knives and my Magic Bullet (as seen on TV).
I will be bringing as many dolls as I can. I will probably have to thin the barbie herd yet again, but I will not give up any of my mod or vintage barbies. My mom is very unhappy about my fabric collection, but I am bringing as much of it as I can anyhow. I have already smuggled in quite a bit. But there is gobs and gobs more.
My sister Joni has volunteered to take a few totes full of my barbie furniture and accessories. I hate to surrender any more of it, but there is very very limited space. I get only this room--and not all of it at that.
I will be writing books. Lots of books. And I will try to publish them also. My sister is absolutely convinced that I am destined to make JK Rowling look like some hack. Ha ha. I am touched by her confidence in me. We'll see. I have some ideas.
Well, that's a relief.
Date: 2011-06-13 06:37 am (UTC)I'm so glad you're keeping your bowls and as many of your dolls as you can. I hope you can get back some of your stuff being housed elsewhere.
So is the house being sold or just rented?
I'm glad you're buying a new mattress for the bed you'll be using. Full? I had a California King for 20 years. When I finally replaced the mattress I decided to replace the bed too. I ended up buying the bed first. It's an antique from Italy and an odd size. (And I LOVE it). So I bought an Olympic Queen. Floor model at a discount. Works well enough. I buy eastern king sheets and sew take them in down the middle. It has a pillow top and is very comfy. It was the first thing I did when my back started to really hurt. Then I sold my car and bought the Prius. Then I saw the doctor. Then I went to the chiropractor. That did it, but the mattress and the car had to go anyway.
I shudder to think how I'd fit my belongings into one room at my parents' house. I think I'd demand half of the attic and the den in addition to the downstairs bedroom. And still I'd have problems. Three are all of my books, my sewing machines (plural), fabric, computer, Steiff bears, and several antiques I won't sell. Two are desks; my Aunt Agnes' and the one they refinished for me when I was little. I'd have to put things in storage I guess. Either that or they'd have to give up one more room or at least part of one for storage. My Mother's tastes and mine are so different. We don't even use the same cookware. No way I'm selling my Chantal or knives. I also have a complete set of vintage china with service for 12. It took me five years on eBay to complete the set.
I am so happy you've done nothing. Don't call Jay any more. He should be calling you to return calls and he hasn't. The coward is dodging your calls. Send him a letter requesting a letter of reference. Tell him to mail it to your Mother's address since you have been forced to move in with her. That should guilt him up good.
Then file for unemployment. You don't have to retire until all of your unemployment runs out. You can tell them you are actively looking for work. You have already requested a letter of recommendation from your previous principal. You might get a year or 18 months of unemployment before you have to file for retirement. Subbing sucks but you might be able to do that too. Anything to get you to October, 2013. And who knows. That shit Jay might be forced to hire you back in the Fall. If he does, demand a three year contract so they can't do this to you again.
You are lucky you have your Mom. And she's lucky to have you.
My old English teacher from High School is now a published author. She started writing her book when she retired. You can too. You've always written. Let unemployment pay you to write. Set up a schedule. Every day you write. And then you update your Livejournal. I love hearing of the events of your life through your fingers. Mine is just plain boring. Like a to do list.
WHAT ABOUT THE KITTIES! I know your Mom isn't thrilled with the kitties. But surely she isn't forcing you to give them up. Tell me you are keeping your kitties!
Re: Well, that's a relief.
Date: 2011-06-13 06:56 am (UTC)The people who are moving into my house are going to take over the payments along with insurance and taxes for five years. Then they are going to get a bank loan and buy it. They have bad credit due to a bankruptcy. I know the family of the wife quite well and they are good people.
Even if they do not follow through and buy it, I would have abandoned it anyhow, so my credit will not be affected so badly as I had planned.
Of course if I write a best selling series, I should be rolling in bucks. LOL. Also, I bought a lottery ticket this week when I filled up with gas.
If anyone deserves to win, I do.
That is a relief.
Date: 2011-06-13 10:30 pm (UTC)Make sure the paperwork is done. If not, if they don't pay taxes or stop bank payments, you're on the hook, not them. You might also include a clause that if after the five years they do NOT buy it you get it back, free and clear. Get paperwork done. Hire a lawyer if you must. It will be the best money you ever invested to have proper paperwork. Trust me on this.
I'm so glad about the kitties. They should be spayed and neutered anyway. I'm not as on board with the declawing. I've heard it can cripple a cat if done poorly. It's too bad they won't let you clip them and then glue on those little plastic balls that keep them from scratching up everything. But I understand your Mom not wanting them to scratch up everything. They have a litter box and a scratching post. Hopefully damage will be minimal and she'll grow to love them. I know my Mom was that way about my dog when he first went to live with them. But after a while she loved the dog and forgave him everything. And after he passed away she was the one that wanted to get another dog. (The current spoiled diva they have.) Cat puke. I know about the hairballs. Can you give them codliver oil? My dog loves it.
My feeling about lottery tickets is that I have just as much chance of winning as anyone else so why not me? Billion to one? Well, yeah. But other people win. And it's $1.00. I don't go to the movies or out to eat. So I can afford a dollar or two when the pot gets big enough. It's not like I'm taking my life's savings and buying thousands of dollars of lottery tickets. (I have two more chances on my current ticket.)
It's not the book that will get you big bucks. It's the MOVIE DEAL. And don't forget merchandising.
I think you should go for the tween market. Just below the Twilight level. They eat up series books. This is the market for Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events, Olympians, 39 clues, etc. I think it would be perfect for you. If it is a series that can be adapted for a movie and can produce computer games, board games, puzzles, action figures, Halloween costumes even better. Not like you should write on demand for the commercial market. You obviously should write from the heart, be creative, go where your muse directs. But if your muse happens to go that way...
Hmm. Vampires have been done to death. So have Wizards/Witches/Magic. Greek Gods was supposed to be the next big thing but that didn't happen. There's Pirates. Aliens. Hmm. Monsters (bigfoot, yeti, Nessie). No one has done much with Native American myths and legends. There's also the Norse legends but I find them heavy and depressing. China. Dragons. Japan. Samurai. Ooo. Aborigines. There's another untapped market.