How's your week going? - April 15, 2024

[ProudTVJunkie]

Hi All,

I don't know where last week went. There's just so much to do that time flies by!

First, I wanted to congratulate geezer2008 on his 50th anniversary! That's quite a milestone and I'm so happy that you two got to celebrate.

We finally have a couple of nice days after a rainy, windy weekend. Today is sunny and warm. We'll need to mow the grass today or tomorrow because the rain will be back on Wednesday.

My Mom is over her Covid. My step-dad is still testing positive, but at least feels much better so we hope it will be gone completely soon.

Last week we starting helping my MIL clear out her storage unit. She's had it for two decades and it's finally gotten too expensive to keep. It's about the size of a one car garage and it is PACKED with stuff. The problem is, she really doesn't want to give anything up, even though she hasn't seen or used much of it for years. So it's a bit of a battle to get her to let go of things. We're about a third of the way through it, and the hope is to have it cleared out by the end of the month. Wish us luck!

So, how is your week looking so far? Check in and let us know.

[larryholmes]

I know how your mother-in-law feels. Every time Dawn gets the urge to 'get rid of some junk...or stuff' we find more 'treasures'. We recently discovered the long-missing 'Johnny's England' which is 168-page typed tale my grandfather wrote several years after he had come from England in mid-1890s. He had been a 'pit boy' in the coal mines near Sheffield, England. He arrived with eleven dollars and a suitcase. He considered himself 'rich and fortunate'. Soon after arrival he moved to Iowa...did not like New York at all. He joins the US Army which entitled him to citizenship after service in Spanish-American War. He was known as 'Black Jack' in mines since he apparently a rough-and-tough guy in the mines. He served as a court bailiff for years before retiring.

[tycho657]

I'm on a "Rolling Rally" stop 2. Internet is on and off
I wrote a great response that never loaded so I gave up...

[larryholmes]

As long as you are enjoying yourself...keep doing it!

[ibmjas]

I can relate to your MIL's dilemma. Even when I'm in the mood to clean out things, I still have trouble parting with anything. After recently cleaning out my childhood home which contained my Mom's, Dad's, brother's, & some of my belongings, I have new respect for people having to downsize. My brother was the last to live there and he was a hoarder. It was an enormous task made worse by half the stuff being 'treasures'. I brought home a lot more than I should have so will have to go through it again. I have a 3 bdrm house with a full basement. If we have to downsize, I'll never be able to do it.

[ibmjas]

Monday we go into the 80s for the 1st time and of course it was high humidity. I went golfing and was getting overheated. I kind of got my 2nd wind after several holes but I found out later I had a friend who was on the course earlier. She was overcome with the heat and they had to call 911! She's OK now. I guess we just haven't had time to get acclimated to the humidity yet.

[ProudTVJunkie]

Yeah, it's never good when the temp and humidity spike all of a sudden. Even when you're used to it like we are here, it's better to acclimate to it gradually. We're back down to the 50s and 60s here, and once again, it's rainy.

As for downsizing the storage unit, one of the biggest challenges is trying to stop my MIL from bringing more stuff back to her small condo! I'd say we're about half way through the big unit. Unfortunately, we'll have to pay someone to haul away the old appliances and some of the trash as our next bulk pickup day isn't until mid-May and they won't take appliances with freon.

[geezer2008]

We downsized for the last time when we moved here. It's not an easy task at all. LOL, I was on a first name basis with the guys at Goodwill and St. Vincent De Paul's.

[ibmjas]

I know what you mean Geezer, I was also on a 1st name basis with both of them and the dumpster co!

[tycho657]

When we moved from Indiana to Arizona in 1993, my husband had the garage sale without me as I had already moved out into a 2 bedroom apartment. For years after I would say “where did….go?” And his answer was “ Oh, I sold that in the garage sale…”
Our retirement home that we had built in 1997, is a one story, 3 car garage house. We got rid of most of the extra things when we moved out to Arizona and from Yuma to Mesa. We only had one storage unit in transition. I am now trying to go through stuff and get rid of more. It’s a slow process.