It was requested that I post a follow-by-email, and I decided to add a list for followers. I love hearing from those that read my blog, so please feel free to comment each and every day.
Lfe is GOOD!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
June 30: Stuff Happens
Today was supposed to be the day we put my longarm table together. Alas, we discovered that somewhere along the way we have misplaced two important parts of the table. Can't build it without them and can't fashion them out of wood. There is only one logical place to search for them and I am not too confident that they can be found there. We put the table into a storage unit in March and then cleared it out in May. Did not notice anything amiss until this morning. (Maybe we have had a few too many things going on, or something like that.)
The storge unit office is closed until Monday, so I am just going to have to pray the two parts are there and do something else constructive today and tomorrow. A new table like the one I have is not an option - don't make them anymore. I can still purchase a table, but it will cost $2,500 + shipping. However, we have too many other things going on to worry about that at the moment, so maybe that is the reason this is happening at the moment? I am not a fatalist, but rather a person that believes there is a good reason for each thing that happens in my life. Just wish I knew the reasoning behind some of these things. LOL
As I told Liz, this morning, I am glad it was a "thing" and not my health that I lost. Imagine all the other areas of my life that I can focus on while this hitch works itself out. Just think: I may become more than impressive at using QuickBooks and my carving tools.
Life is GOOD!
The storge unit office is closed until Monday, so I am just going to have to pray the two parts are there and do something else constructive today and tomorrow. A new table like the one I have is not an option - don't make them anymore. I can still purchase a table, but it will cost $2,500 + shipping. However, we have too many other things going on to worry about that at the moment, so maybe that is the reason this is happening at the moment? I am not a fatalist, but rather a person that believes there is a good reason for each thing that happens in my life. Just wish I knew the reasoning behind some of these things. LOL
As I told Liz, this morning, I am glad it was a "thing" and not my health that I lost. Imagine all the other areas of my life that I can focus on while this hitch works itself out. Just think: I may become more than impressive at using QuickBooks and my carving tools.
Life is GOOD!
Friday, June 29, 2012
June 29:Heat, Humidity, Headaches
It is pretty warm today and has been for a few. The humidity seems to be saying if it were just tweaked a bit it would be 100% rain. My head says "Throb-throb-throb!" I can't really say it is a full blown headache but I do know where all my sinus passages are located. My hearing is also "fuzzy". Thankfully by setting the air conditioning on 80 we are able to keep the humidity at bay. What did the first settlers do????? Is that why South Dakota is so underpopulated? (I have lived in New Orleans so I know the humidity thing is relative, and that here it is not a permanent condition of summer, but when it is here I really do count air conditioning among my blessings!
Summer has never been my favorite season. When I was a kid we used to joke that I took a "lil" while my sisters tanned. Lil would be short for lily of the valley or white. Many days I had to either stay inside or wear long sleeves and long pants - talk about heat and humidity then! I was either pasty white or red like a lobster. I use sunblock now and stay pasty for my health, but my hair is actually whiter than my skin, so.....
Even so, like Pollyanna I will continue to play the glad game. I am glad it is not hailing or so dry that we have to fear brush fires. I am glad we are not living in hurricane territories and that earthquakes are not of major concern right here. I glad that in the middle of winter, I will be able to think of these hot, humid, sticky days and be glad that it s 20 below and the furnance is able to keep us comfortable. Thank goodness for the 4 seasons of South Dakota!!!!
And as my mother would say, "This too shall pass."
Life is GOOD!
Summer has never been my favorite season. When I was a kid we used to joke that I took a "lil" while my sisters tanned. Lil would be short for lily of the valley or white. Many days I had to either stay inside or wear long sleeves and long pants - talk about heat and humidity then! I was either pasty white or red like a lobster. I use sunblock now and stay pasty for my health, but my hair is actually whiter than my skin, so.....
Even so, like Pollyanna I will continue to play the glad game. I am glad it is not hailing or so dry that we have to fear brush fires. I am glad we are not living in hurricane territories and that earthquakes are not of major concern right here. I glad that in the middle of winter, I will be able to think of these hot, humid, sticky days and be glad that it s 20 below and the furnance is able to keep us comfortable. Thank goodness for the 4 seasons of South Dakota!!!!
And as my mother would say, "This too shall pass."
Life is GOOD!
June 29: If you could see me....
Disclaimer: Spell check is not working so pardon any mistakes. I am trying. lol
I believe that one should learn at least one thing new every day, but today I am on major overload! Quilting for people and charging sales tax was no big problem except for deciding on the right quilting design. Setting up what we hope to be a good business with a solid income is something else. Topped off with moving to a new home in a new state (Okay not a brand new state, but we have not lived here for 31 years.) and adding in another adult, a parent, no less, must fall into the super stress category. That being said, I think that the people situation is working fine, and we are loving South Dakota. That means that the problem stressors are the settling and finding space for all our treasures, planning for some remodeling and trying to get a full time business off the ground.
We did get some positive news about our jet tub/shower. The company will pay the cost of an actual jet tub toward our new shower/remodel of our bathroom. If you have missed that saga, suffice it to say that the jet tub went into cardiac arrest and will need to be removed in pieces, so we have decided to put in a large shower instead of another monster tub. In the next week or so, we will be ordering the new shower, sink, and fixtures. Installation should be completed this summer. Our original plan was do this remodel in 2 years, but the tub's bad attitude has changed things.
This summer, we hope to be turning the attached garage into 2 small guest bedrooms, a storage space, and an additional family area for when the house fills with grandkids and other family and friends. To that end we have drawn up some tentative plans and hope to meet with a contractor early in July. We already have 3 bathrooms; therefore, we are not putting in another so that will hopefullly help the bottomline. Of course, the work will probably mean a little rearranging and accomidating, but we are looking at the end results.
Okay, all of this is really old news so why my post title? Well, this morning we started out by meeting with our new accountant to learn more about how to operate Quick Books for the woodworking business. She was extremely informative and both Kevin and I know that we learned quite a bit, but after the first 1 1/2 hours my brain was not absorbing as well as it should have been. I know that I am smart enough to master it with time, but WOW! Fortunately, we are in this together so we can play off each other's strengths and support each other during the furstrations. For now, it is just so much to take in. I will just consider it this way: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
After the accountant session we picked up our new business cards. They have the information we want on them, but they do not look like we thought they did when the card was in larger form. The print is legible, but too small and the watermark background is too dark. We will use these for the moment, but we are pleased that we did not order all that many. We will tweak things and do another printing before too long. For now, we have just shared them with some family and friends
Kevin and I went out to lunch thinking that we would have some time to talk and sort things out for our next moves, but if you were sitting in the same restuarant as we were you would not have heard anything from us. SO PATHETIC!
We have recovered some Did the weekly grocery shopping, set up doctor appointments for Kevin and his dad, finished a lod of laundry, and took some downtime. Time to jump back on the crazy mobile and deal with some more organizing in the quilt studio. Touching fabric always helps to settle the brain!
Life is GOOD!
I believe that one should learn at least one thing new every day, but today I am on major overload! Quilting for people and charging sales tax was no big problem except for deciding on the right quilting design. Setting up what we hope to be a good business with a solid income is something else. Topped off with moving to a new home in a new state (Okay not a brand new state, but we have not lived here for 31 years.) and adding in another adult, a parent, no less, must fall into the super stress category. That being said, I think that the people situation is working fine, and we are loving South Dakota. That means that the problem stressors are the settling and finding space for all our treasures, planning for some remodeling and trying to get a full time business off the ground.
We did get some positive news about our jet tub/shower. The company will pay the cost of an actual jet tub toward our new shower/remodel of our bathroom. If you have missed that saga, suffice it to say that the jet tub went into cardiac arrest and will need to be removed in pieces, so we have decided to put in a large shower instead of another monster tub. In the next week or so, we will be ordering the new shower, sink, and fixtures. Installation should be completed this summer. Our original plan was do this remodel in 2 years, but the tub's bad attitude has changed things.
This summer, we hope to be turning the attached garage into 2 small guest bedrooms, a storage space, and an additional family area for when the house fills with grandkids and other family and friends. To that end we have drawn up some tentative plans and hope to meet with a contractor early in July. We already have 3 bathrooms; therefore, we are not putting in another so that will hopefullly help the bottomline. Of course, the work will probably mean a little rearranging and accomidating, but we are looking at the end results.
* * * * * * * * * * *
After the accountant session we picked up our new business cards. They have the information we want on them, but they do not look like we thought they did when the card was in larger form. The print is legible, but too small and the watermark background is too dark. We will use these for the moment, but we are pleased that we did not order all that many. We will tweak things and do another printing before too long. For now, we have just shared them with some family and friends
Kevin and I went out to lunch thinking that we would have some time to talk and sort things out for our next moves, but if you were sitting in the same restuarant as we were you would not have heard anything from us. SO PATHETIC!
We have recovered some Did the weekly grocery shopping, set up doctor appointments for Kevin and his dad, finished a lod of laundry, and took some downtime. Time to jump back on the crazy mobile and deal with some more organizing in the quilt studio. Touching fabric always helps to settle the brain!
Life is GOOD!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
June 28: The Three Stoogies???
Here we are, warts and all. Love how things are working out!
Life is GOOD!
June 28: 3 adults = quick chores
We have been working on our routine this week. It is amazing what happens when all 3 adults know what is on the chore list. As an example, today's list included laundry (darks and jeans), vacumming, dusting, and planning menus. I started the wash (only one load needed because it is too blasted hot for jeans), Kevin vacuumed the floors, Dad did all the stairs, and I dusted. Menu planning was pretty much done last week, so just had to add a few touches. When I went down to move the laundry to the dryer, I found that it was not only dried, but they had folded, hung, and put it away already. Guess their mommas raised them right!)
We went to town to deal with a few things related to the business opening. Paid for our sign permit, bought a 2' x 2' board, paint and other materials so that I can get it painted, printed business cards that we designed last night, and bought a few odds and ends at the store. As Kevin has said several time this week, if we could just not go to town we could save a lot of money. ha ha ha
Life is GOOD!
We went to town to deal with a few things related to the business opening. Paid for our sign permit, bought a 2' x 2' board, paint and other materials so that I can get it painted, printed business cards that we designed last night, and bought a few odds and ends at the store. As Kevin has said several time this week, if we could just not go to town we could save a lot of money. ha ha ha
Life is GOOD!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
June 27: Do you make planned overs?
I knew I would be home alone for dinner tonight so I planned ahead. When we cooked steak, I added a bit more to the grill. I also made just a bit more of the stir-fried potato/veggie medley. I hummed all through the meal. Each bit was a party in my mouth and it all fit with my healthy eating plan. (Sorry to all my vegan and vegetarian friends for showing the steak, but it was so very tasty!)
June 27: Busy Again or is that ALWAYS?
 |
| Thanks to Alycia at http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/, I decided to use her block tutorial and take a break from all the moving in, organizing, and working on the business so that I could play with fabric and make a quick quilt that required only a little thinking. |
Plan to retreive my HQ from my sister's house in the next couple days, but now that I have had a bit of a fabric fix, that should be just fine.
Life is GOOD!
June 27: Quick Thoughts
Laugh of the evening: If you don't use the right rulers you will never have the right size blocks. I mistakenly use my 6" rather that my 6 1/2" square to cut te first strips. Fortunately, I was able to recover.
I forgot I even had this free standing design wall. It is a heavy thing made out of MDF and then covered with batting and flannel. We made it before I had seen some of the lightweight ideas. It also makes a great room divider. lol
Life is GOOD!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
June 26: Headaches, Paperwork, Sorting Things Out
Sometimes my husband has sinus pressure headaches that almost lay him out - this one has lasted almost 3 days. Added to that he is the kind that hates to give in and tries to keep working through things, but then in the middle of the night any little movement wakes him up and keeps him up for a few hours. We are also adding more to his thinking processes with all these business decisions, so he has been feeling a bit off-centered. Poor guy!
Once again we have had a day filled with making decisions about our woodworking business. Misinformation has caused a few frustrations, but most of them have been resolved. We created far more paper to file today, than I imagined. My goal is to keep as much as possible in the computer, but some things just need to be in paper format. Don't think we will actually have a paper-free office like I had envisioned. =0(
We met with the representative about our jet tub issues. He seems to want to resolve things in a fairly positive way, but we will have to wait and see. He said we will hear from him in the next two days, so we are crossing our fingers! We can still use the shower part of this bathroom, so we are staying clean, but the black duct tape covering the jet looks ever so tacky! lol
On the quilting side of life, Alycia had a short tutorial on her blog today.
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/ I am determined to make at least 6 blocks tonight. Hope to have pictures to post tomorrow. The guys will probably be watching a manly movie, so I will just crank up some of my girly tunes and get lost in a little fabric therapy.
Life is GOOD!
Once again we have had a day filled with making decisions about our woodworking business. Misinformation has caused a few frustrations, but most of them have been resolved. We created far more paper to file today, than I imagined. My goal is to keep as much as possible in the computer, but some things just need to be in paper format. Don't think we will actually have a paper-free office like I had envisioned. =0(
We met with the representative about our jet tub issues. He seems to want to resolve things in a fairly positive way, but we will have to wait and see. He said we will hear from him in the next two days, so we are crossing our fingers! We can still use the shower part of this bathroom, so we are staying clean, but the black duct tape covering the jet looks ever so tacky! lol
On the quilting side of life, Alycia had a short tutorial on her blog today.
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/ I am determined to make at least 6 blocks tonight. Hope to have pictures to post tomorrow. The guys will probably be watching a manly movie, so I will just crank up some of my girly tunes and get lost in a little fabric therapy.
Life is GOOD!
Monday, June 25, 2012
June 25: Celebrating
We went to the Planning and Zoning meeting and now we have our conditional use permit. Now we have to wait 5 days for it to be fully in place. In the meantime i will acquire our sale tax IDs, do some quilting, and once again try to get every piece of paper in place.
Life is GOOD!
Life is GOOD!
June 25: More Paper Work
Tonight we go before the Planning and Zoning Board to hear whether we will qualify for our Conditional Use Permit so we can operate our woodworking business on our property. Seems like it should be accepted based on the paper work, but we will be waiting for it with anticipation.
Knowing that once we have it we will both want to throw ourselves full tilt into becoming operational, we decided that today we have to do whatever we can to finish up sorting all the papers and handling any items that might slip through the cracks once we get busy- translates into getting our household files in order and paperwork time scheduled on a weekly basis. We have created a daily chore calendar for everything around the house, too, so that we will not let those things slip, but most of you understand about filing and piling and how you have to stay on top of it in order to stay sane.
I am also trying very hard to get back in focus with my weight. It is not that my clothes don't fit or the scale is screaming, but more that I fear that having allowed myself to just go with the flow for the last few weeks, I might just continue that way. I know that I feel great now, so why should I chance letting myself to forget it? Besides when I eat well, everything else seems to be easier to do, as well. The menus for the next two weeks are done and the groceries are in place - now I will feel good even though we are going to be very busy.
My father-in-law went out for coffee with old friends this morning. The group meets every Monday, so hopefully he will be able to put it into his regular schedule. Everyone needs to have friends. He seemed pleased with the time he spent. Tomorrow, Kevin and Dad are meeting Kevin's uncle for coffee and to retreive Grandpa Sveum's shotgun. The funniest part about these statements is that neither Kevin nor Dad drink coffee.
Blogging is built into my daily schedule again, so expect to hear a lot about our new business adventures along with my quilting, classwork, and life in South Dakota.
Life is GOOD!
Knowing that once we have it we will both want to throw ourselves full tilt into becoming operational, we decided that today we have to do whatever we can to finish up sorting all the papers and handling any items that might slip through the cracks once we get busy- translates into getting our household files in order and paperwork time scheduled on a weekly basis. We have created a daily chore calendar for everything around the house, too, so that we will not let those things slip, but most of you understand about filing and piling and how you have to stay on top of it in order to stay sane.
I am also trying very hard to get back in focus with my weight. It is not that my clothes don't fit or the scale is screaming, but more that I fear that having allowed myself to just go with the flow for the last few weeks, I might just continue that way. I know that I feel great now, so why should I chance letting myself to forget it? Besides when I eat well, everything else seems to be easier to do, as well. The menus for the next two weeks are done and the groceries are in place - now I will feel good even though we are going to be very busy.
My father-in-law went out for coffee with old friends this morning. The group meets every Monday, so hopefully he will be able to put it into his regular schedule. Everyone needs to have friends. He seemed pleased with the time he spent. Tomorrow, Kevin and Dad are meeting Kevin's uncle for coffee and to retreive Grandpa Sveum's shotgun. The funniest part about these statements is that neither Kevin nor Dad drink coffee.
Blogging is built into my daily schedule again, so expect to hear a lot about our new business adventures along with my quilting, classwork, and life in South Dakota.
Life is GOOD!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
June 24: Paperwork Catch Up Day
How in the world does the paper and junk mail accumulate so rapidly? I do most of my bill paying online. We just moved a little over a month ago, so how did the catalogs manage to find us so quickly? Why do I have such a hard time throwing it all away without the need to read all of it?
I have been working on it all afternoon and could probably be faster, but I am watching old movies at the same time. It is actually fairly relaxing and enjoyable to have this much time to be a real dinker.
Life is GOOD!
I have been working on it all afternoon and could probably be faster, but I am watching old movies at the same time. It is actually fairly relaxing and enjoyable to have this much time to be a real dinker.
Life is GOOD!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
June 23: Saturday's Adventures
We ended up going to bed really late so slept in until 6:45. We enjoyed some make-ahead bran muffins and planned out the day. Putting things in order in the kitchen and living room was our first order of business. We did find places for everything and feel like it is liveable and workable. Things will probably be moved around a few times until we find the right places, but for now I am feeling settled. Told Dad yesterday that he just needed to remember where he put things so he could find them when he needed them again. lol
About 10:00 we headed for Quarry Days in Dell Rapids.(Dell Rapids is a small town filled with friendly people.) We met up with our best friends, Dan and Nancy, and walked 6 blocks to the park where we explored the vendors booths and contemplated what we will do when we are doing shows ourselves. Then we had hamburgers cooked by the local Boy Scout troop (They have been doing this for decades.) It was a glorious day weather-wise!! After we finished at the park, we strolled back to our friend's house where they created an experimental treat for dessert. So tasty - discussed what changes could be made, but it was very tasty!
After our visit we did a few more errands that we came up with after working through things yesterday. Then we headed home and worked on a few other sorting projects. We discovered that we had left a bag of small parts at the store so once more we heading into Sioux Falls proper and retrieved it. Then back home to finish up the tasks which required the missing parts.
Afterwards we had a light dinner, did a few small tasks, and now we are watching the enhanced version of Avatar while I blog and then I will do paper sorting.
Life is GOOD!
About 10:00 we headed for Quarry Days in Dell Rapids.(Dell Rapids is a small town filled with friendly people.) We met up with our best friends, Dan and Nancy, and walked 6 blocks to the park where we explored the vendors booths and contemplated what we will do when we are doing shows ourselves. Then we had hamburgers cooked by the local Boy Scout troop (They have been doing this for decades.) It was a glorious day weather-wise!! After we finished at the park, we strolled back to our friend's house where they created an experimental treat for dessert. So tasty - discussed what changes could be made, but it was very tasty!
 |
| Kevin and Dan chatted outside while Dan did the grilling. |
 |
| These are grilled pineapple slices with cinnamon and sugar. Wow!!! |
After our visit we did a few more errands that we came up with after working through things yesterday. Then we headed home and worked on a few other sorting projects. We discovered that we had left a bag of small parts at the store so once more we heading into Sioux Falls proper and retrieved it. Then back home to finish up the tasks which required the missing parts.
Afterwards we had a light dinner, did a few small tasks, and now we are watching the enhanced version of Avatar while I blog and then I will do paper sorting.
Life is GOOD!
Friday, June 22, 2012
June 22: Wonderful Day
The morning started with a bowl of oatmeal and some time for meditation on the front porch. The weather contributed to my sense of peace, but getting back into my morning prayer routine was definitely the best part.
The rest of the morning was spent doing some more unpacking of the items we brought back with Dad. I now have some wonderfully, well-cared for pots and pans to add to my kitchen and Dad's silverware has given us enough settings for lots of company to be fed at one time. The laundry we brought back from Rapid City is still not all done, but it is closer to being finished. Now we need to figure out where to store all the sheets and towels.
When Dad left for his high school weekend reunion, Kevin and I headed out to do errands. We needed to make several stops, but not all of them required money. =0) Of course, we also had to have lunch, stop at Barnes and Noble, and then there was the grocery shopping. We had not really done any serious shopping since we arrived in Sioux Falls because we have been doing some major traveling. My oh my, we spent $278.17 on items at the grocery store! (Kevin guessed that we had spent $278 -impressive, huh?
Late afternoon brought us to filling out birthday party invites for Dad's 80th birthday. We will have some visiting time and a picnic style meal. Many of the guests will be about the same age, so there will be no wild and crazy music, but there will be a fire extinguisher for the candles.
Friday is date night. Sometimes we just use it to run errands, go for a walk, or snuggle down and watch a DVD, but tonight we went to a Disney/Pixar 3-D movie called BRAVE. It was delightful and will be added to our huge library of videos when it is released.
Tomorrow we will be attending Dell Rapid's Quarry Days and doing so more serious organizing and the likes.
Life is GOOD!
The rest of the morning was spent doing some more unpacking of the items we brought back with Dad. I now have some wonderfully, well-cared for pots and pans to add to my kitchen and Dad's silverware has given us enough settings for lots of company to be fed at one time. The laundry we brought back from Rapid City is still not all done, but it is closer to being finished. Now we need to figure out where to store all the sheets and towels.
When Dad left for his high school weekend reunion, Kevin and I headed out to do errands. We needed to make several stops, but not all of them required money. =0) Of course, we also had to have lunch, stop at Barnes and Noble, and then there was the grocery shopping. We had not really done any serious shopping since we arrived in Sioux Falls because we have been doing some major traveling. My oh my, we spent $278.17 on items at the grocery store! (Kevin guessed that we had spent $278 -impressive, huh?
Late afternoon brought us to filling out birthday party invites for Dad's 80th birthday. We will have some visiting time and a picnic style meal. Many of the guests will be about the same age, so there will be no wild and crazy music, but there will be a fire extinguisher for the candles.
Friday is date night. Sometimes we just use it to run errands, go for a walk, or snuggle down and watch a DVD, but tonight we went to a Disney/Pixar 3-D movie called BRAVE. It was delightful and will be added to our huge library of videos when it is released.
Tomorrow we will be attending Dell Rapid's Quarry Days and doing so more serious organizing and the likes.
Life is GOOD!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
June 21: We are actually HOME!
We arrived home from Rapid City, SD, about 2:45 today, after a very successful week where we cleaned out everything that was in Dad's house, held a huge moving/rummage sale, and took care of whatever business Dad could think of before moving in with us. We. also, managed to have some great fun playing chickenfoot dominoes and Up and Down River, a card game. Lots of memories were made and many old ones were revisited. Many sore muscles and lots of long work hours but what a good family time. Sure missed sharing the time with Kyle, but he is still active duty Navy and was out to sea.
We sold 2 of the beds on Saturday, so Kirk, Kevin and I had air mattresses for the remainder of the visit. Kirk related feeling like a burrito when his deflated on Sat. night. On Tuesday our mattress completely deflated a couple of times, so we snuck out to the truck at 2:00 am to sleep reclined for a couple of hours. (Did not want Dad to feel bad about it.) Found out Kirk lost his air about 2:15 but was able to pump it up one more time. It was not so funny at the time, but then again it seemed like we were in high school or something.
Kevin and I have NO plans to travel further than Del Rapids and Sioux Falls the rest of the week. All of the parcels and boxes are unloaded and many are even unpacked. The rest of the evening we are just going to unwind.
Dad is headed to Webster for his 60th high school reunion. I have never attended any of my own but he goes at least every 5 years and went on off years because Mom graduated from the same high school a couple years later. He is very excited about it, so we are glad that we finished everything so he could be completely moved out of his house and not have that hanging over his head.
Tomorrow we will spend the morning doing things to help Dad get more settled, then the rest of the weekend will be for time in the woodshop and quilt studio. Plan to work on a schedule for blogging as well.
Life is GOOD!
We sold 2 of the beds on Saturday, so Kirk, Kevin and I had air mattresses for the remainder of the visit. Kirk related feeling like a burrito when his deflated on Sat. night. On Tuesday our mattress completely deflated a couple of times, so we snuck out to the truck at 2:00 am to sleep reclined for a couple of hours. (Did not want Dad to feel bad about it.) Found out Kirk lost his air about 2:15 but was able to pump it up one more time. It was not so funny at the time, but then again it seemed like we were in high school or something.
Kevin and I have NO plans to travel further than Del Rapids and Sioux Falls the rest of the week. All of the parcels and boxes are unloaded and many are even unpacked. The rest of the evening we are just going to unwind.
Dad is headed to Webster for his 60th high school reunion. I have never attended any of my own but he goes at least every 5 years and went on off years because Mom graduated from the same high school a couple years later. He is very excited about it, so we are glad that we finished everything so he could be completely moved out of his house and not have that hanging over his head.
Tomorrow we will spend the morning doing things to help Dad get more settled, then the rest of the weekend will be for time in the woodshop and quilt studio. Plan to work on a schedule for blogging as well.
Life is GOOD!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
June 19: Missing My Blogging Time
I hope I have not lost my readers because of all my missing time, but I have been too busy and have had only limited computer access of any kind, so.................. Can't wait for a regular routine and schedule!!!
Last night we undid all of Dad's electronics and finished cleaning out his computer room. This morning we realized that we could now plug in our laptops so that we could reach out to the world again. Even so, time is limited.
Right now I sent Dad, Kevin and his brother have headed out for lunch with lifelong friends and I am manning the home front for the painter and the air conditioning guy. We have been working really hard to get everything packed up and cleaned up so that we can depart for Sioux Falls soon (Thankfully, Sam is still will to house sit for a couple more days.)
Time to get back to work.
Life is GOOD!
Last night we undid all of Dad's electronics and finished cleaning out his computer room. This morning we realized that we could now plug in our laptops so that we could reach out to the world again. Even so, time is limited.
Right now I sent Dad, Kevin and his brother have headed out for lunch with lifelong friends and I am manning the home front for the painter and the air conditioning guy. We have been working really hard to get everything packed up and cleaned up so that we can depart for Sioux Falls soon (Thankfully, Sam is still will to house sit for a couple more days.)
Time to get back to work.
Life is GOOD!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
June 10: Rummage Success
Thanks to the efforts of my sister Wendy and her daughter Brianna, we can claim some rummage sale success. We are not very well versed in how to do this, but they are experts. They took our meager offerings and turned them into cold hard cash. We asked questions and checked out how they set things up so that we could hold a moving/rummage sale at Dad's next week. Don't know how it will go, but we are going to give it a good effort. Then once we are settled from making all these moving changes, we will probably need to hold another sale to help make things fit. OH THE JOY OF IT ALL.
Even so, life is GOOD!
Even so, life is GOOD!
Friday, June 8, 2012
June 8: Show and Tell
The first three shots are of our two garages. We will be removing the stacked and folded boxes and using them to finish with Dad's move. The other shot is of the attached garage almost finished. Some of these boxes are filled with items for a rummage sale. Some rummage sale items are over at my sister's for her sale tomorrow. Got to pace myself. lol
The next two shots of the wood shop. Kevin is building the various work tables and wall units, which takes time, but I can see all the progress. He is motivated!
 |
| This end of my studio is coming together. I will be putting the HQ on the left side of the picture after I finish putting all the quilts and other things in their proper place. |
 |
| Remember that I posted that we were putting all the DVDs and VHS movies on a short wall at the other end of my studio. Here they are.... ALL561 of them. (There are NO duplicates.) |
Life is busy. Life is GOOD! But...is it time for a nap, yet?
June 8: Grandkids continued....
After the roof work, we stayed the night and then we headed home and worked on boxes for a day before Jamie and her family arrived for their visit. After a late arrival on Friday night, we all got up and had bran muffins and got organized for a weekend of fun.
 |
| First up was a trip to the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls. Henry and I raced ahead of everyone to see all the exhibits in the museum portion.  Zoe made her own fun. She crawled inside the lookout area in one of the exhibits and tried to spy on us. |
 |
| This is my niece Isabella performing in her last dance recital as a high school senior. We sat far back so that we would not disturb anyone if the grandkids got antsy. They did not because they were so taken with all the dancing. |
 |
| After a very long Saturday, Zoe fell asleep before we watched the Crooks fireworks. In the morning she was very sad she missed them, but as a good grandma would, I search the net for fireworks videos. Henry told her that in the dark they were better, but she seemed okay with the videos. She ohhed and ahhhed over them. |
 |
| Despite the jet tub fiasco, everyone managed to enjoy a tasty brunch and then play number bingo with our friends Dan and Nancy, Zoe did a great job as the number reader. |
 |
| Kevin may truly enjoy Ben and Jerry's ice cream, but even he will tell you that SDSU ice cream can't be beat. This is where we went to college and met, so I am guessing you know one of the best kinds of dates we had. Ice cream and a walk on the green. The ice cream on Sunday was as good as we remembered and two new generations ate more than their fair share of it, as well. Check out Henry doing what he does best, LOVING ice cream. 
|
June 8: Grandkids are a good excuse....
We really have been busy with the moving, setting up the workshop and quilt studio, and helping to get my father-in-law packed up to move in with us, but I thought I would share some photos of a few other moments since we came back to the Midwest. Consider yourselves warned that is a Grandma Brag Post!
 |
| Dean, Bryson, and Anna are hanging out with Grandpa H |
 |
| Wagon Ho! Dean is taking his turn walking with me. There numerous trips out in the yellow wagon. |
 |
| Doesn't this look like great fun? Dean, Bryson and I did stickers for a long time after Anna gave up and took a nap. |
 |
| Bryson is such a camera ham. Isn't he adorable. |
 |
| No, Jon is not sleeping! He is removing a vent. |
 |
| Add caption |
|
| The old ship khakis come in handy for dirty jobs. |
Kevin, Jon, and Aleah our DIL had to go up on the roof for the last few hours to get the felted cover on the roof before the rains came. I am certain the three were betting they could not do it, but I enjoyed the time having all the grandkids to myself.
The shingles were put on with the help of Aleah's side of the family. No leaks, so all it is right in their world.
Life is GOOD!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
June 7: No Photos, but....
We really worked hard yesterday. Up until supper time we were each working on our work spaces - so much done, but no photo op yet. Then we worked on getting all our DVD/VHS movies together and shelved. We are combining two households so were able to eliminate some duplicates, but Dad still has lots of VHS --We have 10.
I had allotted one short wall in the quilt studio for the shelves of movies, and believe me we have filled the shelves we have. We are going to add two more today, and then finish up placing all the ones that are organized but still on the floor. As we sorted I made a database. We have 561 movies with more than a few sets that were counted as one. Does that qualify as a small lending library???
Do you find yourself wondering why these are in MY space? I am setting up a small corner of the studio for Dad to use with his embroidery machine. He loves watching movies while he works so we wanted to make them easily accessible. We will be mounting the TV on the wall out of the way, but with a good view from anywhere in the room. Might even put in the second Wii so he can golf or bowl when he needs to stretch. (You might laugh, but he seriously plays these games on a daily basis. Hope that I will be that way when I am 80.)
Today's plan calls for more time in our work spaces, plus a couple of errands and laundry. Life is GOOD!
I had allotted one short wall in the quilt studio for the shelves of movies, and believe me we have filled the shelves we have. We are going to add two more today, and then finish up placing all the ones that are organized but still on the floor. As we sorted I made a database. We have 561 movies with more than a few sets that were counted as one. Does that qualify as a small lending library???
Do you find yourself wondering why these are in MY space? I am setting up a small corner of the studio for Dad to use with his embroidery machine. He loves watching movies while he works so we wanted to make them easily accessible. We will be mounting the TV on the wall out of the way, but with a good view from anywhere in the room. Might even put in the second Wii so he can golf or bowl when he needs to stretch. (You might laugh, but he seriously plays these games on a daily basis. Hope that I will be that way when I am 80.)
Today's plan calls for more time in our work spaces, plus a couple of errands and laundry. Life is GOOD!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
June 6: Short and Sweet
Kevin is working at setting up the wood shop and I am trying to organize my quilt studio. Neither of us has had lots of time for this in the almost month that we have been here, so today is all about these spaces. They are looking less like storage units, but no real creative work is happening yet. Visited some of my favorite quilt blogs and am motivated to work for the remainder of the afternoon. Maybe I will even have some photos tonight or tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
June 5: Where Do I Begin to Tell the Story....
Crazy is a word that seems to describe the last few weeks. We were in Rapid City helping Dad make decisions about what to keep and what to sell before moving across the state to live with us. Then we came home and worked on our own moving in process which included building shelves to help store the other accumulations of our joined households. That means ONE garage is fairly well organized and cleaned up. In a few months, one corner will be turned into a work out area, but for now, we feel that we are still managing to get quite a workout every single day.
On Friday night our daughter and family came for a visit. What a FUN weekend. We played number bingo, went to the zoo, watches some very talented dancers including our niece, Isabella, ate Oreos, found the perfect prizes at my sister Wendy consignment shop, visited with my family members, ate Sunday brunch with friends, and just plan had fun. Even the fact that water poured down inside the walls below the jet tub on Sunday did not take anything away from our fun. It is good to be back with family even though I can honestly say that our year in Vermont was tremendously good for us.
Sunday afternoon things started to get crazy again. Dad did sell his house and the realtor was told the people wanted to move in on June 13 or 14. How does that when we aren't even there to work on finishing up the move out and holding a yard sale until the end of next week? We started rearranging our schedules and planning for a much earlier blast off. Sam is on standby once again and will be watching over the house so life can take these twists and turns.
That being said, Dad's realtor called this afternoon and said that it was an error on the part of other the realtor. The closing is JULY 13-14. Heavy sigh of relief --- we can accomplish everything without pushing ourselves to exhaustion every evening.
Wayne did a super job of cleaning the floors in the laundry room --- moved the washer and dryer and all the dust bunnies and cat litter that was under the machines. That is what a great son-in-law does, right? The reward for that was time at the park and SDSU ice cream before hugging them all goodbye and sending them on their way.
Point of interest..............We have a home warranty that is supposed to cover the jet tub, but we are still trying to negotiate things. As Kevin said, it is part of home ownership, albeit not the really fun part
Even so.....Life is GOOD!
On Friday night our daughter and family came for a visit. What a FUN weekend. We played number bingo, went to the zoo, watches some very talented dancers including our niece, Isabella, ate Oreos, found the perfect prizes at my sister Wendy consignment shop, visited with my family members, ate Sunday brunch with friends, and just plan had fun. Even the fact that water poured down inside the walls below the jet tub on Sunday did not take anything away from our fun. It is good to be back with family even though I can honestly say that our year in Vermont was tremendously good for us.
Sunday afternoon things started to get crazy again. Dad did sell his house and the realtor was told the people wanted to move in on June 13 or 14. How does that when we aren't even there to work on finishing up the move out and holding a yard sale until the end of next week? We started rearranging our schedules and planning for a much earlier blast off. Sam is on standby once again and will be watching over the house so life can take these twists and turns.
That being said, Dad's realtor called this afternoon and said that it was an error on the part of other the realtor. The closing is JULY 13-14. Heavy sigh of relief --- we can accomplish everything without pushing ourselves to exhaustion every evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now let me tell you the saga of the jet tub.....We have used the shower part of this tub since we moved in, but on Sunday, the grandkids were going to be treated to a fun swim in the big tub while we were gone. Suffice it to say that the water did not stay in the tub and the kids will probably never want to do such a thing again. The water ended up downstairs in the empty closet and bedroom that will be Dad's. That was a break. Also the water travelled between the walls and did not damage the sheetrock. The carpets are now very clean and almost dry, and we are the new owners of a carpet cleaner. Poor Jamie and Wayne were not certain how we would react when we arrived home to every single towel in the house being soaked. All their luggage was packed and by the front door ready to roll. We are just thankful that the tub did not fall through the floor and nobody was physically hurt - Zoe and Henry may never bath at our house again, but that is another story.Wayne did a super job of cleaning the floors in the laundry room --- moved the washer and dryer and all the dust bunnies and cat litter that was under the machines. That is what a great son-in-law does, right? The reward for that was time at the park and SDSU ice cream before hugging them all goodbye and sending them on their way.
Point of interest..............We have a home warranty that is supposed to cover the jet tub, but we are still trying to negotiate things. As Kevin said, it is part of home ownership, albeit not the really fun part
Even so.....Life is GOOD!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)