Last night

This is the last night here in our home.  Kind of bittersweet.  We're sleeping on mattresses on the living room floor.  Everything is ready to go in the trailer in the morning, then we clean the kitchen, bathroom, and the frig.  Closing got moved up to 2:00 so we'll be out early!

More later...

Beautiful wedding!

Kaylee and Clayton had such a beautiful wedding!  They both looked so happy!  Kaylee made the most gorgeous bride - of course, I'm a bit prejudiced!!

The reception was also a lot of fun!  Lots of interesting dances - lots of young people!  The music was a little loud, but that is to be expected.

We're now back home and getting ready to get all of the final touches done here in preparation for our move on Wednesday!

More later...

W & W

We're in Waverly tonight waiting for Kaylee's wedding tomorrow.  We helped decorate for the reception this morning AND I got Blaise to come to me!!!  Fun times!  Rhonda & Cheyenne are here from Texas so I got to see all of my nieces and their children!

We also went to Waterloo for our condo walk-through after requested repairs were done.  Closing is set for Wednesday!  I guess that's 4 Ws - Waverly, wedding, Waterloo, and Wednesday!

More later...

No rain today!

We went for a drive today mostly to go to Cantril to get some popcorn before we move away.  While we were heading that direction, though, we wanted to see what was going on down by Drakesville where the Yoder Furniture Store and the Drakesville Lumber were destroyed by a tornado.  It's amazing - the Amish in the area are all working together rebuilding both businesses.  In just 3 days since the businesses were destroyed, they've already cleared the areas and have are rebuilding walls.  It's so good to see so many working together for a common cause!

Sudi called while we were on our way down there, so we ended up going through Fairfield on our way home.  The four of us ate lunch at Mike & Nicki's - good food and great company!  I will miss seeing Sudi & Howard on a regular basis!  One thing I know, though, good friends will remain good friends even when miles separate them!

More later...

And the thunder rolls....

again!!  What is this, round 3?  I personally am a little tired of severe weather.  They're saying we might have another 2-3 inches of rain tonight, PLUS severe thunderstorms!  We've lost electricity twice in 2 days...probably tonight too.

Dave and I worked on the house again today.  Everything we don't need is out of our closets and the bathroom.  We're rattling around in here now - bouncing off of empty walls in empty rooms!  By Monday everything will be out!  Maybe not our bed...I still want to sleep here Monday night.  Then Tuesday night we'll stay with friends.

More later...

Two busy days!

We have been very busy the last couple of days.  Yesterday, Pastor David had to be gone, so he asked me to lead BRT.  I did some research on the verses that I thought we might cover and I think I did a decent job.  Obviously I couldn't give the insight that two pastors could give, but we had a good session anyway!

Yesterday afternoon, six of us got together to play 7s from Hell.  That was fun even though my partners and I got beat!

Today Dave and I cleaned out the garage  sale stuff...took pictures of everything that we ended up donating to the Klassi Kloset.  Then I had to type up the list and I've still got to determine values for all of it.  I plan to work on that tomorrow.

This evening, David & Liz and Dave & I went to Juliene and Dan's for dessert.  It was a beautiful evening to sit outside in their little patio garden and enjoy each other's company.  We will miss those two couples!  When we left just a few minutes ago, we drove out into the country to see if we could see the Northern Lights.  It must have to be later to see them - people had pictures posted from O-town from last night.  We didn't see anything...except Venus and Mars or whatever planets are about to line up on Tuesday night.  They are really shining brightly tonight!

More later...

Beautiful day!

We had a great morning at church.  The church had a little going away party for us, complete with cake and fresh fruit!  It was very, very nice.  Pastor said some really nice things about us...and now our Sunday worship at FPC comes to a close!  Sad, but we're looking forward to attending a new church in Waterloo.  We got enough hugs today to last us for a long time!

Lunch Bunch today went to S HyVee.  Not my favorite place to eat, but they had a good salad bar today.  I think there were 11 of us today!

This afternoon, Sarah & Wes came over to bring some boxes they'd packed.  Sarah and Wes are who we've sold our house to.  Dave showed them how to service the lawnmower and other important things about the house while Liz and I sat around talking about kids.

More later...

Good day!

We started early today!  Garage sale started at 10 minutes before 8:00 and we had people lined up and waiting!  I'd say we had a very good sale.  I sold a bunch of stuff - too bad I didn't have more sergers and more embroidery floss.  I could have sold 3-4 sergers and tons of floss!  Those two things were some of the first to go!  I didn't sell all of my fat quarters, etc., but I did make a huge dent in them.  It was a fun morning!

This afternoon, we both took naps - I think I could have slept until tomorrow morning, but my phone rang and woke me!  Then this evening we had an horrible storm!  Our tornado sirens even went off.  I don't think I've ever seen the wind blow as hard as it did this afternoon.  I just knew that a branch would come through the windows on the west side of our house!  Somehow, we only lost one little branch.  Even the hummingbird feeder stayed on its stake.  We lost power for about an hour I suppose.  Of course, everything here is packed - including battery operated radios and matches, so we couldn't light candles in the basement and our extra batteries were also packed so we sat in the dark.  We finally came up and saw that the wind was no longer an issue.  Dave even went out and bought more batteries just in case the lights didn't come back on for a while!

More later...

Friday

Yesterday, I said goodbye to my sorority sisters and today I said goodbye to my PEO sisters.  Yesterday there were 13 of us and today there were 22 of us!  That's a bunch of ladies whose company I enjoy!  We had a good PEO meeting and an interesting power point presentation of the PEO Convention which was held the first weekend in June.  Yes, I said power point presentation.  When I was a delegate, I had to just write up my own presentation and this year, Annette Syzinski (sp?) made up a power point presentation for all of us in the SE Iowa chapters who helped host.  Fun!

When I got home from that, I had a lady who wanted to buy a couple of things - my ad was in the paper today (FOR TOMORROW!) but that didn't stop a couple of ladies from coming today!  Then one of my PEO friends came over and bought my serger and some fat quarters!  I hope I sell a bunch tomorrow because there's still a lot left out there.

When Dave finished cleaning/servicing the lawnmower, we went to Albia.  At the Snack Shack in Albia, they have THE best hot fudge sundaes!  We try to go over there twice in the summer - once when we first get back and once before we go south for the winter.  We hadn't been there yet this summer, so today was our day.  Then we went to my friend's bake shoppe up on the square.  She's got a cute little shop, but she said business was kind of slow this week.  We bought a couple of cookies and a biscotti just to be sociable!

Dave took his nap and I watched part of the Cubs game - yucky tonight!  They should have saved some of their runs from the other night when they had 17!!

More later...

Tired!

I had to get up early this morning!  First of all, we had a cleaning lady coming in to clean all of the woodwork - cupboards inside and out, drawers, etc.  She came at 8:00 AM.  Then at 9:00 my sorority group got together as a little goodbye party for me.  Thirteen of the 17 of us made it.  We went to The Vine for coffee and scones!  It was a fun time!

After coffee, a couple of the gals came to preview my garage sale and I ended up selling $105 worth of stuff!  That was fun!

Cathy ended up being here 8 hours.  It was a long, but productive day.  Dave and I are both pooped tonight.  He's asleep in his chair and I wish I was!  I'm going up to get into my night clothes and maybe just read.

I sure wish St Joe's Hospital wasn't there right now.  From what I can see, the sunset must have been beautiful!  Lots of pinks, oranges, and purples...if the hospital was gone I might be able to see some more of the sky!

More later...

Hot & Humid

It sure felt like summer here today - I'm sure it was in the upper 80s with high humidity.  My hair is definitely curling in this kind of weather!!

Last night I had one of those nights where I couldn't sleep.  I finally went back to bed at 4:15 AM.  I did fall asleep finally, but we had an appointment with our financial people at 9:00 so I didn't get to sleep in.  We had our appointment and mapped out our strategy for the rest of the year.  Then at 11:30 I had my last massage with Gerrii.  I've been going to her for at least 12 years...maybe longer!  She's been in her current location for 15 years and I believe I started with her pretty soon after she moved in there.  She is so good...I sure hope I can find someone who does a good job in Waterloo.

This afternoon I worked in the garage marking some of my items.  I've decided this is going to be a very relaxed sale - I'm not marking everything.  I'll just play it by ear!  I've already made $39 and the sale isn't until Saturday!

This evening I went to make cards with the SU ladies.  I was able to say goodbye to my former clients!  We also made some cool cards!

More later...

Good day!

We got lots done today!  Dave finished loading the trailer and this afternoon, he took it up to Waterloo to the storage shed.  Most of our world is in that storage unit.  Basically all we've got here is our bed, our chairs in the living room, and the tv.  Those will be in the last load along with our clothes and last minute items.

This morning we worked on getting the garage set up for my craft sale.  I also got the larger pieces of fabric marked with yardage markers.  While I was working on fabric, I separated out the fat quarters and the fat halves into separate bins.  I also got most of the other craft stuff out on the tables (out of bins) and I even sold an old cutter quilt.  Plus, while all of this was happening, an appraiser came and spent an hour appraising our place!

Tomorrow is a busy day - we start out with an appointment with our financial advisor, then I have a massage and I'm making cards in the evening.  So the only time I have to work on the garage sale is in the afternoon.  Pricing takes such a long time and I have no clue how to price things.  Oh well, I'll get it done!

More later...

Monday

It was sure humid today!  We set up tables in the garage and I was just dripping from the humidity when I came in.  It did rain, too, but the humidity was what was making me perspire!  Tomorrow I've got to work in the garage pricing stuff for my garage sale on Saturday morning.  I've got a lot of stuff out there so I hope people come to buy!

BRT this morning was great!  I'm really going to miss that!  I wanted to stop at the chiropractor when I got out of BRT, but he must be on vacation because his truck wasn't there.

More later...

Beautiful Sunday!

My hair didn't have any trouble curling today - it was plenty humid!  We went to church this morning - we had a wonderful service and a great sermon about Saul/Paul and conversion.  I'm really going to miss our church family and especially David's sermons!  This morning, while we were singing praise music, there were such beautiful voices in the congregation.  Those ladies were improvising - singing descants and harmony - I told Dave I bet we didn't find those kind of voices in our new church in the 'loo.  I sure hope we do, but if we don't we're going to have to come back just so I can hear those voices again.  In our choir at FPC, we have a trained opera singer, 3 music majors from ISU - one of whom has been a music teacher for her career, and a handful of us who just sing to make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

Lunch with the "Bunch" was at Appanoose Rapids for their buffet.  Delicious as usual!  Then Dave and I came home and took naps.  After that, Dave went to church to borrow some tables so I can set up for my "craft sale" this weekend.  I dread doing it, but I just can't take all of this with me.

More later...

Good day for ducks!

We had another drizzly day over here.  I was going to Allison's ballgame and was all ready and waiting, when I got a message from Vicki that they had postponed the games until tomorrow because of all the rain Mt. Pleasant had.  It evidently didn't rain much in Fairfield today because Washington's varsity played their games against Fairfield today - even with the drizzle.  I'm pretty sure we could have gotten the games in...bummer!

When I found out the games were off, I changed clothes and called Bob & Ann to make sure they knew.  Good thing I called them - they hadn't gotten the message yet and they were just ready to come get me.  Since I stayed home, Dave and I got the upstairs pretty well cleaned out.  Other than our clothes, there's not much left in the upstairs.  Our bed is still there, but everything is packed and dealt with.  I was able to get more of my paperwork done and Dave made yet another trip to the Klassi Kloset to donate things.  Because of my back, I'm not much help with carrying stuff so poor Dave is being the workhorse and carrying all of the boxes.  He does call in help for the furniture!

I thought I should share a picture of where we're going to be living.  This is the front of the building - we're on the backside on the 2nd floor!

We're both getting excited now.  In fact, I wish we could be in the last weekend of June.  We could just stay in our own place instead of a motel for Kaylee & Clay's wedding.  Darn!

More later...

Friday or Saturday??

I had a terrible time today - I couldn't figure out if it was Friday or Saturday!  I think it was because Dave was here all day.  If he's home, it must be Saturday - right?  Wrong!  Tomorrow is a ballgame so it must be Saturday - right?  Right!!

We did more of the same today.  I did paperwork and laundry - Dave worked on emptying out his desk.  I worked on cleaning mine off.  I got through lots of paperwork, but I didn't get finished.  I do feel good about my progress, though!

Boy, is this place getting bare!  Dave's going to load the trailer tomorrow, so it should be even barer when I get home from Mt Pleasant!

More later...

Rain!

I had two jobs to do today.  One was to mow the yard - just the front and the east side (plus the neighbors' front yard).  I got that done, but it rained on me.  Actually, I guess it sprinkled; but cars going by had their wipers on.  I am sure they were thinking that I was an idiot for mowing in the rain.  But since I'd started, I wanted to finish.  When Dave got home, he finished the other side and the back - they were pretty wet.  My other job (that Dave assigned) was the laundry.  That was not a problem.  It didn't matter that it was raining out while I did the laundry.

I also got all of my paperwork filed.  I have some more paperwork to do tomorrow.  Everything is out of my desk, so paperwork isn't exactly easy to do!

More later...

Last night, too

I guess I didn't blog last night.  Bob, Ann, & I went to Allison's ballgame in Columbus Junction.  After the game got over, we stopped at Ainsworth for supper...actually breakfast for Bob & I!  Unfortunately my eggs were pretty runny (I asked for over easy) and my bacon was charred (I asked for crisp).  I guess I'll have to remember next time to get over medium eggs and maybe not say anything about the bacon.  We didn't get home until late so I just went to bed!

During the days, I've been packing some things - like my desk drawers and the drawers in the kitchen.  Dave's been going to work and by the time he gets home, he's exhausted so he sleeps all evening.  It'll be good to get to the new place!

Tonight a big storm blew in.  We had thunder, lightning, wind, and rain - some of my friends are posting pictures of the cloud formations.  They were beautiful, but ominous.

More later...

Sunday

Just two more Sundays at 1st Pres. and then we're gone - wow, it's going fast!  It's a good thing we're ahead of schedule packing!  Today was pretty much a day of rest.  Dave did some patching of walls where we had pictures and then he touched up the paint.  Other than that, after church and lunch we both took naps.  He mowed the yard right before the rain hit and I scanned more pictures into the computer.  I'm down to less than 50 probably!!  I sure hope I don't find any more!

More later...

Another load loaded!

We got up this morning and started working right away.  Dave was able to take a load of stuff to the Klassi Kloset (donations) while I emptied dressers of more clothes.  Our bedroom now has only a bed and 2 end tables!  After lunch, I got ready to go play cards while he waited for 3 guys from work, plus our pastor, to come help him load the trailer again.  By the time I got home from cards, the trailer was loaded for his trip to Waterloo tomorrow.  I'm not going with him...I'll stay home and work on some other stuff - like getting Aunt Helen's pictures and the quilts ready for the girls.  Then I'll know what of those things are left and can decide at that time what to do with the leftovers.

More later...

Packing!

I finally got all the way finished with my craft room.  Dave still needs to carry a couple of things out of there and then it will be empty!  So as of now, the 2nd bedroom is finished, the rose room is pretty well finished, and the craft studio is finished.  Downstairs the dining room glassware is all taken care of so both hutches are empty.  The tv cabinet is empty and the bottom cabinets in the office are empty!  I've still got a mess in/on my desk, but I'll work on that later.  I think we're making fine progress!

More later...

Woohoo!

We got our condo in Waterloo, so we no longer have to worry about where we're going to live!!  We should be able to move our possession date up to June 30th or July 1st since no one lives there now.  That would be good since we're trying to be out of here so our buyers can have this place on 30 June.

I started out my day by working in my craft room.  I had drawers to go through and MANY pictures too.  I got all done with the 3 photo boxes of pictures and through the 3 drawers in the built-in dresser.  Plus, I emptied the 4 drawers in the plastic set of drawers under my design table and the bottom drawer in my sewing cabinet.  Other than taking a break to go to lunch with Sudi and Howard, I worked in there until 5:00 - I didn't even come downstairs until then!  That was good...I got lots done.  I've got quite a bit of stuff for my craft yard sale!  Tomorrow I'll continue working there until I get it done!  I've only got 4 drawers in our bedroom to go through, and 3 of them are clothes.  That  shouldn't be hard at all.

More later...

Waterloo

We went to Waterloo yesterday to look at a condo that looked very interesting on the real estate listing.  We liked it a lot, so this morning we put an offer in on it.  Now we're just waiting to hear from the sellers.  It's a very nice condo that doesn't need much.  We might change out the paint on the walls, but that's about all.  It's got laminate floors in the bedrooms, the living room, and the family room and vinyl in the kitchen and two bathrooms.  It's 1700+ square feet with a very nice balcony outside.  We sure hope we get it!

When we went yesterday, we took our trailer with a load of stuff...some for Bryan and some for us (which went into a storage shed).  If we get the condo, we've asked to close on 7/3 which is 3 days after ours closes here.  Dave wants to take another load up this weekend so tomorrow I'll be going through more stuff and sorting out for a garage sale or to go to Waterloo with us.  I'll be glad when this "fun" is over!

We took Bryan, Erin, and Aidan out for dinner last night.  Aidan has 2 teeth and had a big smile for us last evening.  In fact he was just all smiles!  We stayed with Linda and her family and had a great time visiting with her, Al, Kaylee and Clayton.

More later...