The Last 2 Weeks In June

We finally made it thanks to these guys!

Such a professional and pleasant group of guys. They had us packed up at mom's in two hours and into my house by 12:30. Mom said in all her moves (even overseas) she had never seen them take such great care of her furniture. They wrapped pretty much every piece in blankets and plastic wrap. I highly recommend them if you're in the Dallas area.

My house looks like a furniture outlet store but with a little rearranging each day gets a little better. Here are a couple of pictures inside at it's worst.

The garage is not too bad. We actually have a path to the back of it.

These last two weeks have been so busy for us with all the packing and the heat was relentless. It seemed that every day brought us something unexpected to deal with. We had to have the ground lowered on one side of the house because it was over the foundation. After they repaired that and put in new sod we found out the sprinkler system had sprung a leak. The gardener was able to fix that after digging about 3 feet into the ground through a lot of tree roots.

Cleaning off a shelf in the garage I picked up a gallon jug of drain cleaner which was so old it cracked in half and went all over the floor. I tried paper towels but it was too big of a spill so I decided to hose it out. Well the floor of the garage slants in toward the house so the water just kept coming back in. Sweeping it out wouldn't work either. I called Tom to bring the blower out and we were finally able to get it out. What a fiasco that was.

On Saturday while cleaning the house after the move we found out one of the faucets to the washing machine was broken and could not be turned off. It had to be capped and we were able to have a plumber come fix it 3 hours before we closed on the house.

These are just a few of the highlights. I will not go into detail about the fools we dealt with at the title company or my daughter having another car wreck (she's fine). I even polled the firemen to see if they were married. I told them I had a beautiful daughter who needed a husband with good car insurance.

The worst is over, the heat is gone temporarily, we have learned from this 1st move enormously and if you're looking for mom she's with me.

We are all quite happy about that!

The First Two Weeks In June

These last two weeks have been a blur. So to clarify it for myself I decided to break it down day by day. On the:

1. Monday - Worked, went to mom's to continue purging and packing for the coming garage sale. Found her having chest pain, called 911, admitted her to the hospital, she had a heart attack late that night.



2. Tuesday - At the hospital, mom on nitro drip for pain. She had stent surgery and found out the stent put in last February was 95% blocked. They replaced it and gave her lots of morphine to keep her still. (Mom likes to move). Forgot it was Rosie's (my orange tabby) birthday and she didn't get my annual "Happy Birthday" song. She turned 19!



3. Wednesday - At the hospital, quiet day both of us dozing most of the day. I swear they pump sleepy gas into those rooms. Oh well it's a way to slow down and you can only read so many magazines.



4. Thursday - Busy morning with Dr's visits. They performed an echocardiogram in her room and I got to watch. It's amazing to see your mother's heart pumping on the screen. Kind of like the reverse of a fetal sonogram. I have not told anyone this but I swear it looked like hands were cupping her heart as it beat. With the reports good, she was sent home. Now I had time to really get to work on her house.



5. Friday - Purging, packing, grocery shopping, pricing items.



6. Saturday - Back to my home, Jackson's graduation, celebration dinner, pricing, sleep!



7. Sunday - Laundry, throwing out left over pizza boxes (my men don't cook). Checked on the new home and then to mom's to pick up heavy items for coming garage sale.



8. Monday - Work, late meeting, pricing.



9. Tuesday - Work, mom's, I'm stressing about where in the world the clean out valve is needed for the plumbing test after the foundation repair on her house. It's another $400 if one needs to be put in. Buyer's appraiser goes to mom's. That goes well. She makes her first outing since her heart event on her own to the grocery store and buys good stuff like cookies. I get there as she is unloading her car. Still can't find the clean out valve. Haul more stuff home and pricing.



10. Wednesday - Early to mom's to meet foundation people. It's an interesting procedure. They drilled 45 feet into the ground for the piers and lifted the house and "voila" the cracks went back together. I gave the workers all the tools and garage stuff their wheel barrows could hold and the monster TV in the living room. They couldn't find the clean out either. The engineer comes to inspect the repair and gets another check. He gets a lot of money for using a fancy tape measure. The used furniture guy comes and only wants two pieces we are selling and not the really heavy dining table and chairs we want him to take. Load up more stuff and go home.



11. Thursday - Wait for a break in the rain to go to the rental center for tables. Have to zig zag because of police barricades because of flash flooding and kids being rescued from the water. Come home and set up in the garage for the sale. Back to the rental center for two more tables. Continue set up. Meet plumbing company at mom's for the great "clean out" search. Very nice older man determined to find it. Ta da, after about an hour his keen eye and using his special clean out finder tool, he found it between the thick boxwood about a foot in the ground. I was impressed. The plumbing test was done, we passed with no leaks from the foundation repair and no charge. Whew! Home to haul our furniture we are selling into the living room for tomorrow.



12. Friday - Up early for the sale of the century. We drag Jackson out of bed to help pull everything outside for the sale. The sale goes pretty well the first day. We got rid of the furniture and I do mean that, we practically gave it away. Selling lots of thick hardbacks for $1. Nobody wants them. Close up at 2 and head for a much needed cold shower. I did get an interested buyer for mom's table and chairs. We meet them at her house and watch them load it. A very nice family and I'm sure they thought we were really stupid for selling it as low as they offered, $75.00. We were just happy to see it go. That sucker is made out of the hardest wood I've ever seen. It weighs a ton!



13. Saturday - Last day for the sale and hottest day of the year. The temp was about 95 and the humidity had to be close to 60%. The heat index was 105. Even with two fans running in the garage we were melting. I couldn't even give the books away. We made close to $200 that day and I closed up at 12 feeling like a heat stroke was near. What's left goes to charity. The "Last Garage Sale Ever" is over!

Our "new resting house" as I like to call it, is coming along. We now have shingles, windows, doors, and wiring.

We are getting close.

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday was a big day! A very special guy graduated from High School.

The ceremony was at the Special Events Center in Garland which is about 10 minutes from our house. A very impressive arena which seats over 7,000. The sound system is excellent and view from all areas is really good. They have a large screen over the stage so you can see the speakers and students up close. It was a great ceremony and only lasted one hour even with almost 500 graduates.

We celebrated with dinner at the country club in Oakridge.

My nephew Chris and his beautiful wife Carrie came to the graduation and picked up a very special lady to join us for dinner.

A little wobbly after her heart attack on Monday and stent surgery on Tuesday, she still wanted to be a part of this special day! My mother is amazing. I love these guys so very much.

Congratulations "Big Guy". We are so proud of you!