Puttering Monday

I puttered today. I picked up a late breakfast before borrowing my nephew for the day. The kids played nicely all day.

I packaged some kids' CDs to mail to a friend. I listed some CDs and DVDs for sale. I gathered up a gaming system we never use and a bunch of games. Hopefully I can convince the Babaloo to take them over to Gamestop to trade for store credit. A gift card is easier to transport 2,200 miles.

The kids have outgrown these. Of course, who is ever too old for Bear in the Big Blue House?

Does anyone need three game systems? I didn't think so.

I boxed up some of the larger kitchen appliances I want to keep, and my canning supplies. I boxed up some kitchen stuff to donate, like excess travel mugs, measuring cups, and all the mismatched silverware. I'm only keeping the one set that I purchased ten years ago.

I went through all our coats from the downstairs coat rack. I'm keeping my nice, red raincoat and my nice, black winter coat. The others are going in the donation pile. 

I also called the Register of Deeds to request a correct copy of the certified birth certificate that arrived with my name misspelled. The lady was really nice and promised to mail a new one immediately. We called the insurance company and filled out the required forms to process a claim from May. They were really nice and confirmed that was all they needed. I called my mother and just chatted for about an hour. She's always nice.

I messaged a friend who was interested in our couch, but she's not sure it will fit, so we'll have to find a different home for it.

Here's a conversation that took place in my living room a short while ago:

The Babaloo stood up to refill his water.

Me: C'mere for a second and look at this.

Him: Whatcha need?

Me: I want you to look at these hand truck reviews.

Him: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Me: Why are you laughing at me?!

The one I think I want.

We overbought some building materials from Lowe's earlier this summer and we need to return them. I told him he should use that store credit to buy a hand truck, because after struggling with those desks last week on the stairs, I know we're going to need it to move the dressers. We had a nice appliance dolly when we moved to town, but that ended up going back with my mom when we gave our old washer & dryer to my aunt & uncle. 

Also, I'm either never living in a two-story building again or I'm investing in styrofoam furniture the next place we live. As my sister and I agreed the other day, I am not getting any younger and wood is heavy.

Fabric

I have a sewing machine. I enjoy sewing. I haven't done much of it, though, since moving to Durham. I am taking my sewing machine when we move. I am not taking all my fabric, though. I offered it up on one of my social forum sites a while back, and finally got in touch with the mom of a friend after I had triple-checked to make sure I'd found and boxed it all.

Let me back up, here. Another friend mentioned she'd be coming through town in July and was interested, but her plans fell through.

The sister of the mom of my first friend returned my call this week, and said she'd drop by some time between 10 and 11 this morning. At 9:50, she called to say she was on her way, and by 10:20, we'd loaded it all into her SUV.

Gone.

I also gave two sets of kids' twin-sized sheets to a neighbor this morning. We do not need four sets of sheets per bed.

Then we finished our coffee and hit the road. Huge thanks to my sister for swinging by to drop off my sunglasses, which I'd left at her house. Travel is always more pleasant when you can block the sun.

We took some stuff back to my mom-in-law, including an umbrella they'd accidentally left with us, a box of Monty Python tapes, and some ceramic canisters she had loaned us. The Babaloo tried to hold on to one of the movies, but I reminded him that we do not own a VCR and that keeping VHS tapes would be impractical. 

There were four canisters. One didn't survive the trip.

We also had time to swing by that relative's house I mentioned earlier, where we picked up a perfectly matched, mounted spare tire for the trailer.

That not-throwing-stuff-away habit? It's totally inherited.

And we had some awesome tacos with the inlaws and I got to hang out and pet a kitten until my allergies kicked in.

Here he is, being a snoozy-boo.

On the way home, we stopped and picked up Popeye's Chicken for dinner, because we don't have one of those in town and yesterday was National Fried Chicken Day but we did not have chicken. So we just celebrated it late, is all.

Socks

I slept in this morning. Then I got up and made waffles (only one more box of pancake mix to finish!) and took my time drinking my coffee. Then I packed a load of stuff into the car and took it over to The Scrap Exchange.

Hardware, Halloween costumes, photo frames, office supplies, overhead, lapdesk, decorations.

I didn't snag a photo, but I went through that cardboard box last night and pulled out all the handmade or sentimental Christmas decorations. They fit in a shoebox. Also? I racked my brain all week trying to figure out where our Christmas tree was until I remembered that we spent two weeks at my mom's this past winter and that I'd left it at her house. One less thing to donate... and now she has a 6' tree and doesn't have to buy one, right?

The other thing I've been tackling? Socks. They are the bane of my existence. When I started, there were three pairs of socks in the drawer.

I'd say we now have plenty.

The yet-to-be-matched socks.

Many bad socks, stained hat, shirts with holes.

I have personally stuck my hand in every single sock to check for holes or shoddy elastic. The ones in the last photo, above, did not make the cut. 

We did remember to check the trailer lights at dusk last night. They are connected correctly, but four bulbs were blown. While I was out and about today, I picked up replacements. Er, I thought I did. Three were correct, but the fourth takes some weird kind of bulb, so I'll have to make another trip to the store.

We also took note of our wheel size on the Prowler. We intend to get a mounted spare tire for the trip. I spoke to some rural kinfolk today, though, who happens to have two just sitting around that might be the right size, so we'll go check that out soon.

I have a lady dropping by tomorrow after her Sunday service lets out to pick up all my sewing material. I've been coordinating with both her and her sister, and while they're excited about the fabric, they both seem to think it's an absolute travesty that I'm giving it away. Why would somebody DO that? I get it. If I were moving just across town, I'd probably keep it. 

Since I've had Amazon Prime for four years now, I'm no longer eligible for the reduced rate. I debated whether to renew at the full price and decided to cancel my account.

Also, I finally took the time today to update my playlist. I found all kinds of albums when sorting and organizing stuff. My collection is rather robust now. I hope I've put together decent traveling music.

Oh, and the second birth certificate I'd ordered arrived today. I'm pretty miffed, though. I ordered it online through the county's service. I spelled my name correctly on the order form. I sent a copy of my license with my name spelled correctly. I double-checked today, and the informal copy I have of what the hospital submitted to them has my name spelled correctly. Three different documents were available for them to check, and they still spelled my name wrong on the certified copy. How slack is that? I've already left a voice message, but will have to follow up on Monday and hope that it gets here before we move.

That's it. We considered going to the flea market tomorrow, but we're both just exhausted, so I'll probably keep plugging away at laundry and putting together batches of stuff to donate.

Desks - gone

I didn't post yesterday because it was a holiday and I spent a good portion of the day just cooking, cleaning, and enjoying some quality family time. I did wake up early to meet some Craigslist folks and got rid of this:

I used it once.

And then, per my sister's instructions, I downsized my pantry the tiniest bit by making pasta salad, baking a cake, and bringing bottles of juice for the kids. I was also in charge of the watermelon. :)

A hastily-decorated star-spangled cake.

Much fun was had. My brother-in-law grilled out, and a couple of beers were consumed. After sunset, there were firecrackers in the street.

Whistle! Boom! Pow!

This morning, I was up early again because we had tentative plans for lunch with my mom-in-law, but her schedule changed, so we had some unexpected free time in our day. After coffee, the Babaloo headed outside to wire the 7-way cable on the Prowler. Infer here that it has not rained all day! Hooray! We will wait until dusk to go check which bulbs need to be replaced, because they are hard to see in direct sunlight.

Not only was it a dry day, but it was also relatively cool. We took a moment this afternoon and hauled the desks downstairs, into the back of the pickup, and over to the donation center... along with two bags of clothes and some household goods.

Gone.

Gone.

Gone (clothing).

Gone.

And then I had all this space in the bedroom! I think I'll start using this to queue up stuff we intend to take with us.

I will dance in this space first.

Then I logged onto Coupon Cleanout to figure out which of my Sunday inserts I could recycle.

About to be gone.

Look how neat my folders are now!

We also have two bags of trash to go, but I'll wait until we check on the trailer to take them to the dumpster this evening. Is that it? I think that's it for now. Happy Friday!

Jobs and wires and boxes, oh my...

When I woke up this morning, I had an email from Arizona HR saying the job I applied for on June 24th had been modified, and an invitation to apply for the new position offered. I had to wait until 8am their time to speak to an administrator because I was locked out of my account and couldn't access the job board. After I was able to log in, it was a pretty simple process to complete the application for the new opening. I emailed back to say I'd done so and to thank the lady for alerting me to the change.

Then I looked outside. It was still raining. So I looked back through my email and saw the email I'd gotten back from a community college in Arizona last week advising that the position I'd applied for  with them had been revoked. What is it with folks advertising jobs only to yank it back a week later? I found the new, comparable opening and applied for it.

Then the Babaloo and I saw an opening in the rain so we went out to figure out the wiring on the Prowler. The mechanic from last week was absolutely confounded by the trailer. He did manage to install the 7-way plug on the truck using standard wiring format.

But where are the colors?!

This part involved crawling under the truck to confirm.

The Babaloo points out: the ground was wet and gross.

And then we figured out what should connect to what.

But then it was raining again and wiring and rain do not mix.

I also didn't manage to get out to donate anything today, but I did finally work my way through all the boxes stored under the bed. You may note that my bed is raised on cinder blocks. This is so I would have room to store boxes of stuff and sweaters. I donated half my sweaters earlier this week.

That box is empty.

Then I had a problem, because I finally found, waaaaayyyyy up under the bed, the missing box of photographs I've been trying to find for about six months. I've been yanking photos out of frames and putting them all in one file box with the end goal of organizing them and putting them in an album. Some of you may remember that this was my winter break project; thesis research took precedence.

Storage bin, file box, boxes of photos, and boxes of files.

The reason the hanging files are in a box instead of an actual file box? Good question. When we moved into this apartment, I downsized and got rid of a 4'Hx4'W lateral filing cabinet. They had to go somewhere. 

Clearly it was time to shuffle things. So, shuffle, I did.

Photos, family trees, babies' first haircuts, several handprints, 

scouting badges, and Han Solo et al.

Hanging files in the file box!

A box and a bin to take to The Scrap Exchange...

I have to finish filling this with clothes and shoes to donate.

But look at all the boxes I emptied today!

The Babaloo took four bags of trash to the dumpster today. I am sad to say that one of my favorite pairs of shoes had lost its flocking while languishing at the back of the closet. I did have some help from the kids today, since I had them look through all the papers I'd saved since their preschool/kindergarten days. They did pause to try to decipher some of their early writing journals, but in the end they were pretty brutal about chunking the stuff. 

And? I gave an unused Spongebob poncho to the neighbor lady. HEY! I did kind of donate something today! ...and their kid will get plenty of use out of it, since it's never going to stop raining here.

Semi-productive Tuesday

This morning, I took a chair over to the donation center, then picked up empty boxes at the ABC store, and then hit the grocery store for bare essentials like sunflower seeds and cereal.

"That's a nice chair," he said. "It's sturdy," I replied.

Then I came home and researched how to wipe a hard drive on a computer for donation. I wasn't satisfied with the answers, so I then researched how to remove the hard drives from our old computers. Then I did so, and put the drives on the scanner and taped the copies to the respective computers so folks would know what part they needed to buy to have a functioning computer. I don't feel as bad about tossing a couple of hard drives. Note that in many counties it is flat-out against the law to put a computer in the trash.

Pretty dummy-proof, right?

Then I took a load of computers, peripherals, and office supplies over to The Scrap Exchange... including the second batch of wrapping paper I'd found.

It doesn't look like much, but it filled another shopping cart.

My friend, AB, commented that it was inspiring or somesuch that I was donating so much stuff. This way, I don't have to sit around all day and wait for flaky Craigslist people not to show up, and I can get rid of stuff in the order I want to get rid of it.

Of course, donation receipts may come in handy at tax time.

For instance, now that the old computers are gone, I was able to tackle a corner of the bedroom this afternoon. I think I might have a friend coming to town this weekend who wants one or both of these desks...

I don't know why my camera sometimes puts bubbles in the photo.

Well-used but with plenty of life left in it.

But if it turns out she doesn't want them, they're emptied and ready to take to the donation center.

The Babaloo, meanwhile, is working hard to pare down the pantry and freezer. He's much better at looking at ingredients on hand and figuring out what to do with them. Tonight, for instance, we used a bag of meatballs from the freezer, a jar of marinara from the pantry, a bag of shredded cheese from the freezer, and finished up some hoagie rolls from the weekend to make meatball subs. They were pretty good. Now, if I can just summon the post-dinner energy to go bag up and box up stuff to donate tomorrow...

Productive Monday

Today is the first of the month. I got a lot knocked out today, but in little bursts.

I did a fair amount of laundry, and tossed clothing that was stained or torn. I also discovered one of my best-fitting pairs of jeans had a ginormous hole in the knee. It is summertime, though, so I now have a wonderfully-fitting pair of cutoffs.

After it stopped raining and the sidewalk drained sufficiently to cross it without soaking my ankles, the Babaloo took three bags of trash to the dumpster for me.

I also tackled some more boxes in the bedroom, and sorted stuff to go to the donation center and to The Scrap Exchange. In the process, I found a handful of important documents that have now found their way to the briefcase. Also, I checked the mail and one birth certificate I ordered last week has arrived.

And I called the graduate office to ask about the bound copy of my thesis. They, too, are going digital, and this is the last year they're having them printed and bound, so the process is lagging. The awesome lady with the ruler (to check margins, etc.) told me to call back next month. I explained I wouldn't be here and she said I should ask my sister to swing by to pick it up when it is ready. Only, she doesn't know when it will be ready. But at least I know that's one thing I can't handle before we go.

So I managed to do this today:

One carload gone!

That's six boxes of books, two bags of clothing, one large storage bin of clothing, and one small storage bin of linens and household goods. The donation center looked it all over and handed me a receipt for a $500 donation. I assured them I had not consumed the contents of the ABC store boxes, and told them they'd see me again soon.

Then I finished boxing up all the sewing material and called the mom of a friend who had told him she was interested in it. We had a lovely conversation, and she's putting me in touch with her sister, who lives in town (because everyone has a sister in town) and hopefully we'll meet up this week.

Sewing material and quilting squares and notions.

So I have made headway in the bedroom and now I have space to shuffle and organize a little bit better. Next, I need to find homes for two student desks.

Space! and yearbooks.

Oh, and I also cleared out the freezer space in the refrigerator. I tossed frozen turkey chili and freezer-burnt hot dog buns and homemade ice packs and a bag of pineapple that hadn't been closed properly and coffee ice cubes that would have been great to use if we'd remembered they were there.

Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to a minimalist, streamlined life?

Now, you'll have to excuse me, because I think I've earned a nice, long soak in the tub.