My friends, Gloria and Sandy just before we opened checking for any unmarked items. Yes, they found quite a few ... 

5 AM, Friday October 1, 2004

Today is the big day! Are we ready? Do we have a choice? I'm going to try and get a few pictures this morning before the doors open at 9 AM so you can see the "after" shots of the garage sale set up. It looks pretty good but needs "tweeking" in a few spots that hopefully, I can delegate. We worked until past 10 PM last night, came home, I had my shower and I was up again at 4:30 this morning ... had to sleep fast ;-)! We have a wonderful volunteer crew of family and friends due to show up early today so that will help with the last minute details. We bought ten boxes of yummy M & M chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies plus donut holes and banana nut muffins at the grocery store yesterday afternoon on our dinner break. Gloria borrowed two air pots from Sandy and Ray for us and Phil had to make another trip last night for cups and napkins (oops!). We'll take our coffee maker, coffee and filters to the house when we head over there about 5:30 AM. Oh, by the way ... we have a beautiful sunny forecast for all three days plus ... hurray! Here we go!

Vance heading home to Utah. Randy heading for preop at Providence Hospital. 

The brothers Brown ... in front of Randy's newest toy for fishing. 

9:30 AM Saturday, September 25, 2004

I must report to you that my mind is willing but my body is giving out. Everything hurts! I'm threatening to stay in bed for 24 hours when our garage sale is over but it's an idle pledge because I have a podiatry appointment on Monday, October 4th. I've been so preoccupied I've missed two in a row so most likely my feet will mutiny on me if somehow, I manage to miss this one as well. My sister, Dixie (bless her heart) worries about me and has said she is going to remind me this time. Since she's ten years younger than I am, maybe her memory is better than mine; I hope so because obviously, I need help! ** Phil's cousin, Randy had a second kidney stone procedure yesterday and this time, it appears to have been successful. Phil drove him there and brought him home from the hospital and he was surprised and happy that Randy was in and out so quickly. Later, yesterday afternoon he joined us for dinner downtown then came over to the house for awhile afterward and seemed to be doing especially well, compared to his first go-round. ** A special "hello" to Margie in Tennessee ... a neat lady I've met via her weblog! Thanks for the kudos (right back atcha!) and I promise to be in touch personally once this next week is history. Until then, catch the latest in Backroad Chronicles!

Still more tools ... 

One of four tables full of tools! 

Stacks on top of stacks waiting to be sorted and priced. 

8:45 AM Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Very busy day on Tuesday! I had an early haircut appointment so dropped Phil off at the house to continue his work marking and sorting the growing pile of tools. After my cut, on the way back to the house I stopped and picked up my beautiful quilt from the cleaners. The seamstress hemmed it all the way around for me so that it might fit our queen size bed a little better but I haven't tried it yet to see if it worked. When I arrived back at the house, daughter, Violet and her husband, Fred were there to pick up a few family mementos she wanted. The little house they sold was closing that afternoon so they could also buy a few items they needed since they moved from 700 square feet into 1500 square feet. When they left, Phil made a speed run to take care of some banking business and pick up some chicken at the Colonels ... which got cold ... because just as we were ready to eat, two men from the prosecutor's office came by to interview us (again!) and give us copies of our taped statements (Obviously, they want to make sure we remember what we said.) taken by the arresting officer. They also told us the trial begins on Monday the 27th of September and should be finished by Tuesday. Since we are only five minutes from the courthouse, we will be able to be "on call" to testify rather than have to sit outside the courtroom for two days. Then, after eating our cold and very late lunch, our hairdresser, Mindy stopped by on her way home to pick up some lumber we had for sale and just after she left the phone rang and it was Gloria and Les asking us to join them at Denny's. Well, we certainly weren't hungry but if possible, we never pass up a chance to spend time with our dear friends (Les cooked a luscious salmon dinner for us the night before!) so we had coffee and dessert while they ate dinner. Then, since we hadn't accomplished much in the way of working on the garage sale all day ... we went back to the house and worked until 8 PM. ** Very nice, rain-free day Tuesday but it's pouring down rain again at this moment with more "showers" in the forecast. Gray and gloomy outside. ** After resisting the urge for a week and trying to stay warm with our little inadequate electric heater, we gave up and turned on the furnace in the motorhome after piling on the afghans and shivering from the cold all night the night before. Except for the problems caused from drinking coffee so late in the day (it was hard to get to sleep), we both slept a lot better with a little warmth in the rig. Like everything else in this motorhome, the furnace works perfectly ;-)! ** Phil is taking his cousin, Randy's brother, Vance to the airport at Sea Tac for his flight home to Utah this morning. Vance rode home with Randy to keep him company and "be there" in case Randy started having serious problems again. Fortunately, he didn't and has felt good enough to take his brother fishing a couple times in his new boat. He is going in for his preop today with another surgery scheduled for Friday. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this time, they can finish what they started last month.

7:45 AM Saturday, September 18, 2004

Phil and I went to a family gathering at my sister, Dixie and her husband, Paul's beautiful house last night. Our precious cousin, Jonelle had flown up from her home in Denver to visit her mom, our beloved Aunt Elaine and sister, our treasured cousin, Shannon. They drove down to Dixie's along with Elaine's sister, our adored Aunt Bev and we enjoyed a mini-Ellison family reunion. We had a wonderful visit and a bountiful dinner prepared by Dixie and Paul. Along with a plethera of culinary goodies, Phil and I especially enjoyed the fried oysters ... Paul's specialty and one of our favorite foods. Dixie's children, her exceptional daughter, Tammy and her special (and only) son, Shane along with his lady, Wendy and her youngster, Logan joined us. It was nearly midnight when we got home so I'm a little groggy this morning although we only had about 10 miles to drive. Our family had to drive back to SeaTac, Puyallup and Seattle! Everyone knows my favorite pastime is visiting with my kinfolk, so we really appreciate the fact that they braved the stormy weather and traffic to come and spend some time with us! Hopefully, their trip home was uneventful. I plan to respond in kind once the work on our house is finished and it is on the market. At that point, (it says here in fine print) we'll have plenty of time to spend with family without feeling guilty because we are neglecting our "to do" list. ** It continues to rain ... no break expected until next week.

Dixie's daughter and granddaughter, Tammy and Jessica 9-17-2004 

Mini Ellison reunion, L-R: Elaine, Dixie Bev, Jonelle, Shannon and Joy 9-17-2004 

Phil and Les setting up the motorhome Tuesday, 9-14-04 

5:15 PM, Friday, September 17, 2004

Surprise! This morning I could see patches of blue sky and a hint of sunshine through the motorhome window ... first time in several days. We have been inundated with serious rain for quite some time (Like all of September!) and it has hampered our efforts to prepare for our garage sale. Even though we're setting up tables inside the house, in the living room and dining room, as well as in the garage there is so much to sell, we've borrowed a 10' X 20' tent for the driveway from Les. He and Phil set it up between intermittent downpours yesterday. He has two but could only loan us one because he set one up in their yard so the humans have a dry place to stand when Wookie and Zena (yes, they've been named) go outside. ** If you read the comment left by "anonymous" you will find it's Les being funny. As you know, we're actually set up and hooked up at his and Gloria's house. No harm done but we did trip a breaker yesterday because we only have 20 amp service here compared to the 30 amp we had in our driveway. So, we must be more aware about what else we turn on when our little electric heater is in use to get the chill off in the morning, especially the microwave ... it's a definite no-no. ** Here's a few pictures taken the night of Les's birthday party.

What a team! 

Looking pretty for the camera with Daddy 

Dueling digitals ... 

Happy Birthday Les 2004 

6:30 PM Tuesday, September 14, 2004

We have moved -- finished moving in our personal belongings; unhooked the utilities and the dial-up Internet connection; rolled up all the awnings; slid in the slideout and stowed all the potential projectiles. That process took about 45 minutes then we moseyed over to our friend's yard (AKA Les's RV Park ... ha!) about ten minutes away. We are now parked beside Gloria and Les's house about a mile from our house where we reversed the above; hooked up to Les's fiber optic, high speed Internet; slid out the slide; hooked up the utilities and we're as snug as a bug in a rug. Just in time I might add as I listen to the steady patter of pouring down rain on the roof that hopefully, will lull us to sleep, rather than keep us awake. Tonight will be our first night in our comfy queen size bed in our cozy "master bedroom" ... all 8' X 8' feet of it, or a compact 64 square feet! This should be an interesting adjustment since our master bedroom in the house was 18' X 25' or about 450 square feet. ** Phil rejoined (he had been a member years ago) the Loyal Order of Moose and he was initiated this past Saturday night. I was invited to come along and we enjoyed a wonderful meal after the swearing in ceremony, compliments of the ladies in charge of the kitchen. ** On Monday night we joined our friends, Millie, Andy, Sandy and Ray at Gloria and Les's house for his birthday celebration dinner (that Les cooked ;-). Andy provided magnificent two inch boneless pork chops that Les stuffed and baked! They were knock your socks off exceptional! Sandy, the master baker of the group baked two wonderful cherry pies and I put together an apple crisp for dessert. After dinner we all got our "puppy fixes" playing with Zena and Wookie who are about nine weeks old now. They started puppy school tonight in Olympia because Gloria and Les are determined to ultimately have two well-behaved dogs rather than bratty babies that think they are people ... but they are sooooo sweet and sooooo cute! It's going to be very difficult not to spoil them. ** Tomorrow we will return to the salt mine and get back to work preparing for the garage sale!

9:45 AM Saturday, September 11, 2004

We've postponed the garage sale. The new date, October 1-2-3 is 99% carved in stone and baring a catastrophe, will not be changed. We've changed the date for several reasons: 1. (obviously) I will not be ready. 2. The weather forecast is for rain and more rain. 3. Phil will be initiated into the Moose Saturday, September 11th. 4. We've been invited to attend a birthday dinner for our friend, Les on Monday, September 13th. 5. Phil will be indoctrinated into the Elks on Wednesday, September 15th. And, on top of all that, we've been subpoenaed to testify in an assault trial we witnessed out the window of our motorhome a week after we parked in the driveway (two drunks arguing and one ran over the other with his pickup ... luckily, no life threatening injuries were sustained but there certainly could have been and we didn't know that at the time). Phil called the police and evidently, we are the only hope of the prosecution, because the officer we talked to told us if we didn't testify, the "perp" (I've been watching entirely too much TV ... HA!) will walk. However, they can't firm up on a trial date so we've had to call in every other day to see when they will need us. The latest we've been told is they are asking for a continuation because one of the arresting officers is unavailable at this time. I'm wondering why don't they subpoena him? We certainly didn't have a choice about whether we could be there or not! Oh well, I've read somewhere that the wheels of justice turn very slowly ... this I believe!

9:45 AM Thursday, September 10, 2004

Not much to add to yesterdays note. Haven't even taken the time to snap some pictures but will do that soon. I really want to "chronicle" this house/garage/driveway/moving sale so I remember NEVER to get myself into this situation again. Several pickup loads have gone to the landfill and another one is piling up fast, not to mention our personal (city provided) dumpster, filled to the brim that has been picked up weekly. I hope I have the strength to pull this off ... at the end of each day, my 65 year old body is complaining louder and longer! I'm beginning to understand why I've put this monumental job on the back burner for so long. My darling daughters should be very grateful that we are taking care of this purging now instead of leaving it for them in the event of my demise! Of course, since I don't plan on checking out any time soon, I must resist the inherent urge to start "collecting" again ... JUST KIDDING!

7:00 PM Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Here's a picture for you. My nose is pressed to the grindstone; my head is down; I'm hunched over my plethora of precious genealogy files and other office related possessions ... until my back aches and my neck is stiff ... does that look like fun to you? You're right, it isn't! It's taken me six days but I've honed my genealogy files to fit inside four large trunks and hopefully, I've kept all the important stuff and managed to not throw away anything that can't be replaced. I've filled a half dozen 33 gallon garbage bags and nearly worn out the shredder. Our small downstairs bedroom that we've used for an office all these years is a shambles but there is light at the end of the tunnel. It has been arguably the hardest room in the house to sort and empty but the worst of it is over. I'm really tired and extremely frustrated with myself that I haven't taken care of this purging over the years as I went along instead of waiting until now to do it all. Even today, after finally going through the last box, I'm want to explain why I haven't found the time for this important job. No excuses, no reasons, no explanation ... it just didn't get done, and what a job it was! Phil has been working in the garage and making good headway pricing all the tools, paint, nails, (Enough to open a small hardware store!) and other various garage-type stuff, that we've been adding to and storing there for the past 20 years. He too is wondering how two people could accumulate so much stuff. Our future minimalistic life is looking better by the minute!

Two beautiful babies posing for their closeups!

8:25 AM Sunday, September 5, 2004

Whew! The pressure is on ... just 12 days until our garage sale and only 24 days of work to get done in that length of time ;-)! I'm feeling the crunch as I painstakingly sort through my office ... I have priceless info and pictures filed in every nook and cranny. I've emptied and culled three double drawer file cabinets plus six folding file boxes. Only one, two drawer file cabinet left to sort through. Big job! About half of the family notebooks have found a spot on board the motorhome; the other half will be put in the genealogy trunks we'll carry in the back of the pickup. I haven't told you about the trunks. They are the rectangular shaped footlocker type trunks available at Wal*Mart. I bought them in like-new condition for half price at a garage sale our friends, Sandy and Ray held a month or so ago. Gloria told me about them and sure enough, they were perfect for my needs. I have four that fit snuggly in the bed of our Ford Ranger leaving plenty of room for other things. If truth be told, I could have used another four but that is just not going to happen so I've ruthlessly sorted and culled to fit the space I have. This purging is possible because of the Internet. Most of that information is readily available online today.** Les and Gloria have fed us dinner the past two nights! What a wonderful gift of time not to mention the delicious fare ~ chicken breasts night before last and perfectly baked Alaskan salmon last night. This delicious fish was hand delivered to Les by our friend, Greg (who lives in AK and caught it on July 4th). Delicious! ** The newest news at Gloria and Les's house is the addition of two adorable bundles of fur. Eight week old Shihtzu littermates, one male and one female, have joined the family. Neither have a name yet but I'm voting for "Wookie" for the male and "Princess Leah" for the little girl.

1:00 PM Thursday, September 2, 2004

Sorry about the mix up in the days below ... Phil says I must have had a "senior moment." Ha! Ya think? I'm preoccupied with the weather news as the fury of "Frances" bears down on the East coast of Florida. My cousins (Eddie and his wife, Anita in Boynton Beach and his sister, Ginny and her husband, Wayne in Okeechobee) must be busy battening down the hatches or maybe even heading north for higher ground. Either way, my thoughts are with them and I hope they are able to stay safe and dry until this hurricane spins itself out. ** I'm still slugging away at paring down my worldly possessions to an acceptable size that will fit into our rolling home. I have few "personal" items (my computers and sewing machine are about it) but my precious pictures and genealogy files (that didn't find their way to CD as planned) are going to test my ingenuity as far as finding space for them. ** Our new glass for the entry windows (there's a picture of them below) arrived today so Phil is busy replacing the cracked and broken plastic ones ... can you believe they were temporary 30 years ago? ** Yesterday, Phil put together his special spaghetti sauce and let it simmer in the crock pot all afternoon so Gloria (who really loves Phil's recipe) and Les joined us for dinner. Our local grocery stores are still carrying some pretty good looking fruit so I put together another compote (we had it for dessert) as well as a tossed green salad and garlic bread. Gloria and I had our sauce over spaghetti squash that she brought down and we steamed in the microwave (yummy!) but the guys preferred regular spaghetti pasta. Just enough leftover for our dinner tonight. ** For two weeks I've been thinking about this special treat so today, using our new cast iron griddle, I cooked blueberry pancakes and link sausage for brunch. I ate mine with sugarfree syrup and they were delicious. Well, dear readers, ... time to get back to work! Thanks for stopping by!

9:00 AM Wednesday, September 1, 2004

We had a surprise visit Tuesday afternoon from my sister, Dixie and her husband Paul. It was Paul's first look at our new home on wheels. After taking a tour of the work Phil is doing in the house, we came out to the motorhome and Phil made some coffee (Paul is a coffee-holic). While we were chatting away, Randy dropped by to return my laptop and stayed for a "cup o' Joe". [Note: That's an old World War II, U.S. Army expression my dad often used - he thought it was funny because his name was Joe ... guess you had to be there ;-) ]. I haven't checked it yet (and we didn't talk too much about it) but I assume Randy found the reason for the glitches in Excel and I know he reinstalled Word but also had to uninstall the printer driver. In retrospect, I don't remember his explanation about why that was necessary; I'll have to ask next time I see him. Today, he has a followup visit with his urologist and if there isn't any continued or imminent treatment on the calendar, he's heading south for a family reunion in Utah where his parents and siblings live. Do you think these computers can behave themselves while he's gone? Time will tell ...

9:30 AM Sunday, August 29, 2004

Very productive day yesterday. My daughter, Violet came from Belfair and spent the afternoon helping us in her old bedroom. We boxed up all my craft and silk floral arrangement supplies, the last of the picture frames and framing equipment, tools and hardware stockpiles, gift wrapping inventory and family pictures, etc., plus the odds and ends stored (audio tapes, letters, and so on) for genealogy purposes. She helped Phil carry everything downstairs and now my job is to sort (remove the items I will keep) and categorize, then clean and price for the garage sale. After the room was 90 % empty, we could see the carpet really does need to be replaced and the walls need some repair and fresh paint so Phil will be busy for a few days sprucing up that room getting it ready for new carpet. Even though we were working hard, it was fun having her here all afternoon ... a very rare happening in her busy life. Violet and her husband, Fred have three boys still at home and have been working very hard to make a success of their new business -- "Fred's Car Lot" in Belfair, WA. Then, to add to the mix, they have just sold their home (too small) and will be moving into a much bigger place sometime in the next month.

8:30 AM Monday, August 30, 2004

My sister, Robin and her husband, Walt stopped by yesterday afternoon on their way out of town; they are returning to CA. They won't know when they will return to WA until they get to Pleasanton and reassess their calendar. They are the busiest retirees I know ... always on the go. They dropped off a welcome accumulation of plastic bags (for our garage sale) and Walt left the key to his pickup so we can use it to haul construction and cleanup debris to the landfill. ** I received an e-mail from my cousin, Sharon in Manchester, TN this morning. Prefacing a comprehensive explanation about the roller coaster of emotions that the parents of a handicapped child experience, it contained a note explaining what her daughter, Tina and son-in-law, Wayne have recently been told about their handsome baby boy, Jimmy. Her heartbreak is palpable as she wrote, " ... our beautiful Jimmy Levi suffers from Severe Visual Impairment (he is cortically blind). I just can't imagine Tina and Wayne's feelings." My heart goes out to Sharon and her family and again, I count my blessings in regard to the health of my immediate family, my own grandchildren and great granddaughter.

8:27 AM Saturday, August 28, 2004

They kept Randy overnight at St. Pete's. Technical difficulties ... standard procedure ... they won't let him go home until the plumbing works to their satisfaction. After not getting back to Shelton until 1:00 AM, Phil is heading back over this morning to see how things went during the night. Even though I don't anticipate going anywhere, he's driving Randy's truck so I'm not stranded. Having only one vehicle is a unique experience for us ... we've always had at least two (sometimes more) over the years. ** Last Wednesday I checked in with my internist and she looked over my blood sugar record for the prior three weeks. I was thrilled with the numbers because they're lower than they've been for years but she wants them even lower (like normal ... hmmmm?) so she tweeked my medication schedule just a little more. Also, my blood pressure had dropped to near PERFECT ;-) after creeping steadily upwards over the past year. Then, to top off all this good news ... I'd lost another seven pounds! That's a total of 15 pounds in two and a half months ... or since Phil retired! Could it be that in order to save money, we've reduced the amount of times we eat "out" and consequently, I've reduced my calorie, fat and carbohydrate intake and I'm losing weight ... duh ... ? None of this has been conscious, I'm certainly eating anything I please (minus regular sugar of course) but whatever I'm doing, it's working for me and I'm not complaining! ** We received a very positive e-mail from our dear friends, Ardella and Don in Arizona telling us that their business dealings are finally falling into place and it looks like they will soon be out from under all their long-term responsibilities and be able to really retire. With any luck, they will be on the road, heading north in the very near future! Yeah!! ** About September 15th, we will be moving our motorhome over to Les and Gloria's house (just across town, about a mile from here) where they will provide "full hookups" (including cable TV and high speed Internet for us ;-) from just before the garage sale until the house sells

Daughter, Violet came to help empty her teenage bedroom (now my craft and picture room) and spent the afternoon. 

Randy, our cousin, friend and computer guru with Joy in May, 2004

Thursday, August 26, 2004

I'm trying something new. I've been "publishing" on Friday and more often than not, it takes Blogger until Saturday to get it on the web. They must be really busy on that day so I'm going to try publishing on Thursday and see if that makes a difference. The rain is supposed to taper off starting today ... for a few days anyway. It rained cats and dogs yesterday evening (puppies and kittens too) but no precip in the air this morning. Last night, we shared a big pot of vegetable beef soup that had simmered in the crockpot all afternoon and lots of good conversation with our friends, Gloria and Les and it was delicious. Our house has been in such disarray for so long we haven't wanted to entertain so we're really pleased to have our new house on wheels so we can have friends over for dinner. That road has been one way for so long as they have invited us to dinner more times than we can count over the past year or so. At last, we settled on September 17-18-19 for the date of our sale. Even with Gloria and Les's eight tables up, we still needed more so on Tuesday afternoon we borrowed four more 8 ft. tables from our friends, Sandy and Ray and they have two more if we need them. Our nine tables have been presold to our friend, Andy and he'll take them after we're done with this sale. Twenty one tables plus the kitchen counter tops and twenty feet of built in work benches in the garage ought to do it ... if not, I guess we'll use the floor in the house! Phil took Randy to the doctor yesterday morning and as Phil says, "He's going to get blasted." (his kidney stone that is ;-) late Friday afternoon. Good luck Randy! Well, yesterday was my "payday" (my Social Security check was deposited) so we're off to Costco to buy some wonderful 'Kirkland" brand, canned albacore tuna fish (it's to die for), apples and whatever else looks good!

9:30 AM Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Rain, rain and more rain with more of the same on the way. It's pouring down right now but actually, we really needed to be wet down and I'm sure the firefighters working the forest fires on the east side of the Cascades are grateful. Yesterday, we started off our day cleaning up and washing windows, then went over to Les and Gloria's house to borrow their folding tables and a portable clothes rack (more about that later) for our fast approaching garage sale. While Phil and Les were loading them in the back of our truck about 3:30 PM Phil received a call from Randy. Poor guy has been living with a kidney stone for two weeks or longer trying to wait for treatment (beyond pain pills and lots of fluids) scheduled for September 12th but decided yesterday that he'd better go to the hospital. Phil dropped off the tables then left to pick up Randy and take him to the ER at St. Peter's Hospital in Olympia. After tests and some intermediate treatment, they sent him home at 11 PM. Phil will take him to a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and then back to the hospital for the scheduled removal of the kidney stone on Friday ... never a dull moment around here! Elaborating on the comment above about the tables, my wise friend, Gloria (the undisputed Queen of Garage Sales - both going and giving) suggested that we use the downstairs portion of our (nearly empty) house instead of tents in the driveway for display tables. At first, I didn't see the logic but within minutes, she had convinced me that it was not only logical but would make my preparation work so much easier. Much less time spent in the hot~cold~damp~whatever, garage on the cement floors and a much shorter distance to carry down all the items left upstairs that will be for sale. EXCELLENT IDEA Gloria! So, let it rain because our final, humongous sale will go on as scheduled ... rain or shine!

8:45 AM August 23, 2004

Last night I watched the International Home and Housewares Show 2004, filmed in Chicago for HGTV. Enough new fangled gadgets and innovative inventions to boggle the mind. I was spellbound ... ;-)

10 AM August 22, 2004

Phil and I had our second "dinner party" in the motorhome last night when we invited Gloria and Les over to break bread with us. During our shopping trip to Wal*Mart yesterday, we bought a new cast iron reversible grill/griddle to use on the propane BBQ outside (We LOVE our awning!) as well as inside on top the gas stove. Phil tried it out last night by cooking burger dips and buns on the BBQ and it worked great. I prepared the au jus, the salads (tossed green and fresh fruit ... after which we battled fruit flies all evening ... the little buggers rode in on the produce I guess) and we baked some frozen french fries in the big oven inside the house. I know, I know, that's cheating but we haven't mastered the art of lighting our propane oven without tearing it apart yet and besides, I didn't want the heat inside the rig. We're getting some significant rain around here again and although it was plenty warm (also humid), it's been plenty wet as well. This morning it's only 67 degrees inside the motorhome and it feels chilly. Les gave Phil and I an "Excel 101" lesson last night and hopefully, I retained enough to set up our budget sheets and traveling expense sheets in order to keep a running total that we can share with our readers on a monthly basis. I do know that being out of the house for everything but sleeping and showering has lowered our expenses somewhat already. Oh yes, by the way, Phil received his first retirement check ... finally! It has been 2 1/2 months since he retired ... so it was a good thing we still had a little money stashed after paying cash for the motorhome.

Sunflower bedroom upstairs ready for new carpeting. 

Kitchen ready for painting. Built in oven is on the left, Jennair cooktop is covered up by the newspaper in the middle of the bar (frig is in the dining area) and back door leads into the garage and outside to the motorhome. 

Looking toward the entry from the kitchen overtop of cleaning/construction mess. Refrigerator is temporarily in the dining area. 

Fireplace end of the living room. The "greenhouse" (glass enclosed front porch) is visible through window. 

Friday, August 20, 2004

Saturday, 8/14/04, was the kind of day that retirement is all about. Of course, Phil and I were full of good intentions, then early in the afternoon, just as we were settling down to go to work (you know ... that infamous four letter word), Gloria and Les stopped by on their way to a lunch to see if we wanted to join them. Well, we had eaten our breakfast/lunch at about 11:30 am so we really weren't hungry ... so ... Les went to work (there's that word again) helping Phil get the subfloor started while Gloria and I sat in the air-conditioned motorhome catching up on each other's latest happenings and newest plans for the near future. They delayed eating until Phil and I were ready for an early dinner and we all went to our local Denny's for a delicious and inexpensive meal. After eating, we came back to the motorhome where we enjoyed visiting for a couple hours then we had a little snack of cantaloupe and vanilla ice cream (for Les and Phil), just cantaloupe (for me) and sugar free Jello with Kool Whip (for Gloria who is on the L. A. Weight Loss Program), and, doing really well I might add.

What a wonderful day! What a wonderful life! We are retired ... we have time to do what has to be done ... we have no pressure unless we choose to impose it upon ourselves ... and we can change directions ~ plans ~ ideas ~ options ~ on a moments notice or even a whim, whichever the case may be. Life is good!

After writing about our perfect Saturday ... Sunday, August 15th was every bit as terrific and equally spontaneous. My precious aunts (my mother's sisters) two special ladies that I adore showed up at our house unannounced to see the progress of the renovation work Phil is doing and get the grand tour of our new home on wheels. After looking both over, we received their very welcome seal of approval then after visiting for an hour or so, we all decided to go to our local casino, called "Little Creek" on the Squaxin Reservation just ten miles south of town for a late lunch/early dinner. This establishment is very "Senior Friendly" (as are most native American casinos) with a 20% discount which we really appreciate. While we waited for our table (it's a very busy place) Phil took a stroll through the casino and found daughter, Bobbie playing the penny slots (he had seen her car in the parking garage) and invited her to join us. We had a great meal with non-stop visiting between bites and when Phil and I decided we'd better head for home we left my aunties in the care of Bobbie who was preparing to take them out on the floor to do a little gambling. I hope Luck was a Lady ... and they won!

We had received a call from Randy earlier so on the way home we stopped at his house and picked up the desktop computer with new hard drive installed. I also picked up the paperwork and the dead hard drive so we can return it for replacement on warranty for him. Again, he assured me that I can begin learning how to do some technical (to me) stuff while we are still in town so he can help me if I hit a glitch ... HA! Stay tuned ...

Soon after getting back to the house, Gloria and Les came by and Les pitched in (as usual) and helped Phil finish laying the subfloor so ... IT'S DONE! We celebrated by going downtown for a snack after which the guys went to Wal*Mart for worms 'cause they decided it was time for a fishing trip the next day on Monday. Note: Phil caught a beautiful trout (18" long--weighing about 3# ... see picture) and brought it home ... usually he catches and releases but this one was perfectly sized for a fish dinner.

On Monday evening, Les invited us to a tasty pork chop dinner followed by a couple hours of stimulating conversation about our favorite subject ... "How to survive as a senior citizen in the style we would like to become accustomed to." or "Will we outlive our money?" Always a lively discussion. Most of my adult life has involved being careful with my money but when you become a senior citizen, on a fixed income, watching your pennies becomes a full time job! The rest of our week was fairly uneventful with Phil working on the house every day and the two of us enjoying our evenings in the motorhome ... pretending we're out of here and on the road! One of my favorite quotes:
Sidhartha Gautama said, "Living is like boarding a ship that sails out into the ocean ... and sinks! The trick--is to enjoy the voyage."

Trouble on Blogger?

Today I'm scheduled to post my weeks worth of notes but I'm going to publish these few lines first to see if it prints properly on the website. If all looks okay, I'll go ahead ... if not, I'll wait until later or even tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!

Phil's big trout about to be dinner. August 16, 2004 

Surprise visit from Joy's two aunties ... Beverly from Seattle and Elaine from Puyallup on Sunday, August 15, 2004

Future fulltimers August 2004

It's Friday (the 13th yet ;-) and another week has slipped by at the speed light. Taking his "to do" list so seriously has even interferred with Phil's fishing ... it's been over three weeks since he has been able to wet a line ... sad to say. However, major progress has been made inside the house and this morning, the new subfloor material has been purchased at Home Depot in Olympia and hauled home to Shelton in brother-in-law, Walt's pickup. They arrived from CA the night before last and will board the cruise ship in Seattle this coming Sunday for a 7-day cruise to Alaska. They will join their friends, Lois and Harold who are taking this trip with family and friends to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their marriage.

Our dear friend, Gloria came to visit this morning while Phil was shopping and her husband, Les just called to volunteer his help unloading the truck. Phil says, Thank You Lester! Today is my volunteer day at Kitten Rescue so I'm off to get my kitten/cat fix for a couple hours this afternoon. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do this but I'll continue as long as I can.

My list of accomplishments this past week isn't nearly as long as Phil's due to the hot weather and not feeling very well. But, I hope to do better this next week.

For those of you who requested a picture of "Joy and Phil" ... here it is. I finally got Phil to hold still long enough to get this shot.

I've been on the "puny" list yesterday and today. My diverticulosis is acting up so couple that with the heat and the past 48 hours haven't been very productive on my end. Yes, I know I shouldn't eat nuts but every so often, my will (won't?) power fails me and sometimes I get away with it. Other times (like now) I don't. It will be quite awhile before I "forget" my food restrictions again.

It's Sunday Morning, Phil has gone off to buy paint at Home Depot and the sun is shining again. The cloudy skies and heavy rain have run their course for now anyway. Forecast is for high 80s and low 90s through the rest of the week.

I have been meaning to tell you all about the new keyboard we bought for the laptop. Being full size keyboard trained, I was having a very difficult time using the laptop's key configuration. I'm sure it would be fine for two-fingered, hunt & peckers but for me, it was a pain in the patootie (you know that part of the anatomy that follows us everywhere). So whenever I used it (each time I've had trouble with the desk top), I plugged in a full size keyboard which overrode the built in but that caused another problem. It just wouldn't fit into my carrying bag, consequently, the primary reason for buying the laptop--portability--was lost. So, I've been cruising the web for months looking for a "folding" keyboard that I had heard was available "somewhere"! Well, I stumbled across it one day at a Sears website, of all places. "Not available in Sears stores ... Internet sales only", for only $29.95 plus shipping for a total of about $35, and it's wonderful. Made of soft plastic, it is full size and each key stands up just like a regular keyboard. The "feel" takes some getting used to and it is totally silent (it will be great for using in libraries) but the key placement is exactly like it's hard copy cousin. Made by "MICRO innovations" it is foldable, rollable, 100% waterproof, fits in my bag without a problem and I love it! If you're interested in taking a look, let me know and I'll send you a link to the website.

Overlooking downtown Shelton and Simpson Lumber Mill. Tip of Hammersly Inlet on the right. Olympic Mountain tops in the distance.

Old growth slab welcome sign

First week August 2004

They say, "It's not if but, when" regarding the demise of your hard drive. Well, six weeks into installation in my renovated desktop computer ... guess what? That's right ... out of the blue it up and died! It is covered by warranty but all I can think about is how relieved I am that I procrastinated reloading all my documents because I might have delayed saving any additions to disk or CD and lost a whole bunch of new entries. Thank goodness we have the laptop! We can still get on line, check e-mail and tend the website. The message here is to BACK UP your work. There just isn't any way to know when it will happen to you.

We've been getting some welcome rain the last few days. It has been alternating between warm and wet ... great weed growing weather. Haven't had to water for a week.

Our wonderful Pace Arrow is feeling more like home every day. Even as additional everyday needs are loaded and the storage space is starting to fill up, I find myself rearranging and rethinking whether this or that is really necessary. Kitchen gadgets are one of many collections I've amassed over the years. I LOVE them (Phil has nicknamed me the "gadget queen") and after analyzing and culling (for the garage sale) dozens I've never used, I still have filled three drawers in the motorhome. So, the next sorting must be without mercy or emotion. Any "might" or "maybe" I'll need it someday MUST go ... no exceptions. I will sooth my separation anxiety with the promise that if I EVER need it down the road, I will just go buy another one, although some are very difficult to find ... sigh ...!

Today is Friday and our cloudy skies have been raining buckets since early morning. All the plants, trees (and forest fires) are receiving the benefits of this incessant gully washer! Our coach and awnings are getting a much needed rinsing after being parked beside dusty 11th Street (the garage side of our house) for seven weeks. After a cursory examination, Phil didn't find any obvious signs of a leak ... hooray!

Here's a couple pictures of our town. Simpson, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Simpson Investment Co., monopolizes the waterfront except for a tiny yacht club along WA State Highway 3 on the edge of town and an even smaller city park across the inlet. Simpson Timber employs 450 at lumber facilities in Shelton, and Simpson Resource Co., an affiliate, employs 100 in Mason County. They are the envy of a large group of pleasure boat owners, with this prime salt water location.