But Is It Sanitary?

I'm not sure what I thought having my ENTIRE house painted was going to be like, but it sure wasn't this! This is the biggest mess I've every seen! Not only is there all the dust that I haven't gotten up, but the hardwood floors are covered in sheet rock patch dust. In addition to that, all those nasty little oak pollen thingies are being tracked in the house. I call them worms. Not a single room in the house is normal, furniture is piled everywhere, everything is out of the kitchen cabinets, and we have to eat out...on most occasions I'd be all for that, but it's getting old. I am just grateful that I had the forsight to clean things our before the painters came. At least I don't have to put back everything I own.

And, I told you about the dumpster...a lovely thing that sits out in the driveway, all blue and rusty. It's already got right much stuff in it, and we haven't hit the garage or the sheds yet. Those things aren't cheap, either. You pay to rent it for several weeks and then you pay for each load they haul off. Still, I guess it beats hauling all that crap you didn't know you had to the dump yourself, or scheduling a curbside pickup with the city.

I wish all of you could have one of your very own.

To say that we are exhausted would be an understatement. I can't believe that there is SO MUCH work to do! This weekend the boys came on Saturday and helped us clean out the bonus room...above the garage and totally crammed with stuff. They were wonderful and really helped a lot. Anyway, on Sunday JR and I packed up our vehicles and drove to the mountains. Now, mind you, this is a 3 1/2 hour trip one way. After we got there we unpacked the vehicles and put their contents in the shed, marked a place for the electrician to put in some floor plugs, played around with furniture placement (using floor covering material to simulate furniture), visited our friends for about an hour and headed back down the mountain. When we fell into bed Sunday night, we had been gone from home for 14 hours and had each driven 400 miles. You know, that's too much for old people! :):) We had to be up early because the DSL guy was coming at 8:00, as was the Direct TV guy (such an opportune time for all of our information technology to go on the fritz). And then there were the painters...they are good, but the process is NOT sanitary!!!

By Popular Demand

I actually had three pictures on this page, but one of them disappeared into the netherworld. Anyway, I'm not kidding about the BW Hillbillys...notice the side planks on the truck. We load up the truck ( and my car, which is less obtrusive), haul this stuff to the mountains and unpack it into a (are you ready for this) shipping container. Jim finds the most interesting bargains. I'll try again with a pic of the shipping container, but several of you wrote to say that you really, really wanted to see some more of these pics. I'll oblige you with these and the other one if I can get it on. Love to all!

I got the pic of the shipping container...it is much fuller now! Also, I looked at the preview and it doesn't look like the pics do on this page as I write. Oh, well!

The Beverly Woods Hillbillys Move

I was going to put more pictures of our obnoxious move on this page, but my technological genius has temporarily deserted me, so you'll just have to guess what the rest of our place looks like.

We have spent many hours cleaning out everything we own, making the decisions about discarding them or not; giving up half of what we have to Goodwill or to other worthy causes/people; reacting in disbelief about how much "junk" we have; alternately crying and laughing as we remember events long forgotten; and just generally getting damn sick and tired of all this work. The more we do the more we realize what else we have left. I wonder what some people see in moving every few years or so?

The painters are here this week at the Charlotte house. We must somehow get this sucker ready to put on the market. I've moved stuff around, cleaned the dust up some so it won't stick to the paint, taken down blinds, curtains, and anything else that will move. I've hauled trash to the side of the road, and piled it in the dumpster. (Yes, we had to get a dumpster to remove the detritus of 30 years!) I would put a picture of it on this blog, but ...well, I've already told you that.

And to top all this off, I don't even know for sure when we will be able to move to the mountains. Most people are more organized than we are, but everything just takes so long! We still don't have the toilets or sinks in; the electrician isn't finished; the tile man isn't finished; the hardwood floors aren't down, much less the carpet; and the railings are not on the porches. Oh, and I don't have a kitchen. Most of these things have to be done before we can get a CO (certificate of occupancy). Geez!!! The builder assures me that these things will go quickly, but since we've been doing this for the last five years...forgive my skepticism.

Nevertheless, we will put the Charlotte house on the market, hoping that we will be different from everybody else who is trying to sell in this market. I don't really hold out much hope, but at least I'll have a place to stay when I come back to see my babies, check on things, etc. (Might as well see the glass as half full.) We're going to leave a bedroom, limited kitchen supplies, and some things needed for minimal comfort.

Today, I have a headache from the paint, paint on my shirt where my boobs have brushed the wet walls (very attractive), and I'm tired of these guys being in my house. They are very nice, and they will be here for another week, so I should get used to it.

Next time, I'm going to tell you about my student teachers. I've been supervising them this semester and have very hight hopes for the three of them. I'm going to try to remember to take a picture of them so I can post it on this blog. They are all math/science (wonder why I got them) majors, and while I really don't know much about their content, I can help them learn to teach. One of them is older (almost 50) and the other two are 21 and 24 years old. Would it surprise you to know that the star is the oldest one? :):)