What I Did On My Summer Vacation, Part 1

Wow, this is going to be a long and exciting post, since it's been awhile and I've been on vacation!  So, buckle up, because this vacation is going make you super jealous (although most of you joined me for some of the fun!) Hard to know where to start, but Friday, August 1st, seems like a good starting place.  It began just fine with coffee with my friend Shirley, followed by a call on my way back from someone wanting to look at our house (not ready to show yet!!!), but I thought, Hey, if you can see it in this state (mess), why not? So, I raced around (with the help of Amie) to get ready. Just moments into our quick clean-up, Brad reports that there is some water in the basement (yes, it had rained like a "mutha" that week), but I was unprepared for just how MUCH water there was.  So, the first day was spent cleaning up the gallons of water in the storage areas.  Thankfully, Curt came by to help and we were able to get the majority of water out, and things picked up.  Next came the revelation that water was also seeping into my craft room via the sprinkling system. (I'll call this part of my vacation my "beach" time).  Brad thought it was coming from the neighbors house, but of course, it was entering from a broken valve in our yard, which was discovered following a call to a sprinkler repairman.  Gratefully, my sister appeared on Saturday morning, as well as John that afternoon. (john was on his way back to Iowa and agreed to help get the deck railing finished (yeah, no rush, it's been unfinished for 15 years!)  That morning, Brad and I took a side-trip to Home Depot to pick up some materials for the deck.  I knew that it was all going back to the store, since it was not the right stuff, and it did. John and Brad went back and got new materials and they worked on constructing for several hours, while Pam and I enjoyed the relaxation of sorting and boxing more junk for the garage sale.  We ended the evening with a card game that was lacking in direction and players who could stay awake! Sunday morning, the saw continued to buzz with some very difficult cuts using some not-so-sophisticated tools.

 

 We all went to Amie and Curt's for dinner and celebration of Sophie's 8th birthday. Wow, where does time go?

 And, when did 8 year olds' request clothes for their birthday gifts?  She did get a couple of new games, one involving some pretty crazy glasses!

Bright and early Monday morning, Pam and I (after John's departure) went to borrow some

tables from my friend, Erin.  While we were gone, Brad decided to make a few "changes" to the railing.  After a few moments of panic, the three of us remedied the problems with some wood glue and a a couple of screws! He went on to complete the rest of the job without incident. (Unless you would like to refer to his decision to have his old truck towed to a garage for repairs...the truck is worth less than a tow job!  By the way, when we called a few days later to find out what the problem was, we were told that it was just out of gas!....oh boy....)  In our quest to empty closets, drawers, shelves, and boxes (which Grayson loved!) we discovered lots of treasures, including Pam's wedding dress! Circa 1974 AND it still fit (raise your hand if you hate her!)

 

 By the end of the day, we had accumulated a fair amount of garage sale items.  Pam left on Tuesday morning, and was replaced by Sophie, who had some dental work done that morning and chose to wait for the numbness to wear off at our fun-filled home. I spent the day sorting through my craft room....good times....Wednesday, Tasha came to help and ended up taking two carloads of assorted garage sale items home with her. ( I kept wishing EVERYONE would take two carloads home.....) She helped me get through the rest of the basement, and the STUFF continued to grow.  Earlier that morning, Meredith requested a ride to the ER as she was suffering from vertigo and couldn't walk (at least without looking like she'd been on a severe drinking binge), so Carrie transported her and I took her back with me after she was treated with some drugs and the "Epley maneuver", which rearranges the crystals in your inner ear, controlling balance. Who knew? She spent the rest of the day (and night) sitting up, sleeping, per Doctors orders.  On Thursday, Erin volunteered to spend the day with me, pricing all of those great treasures (why, you ask, did we price anything, when no one pays the asking price anyway?) Finally, it was time for the big event....drum roll please...and they DID show up !

At the end of the day, I thought we had made quite a bit of progress, but when we hauled it all back in the garage that afternoon, we still had tons of STUFF.....Saturday morning, we were hard at it, celebrating Brad's birthday with DAY 2 of the sale.  Oh yeah, and during that sale, Curt and Amie got a call that the transmission had gone out on their car (one with only 90,000 miles on it) and after a few frustrating hours, they returned with a new vehicle (not in their plan, for sure)

 Sophie sure loved it!  Oh, and speaking of Sophie, we were super proud of her for completing her first triathlon (swimming 2 pool lengths, biking 2 miles and running a mile) and earning a medal.  (Do they give out medals for completing a garage sale without going loony tunes??? If so, the whole family (Thank God for their help!) should have lined up to receive theirs!

 More of my vacation to follow.....the excitement mounts........