Overtime today

Went for overtime today from 0630-1330hrs. After work I went over to a shredding company where I had 7 boxes of old paperwork (yessssss, I had old tax paperwork from the late 70's to get rid of!) shredded as I watched.  Afterwards I went to my father-in-law's apartment to pick up some of his medication (an inhaler for his emphysema and some eye drops for his glaucoma). Then I dropped some things off at my daughter and son-in-law's house and headed out to visit my father-in-law in Emeryville.  When I got there he told me about some paintings in the hallway where he is living right now that he wants to try to replicate.  He is quite an artist, but hasn't painted in a long time.  I took pictures of the paintings, sent them to Walmart.com and I'm having prints made so he can have them in his apartment when he gets home. I'm hoping this will inspire him to start painting again! If nothing else, I can have them framed and put up in his apartment...

When I got home I moved all the furniture back where it belongs...I had moved it to have the carpets cleaned yesterday.  The realtor is coming over Monday with a house cleaner who will take a look at what needs to be done (not much....except the windows!). The house should be ready to film for the virtual tour by next week.....sure is a strange feeling knowing this house won't be "home" much longer.

Andrew and I have been Skyping every day, usually at my lunch time at work (which is 1015 hrs here, 1915 hrs in the Netherlands).  It's difficult sometimes with the time constraints at my job. I have to be back to work exactly on time (I have exactly 30 minutes for lunch, not a minute more...), or the break schedule gets messed up for everyone after me. There have been times when we've Skyped at 0400hrs-before I leave for work.

Andrew still doesn't have the internet hooked up at the house, they're having trouble getting a signal there. So he's having to go to the hotel across the street where he can get free internet, but we have to make sure to arrange it ahead of time. It's worked out okay so far. We've been texting on our phones quite a bit too!

Yesterday I got the results from my blood tests.  Everything looks pretty good, except my cholesterol-it is 259! Yiiiiikes!  Today I e-mailed my doctor and asked that she give me a couple of months to work on lowering it before considering putting me on medication. So, I went to the store and bought some McCann's Irish Oatmeal. I literally hate oatmeal, but I had heard this wasn't bad, so I thought I'd give it a try. This morning before work I prepared a bowl (only takes 5 minutes) and guess what?!?!? It is pretty darned good!  I put some soy milk in it along with a little bit of cinnamon/sugar......Yummmm!

As I was going through my bank account statement, I noticed there were two charges (for two different amounts) from a restaurant I went to the other night. So, I called the bank. They said there was yet a third charge pending from that same restaurant. So, the bank had to shut down my card and they will mail me another one which I will receive in about a week. I plan on going to the restaurant and speaking with the manager to let him know they have a thief working there!

Well, it's after 1900 hrs.-time to start getting ready for bed, my brain is fried!

Friday, the 13th!

Whew, what a day!  Yesterday the appointments I had lined up for today were:  Friend coming by at 10:00 a.m. to bring dog crate; 10-11 a.m. shipping company coming to pick up items for shipping;
1-2 p.m. carpet cleaners coming to clean bedroom carpets. Last night my friend called and said she couldn't make it till about 1p.m. and the shipping company called and said they'd be at the house between 1-2 p.m.  So, needless to say, I was a little stressed out this morning thinking everyone was going to be at the house at the same time!

I spent the morning cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!  The only room that needs a little more care is the kitchen. The countertops and table just need to be cleared off....

The carpet cleaners called around noon and said they could come earlier than planned, which was great!  While they were here my friend texted and said she'd be here around 3:30p.m., and the shipping company called and said they were going to be a little later than planned.

The shipping company got here around 3:30 p.m. and took all of our belongings to be shipped. We aren't shipping much....just our Sleep Number bed, my sewing machine and a few household items. They will put it all in a crate, wrap it up and ship it overseas!  It'll take 4-6 weeks to receive it. We'll have to pick it up at the ports in Rotterdam.

After everyone left I went over and got a pair of shoes repaired, and dropped off the Keurig coffee machine at a friend's house. I never use it and she said she'd like to have it...so it's now hers!

Cleaning and more cleaning!

Yesterday, after work, I went over to my father-in-law's apartment complex to do some cleaning. I scrubbed everything and cleaned out the refrigerator. He should be going home in about a week and a half, so I wanted to make sure it was spic and span!  I'll make a trip to the grocery store for him right after his surgery to make sure everything is fresh.

Later, Jackie, Allen, their son Dillon and I had dinner together. They are talking about moving out of state. It's just too expensive to live in California. The taxes are too high, medical insurance is too high, the cost of housing is too high.......

This morning I was up at 6:00 a.m. Since I usually get up at 3:30 a.m. I felt pretty rested after sleeping in!  I went over to Kaiser to have blood drawn (just a routine check).  Now I am home readying myself to clean, clean, clean!

The pile of things we're shipping overseas is being picked up tomorrow, so I have to move everything to the garage for easier access.  Then I am going to scrub the back patio and vacuum the house. The carpet cleaners are also coming tomorrow. Today I also need to make a trip over to the sewing store to get more thread and a couple more things that I'd like to have before I ship my sewing materials tomorrow! While I was there I stopped in to the Thai Restaurant down the street and had chicken curry (which was "okay" and a very yummy dessert which was a crepe filled with Nutella, bananas and strawberries-with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). Oh yeah--it was gooooooood!

More "stuff"......

While I was at work today I received an e-mail from the Retirement Board stating that I have to work till the end of the pay period after my birthday-so I can't retire till May 26th!  She also told me that Andrew has to sign my application for retirement-and it has to be notarized. Well, since he is in the Netherlands, that is going to be difficult. Now we have to figure out how we're going to get that done...

After work I stopped at the County building to get a copy of Kevin's birth certificate for my retirement papers (they need it if I am going to keep him on my insurance). I also stopped at Walmart and bought a few more plastic containers. While I was at Walmart I got a call from my father-in-law who said he's scheduled for surgery Friday, January 20th. He sounded very happy and is looking forward to having his gallbladder removed so he can go back on a regular diet!

When I got home, I packed up some things in one of the new containers I bought and brought another load of things to the storage locker.  It's nice to get that pile away from the front door.  Now, it's almost time to go to bed for some shut eye!

I can see a faint light....!

Every day after work this week I've come home and worked on getting the house in shape for putting on the market. Today, I can finally see a faint light at the end of the tunnel!  At first I was doing everything willy nilly....and now there is a method to the madness! I was focusing on starting from the inside and working my way out, namely...the closets, the inside of the cabinets...and now the rooms, the floors and the overall look of the rooms. One day this week I need to repaint the entry way, I'm having carpets cleaned and I need to scrub the back patio. One more trip to the storage locker this week should do it for getting rid of the clutter. Boy, 22 years worth of  "stuff" takes some time to sort through!