Trip Day 1

Friday September 1

So far so good. If the whole trip goes like this morning it will be super. We had decided to leave the house by Uber at 10 am. We woke up before seven and got going. Finally a better night for me. I am usually a very good sleeper but on Tuesday I had finally decided to get that shot into my knee which bothered me ever since the middle of the Europe trip. The doctor had decided it was arthritis and an inflammation. Since there is no telling how long the effect of the shot might last so I had put it off. The knee feels so so so much better. Great relief. But the first night was misery because I was wide awake. If I had know that was a side effect I would have got up and sewed something. Oh well. The next night was already better. 

All the last minute things went well and the Uber worked out too. Calling the Uber:

Since we were in plenty of time James saw that an earlier flight to Philadelphia was soon to leave and asked whether we could get on. Yes, we could. And what a blessing. No waiting in Richmond and plenty of time in Philly to go to the Admirals lounge. 

And that is were we are now enjoying free soups, cheese bits and coffee. And wine!

Ups, our flight got called for boarding. Better go. 

Before the trip ...

OMG time passed so quickly. Lots of things needed to be done. Catch-up and preparing. End of the month is always busy for me because I am working on next month's church newsletter St. Martin's Cloak . Click on it if you want to take a look. We love our church and I am always happy when I feel I did it justice. 

Before leaving I also finished the raffle item I had promised the church ladies and brought it to the monthly meeting. It's (again) an adventcalendar. Here are two photos. 

James' sister Jane did all the cross-stitching for which I am very thankful. 

If you want to see more click on my blog http://laceandquilts.blogspot.com/2017/08/church-raffle-2017-done.html?m=1

James was busy too. He is the HOA president of our section of CrossRidge. The by-laws need to be changed and there is a lot involved. He did a lot of organizing that things wouldn't come to a standstill while we are gone. 

And if you are wondering, we didn't abandon decluttering. We just couldn't keep up with documenting in. These were already in the trash when I said "oh wait wait". So, we feel good about our efforts. 

But it wasn't all work and no play. A few times we saw the children. Sarah had a day off, kept Caleb out of "school" and came to swim ( = the day I lost my Fitbit, sigh)

Sunday Aug 20

Helped out with the twins. Sarah was working and Wade wanted to take Caleb to play putt-putt. Caleb was soooooo excited which makes it so much fun. 

VIDEO 1 

VIDEO 2

VIDEO some other day. 

Saturday 26 we met at the farmer's market. There they come!

It is quite a big one but I had never seen that many stalls and that many people there. Fun. But the real reason why we sometimes go? A special treat especially for Caleb: Mrs Yoder's donuts. We stood in line for probably an hour. But it is a social event. You talk to the people in front of you and behind you etc. 

And finally ... they are so fresh that you have to have some patience because they are too hot. 

We did get some healthy veggies too, though. I try to find Padron peppers. First I found chichitas which the lady said were very similar. They were ok. But I also found padrons and they just are the best. James and I enjoyed them. With the second batch the second evening I had learned to wash them hours before putting them in the pan. 

Aug 31 - Quick trip over the river in the evening to say good bye (and drop off some food which would spoil like eggs and bananas).

Oh yes, a couple videos. 

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

This was a lot of Caleb, Colin and Owen but of course we miss William and family too. I still write my weekly letter to William which can be a challenge to think what he might be interested in.

A grasshopper who landed on our patio table at lunchtime?

Some pawpaw fruit Papa had found on a hike?

But I really like it when Helen has time to do FaceTime with us. These are from a few days back. William had to tell me about his dinosaur of course. 

Don't know what happened to the screenshots I took during "good-bye" FaceTime with my other iPad. Never showed up here. Oh well. Sigh. 

Time to pack!!!

OMG I am behind

It's not that I am not sorting out. I am motivated! It's just taking the picture and posting it. 

Handbags I am not using, my favorite sandals which suddenly felt very strange (story later), tapes we can't watch any more, and did I keep the box because I thought I might give that (Cadillac) steam iron up? No way. 

You can see that I made it a little easier on me to keep my promise. I put the numbers on scrap paper (in the photos) and now know how far I got. I might have to continue this when we come back from our trip. I have so SOOOOO much to do right now. I think I would be ok with that. A friend told me that one year she made a New Year's resolution to declutter one item every day for the whole year which could be 10 items one day counting for 10 days. I think that would be good too. 

The sandal story: I call them my hiking sandals. I am not sleeping in them but otherwise they are used a lot. Recently I went for a walk in the neighborhood and thought that my heels were not doing right. Back home I decided to look at the soles. OMG. Totally run down one side. No wonder I was walking slanted. Since James is always happy to go shopping at REI we went immediately thinking we might have to order them hoping there would be enough time before the trip. My lucky day. I should have bought a Power Ball ticket then. Not only did they have my size in the identical sandal and color but they were also on sale. How often does that happen?

Now off to keep working!

Motivation is everything

There was so much going on last week I forgot to blog about Wednesday. It was the day of my (quilt group) meeting "over the river" at 10 am. But James and I went to take care of Caleb because he couldn't go to day care. Fever and throw-up the day before. We arrived at 7:40 am with two cars so I could go to my meeting for a while. 

Caleb felt fine and was fun. My meeting not so much (they can't be all good) so I left early back to join James. A good thing that was because at lunchtime Wade brought Owen who now had a fever too. 

At the end of that day we were all worried whether it's going to be another round of misery. As you could see from my previous blog though ... all seems well, thank the Lord. 

AND ...   the decluttering continues. 

Sunday August 6 = 6 items

Monday August 7 = 7 items

Tuesday August 8 = 8 items

Wednesday August 9 = 9 items

More things pitched! Things had been rearranged from office to pantry (finally space there), from dining room to office. I had gone through a lot of drawers. 

But the real action took place on Monday right after breakfast in the garage. The perfect day since it was raining and it was a cooler day. With the door open all the time it was bearable. 

I had forgotten to take "before" pictures and one shelving is almost empty. I was just too eager to get started. We had been unhappy about the state of our garage for quite a while. 

The "garage effort" continued on Tuesday and Wednesday. And ... DONE!

What a great feeling. I know where my garden tools are and James sorted his tools. All golf stuff is in one place. Only the cart needs to be hung up. 

James went twice to the recycling place and twice to the dump. I call that success! And I count that decluttering towards Thursday August 10 = much much more then 10 items! And I am taking tomorrow off! (smiley face)

Weekend

Sarah and her family had gone to her in-laws because Wade's dad had a birthday. Schatzi came to us. Well, James went to get her Friday afternoon. Since we had to bring her back on Sunday Sarah asked us to come for dinner. 

It had been quite a car drive for the children so Sarah and I thought that a little walk would be good. The twins like the red wagon because they can see everything all around. 

Caleb wanted to pull his brothers back to the house. 

It was fun. Everybody was in good form (tired but good). I helped put Colin and Owen to bed and we had pizza on the back deck. Lovely!

Declutter Day 3, 4, 5 and pantry update

Let's see. 

Thursday August 3 = I think that easily counts as 3 items sorted out. Never thought I would do away with lace but I can't remember where it came from, I have never used it and most likely never will. The glass lid was bought as cover to use in the microwave. Have something much better for that now. 

Friday August 4 = 4 items

The top of the teak chest of drawers was always so cluttered up that it really bothered me. The radio was one of the things which got never used. Red noses come around every year. The glass vase I had bought last year. I thought it was so cool for arranging flowers. You can't open it though which means you can't clean it. Away with it!



Saturday August 5 = 5 items

Found this in one of the drawers in the dining room wall unit. Using directions and remotes for things which are long gone. A thermostat which got replaced etc. 



I don't have an ugly before picture but believe me that this makes me happy. 



We used to have bowls with fruit there too which were hit by the sun for several hours every day. This is much better on the opposite wall. 

Oh yes, the pantry has hardware. The same as the kitchen cabinets. 

And since somebody on FaceBook voiced to see the pantry filled with the things off the dining room table ... here it is:

Concerning the decluttering ... I realize that it will get more difficult the further we are in the month. Wish me luck!

Declutter Day 2

2nd day of August = 2 things to sort out

Still working to find places for the pantry/kitchen stuff and found this. Don't need the toddler stuff. Never used that insert for the pitcher. James says that he is o. k. with letting go of things we don't use. 

Declutter

I sometimes read the blog of Kate in the U.K., a fellow participant in the Cotton Robin. On May 1st she wrote:

For the past couple of years, I've been doing a decluttering exercise in May - clearing out bits and pieces, using the kind of fun technique of getting rid of one thing on the 1st, two on the 2nd and so forth. It's a nice way to motivate a clear out, so I decided to do it again this year, starting with the junk drawers in the kitchen. So this is the first item. I sort of know what it's for, but we don't need it. Off it goes!

I have the highest intentions and have thought of it since then. Coming back from a month-long trip on the 28th June didn't help. My intentions were for July. Didn't happen. August? I will try!!!

Today is the first. This went! If you can't play it, you don't need to keep it. 

I did shoot myself a bit in the foot though. As you might have read in the previous blog that we have a new pantry. The old was emptied etc ... and a lot was thrown away then. But I didn't want to keep it just so that I could claim it as "declutter" this month. I am positive there will be more.