BUSTED!

NOTE: The following occurred with humor, but also with a touch of truth.

Among the treasures we have moved from place to place for 46 years, was a foot locker type chest that I believe Craig must have used to take his things to college in the 60's.  It was not "quality." It was made with some sort of laminated pasteboard and had a torn wood grain paper lining. The hinges were rusted. It smelled. I put it out with the trash cans for this morning's pick up.

Last night after dinner I tied up the last load of kitchen waste and was going to take it out to the cans.

"I'll do it for you" says Craig....

He comes back in  "You are throwing away my good chest. "

"It smells moldy"  I say.

"You could put it out in the sun" he says hopefully. "Wouldn't it be perfect for  storage in the RV?"

I harden my heart and answer "They have big plastic see-thru bins for that."

"Oh" he sighs,  "Another of my family treasures gone." And made a sad little boy look and went back to reading his book.

I do believe this was just in fun.

BUT, he does read my blogs, and my mention of the computers opened another issue.

I put most of the items I plan on taking for the electronics recycling next to the front door.  The old Mac was in a box.

This morning he asked about it.  I showed it to him and pointed out that I had seen dumpsters full of the same type of machines at recycling events in the past.  It is NOT unique!

He agreed to let it go, but said it would haunt him all day thinking about old computers piling up in a dumpster!

So sad. But if people didn't keep upgrading he would not have a job!

Then he asked about the old Terminal.

 It was heavy and after I unwrapped it to see what it was I put it right into my van.  We looked at it and he says it goes with the other machine he wants to donate to the computer history museum. At some undefined future date ....

See Dear, it's back on a shelf in the garage.
 I tucked plastic around it after I took this picture.

Meanwhile, The guy came and bought the wine press and another is coming for three car boys later today.  Another $120 in the kitty. Thats the kind of progress I like.

Exercise Goal:
1000 miles on the treadmill, 

2.25 miles Friday

Total walked = 208.75 miles

Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles in National Parks!

Daily countdown:

383 days, or 1 year, 17 days.  To get the house fixed up!

Bobcat Spotted/ Home improvement of the day

This morning I  glanced out at the meadow outside my studio and saw  a bobcat  sunning himself. I think he was half asleep!

 I only had the point and shoot at hand, and it was hard to aim as I tried to be quiet sliding open the patio door.

Then he saw me.  Bright eyes ...

And decided it was time to leave ...

                          And he was gone!

This was the first time I have seen a bobcat in our yard. 

 I knew they were around, but I have always had a dog or two. 

 My own little piece of wilderness.

Now for the less interesting part of the blog:

My home improvement today was a trip to the dump with a half of van load.  I totally agree with some of the full timers that say this is a liberating experience.  Of course most of what I took was simply trash that would have gone anyway.  Odds and ends of drywall, painted wood scraps, etc.  But some was "stuff."

All of it out of the garage areas.  Craig was home when I was loading, so he knew what I was doing.

The other day I was working on the attic and came across a large box of coral from Craig's fish tank days.

Twenty six years and two moves ago.

 That evening I started to tell him about it when he said "stop!"  "I don't want to know." 

 So, I said "OK, I won't touch anything of yours." 

"No."  He said "Do what you have to with it, just don't tell me."

I get a little pissed and a little depressed when he does that.  It is such a cop out.  I think it's his way of not helping with the work.  But I also know him well enough to know that if he says he doesn't want to know, that is exactly what he means.  So I'm stuck with all the purging.  And since he sometimes reads my blog, he will know.

The Coral?  I want to photograph it and try to sell it on E-bay.  I doubt I'll get much, but it is shippable in those post office one price boxes.

On the other hand ... He really worked hard on his part of the painting again yesterday. 

 And ...

 After several years of needing new glasses he finally got two new pair.  (His old ones were crushed by a log when he put them on the ground next to the firewood rounds we were loading into the van a few weeks ago.)

Why two pair.  One is a pair of bifocals,  and the other is for just distance.  He told me they were going to be much better for driving the big RV.  

Exercise Goal:
1000 miles on the treadmill, 

2 miles today

Total walked = 194 miles

Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles in National Parks!

Daily countdown:

390 days, or 1 year, 25 days. 

I'm Leaving Him!

Yup!  I'm leaving Craig.


 Just thought I'd do a "Tabloid Headline" because my blog has been supper boring lately.


Actually I am flying down to San Diego for the week to visit and look after my Grandsons.  Both our daughter and her husband need to be out of town for their jobs this week.  Although they do have a live in Au Pair, a nice girl from Austria, the contract is that she cannot be on duty 24 hours a day.  So I go down to be the extra adult.

It all works out great.  I usually like to go down for a visit a couple of times a year besides Holidays.  In the last few years they have also come up  for a Summer visit,but this year they will be celebrating their other Grandparent's 50th in Hawaii.

The boys are at a perfect age.  Six and Nine.  The younger loves arts and crafts, and the older one loves board games.  They will both be at sailing camps part of the day.  One in the morning and one in the afternoon, so I will get individual time with each.

I'm not sure if I will be blogging or not. I always feel a little uncomfortable using someone elses computer.

One good thing is I will get a break from painting!    I figure I'm about 2/3rds finished with painting that I can do.  Craig still has lots of work, and then we will hire someone to do the really high places.

A boring picture.  This is the area outside the laundry room that I finished this week.

Another shot of my wonderful husband painting a hard to reach place.  He is actually lying on his back on one roof, painting primer on the overhanging boards of the roof above.

They replaced some of the wood that had dry rot damage.



 I'll be back on Saturday!

Daily countdown:

477 days, or 1 year, 3 months, 20 days to go.

Time spent Painting the House:  

Me: 3 hours Sunday   Total = 113.5 hours

Craig: 5 hours digging and painting  Total = 44 hours

Exercise Goal:  

1000 miles on the treadmill,  (I hope to walk in San Diego this week)

 Total walked = 172 miles  

Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles  in National Parks!

I Didn't Win The LOTTERY

Dang!  I didn't win the lottery again!

About five times a year I risk a whole $5.00 on the Lottery.  I don't look at the wining numbers for weeks after, so I can imagine "what if?"  It's a pretty cheep way to fantasize.  So today I finally looked at a ticket bought in March,   No win.  Oh well

But the roofers have started the job.  I know this is a terrible picture, but it is what it is.

They actually started yesterday, and will be finished tomorrow!

There is a lot of extra work that needs to be done, but the have a huge crew up there.  Unfortunately we will be adding several thousand to the bill in dry rot repair etc.   But the roof replacement is a big item to be checked off the must be done list.

I keep reminding myself that in a few years this will all be a foggy memory.

These are the kind of things that are very hard for Craig.  The roof would have to be done no mater what our future plan was. It has been leaking in small places for as many years as we have been here.  We've had repair men in, and Craig has been up there year after year spreading caulking to no avail.

But now, even though we have hired a top rated, very professional company, he is never quite satisfied with their work or materials.  His projects take years.  These people get things done!


I wish he could be happy things are getting done.  This has nothing to do with the idea of RVing.

His fussing is a reoccurring pattern.  Part of his nature.  I just have to ignore his sad looks.

 I have for 44 years.

Husband looked at RV's with me

On Saturday we went over to the big RV show in Plesanton together.  On the way I told Craig that what I hoped we could do is pick out some of the things we did and did not like about the layouts and manufacturers in general.

We looked at so many, I knew I would get confused so I kept a note book with me and tried to make notes as we looked.  After looking at a few large gassers, Craig zeroed in on  the diesels.    The bigger, the better!

There were more that we didn't feel good about than we did.

But the interesting thing is one of the gassers we saw in the beginning, and we went back to before leaving was our favorite.  It was a 36' or 37' 2008 Georgetown by Forest River.  What we liked about it were some of the floor plan features and cabinetry touches.   We both liked the fact that the kitchen had an island.  I have looked at many floor plans and have not found a diesel with an island. If fact so far I haven't found any others with an island.  If anyone knows of manufacturers of Motorhomes with this feature I'd be glad to hear from you.

I also liked the fact that the potty was on an angle rather than parallel with the wall.  This gives you more "elbow" room.

We also both liked a 2010 Meridian V, 39' diesel, by Itasca.  It had a forward kitchen and no carpeting between the door and the kitchen.  I think of when one is cooking outside, the number of trips you take back and forth, and how bothersome it would be to take your shoes off each time.  This of course is something easily changed, but something to think about.

A third rig we liked was a 2004 Georgie Boy, I don't know the manufacturer, but will be looking it up. It was a 38' diesel.  We liked the fact that it had a nice desk in the bedroom, and that it had a TV on the side.

Speaking of TVs,  Why do they have so many in the big RVs?  We saw some with three inside and a forth outside.  I guess since I'm not much of a TV watcher, I find it hard to appreciate this wealth of screens!

So overall the show was a good experience.  There is no question that we will end up with a BIG diesel.  I know what the light in his eyes means when I see it.

Aside from that Craig worked very hard on Sunday on he house repairs.

In answer to the questions about the Moose lodge, I'll post what I find out as I go.

That all for now ...

Daily countdown: (Monday)

527 days, or 1 year, 5 months, 9 days to go.

Exercise Goal:

1000 miles on the treadmill,  2.5 miles today

Total walked = 135.5 miles

Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles  in National Parks!

He said he was teasing

595  days, or 1 year, 7 months, 15 days to go.  

Well Craig came home in a pretty good mood yesterday.  I told him I was sorry I had tried to get him to donate his suits, and he said he was just teasing me.  To go ahead and take them.

I did, and they are gone now.  Just teasing?  I know he has so often said things that have made me believe he is unwilling to get rid of anything easily. Perhaps this is the beginning for him. 

 Perhaps he read yesterday's blog.  He usually doesn't read my ramblings, (I sometimes blog on Myspace)  but I know he has checked this blog out after I got emails telling me I had comments. 

This may seem strange, but after 44 years we communicate in our own ways.  It is not always by direct discussion. We don't always understand each other.  Oh Well.

To Flea Market table:

• Make-up box
• Roll of jute roving  (it's on 20 years old, but totally unavailable anywhere!)

To Trash:

• All old makeup etc. that was in box on my dresser.  This was bought for my daughters wedding (15+ years ago.)  I don't wear makeup alt all any more except for an occasional bit of lip stick.  That was in my purse.
• A trash can full of stuff from the garage.

To Goodwill:

• Five men's suits (Yes, the same ones my husband clung to yesterday)

Exercise goal: to walk 1000 miles on the treadmill

0 miles today (Pool day) 994.5 to go

Does he understand?

596  days, or 1 year, 7 months, 16 days to go.

To Freecycle:

• A small children's desk. (It's still upstairs, but I will list it later today)

To Goodwill:

• Two suit coats and oner pair of pants.

I know I said I would not touch any of my husband's things, but as I have worked on my side of  closet, I couldn't help but push several of his old suits  to the front of his side.  I needed to go to the recycler today and I knew I would pass the Goodwill truck, so  I asked him if he had any desire to keep these seven old suit coats.  You would have thought I had asked him to give up his computer. (he loves his computer more than anything) He allowed me to take two.  May I note that one that he kept had dust on the shoulders.  Another has a moth hole in the pants, and the others are at least twenty years old.

Originally, this was his idea.  He says he wants to go with me.   I don't think he is really willing to do what it will take to get there.  

Perhaps I will look at rigs for one.

Exercise goal: to walk 1000 miles on the treadmill

3.5 miles today,  994.5 to go