Well, I’ve made it…365 divided by two
equals 182.5. Yesterday’s post was #182 and the first part of this post is the point
5. How about that? Who knew I could manage to write something to post every
single day? I certainly didn’t think I could get this far without giving up and
I must admit there were days when I didn’t want to continue. But I have and did
and will until I have nothing else to say that anybody might want to read. So,
congratulations to moi for reaching the half-way point.
Now, to continue with Post #183. Both
sons and granddaughter were here on Monday to finish cleaning out the garage
attic. I have to tell you it was a trip down memory lane, a lane that had it’s
beginnings when we moved into this house 51 years ago. I saw things I thought
were long gone, some of which pissed me off a lot because I had asked about
them and John said he had no idea. I’m sure there will be more surprises when
Haley comes back on Wednesday and we begin to sort through the boxes.
The items that annoyed me the very
most were the zinc wash tubs. My mother used them to do laundry when I was a
kid and growing up. When she got her first washer-dryer combo, we took those tubs
off her hands. For a time, they were used to hold ice and drinks when we had
parties. Then, they disappeared, never to be seen (or heard of) again. All
those years, they were at the back of the garage attic. In addition to the two
from my mom, there was one larger one with handles. I have no idea where that
one came from. Thor took the tubs home with him. Once they’re cleaned up, he
envisions them as good homes for the turtles his family rescued.
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The first inclination I had about the
rocking chair I purchased when pregnant with AJ was AJ holding two rocker feet.
Then, sure enough, down came the body of the chair, the cushion and the base
for the cushion. It was a used rocker when I bought it as the result of some ad
in the paper. John and I went to a home just north of Northgate and right on
the freeway. I had no idea until we visited that house that the freeway was so very
LOUD. I used it for AJ, and then I thought it went to Goodwill. Apparently not.
The cushion went into the garbage and Monday was garbage day.
There were two old wood sleds with
metal runners. Each of the boys took one home with them. AJ plans to wax the
heck out of his runners and go for a joyride in the next snow. Thor didn’t
indicate what he wanted to do with his, but it went into his van. There were
also two cases of old soda bottles. Supposedly people collect those, so they’ll
go into the garage sale. And, speaking of the garage sale, I’m cautiously
planning to have it the weekend following Labor Day weekend. It won’t include
the whole house because I don’t want people tramping throughout, so it will
just eliminate, I hope, the stuff in the garage, or lead to another dump or Goodwill trip.
The pile of stuff destined for the
dump has grown larger, and depending on how much time it takes to sort on
Wednesday, perhaps we can load it all into Haley’s truck and get it out of
here. Thor took a van load of stuff home with him and AJ took a truckload of
wood and metal he’ll recycle. None of us, including both his sons, can believe
some of the stuff that was saved back in the darkest corners. The way it worked
is Haley went up onto the plywood planks and pulled and pushed boxes of stuff
to Thor who stood on the ladder and handed the boxes and stuff down to AJ. Me,
myself and I just stood around or did other stuff because we were just in the
way.
Toward the end, AJ and Thor got to
reminiscing about their days at Lake Forest Park Elementary, Kellogg and
Shorecrest. Ten years in between and yet some of their stories sounded very similar.
They also shared stories about some of the crap in the garage and their father.
Some of them I hadn’t heard before and perhaps didn’t need to hear now. Still,
it’s nice to see my boys laughing, joking, remembering and working together. It
brings back some wonderful memories of their growing up years. I’m very grateful
for every single one of those and today as well.