In Soul

O Dennenboom Reprise

2009-12-23T08:24:00.002-05:00

Hopefully you'll get as much of a kick outta this as I did today!

Yesterday I was out-n-about buying pillows for the couch. I only needed two but when I found €9.95 pillows on sale for €1 each, it was a no-brainer to buy 4, which I did.

In the process, I saw that one of the stores was selling their floor-model fake Christmas trees. One €44.99 ($64) model was on sale for €10. Mental note to myself: mention this to Astrid just for the halibut.

When I did mention it to Astrid at suppertime last evening, she immediately asked if I had bought it and why not! To which I immediately responded that I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in hell that she'd even agree to it! She's like some of you...a REAL tree is what Christmas trees are all about.

Maybe it was a no-brainer to her, I don't know...like the pillows. Our real tree (see last post) was €30 and weighed the dickens for her every time she had to lift it while I positioned the table or stand. Suddenly a real tree wasn't that important anymore...and we both started talking about the benefit of keeping it up as long as we wanted each year and storing it downstairs in our cubicle, etc., etc.

So, yes, this Christmas we have 2 Christmas trees! I took the same hand cart from the last post and walked it to the store 15 minutes away to see if the tree I wanted was still there. It was. Do I care what people thought who saw me walking it home behind me? HA! Let's just say I like saving money too much. With a bit of primping, this one will look as good as new next year!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me...

While I'm at it, a treat was left at the back door to our apartment building after our snowstorm on Sunday. Since we all are 55 or older, I wonder if kids did this for us or if some of us are kids after all!

See the red bulb (eye) in the snow? Today it was back where it belonged.
How fun is that!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Christmas.

O Christmas Tree, O Dennenboom

2009-12-21T12:40:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas week! And yes, perhaps you've heard that we, too, have had our first snowstorm of the season, with frigid temps I haven't experienced since I don't know when. Astrid says the cold and the snow are early even for Holland. We'd expect this in January.

But I digress because this is a post about buying our first Christmas tree together at the nearby outdoor market on Saturday, December 12. These are live trees in the photo and not huge...but remember that our apartment is small. It was easy to pick out a good one...not as easy to take it home when Astrid realized how heavy it was. So she went back to the apartment, 2 blocks away, to get the hand cart, which made all the difference in the world. Easy for me to say, while she does the hard work and I take the pictures!

We weren't ready to decorate the tree because my TruckPacks hadn't arrived yet (in which my Christmas box is!). However, early in the next week, last Wednesday, we found out said TPs are not yet ready to be released until a couple other hoops are jumped through. SO we went to Plan B, which was for Astrid to retrieve some of the lights and bulbs she had left with her ex-husband. By Friday night we were ready to decorate the tree!

What is it about Christmas trees! I always say they're so so quiet, which is true. They calm my heart and soul. They bring peace to my world, whether I need it or not!

A funny thing about this tree....did you notice the icicles (click to enlarge)? When was the last time I had them on one of my trees, if ever! So you can imagine my shock when Astrid pulled them out of her box and said we had to be careful with them, since you can't buy them here anymore. Actually, I think I started to protest and then stopped. Who gives a hoot if there are icicles on the tree! Apart from the lights, the tiny red and silver bulbs and only 12 larger silvery-white bulbs, the icicles were all that was left to sparkle up the tree. And it worked. Even I was able to admit it!

Behind those drapes, BTW, is the courtyard of our senior-living complex here. The day (Wednesday the 16th) we found out my TruckPacks probably won't get released till just after the new year, we had our first snow. Look at this image below and add another 6 or more inches that fell this past weekend.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Astrid says this is their first white Christmas (witte Kerst) in 30 years! O Christmas Tree, O Dennenboom!

The Handy Vrouw

2009-12-14T05:48:00.001-05:00

I can just see it now: suddenly there will be loads of things to post about and you won't be able to keep up with me. HA! But I want to document it all and will make sure I keep up with myself, I hope. In one week's time I have so much to tell you!

Let's start with the other woman of the house because IK BEN ZO TROTS OP HAAR (I'm so proud of her) and all the things she can do. And she loves doing it! That's the treat of it.

Astrid had told me she was planning to build a little cabinet/stand for all the contraptions with wires that sit in the corner of the living room: telephone, Internet modem, and emergency call box for this senior complex (a nurse will come to visit us if/when we press the button!). Saturday she did it.

And that was in the morning! Mind you, she works for a cabinet company and is able to get all her wood for free, which is such a wonderful perk. This is just ONE of the cabinets she has made for the apartment. But isn't it so cute! I love that she can do these things that benefit our space and add to the aesthetics!

After that, we took an afternoon train to nearby Dordrecht, half an hour away, to see the Christmas Market and city center. The train was free all day Saturday...something they do from time to time throughout the year to increase ridership. You don't have to ask us twice. Take advantage of it when you can. DUH! But Dordrecht is another post altogether. As is the buying of our first Christmas tree which we did before the cabinet was made...and now waits for my Christmas box in the TruckPacks that we plan to pick up at the end of this week.

Today I wanted to introduce you to the handy woman who adds a big spark to my life! When was the last time I said it doesn't take much to make me happy! :)

Small Pleasures

2009-12-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

First of all, I'M HERE! I have made it safe-n-sound to the Netherlands. The landing on Saturday morning was so smooth, I didn't even know we had touched ground. It felt like a good omen...and I smiled knowingly.

Little by little I will tell you the important things, of course, but today I have to start with food items that have delighted me to no end! Since I'll be the chief cook and bottle washer, my biggest goal for yesterday, Monday, was to find the grocery store, check it out, and then compare it to Monday morning's outdoor market (once a week, just 2 blocks from the apartment!). I needed to get the lay of the land.

In the top photo, I was like a little kid who had died and gone to heaven: a 3-pak of Grote (BIG) Speculaas cookies left over from Saturday's Sinterklaas day and reduced half price. I have them next to one of Astrid's windowsill plants for scale. €.30 for the pak, or €.10/cookie (the equivalent of $.13 each). Guess how many paks I bought? N I N E of them. You need to understand...this is one of the best-tasting cookies I've ever had and even grew up on them in Michigan as a child. We called them windmill cookies because they're usually shaped like windmills. These will keep forever and will be what we'll use when people come over for coffee/tea (very European). One cookie is big enough for 4 people!

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

At the outdoor market I then found a kilo box of dates and once again was in heaven. I kid you not: these are things that take me back to my childhood as though they were in my genes. I can't remember when I last bought dates, can you?

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

If you have a spouse/children who like the same thing you do, you'll understand why I got so excited over finding Brussels sprouts in bags like I was able to buy in Hannover and Amsterdam (but had to eat alone). Does Astrid like Brussels sprouts? YES. So it will be a real treat for me to whip these up in olive oil and garlic. Talk about hog heaven!

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

On Saturday we bought a printer and a chopper/blender and today I bought a toaster. This is the time to buy the things we need before Christmas when things are on sale. It would have been nice to bring over some of my small appliances but with the different electric currents between America and Europe, it didn't make sense. That's why the estate sale was so important. Sell appliances, get money, buy new appliances.

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

Wait till you see the pictures of churches I took today...just minutes away from our apartment. Actually, wait till I tell you all about this charming city of Gorinchem (35K pop.) south of Amsterdam. I find I want to tell you everything right now! Am I excited or what!

It really doesn't take much to make me happy...which is, after all, why I find myself here right now. These are the things I ponder in my heart....

Moving Right Along

2009-11-18T21:52:00.001-05:00

Another milestone on the road to a new life: the 2 ABF TruckPacks are now gone. Soon they'll be on a ship to Rotterdam in the Netherlands!

I had already shown you what happened when I chose ABF for shipping my heirloom furniture back to Michigan in a ReloCube. It was such a good experience I quickly decided to choose them for shipping my personal goods to the Netherlands. Two different types of packaging but the same overall good customer service. I couldn't have asked for a better process from A to Z. Each box had a 3,000 lb. limit but I'm guessing they were less than 1,500 lbs. each. No matter, they were filled to the gills with the things that matter to me...little touches that will make our home a home.

The weird thing is that I expected them to bring out a forklift truck, not a pallet jack. To be honest, watching the man maneuver the huge boxes "by hand" was pretty scary. There were a couple times I thought one of the boxes would surely tip over and spill out all its contents. O me of little faith. The guy knew what he was doing and did a fine job. Within a matter of minutes, I waved Good-Bye...and that was all she wrote!

If all goes as planned, we'll be driving to Rotterdam on December 11 to pick them up, hopefully without any hitches. Which reminds me...I now have a flight scheduled for Friday, December 4, leaving at 9:35p and arriving the next morning in Amsterdam...on Sinterklaas day. The Day of Gifts. How appropriate, don't you think?!

I sign my quit-claim paperwork on Monday next week and then on Tuesday head south of the city for the Thanksgiving holiday with friends Peggy and Bob, coming back on Friday. My kids will be away in LA (Amy's gang) and Sarasota (Mark), so I'll do my own thing.

Speaking of "my kids," we had a delightful mountain-cabin getaway this past weekend up in the GA Blue Ridge mountains. It was our last hurrah, so to speak, before my departure: Amy, Dennis, Nicholas, Mark and me. We played cards, watched a movie, played cards, ate good food, shot pool, sat in the hot tub...and, did I say, played cards! We'll never forget it. The photo album speaks for itself, if you have a chance to look at it.

And oh, on another note, I was accepted today for my international medical insurance...with an exclusion rider on anything that may happen with my left knee (after my knee surgery in June, 2008). "Pre-existing issues" has a new meaning for me in all the health debate right now! But something is better than nothing and I'm thankful. Which reminds me...HAPPY THANKSGIVING next week to all who celebrate it. We have so much...so much...for giving thanks.

Pinch me: I'm down to 2 weeks away to liftoff. Still miles to go before then, but watching the TruckPacks leave today felt major-major. It really feels like it's happening!

The Strome Hetch

2009-11-10T11:12:00.001-05:00

If you like spoonerisms as much as I do, this is one of my favorites: I'm in the "strome hetch," finally!

Halloween is now behind us...when once again we did what's become a family tradition, carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, eating a great lunch and playing cards. I love it that Nicholas is growing up with these memories, with Uncle Mark included.

That was October 31, two weekends ago.

This past weekend, Friday and Saturday, was my estate sale, put on by a professional family "gang" I found on the Internet. I was particularly drawn to the website and how it was set up: Good Buys. And once I called the contact lady and met her, I was sold. It was as easy as that. It helped, of course, to know that I didn't have to do anything (other than to get things ready!). I knew up front their minimum take would be $1,500, but it was a no-brainer that it would be totally worth it. It was! My only hope was that I, too, would make that much. I did...and more. AND I still have pieces of furniture and small items left that my flea-market lady wants for her shop and she's willing to pick it all up for me next week. So the opera still isn't over, in a good sense! It's a win-win situation for both her and me.

The pure joy of the weekend was fantastic, sunny weather both days! It felt like the heavens were smiling down on us. I didn't have to hang around but I did, directing traffic off the side of the drive all day long, from 9 - 4. The "gang" said it made all the difference in the world. I knew it would, which is why I did it. I wanted it to be a good experience for everyone.

Today it's raining! Cozy, cozy for me (terrifying for those elsewhere in Atlanta who will get more flooding, yet again). Little by little I am adding to my 2 ABF TruckPacks that will hold the rest of my earthly possessions.

In the beginning, I actually had to get inside the boxes to pack them compactly. I love puzzles, so the entire process has been a delight, fitting each piece in place. They will be loaded to the gills by next week, when they'll be picked up for shipping to Rotterdam. Estimated date of arrival is December 7 and we'll drive to Rotterdam to pick them up on Saturday the 12th. That's the plan.

I'm not yet exactly counting the days, because I'm still waiting to find out the quit-claim and refi date on the house. Once that happens, I'll be counting, trust me. God willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to fly out of Atlanta on Friday, December 4, arriving in Amsterdam on Saturday, Sinterklaas day. The day of gifts! Somehow that seems so appropriate, don't you think?!

But I'll post at least once more before then to say Happy Thanksgiving and bid you all adieu from Atlanta. THEN I'll be saying something like "Tunce upon a whime in a coreign fountry...."

Sophie's Ginnie's Choice

2009-10-27T14:17:00.004-04:00

Don't you love it when someone else's post inspires you to write your own! So thank Linda/Shoreacres at The Task at Hand for this one. In a convoluted sort of way, one thing led to another as I started thinking about what we collect around ourselves when we decorate our homes.

And now that I am packing up what I want to keep of years and years of collecting, getting rid of everything else and getting down to the bare bones of what's soulful to me, I have had to make some choices. No choice was perhaps greater than picking which of these 3 bronzes I would take with me to the Netherlands.

It started in the mid-90s after Mom and Dad died and I had a bit of an inheritance to invest. As a rule, I tend to be more of a saver than a spender, but I decided to make a one-time splurge on 3 Mark Hopkins bronzes that absolutely whispered to my Soul. I can't even tell you how I found them. They probably found me.

The first one I bought was this wolf, called Northwoods. At that time in my life, when I was still in the throes of coming out as a gay woman after a 21-year marriage, the Wolf had become my Animal Guide. She was teaching me about change and adaptation and transformation. She was teaching me to trust my intuition and to embrace the lessons of my life. She really was my guide and I howled with her.

At the same time I was reading...very slowly and deliberately...Clarissa Pinkola Estés' Women Who Run with the Wolves. It was a time of joining the lone wolf that was separated from the pack, howling at the moon, longing for Home.

Then I found Shaman's Vision. I had been teaching a class on "Homosexuality and the Bible" for several years in my church and community. I had previously done the same with "Women in the Church" back in Wisconsin and found the same principles at work, marveling how I had been prepared to exegete and interpret ancient texts. Are women allowed/forbidden by our Holy Scriptures to preach? Are men and women allowed/forbidden by our Holy Scriptures to live in loving, monogamous same-sex partnerships?

In the process of studying this issue from the different world religions, I became fascinated by the Native American approach to homosexuality. For them, a gay man or woman is in "two spirits" and therefore is the most logical person to be the shaman/healer of their tribe, better able to understand both sides of a situation. So when I found this bronze, it had my Soul written all over it!

To be honest, I don't remember if I purchased Gathering Wisdom before or after Shaman's Vision. All I know is that as I continued to read and re-read Clarissa Pinkola Estés' book, I became La Loba, the Wolf Woman, gathering up my dry bones in the desert:

We all begin as a bundle of bones lost somewhere in a desert, a dismantled skeleton that lies under the sand.
It is our work to recover the parts.

So now I ask you: if Ginnie can take only one of these bronzes with her to the Netherlands, which should she take! What is Ginnie's Choice?

It wasn't that hard, actually, when I started to analyze it. The wolf will always be my Animal Guide but, by now, I no longer wander alone. Years ago I joined a new pack and found Home. The same with the shaman. There was a time in my life when I filled that role for many who were struggling, but it's no longer front and focus for me.

However, as regards my Life's Journey, I suspect I will always need to visit the Desert to find the dried-up bones that need life breathed into them. Never-ending. Ad nauseum. From now until eternity. Ad infinitum. It's a process that will never stop for me, I know. It's my Destiny.

So all 30.5 lbs of this Loba Wolf Woman will find their way into one of my TruckPacks headed to my new home in Holland. And that, I realize, is another post altogether...coming up sooner than you think!

**********

As an interesting aside, a gentleman my age came to look at the house a couple months ago and immediately knew it was not the right one for him and his wife. BUT he was really fixated on my 3 bronzes. When I asked him how serious he was about them, since I was planning to sell 2 of them, he immediately bought them on the spot. A man buying a house ended up buying two of my bronzes! He said it was something he had never done in his life...but he bought the wolf for his wife, who is a teacher and runs a daycare center; and he bought the shaman for himself, in honor of his nephew who is a medical doctor in Peru, near where I served the Campa Pajonal indians back in 1969. How's that for breathing life into old bones!

(The Northwoods and Shaman's Vision images were taken off the Internet.)

Adventures or Not!

2009-10-11T10:52:00.001-04:00

Awhile back, g'son Nicholas told me that what he likes about his other grammy is that they go on adventures. So when Nicholas was with me this past Thursday through Saturday, I asked him about two of the things we did...if they were adventures.

First, we went to the Cumming Fair on Thursday, which was the opening night this year. We have done it every year in October since he was 2 years old, so this was his 8th time in his 9 years (you have to use your fingers for the math, trust me). Because it was opening night, they had "specials" -- like no entrance fee and only $18/person for unlimited rides. We saved a bundle!

AND Nicholas had no school on Friday (or Monday) because of the Columbus Day holiday. So, we had a blast. All 6 hours worth! We were there by 4:15 and left at 10:15. Talk about tired puppies. Was it an adventure? "Sort of."

Believe it or not, this was the only picture I took of him on a ride because, well, because I rode all the rides with him! I rode the above ride with him (the "airplane" ride) but he wanted to ride it again and I told him this time I would take a picture of him.

We always go to the big barn to see the animals, year after year. The billy goats are the ones who eat up the attention!

We even saw a totally new clown/circus show with pigs and dogs .

And then we ate up the homemade ice cream. It went back-n-forth between vanilla, chocolate and strawberry...until we got to the head of the line and he decided on chocolate. Good choice! One bowl is really plenty to share amongst THREE people, but we managed to finish it just fine.

We had earlier eaten our prerequisite turkey leg (this was the second year in a row that we were able to finish one between us) and corn on the cob. But my hands were way too messy for that photo op.

Okay. That was Thursday night.

Now segue to Friday afternoon when we went on a 2-mile-each-way trail walk in the neighborhood that was just finished a few months ago. Was it an adventure? "Not really."

So, when I asked him why it wasn't exactly an adventure, he said because it wasn't exactly in the woods. We had a defined boardwalk or biking trail the entire way. IT told us where to go, instead of us telling it where we wanted to go. I asked him if our woods here at the house is an adventure, and he said "YES!"
Okay, I'm getting it. Made sense to me.

I think I learned something from Nicholas this weekend about what adventures are! They are NOT clearly defined events or places that are straight-forward or predictable. They are "off the beaten path" and a bit of a surprise as you make your own on-the-go choices.

I've decided that means I can safely describe my life at this point in time as an Adventure!

In Case You Were Wondering

2009-09-23T15:21:00.005-04:00

It's been on the evening news the last 2 nights so perhaps you have heard that Atlanta has had historic flooding after days and days of relentless rain.

In my 22 years here in Atlanta, I've never seen anything like it. Typically we are in drought alert and on water rationing, year after year. So for g'son Nicholas to have had 2 school days off for flooding in the county, that's saying something. Thus far, 10 have lost their lives in Georgia and Alabama due to the rain. Countless others have lost their homes/possessions. Back in 1993 I lost my condo to fire and have been wondering what would be worse, fire or flood!

Personally, I've been fine! The yard was becoming a jungle as the rain started several days ago, but because it wouldn't stop raining, I could never mow it. Yesterday, however, we had a day of sun, so I decided to cut the grass. The grass was dry BUT the ground was so soggy, the mower wheels left muddy ruts:

Now I ponder which was worse...the jungle or the ruts!

Switch gears now and let me update you on something else you may have been wondering about: the house selling and my upcoming move to the Netherlands.

After 7+ months of no bites of consequence on our For Sale house, the decision was made to refinance it back to a 30-year mortgage and Quit-Claim me off the deed, buying me out. It was a win-win situation, lowering the monthly mortgage and allowing me the freedom to move on with my life.

God willing and the creek don't rise, I expect to be out of the house and moved to the Netherlands by the end of November. The estate sale, getting rid of the last of my earthly possessions that won't go with me, is scheduled for the first weekend in November. After that, my car will be sold and...that's all she wrote!

In the meantime, I'm checking off the list all those things that came to mind the last weeks/months when I couldn't get to sleep. It's one thing to move to another city but to move to another country?! That's something else.

For example, did you know that when you apply for emigration to another country and have to get certified copies of your important papers (birth certificate, divorce decree, name change, etc.), there has to be an apostille (pronounced ah-pa-STEEL) added to authenticate the certified copy? And it's not in the same courthouse where you get the certified copies!

So I took 3 hours today to go get certified copies that I already had (they can't be older than 6 months by the time you start the emigration application and mine were a year old) AND to get them apostillized (if that's a word). You can imagine my sheer delight in finding out what this mystery was all about...and talk about getting my education! Attached (with a brass-plated rivet!) as a cover letter to the certified document is this apostille, specific to the Netherlands, that tells them they can trust the certified document to be valid. And at the very bottom it states "THIS APOSTILLE IS NOT VALID WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." How's that for jumping up and down and backwards and forwards to get something validated!

So now you know...in case you were wondering. I have NOT drowned or lost any possessions still remaining. And while the house still has no bites for selling (in fact, it's off the market while the refi is in process), it looks like I have an end in sight, at which point I can move on with the rest of my life.

Thanks for wondering...in case you were!

NASCAR on Speed

2009-09-14T14:47:00.007-04:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I was writing about Frodo? What a segue, then, to NASCAR!

I had the good fortune of being invited to my first (and most certainly last?) NASCAR event ever over the Labor Day weekend a week ago at our Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Talk about an experience! It's funny how we can hear about something all our lives and even see the races on TV but it's not the same as being there up close and personal...like so many other things in life.

First of all, my friend told me that NASCAR is more popular and makes more money in its sport around the country than all our other sports put together. Can you believe that?

Did you know that Homeland Security sponsors a car? Our tax dollars put to good use! Did you know that all the cars in the races use the same chassis, the same SUNOCO gas, and the same tires? The only difference in the race is the engine (Dodge, Chevy, etc.), the driver...and the pit crew. You can have the best driver in the world but if his/her pit crew is one or two seconds too slow in changing the tires, it can make or break who wins the race. Seriously! I tell you, I really got my education.

Another interesting tidbit: Did you know that those fighter planes that streaked across the sky just as the National Anthem was ending actually started off from Louisiana and were timed precisely for this entrance? How do they do that? Who came up with that mathematical formula!

Well, as happens in real life at most sports' events, people-watching ends up being the bigger event. That's why I always say I'd rather see the game on TV if I really want to see the game! Once a year in the Braves' ballpark or one last time in U of Michigan's Big House is always very nice, of course. Nothing like the ethos of the actual game atmosphere, which you never quite get on TV!

How many people told me, "Make sure you take your earplugs!" I did!

But what maybe surprised me more than anything was how redneck this venue was. How Bible Belt. Not only was there an invocation but Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family gave it. Don't get me started but...not gay friendly! And in an estimated attendance of 111,300, I saw only one African American. Okay, I know this is the South, but come on! Give me a break!

Having said that, was I glad I went? You betcha. Friend and I stayed till only about halfway through. It started at 7:30p (AMS's first night race in their 49-year history!), we left at 9:30 and watched it finish at 11:30p. Luckily I was spending the night there so it was a perfect way to do it.

And guess who the winner was! #9 Kasey Kahne whose pit crew just happened to be directly opposite our seats!

So was it the driver, the engine, or the pit crew who won the race...or all 3 together!

And oh, yes...there really was a race! I saw a lot of it with my very own eyes. :) In fact, here's a little photo album with 34 pics.

Just Like Frodo

2009-09-01T12:17:00.004-04:00

Remember in the LOTR, the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, when the movie opens and Frodo is leaning up against a tree, reading? It's when Gandalf rides into town for Bilbo's birthday (image from Google Images).

G'son Nicholas was with me over this past weekend and when we watched the movie, he immediately said, "G'ma, I want to read in the woods, just like Frodo!"

No sooner said than done, as far as this g'ma is concerned! All we had to figure out was when we would do it. That was Friday night and the when ended up being Saturday, late afternoon. Thank God, because by Sunday it was raining!

We even had LOTR books to choose from for reading. How 'bout that!

As an interesting aside, we went out into the woods after we came home from seeing the last Harry Potter movie at the theater (the second time for each of us). We started talking about all the similarities between the HP movies and the LOTR movies. Then we added other good-vs-evil movie sets, like Star Wars and X-Men.

Don't you just love how those little minds work?!!!!

ABF U-Pack Moving

2009-08-20T10:47:00.002-04:00

This is a commercial!

If you ever need to move a small load of stuff from A to B, and don't want the hassle of doing it yourself, this is the way to do it. Guaranteed.

Oh, and did I mention that it will probably also save you lots of moo-lah!

In my present moving scheme of things, I needed to transport several heirloom items (irreplaceable furniture pieces from my parents and grandparents) to a sister in Michigan. I can't take them with me and daughter Amy doesn't want them. But they needed to stay in the family, if you catch my drift.

So I did the research and found out this is the way to go. The only glitch is that YOU do the packing and the unloading on both ends. You leave the driving to them!

A very nice gentleman delivered the 6'x7'x8' ReloCube to my house one week. Here you see him driving the forklift off his truck at the head of our drive. There was no way he could bring his big truck down into the woods, to the house, he said. But no prob! He was a pro at his job and knew exactly what to do.

The next thing I knew, the Relocube was situated near the house off the drive, ready for me to pack. I had almost a week to do it, so Dennis and Mark had plenty of time to find a day that worked to accomplish the deed (with blood, sweat and tears!) in about an hour. The funny thing is that I had fully planned to take pictures of them working but totally forgot until they were all done (for which they were thankful, they said!).

From that point, all I had to do was make sure everything was roped down into place for the 850-mile transport to Michigan.

The good news: I found out last evening from sister Nancy that everything arrived in great shape. No mishaps, nothing damaged.

So, keep this in mind if ever you need to transport something long-distance and do NOT want the hassle of driving the load yourself. It ended up costing approximately half the price of doing it myself in the smallest U-Haul truck. Can't beat that!

Like I said, this is a commercial! ABF U-Pack Moving.

The Michigan Wedding

2009-08-13T09:14:00.002-04:00

If any one image tells the story more than the others, for me this one is it.
On my Shutterchance photoblog, this is the photo I used to talk about the balancing act this marriage is now starting.

Lesley and Brian!
Now that your ship has come in, may you stay high and dry most of the time. And if/when you fall in and get wet, may you have fun getting back into the boat without too much floundering.
I guess that's what we can realistically hope for all of us!

Besides all the wedding fun with farm props everywhere (remember to see sister Ruth's post if you want more pics or my wedding album...or BIL Don's post) and seeing family members I hadn't seen in awhile, I totally fell in love with the wee-est of them all...the youngest kids from the 4th generation represented there that day. They stole my heart. You can see them individually in the wedding album but here's a collage I made of 3 of them:

They are our future.
They are the ones who hopefully will learn from us...what NOT to do!
Indeed, God bless them everyone!

* * * * * * * * * *

On the house front, we're still waiting and waiting and waiting. We did just recently lower our asking price, regardless of the fact all realtors have said it was priced right. I hope my hunch is correct that it will happen soon, within the next 2 months? The unknown on timing really takes its emotional toll. I pray for mercy!

And in the meantime, I pack and prepare as though it will all be done within a month!

Pre-Wedding Prep

2009-08-06T10:31:00.004-04:00

After a week on Sister Ruth's farm in Michigan, capped off by the August 1 wedding of niece Lesley, I have to catch you up!

First of all, I drove up and back, almost 800 miles each way in 12-hour days, all by myself, and "DID IT!" I drove without fatigue or mishap. I felt protected by the God of the Universe. It was amazing.

Beginning that Monday and for the next 5 days, including Saturday, the day of the wedding, we all worked 8-hour days, almost non-stop. I started out cleaning the above 3 vintage windows...followed by the 18 vintage chairs that had been sitting in the barn for months, all freebies from Free-Cycle. They ended up being placed strategically around the farm in lovely vignettes for the time between the wedding ceremony and the dinner hour.

Then I helped Don build the arbor that was such a romantic gateway to the celebration. It took 4 of us to stabilize it and put it into place. We almost ditched the effort until we got it to work...with celebratory lights to boot!

This is what it looked like the night of the wedding (yes, I'm jumping ahead)!

From that point on, I mainly had a paint brush in hand! I stained the 4 Adirondack chairs Don had made and then Spar-urethaned them...two days' worth of effort.

Sister Nancy then needed me to rip seams from the Mother-of-the-Bride's lovely strapless floor-length dress. Nancy is the real seamstress...taking a size 12 down to a size 6. It was the dress Ruth wanted but the only size available. No problem for Nancy! That's what sisters are for! I was happy I could rip the seams.

Can you imagine sitting out on the front porch to resize a dress?!

Look at that dress! Miss Ele-Gant with the groom, her new son. But I digress again, jumping too far ahead....

Then there were all kinds of odds-n-ends...painting this and that for whatever wherever. All stuff I enjoyed doing. Call me the Painter Queen. It must have been the farmer shorts...putting me in my zone.

Don't tell me I can't handle power tools! Yup. Even the screen door needed to be painted, front and back.

Then the atelier had to be cleaned from head to toe. It was the babysitting room after dinner before the kids went to the farm house to watch their bedtime movie, Wall-E. Can you believe this used to be a chicken coop? Now it's Ruth's studio.

By now, we're finally at the wedding-day stretch, working from 8a till 4p before stopping to get ready for the 6p ceremony. Hundreds of mini-lights still needed to be strung all around the magical tent. Can you imagine what that looked like as it got dark?!

Well, imagine no more because here's Sister Ruth's post for the event. I'll share my own post in a couple of days. But for now, I wanted you to see why I went up early to help get the farm ready. It was such a great memory, to have and hold forever.

For the family (and you who have time), here's my pre-wedding album (you can view it at fast speed in the slideshow). We really did work our tails off...and it was totally worth it!

TIMBER! (or Two Men and a Truck?)

2009-07-25T10:49:00.002-04:00

This is what happened, God-honest truth.

It started raining this spring in Atlanta like it would make up for lost time. Years of drought. Years of damage to the root systems of all our precious trees, even the mighty oaks. Suddenly, the evening news was full of stories...oak trees falling on houses and cars. Tree experts warning us to go check our trees...so it wouldn't happen to us.

So, living on 3 acres in the woods, I was no dummie! DUH! I counted F-I-V-E oak trees near the play set and driveway, any of which, if they fell, would damage an investment. Donica agreed to get the deed done. It would leave a bad taste in a buyer's mouth if "it" happened AFTER they moved in. So I did my homework and found a local man and dad who were properly licensed and insured.

In one day they quickly felled 4 of the trees. Boom boom boom boom. One right after the other. That was easy. Maybe 3 hours worth of toil and trouble. The son had to climb only one of the trees and after getting to the top, decided he didn't have to after all. Boom. It fell exactly where he wanted. Dad was there to "spot" him.

The entire time, I was busy with my camera. HA! Yes, me! I wouldn't have missed this for anything. As I walked around, however, all the contraptions, the 2 trucks and bobcat, the gizmos...all interested me much more than the trees. This was a photographer's paradise.

The 1969 Ford F-250.

The 1973 Ford F-750.

The bobcat.

Okay, now hold your breath for a month! There was still one last mighty oak to come down, the biggest of them all and half the entire price. The Mother of all Mighty Oaks! But no one came and no one came and no one came. One month!

Just when I was ready to give up on the enterprise, I heard a chainsaw buzzing one morning and there they were. Son was already at the top of the tree (the first tree at the head of this post), with all the top limbs already de-limbed. RATS! I had wanted to catch that. Not to worry, I soon found out why this one was half the price. I think they were there for 6+ hours!

And what I found out was that Dad had a pacemaker "installed" during that month and was not released to do any work for 4 weeks. Well, DUH! But the biggest topper of all was when I found out he grew up in Dansville, MI, where my sister and BIL live on their farm. The more we talked, the more connections we made. Unbelievable. What a small world.

Which makes a nice segue to tell you that I leave on Sunday (tomorrow) to drive 750+ miles north from Atlanta to Dansville, to said farm, to help sister Ruth all next week in prep for their daughter's wedding "down on the farm" August 1st! It will be a humdinger of a wedding, trust me. I can just imagine what it will be like. YES, I'll take as many pictures as possible to give you an inkling, once I return (on the 2nd).

In the meantime, here's a little photo album on the tree-cutting. Please pray for journeying mercies as I drive both ways by myself, hopefully in one day each. I will rest whenever necessary, I promise. Once back home, I've decided the house can sell just as quickly as anyone can say TIMBER five times (but hopefully without a month in between)!

The Last Single Digit

2009-07-15T11:33:00.002-04:00

Last Friday we celebrated grandson Nicholas' 9th birthday! First he wanted to celebrate it at the Aquatic Center...then at Monkey Joe's (indoor inflatable playground)...but when the two friends he wanted to invite couldn't come, Amy suggested the bowling alley. And that's where we went! Amy, Dennis, Noelle and Brooke (Dennis' 2 girls who are here for 6 weeks this summer from LA), Uncle Mark and G'ma (moi!).

You can imagine how proud I was when Nicholas told me he wanted me to be on HIS team! OMG! How to make friends and influence people. He's no dummie. So on adjoining alleys, we were 2 teams: Nicholas, Noelle, Amy and G'ma against Brooke, Dennis and Mark.

Noelle (15) and Brooke (11) are buddy-buddy and held their own, often with each other on the same alley...in spite of playing on opposite teams across the ball return.

Amy and Dennis often bowled side by side, which was also fun to watch, especially when they snuck in their sweet, tender kisses.

And Mark showed us how to do it, wiping off the oil with my towel from all those years ago when I was on a bowling team and was a serious player!

In between our 2nd and 3rd games, we celebrated with the birthday cake:

And then when we were done, the BB (Big Boy) opened his presents.

I told Amy I can't remember when I had so much fun as a family. We all were in our zone and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a total blast.

And just think...next year and going forward, Nicholas will be in double-digit numbers! He is no longer the BLB (Big Little Boy). He is growing up before our very eyes!

Oh, and here's the complete Birthday Album. Just what the doctor ordered while I still wait and wait....with NO ONE coming by to look at the house this past weekend! Not even that man from Iowa with his wife. What a bummer.

Steady As She Goes

2009-07-07T17:48:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to mind my own business while waiting these days. Waiting for house-hunters. Waiting for someone to be interested enough to make an offer. Waiting for a contract. Waiting for a sale.

The other day, when I bounded from the front door to go get the mail, I almost tripped over this steady-as-she-goes box turtle on the sidewalk just a step or two away from the porch. Needless to say, I immediately went back inside for the camera!

Believe it or not, I actually lay down on the sidewalk and looked this incredible creature in the eye! The entire time she sat motionless while I clicked away. I have no idea if she was frozen with fear or was just letting me do my thing, posing.

What I neglected to tell you was that there was a blob of something in front of her that seemed to be her goal and destination. Was she as curious of it as I was of her?

Finally I walked up our long drive to get the mail, pulling a few weeds along the way (as I am wont to do!). But as I walked back to the porch, I wondered if I'd still see Ms. Turtle. And had she investigated her prize?

Well, she was NOT there but I did see her hiding under the hosta leaves next to the porch and chuckled. I'll never know if she took the time to investigate the blob, but she clearly knew how to high-tail it out of there.

All I could think of is a turtle may not be the fastest vehicle in the world but she sure can get from A to Z if she sets her mind to it. I'm guessing the same thing will happen to the selling of this house! It may not be the fastest time in our economy right now to sell a house, but steady as she goes...it's just a matter of time.

Speaking of which...a gentleman spent an hour looking at the house 2 weeks ago and supposedly will be bringing his wife by to see it this weekend. They're relocating here from Iowa, with 3 little boys. Like the turtle, will they find their prize here? You'll be the first to know, trust me! If you think of it, please say a little prayer....

The Blind Leading the Blind

2009-06-18T09:31:00.002-04:00

NO, I am not dead. YES, I had my birthday last week and turned 64. NO, the house has not sold. YES, the housing activity is picking up, according to our realtor. YES, I'm still totally trusting the process and timing of everything. YES, there is always something to keep me busy (like weeding and mulching this week). YES, YES, YES. Always more YESES than NOES.

Now, let me tell you why I got so excited today and immediately became jazzed about posting it.

This was the image I posted yesterday on my Shutterchance (SC) site, from when we were in Brussels, Belgium, last July, 2008. I mentioned that it was my favorite of all the statues/fountains I saw in Brussels but I couldn't find out what it depicted or who sculpted it. Several commenters thought they were meterologists, checking on the rain/humidity!

Then a commenter from South Africa, who has a Dutch wife, told us what it is: "Postuurke van Den Blinde" or Parable of the Blind. THEN I was able to Google it and found out that it's based on the 1568 oil painting of Pieter Bruegel of the Parable of the Blind....depicting the blind leading the blind. The sculptor of this fountain in Brussels is Jos de Decker, and in this link, you can see how small it is.

The beauty of the Internet and of blogging is that the world really is at our fingertips! It just amazes me. Okay, yes, it's sometimes like the blind leading the blind, I know, but more often than not, you can find the information you want within hours, if not minutes!

BTW, if you wonder if I'm still alive or what's happening, please check me out at my SC site, where I am more faithful in posting. It doesn't give my whole life'e story but it does give you snippets of what's happening.

Now I will go check out YOU! I promise....

Hello and Good-Bye

2009-05-12T07:58:00.004-04:00

Before we get too far away from Mother's Day....

Lucky me, I got to start the day with Nicholas because he was with me for a Saturday overnight. We awakened to a glorious, sunny day on Sunday and he asked, "G'ma, can we go out into the woods?"

You don't have to ask me twice! As I see him sitting in this new fallen tree (the old one was cut down), I see how much he has grown since our early days traipsing around. The traditions remain, like taking the blanket for lying down to just listen to the sounds...and sharing apple slices for our snack.

These are eternalized moments for me. As we were meandering around and exploring, looking for wild berries and burls, it dawned on me that this could very well be our last outing in the woods here. The house has not yet sold but it could be any day now.

So we talked about how special this place has been over the years and how many friends we have made. We never needed to name the trees (as my mom used to do at the family cottage). We just called them Friends.

What I will never forget more than anything is how Nicholas would find the tiniest of treasures and say "G'ma, take a picture of this!" It's like he, too, wanted to "eternalize" the moment.

It did come time to say Good-Bye. And we did. Funny thing is we weren't even that sad. We both just took it in stride and said "Thank You, Trees. Thank you, Friends."

Nicholas will be 9 in July. I'll be 64 in June. No matter what age, we criss-cross paths of comings and goings, of Hellos and Good-Byes. Passages of time. Moments of moving on.

And that particular moment we DID move on...to Amy's house to celebrate a fabulous day of "eternalized moments" with the larger family. Dennis had just arrived from LA on Friday to STAY...a one-way ticket! Before they celebrate their one-year anniversary on June 1, he is now here to live! Mark was with us, too, for cards and an incredible dinner cooked by Dennis and Nicholas. It was quite a memorable Mother's Day for me.

No sooner do we say Good-Bye to some friends, we get to say Hello to others. Good-Bye, woods. Welcome to Atlanta, Dennis. And Happy Mother's Day! I hope YOU had a great day, too.

YES, NO, YES

2009-04-22T16:07:00.002-04:00

NO, I did not fall off the face of the earth. YES, I am alive and well. NO, the house has not yet sold. YES, I have finished scanning and listing my hundreds of sheets of USA stamps (see last post).

Now I am working on a lesser project that will go fairly quickly since I don't have to scan every sheet. I have hundreds of Souvenir Pages (SP), like this one, from 1972 - 2008...a SP for every stamp made by the USA. I will sell the pages in Lots by each year. Someone will buy them for their own collection or to sell individually on eBay. If I had the time, I'd scan and list them all myself, but that's too much effort right now. I'm not a glutton for that kind of punishment. Let someone else have the fun.

I also need to sell all my First Day Covers (FDCs) as a Lot as well. Someone will have fun selling them individually. eBay can be so much fun, if you have the time and the right material. Seriously!

Now, switch gears for a second...if you aren't faint of heart or one quick to disillusionment! A month or so ago I noticed that the shower in the master bath was not draining properly. So I went to Home Depot to get something like Draino to unplug it. But I first talked to a gentleman there who told me he prefers NOT to use chemicals on such nasty problems. He told me to start first with this nifty little gadget, called Zip-It, and see if it would do the trick (click to enlarge). And it was CHEAP. Under $2!

Do you think it did the trick???

So, now that you know I'm alive and well and basically finished with the BIG project of these days, please put out lots of Good Energy to the Universe for the sale of our house. Every day, as I finish more and more stuff, I am releasing it to whomever will buy it.

My rule of thumb: always surround any NO with as many YESes as possible.

And now in the next days I will come catch up on YOU and what's happening in YOUR life. So sorry it's been so long....

At Face Value

2009-03-29T22:02:00.001-04:00

# 741 GRAND CANYON Sheet of 50 2c MNH Stamps 1934.

That was the title of one of my recent sheets of stamps I listed on eBay. Did you get it? It's Scott's catalog #741 of our USPS sheet of 50 stamps from 1934, mint, never hinged, with a face value of 2-cents each. Since I start all my stamp auctions at face value, this auction was listed at $1.00. It ended selling for $11.02 plus S&H.

That got me thinking of face value. When we say we take something at face value, what do we mean?

The definition of face value has to do with the apparent/written value of something as opposed to its market value or real worth right now. Based on this definition, the face value of this sheet is $1.00 but its real value is $11.02.

So if I take YOU at face value, or you take MY SITUATION at face value, is it our way of reducing each other to the most objective, lowest common denominator without the added drama of our subjectivity? Is it in our best interest to see at face value instead of with our penchant for judgmental assessment? Or do we perhaps NEED to judge things in order to give them more worth than their face value?

I'll just let that hang there for awhile.....

In the meantime, I've been selling things on eBay like a mad woman (which I already mentioned a couple posts ago!). Today my 110th eBay auction sold and I've sold 13 books thus far on Amazon.com. What's left is mostly philatelic stuff from my years of collecting. I can't take it with me, so I'm selling it. I'm lucky it still holds value...not only its face value but more. The nice thing about stamps is that you know what price to start at (since you can use stamps even from 1934 at their face value!)...and assume it'll only go up, if the stamps are old and scarce. The scarcer the better!

In between the listing and selling is the packaging up and mailing, which I actually love. The whole process from beginning to end is so ME.

At face value, you can safely say I'm having fun! For what it's worth, I'm very grateful to have a way of adding nickels and dimes to the coffers for when the house sells. Nothing new to add on that end of things...not yet. Maybe once I'm finished with eBay, the house will stop holding its breath and will say "Come buy me...for what I'm worth!"

It's HERE!

2009-03-20T09:11:00.001-04:00

After several consecutive days of rain and very cold weather, SPRING has finally hit us here in Atlanta!

So I have started to take walks again around the neighborhood and am seeing things again as though for the first time. For some reason, this past winter was a lot harder than usual...maybe for everyone around the country?

With camera in hand, I am enthralled by what happens at this time of the year. It's a sermon unfolding before our very eyes...that as surely as the night comes, it will pass and daylight will arrive. As surely as Winter's breath clutches us, Spring's freshness will release us and set us free.

Let's go fly a kite! This kite has been in this tree for years, weathered by everything that comes its way. I can't help but think it'd much rather be flying!!! I know I would...right this very minute!

On a house-selling note, activity has been very slim, but I've actually been glad because I'm working hard every day to get stuff listed and sold on eBay, Amazon.com, and Craigslist. So far so good, especially on eBay. Who knew that all those duplicate sheets of stamps I bought years ago would be sold now! Once everything is listed, and relisted (you get two times for the price of one, you know), I'll breathe easier and then will start paying attention to the house selling. Ultimately I am confident the timing will be perfect for all concerned!

In the meantime, I will NOT forget that SPRING IS HERE!

It's a ZOO

2009-03-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

Just when I think I'm getting my hands wrapped around something, another project presents itself in the same breath. And that's how it's been for several days now...maybe weeks.

One moving van has come and gone (was that really a week ago today!) and what's left has been moved and reorganized to make this house still presentable for selling. Nothing to add to that except that one lady has come back with a measuring tape to measure every room. That sounds promising except for the fact that her husband still needs to see exactly what she's measured!

Apart from that, I'm like a mad woman, scanning and taking pictures of everything I want to sell on eBay, Amazon.com (lots of books have already sold), Craigslist, and the flea-market and consignment stores. Do I really have that much stuff! (sigh) I've decided I definitely want to travel light into my next life!

In the meantime, I take care of Nicholas all weekend and look forward to some good grandma time.

BTW, any takers on the thumb toys above???

Lil' Kicker #2

2009-03-01T19:36:00.002-05:00

Just when I thought there were no more sports to try for awhile, along comes flag football for the Big Boy! And wouldn't you know, it's the one sport he REALLY gets! Soccer was okay; baseball was better; swimming wasn't competitive and too much like fun; but FOOTBALL is like...SERIOUS BUSINESS!

Nicholas, age 8-1/2, has now had two games, both of which I was able to attend. Luckily the games are indoors because today Atlanta had its first snow storm of the season. No problem. We all got there and back without a hitch, even though several schools are closed for tomorrow.

The center of attention...well, MY attention, that is.

Here in the foreground, he PAYS attention. Really, he does.

And somehow he always weasles himself in next to the coach's side, eyeballing the next play!

Today Nicholas was the ball-hiker on offense. At first he side-hiked the ball but throughout the rest of the game, he did it through his legs like a pro. So cute! See the size difference in these boys, ages 8-10! Not to worry though because he's one of the fastest on the team!

And even Donica was there today with her video camera and this YouTube for show-and-tell (keep your eyes on #2 because in the first play, he captures the flag!):

YAY for YouTube! If this works, this is my first attempt at posting a video. HA! An old dog doing a new trick...showing a new dog doing an old trick. I love it.

Here's a small photo album from the last two games (20 images). You know how we feel about kids and team sports: it's a valuable life experience, for all of us!

Up, Up and Away

2009-02-21T09:10:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not, there's one last "event" from our Sedona, Arizona, trip last November that needs to be shared...before I can lay that week to rest: our hot-air balloon ride (photo album).

It was my first such balloon experience in my life and is one I will never forget. It's hard to describe the feeling of 2 hours in the air at slow speed in the quiet beauty of the desert morning with the redrocks in the distance! But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Before the sun rose, we were picked up at our vacation house and taken out to the desert spot where 5 different balloons were being set up to fly together.

Part of the fun was watching all five balloons get blown up at the same time. Ours was the last (to the left out of the picture, just getting set up).

One by one, all that hot air....and then lift-off!

Then the ride! OMG! For the next two hours we watched the sun rise over the Cathedral Rock formation, one of the 7 vortexes in the Sedona area (see this post).

We even saw the San Francisco Peaks off in the distance, north of Flagstaff (below).

The rest of the trip was just as fun watching the other 4 balloons and taking pictures of where they were, either above or below us the entire ride.

Besides all that, the actual details of flying the balloon itself were so fascinating. I was enamored with all of it, from setup to navigation to takedown.

As I said, I'll never forget it.

And at the end, a celebration! Champagne, strawberries-n-cream, and a certificate of having taken a hot-air balloon ride over the upper Senoran desert! What more could we have asked for from "our beautiful, our beautiful balloon!"