Mickey and Minnie Mouse!! While cleaning out Mother's things, I came across this ceramic pair. They are not in the best of shape, have no tails, and their names are on their chests. They are ok, but I'm not into "Disney" stuff. I think they are from the 30's or 40's. I don't know anything about them. If you know anything about them, please let me know.
I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff. I'd say more than half of what used to be in this house is not "gone". Mostly, I gave things away as a "pay it forward" thing. It's not really difficult for me to do this ether. I hear about a lot of people having a hard time getting rid of a parent's belongings. I guess I am not one of those kind of people. I can chalk that up to waiting so long to have my own home again. Plus with having taken care of Mother for so long, and having everything arranged before she passed, it really made things easier. And Mother had the insight to make sure I had enough money to do this house the way I wanted to. Believe me I am not a cold hearted woman, just practical. I saved the really important things of hers. So, now I am really getting things the way I want them!!

Ok, I know have the little bedroom ready to go. All the stuff was picked up. And we "filled" Tom's trailor!! All of Mother's things will be going to Apache reservation in Arizona. That tribe is one of the poorest. And it really makes my heart full to know I can lend a hand.
Hubby and Tom loaded all the stuff. then hubby went ahead and began taking out the old ratty carpet. I hate carpet. If you could see all the "dust" and whatever under a carpet, you would never have carpet ether. YUK!! Hubby did it in sections so it wasn't heavy to tote out. I didn't overdo and my back isn't so bad today. The hardest part is getting all those little nail strips up!! We sat and got it all taken care of in just over an hour. I love little pry bars to get the strips and staples!! Hubby swept and then vacuumed. We also moved in the TV cabinet and TV, plus the secertary desk. I have to call the cable company and have them transfer the cable line to this room. Also, I am going out to find a couple of futon-like chairs for in here too. That way, if for some strange reason I get company, I will have a couple of extra beds. I still need to figure out how to get the really big desk in this room too. My neighbor Joe said we might be able to take it apart and reassemble it. Let's hope so. So all in all, I now have the majority of this room finished. Now to move on to the living room and dining room. But, I have a call into my lawn service guy to see if he can get me a couple of guys to help hubby get the rest of the carpet out. I will also be renting a bin from the trash company to really get rid of all this carpet and other junk!! POOF-gone. So much easier than trying to haul all this stuff away ourselves.

Well, it is very early on Sat morning here. (west coast) As I wait for hubby to get up, I check my e-mail, drink coffee, read the paper, feed the cats, then I can take a breath for a few minutes.
I can see now how the house is going to look when we get finished. I have a call into our lawn service guy-John. I want to ask him if he could get us a couple of guys to help hubby rip up the rest of the carpet. I will pay them the going rate and provide lunch. Next week we will be renting a "bin" from the trash company and just getting rid of the old carpet and other junk. It is so much easier than trying to haul away everything. I need to go out and order the 7 foot bookcase, a coffee table, chairs for the dinning table and a couple of futon type chairs for the little bedroom. the futon chairs can also be beds in case of vistors such as my kids. I will also be getting a new stove, fridge and washer. It is tough waiting for all this to get done. It's funny how impatient I am right now. I know these things will be getting done, but I want them done "yesterday"!!!

Well, we finall got all that stuff in the little bedroom "OUT". I had decided to just "donate" all the stuff as a "pay it forward" thing. For once I think it would be nice not to have to think on if I should get a tax break on something.
We went ahead and got the carpet out of the room. Hubby did it in sections as I just can't lift heavy things anymore. It just makes me so angry that I can't do that kind of work. I'm angry that my back is all screwed up. I was the one who always stressed doing heavy lifting and the like the proper way. Lift from the knees, don't twist and lift, etc. And yet here I am with 2 vertebrtas closing in on my spinal cord. Most days I can put up with the pain. Lately tho, I can feel it even when I roll over in bed. I know I need to go in and see Dr. Dennis and see if one of those "magic shots" will do the trick again. Let me expain the shot. I go to the out patient clinic, and when I am called, I go into an operating room, lie on my stomach. They then put me out, that's so I don't move or twitch, stick a needle into L3-4, the space between the 3rd and 4th vertebra and shoot in cortazone. when I wake up, it feels like my hip bones are frozen. For the next few days I just need to take it easy. I hadn't been able to get much medical help while taking care of Mother as the volunteers would only do 2 hours twice a week. With hubby having to take me to get this shot, I needed more than the 2 hours. the really sad part is, friends of Mother or myself just didn't have the time to help me out. So, here I am. I guess I am still reeling about the fact that all the care was left up to me. Now, I am in need and well, I have to go it alone-again.

On a different note, those of you who do any knitting or crochet know the joys of winding your yarn by hand. I use my knees to wind up balls of yarn. Others use a chair to hold yarn while winding. Well, I found a woman who not wanting to pay out up to $70 for a winder, figured out how to make on for under $20. Her llink is
http://www.craftydiversions.com/patterns/homemade_yarn_swift.htm
Plus if you go to her site she now has knit patterns.