And Yet More Stuff

For someone who we didn't think was pack-rat, we're finding a lot of old papers, some interesting, some not so much. For example, we found some old financial records (bank books - remember them? - from 1980-something, cancelled checks from 1990 through 2002, etc.); I'd put that in the not-so-interesting category. There are also some old photos of people no one can identify (is that her neighbor's daughter's best friend's baby?); ditto. But then there are some really cool things that I can't wait to examine closer - her father's Army papers, her grandmother and great-grandmother's paperwork for their boat ride to the New Country - papers I've only seen online via ancestry.com, and old photos of relatives with names on the back so we know who we're looking at. Looking forward to going through those.

Tonight, we tried to identify the 'good' jewelry, the stuff we know is old and probably is made of real gold with real stones. Tomorrow, we'll take most of the unknown stuff to a jeweler and try to find an appraiser - or someone who will direct us to a place that takes scraps.

Tomorrow, we're also taking aunt I's car into the shop to see if it's cross-country-worthy. If it seems like it will hold up, DH and I are thinking about driving it home. Take a fast drive across the southern U.S. and have a commuter car when we arrive. If it will survive the trip.

More Stuff

How much costume jewelry can one woman own? In the case of my aunt, an awful lot. Pick a holiday - she had a pin or necklace or earrings to celebrate. Pick a stone - she had it. She kept them in plastic cups, ice trays, and pill bottles; in old jewelry boxes, old clothing boxes, and rolled up in towels. Stacks and piles and tray-fulls.

Among the costume stuff, we found some gems. My great-grandfather's Masonic pin. A couple of 14K and 18K pieces from Scotland. A real ivory heart. We need to get to a jeweler to help us separate the gold from the brass, the crystal from the real stones.

After we had gone through a lot of the 'big' stuff in her second bedroom, my sister-in-law and I started going through the jewelry. We figured on maybe an hour, separate the good from the not-so-good, decide which pieces, if any, we wanted as mementos. Two hours later, we still hadn't gone through everything, and we already have a large box for donation or a 'trash and treasure' sale. More tomorrow.

SIL and I made a lot of progress - as long as brother and dad were not in the room. She and I were fairly ruthless about things we knew had little or no sentimental value and were able to get them into donation or trash piles. But the minute those two got there, it was s-l-o-w city, examining everything, opening books, unfolding afghans, unboxing things that didn't need to be unboxed. When we found them doing that, we quickly found something else for them to be doing, preferably somewhere other than in the condo. For brother, we kept sending him out to the donation station. For dad, we eventually sent him to his girlfriend, who conveniently lives in the same development.

Tomorrow - more dresser drawers, more jewelry, finish up the kitchenware. DH will spend time with dad going over financial stuff and paperworky things, prepping him for finding an attorney who specializes in probate. In the state of Florida, unless there is no real property at all, you apparently need a lawyer to help wend your way through the paperwork. The good news is that the fees are pretty well set by the state. The bad news is that it takes at least $500 just for filing the papers; that doesn't include the lawyer's fee. Well... that's how it goes.

Thanks to everyone for your emails and comments here and on Facebook. I may not get a chance to send everyone a personal note, but I really appreciate all the kind words and warm hugs you are sending my way.

Goodbyes and Cleaning Time

The memorial service was very nice yesterday. We had originally planned for it to be in a room that held around 30-35. We figured it was short notice, it was late afternoon, and a lot of the 'snow birds' still hadn't come back down yet. DH and I were the first ones to arrive, followed by some of her neighbors. The first few came up to us to pay their respects, then it sort of tapered off. I was sitting in the front row and spent most of the time crying or just leaning against DH.

A little before 3:30, when the service was just about to start, my dad gets in front of the room to speak. I figure he's going to get things started and say a little bit about my aunt. Wrongity-wrong-wrong. He announces that he's sorry to have to do this, but because there was no more room for everyone, we all needed to move to a bigger room. At this point, I turned around to find the place packed, with people standing and more people trying to get in!

We all trooped down the hall to their biggest room, the chapel (the same place where my mom's memorial service was held). The funeral director said they did a count; there were 60 people who came to pay their respects. The minister did a nice job of speaking about her, and everyone who came by at the end of the service said how much fun she was to be around and how much they'll miss her. It was a great testament and tribute to my amazing aunt, who could make friends with anyone and often did.

For a woman who didn't cook, Aunt Irene had a lot of stuff in her cabinets and cupboards. Spices I doubt she used more than once, some she hadn't even opened. Old boxes of tea bags she probably forgot she had. Her secret stash of York peppermint patties. A big jar of olives - with 3 lonely olives in it. We salvaged the stuff that hadn't expired yet, tossed anything that was old or already opened. We probably threw away 6 or 7 large leaf bags of 'stuff' just from the kitchen, and that only included the food. I haven't even approached the pots, pans, appliances, and tupperware yet.

I took the kitchen, dad was assigned paperwork and financial research, brother wound up fixing her leaking toilet, DH spent the day scraping off the window tinting from the front windows of her car (it was such a bad job, you couldn't roll the windows down all the way; if you got them down even just a bit, you couldn't roll them back up again), and sister-in-law got most of the clothes ready for donating.

This was the easy stuff, the stuff with little or no emotional impact... except for some things SIL and dad found that started to expose the cracks. First, dad found something wrapped in old newspaper; he wasn't quite sure what it was, so he asked me what I made of it. I opened the package carefully and found dried heather, and started to cry. It was a package of some heather from her mom and dad's flowers at their funeral, white for mom (my Nana), purple for dad (my grampa). I have some sprigs, too, and meant to bring them with me to add to her flowers and I blanked as we ran out the door on Tuesday. The next thing was what SIL brought out from her bedroom - the Red Spice sweater I had made for her, originally for Christmas, then when it didn't fit, a re-knit one she got when DH and I were here in February. It fit her exactly right, she loved it, and we took a field trip to pick out buttons she thought were perfect for it.

I expect to have more of those moment in the next few days, weeks, and months as I remember little things about her, and then remember that I can't call her to talk about it and laugh about it. DH has been wonderful, there by my side, holding me when I need it, giving me space when I need it.

Safely in hotel in Florida. Resting up before memorial service at 3:30.

At Rest

Aunt Irene's struggle is over. She passed away quietly in her sleep at around 10:45 PM Eastern time today, October 4. I will miss her very much, as will all her friends.

Aunt I Status

We're not getting very good reports about Aunt I. Even though she's getting dialysis 3 times a week, her urine output is 'negligible,' to the point where they've removed her catheter. Dad says she seems to be alert, but is physically getting worse, and her memory fluctuates about what she remembers and when. I'm not a nurse, and I don't play one on TV, but my gut tells me it won't be long. I'm praying she goes without pain.

"A Consignment Life for Me..."

When DH and I moved in 2006, we were moving out of an 1100-square-foot condo into a 3,100-square-foot detached house, with a stop in an 800-square-foot apartment along the way. While we did have an oversized living room couch and oversized chair and oversized ottoman (oversized for the condo, anyway), we needed just about everything else for the new home, but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg.

So, after rattling around in an echo chamber for a while, we gradually started filling in house-sized furniture. I got a lot of things from Home Decorators Collection, including our loft bookcases, living room set, and settee for the master bedroom. We splurged a bit to get the perfect bed and nightstands from Pottery Barn (and I wish they'd stop sending me their catalogs!). And then there was Consignment Living... Ah...

We loved shopping at Consignment Living. They had nice furniture at great prices, and Barb and Peggy (the owners) are simply a hoot. Let's see... we bought:

The dining room set (around which we have had up to 12 knitters) (Oh, and the sideboard in the background is an antique from the 1920's - got that from an antique store in Ben Lomond):

Kelly's roll-top desk (his office desk in the Batcave):

And matching file cabinet:

His comfy leather chair:

MY comfy leather chair (where I sit 'n knit - can you tell I use it a lot?):

A lovely pedestal for the bedroom:

And our fabulous wine rack (made from an old teak doorway):

Well, after filling out our new home with a bunch of stuff, we sort of forgot about the family room. We had the comfy couch, chair, and ottoman, and an oak cabinet from the condo. But the cabinet didn't really match, and the room is so big that the poor thing was dwarfed. So, after getting our Wii and upgrading to an LCD TV (a reward for Kelly taking the Bar in July), we decided that it was time to upgrade the furniture, too. So now, meet the newest member of the Keehan-Williams-Consignment Living family, our new sideboard:

It's from Germany, it's made of real wood, and it fills the space nicely! Even after putting the TV and various DVD, cable, and Wii boxes on it, it will still allow us to put art on the walls and maybe even display some of our china pieces. Oh, and did I mention that it was CHEEEEEP? Yep; a fantastic bargain was had, folks.

No, I don't work for them, nor do I play someone who does, but if anyone is near Morgan Hill, California, and needs some furniture, stop in to Consignment Living on Cochrane and take a look. Because it's all consigned furniture, you never know what you'll find, but more than likely you'll find something you really like.