Terry's Blog: Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #54 – Finalizing the House Sale & Finally Getting Trailer Work Started Again!

Tuesday, August 24^th., 2021…… Last day in Crawfordsville! The plan today was to go over and get Corey to clean the carpets and for us to bring back the Shasta trailer. But first, we had to go deliver the fridge we picked up last night from Home Depot. We went there to look at and buy a stackable washer/dryer combo (which we did) and we happened on a nice fridge that was a scratch and dent and was marked down, so we bought it. They loaded it up on my truck and we left it on the truck for today. There was a gentleman driving by who got out of his truck and came over and helped us get it off the truck and up the stairs. Thank you, sir! I had to take the freezer door off so we could get it through the front door, but we got it done and moved into place. We ordered an icemaker for it which will be delivered in a few days. Once we were done there, we went back to the house and got her truck. I left a message for Kirk’s guys on what I wanted them to do to the yard/flowerbeds today and off we went. Corey met us there and had Cathye’s shampooer. He made quick work of the carpets and we had the trailer uncovered and hooked up pretty quickly as well.

We made a last run down to the orchard and went to the blackberry bushes in and around there and made one last pick. That done, we headed back home for the day. I backed the trailer into its temporary location.

I need to do this because I am still waiting for the carport delivery/install, which is sometime late August early September, and they will need room to get in and work. Once we got the cover back on, we went back to check on Don’s progress. He only has a few items left but took some time off because his sister had passed. Our condolences to him and his family. He was extremely glad he had something to do while he was here, so we were relieved to hear that. He has one more day to work and anything he doesn’t get finished will go on to Randy for completion. Randy will be scheduling a day/time to come over anyway to install the backsplash.

Wednesday, August 25^th., 2021…… I made a mistake. We have one more day over at the house. She wants to clean up the kitchen and I want to blow out the breezeway and clean up the pathways with the blower. But first, she needed to go pay Don and then come back and work on some calls for her stepson’s disability care, which needed some updating and review to be continued. He is really close to going into a care facility but doesn’t want to leave his rent-controlled place at this time. When we got to the house, we made quick work of all of our tasks, and I gave her some time alone as this was definitely the last time she would be here. We closed up and came back home to rest. Later, we took another bunch of stuff from my garage over to unload, including the bed, which I set up. She needs curtains/drapes and new rods so that will be on the list to go shopping for tomorrow. Once we got everything done there, we stopped by the Hangry Food Truck and got a chicken bacon wrap to share and came home and rested from our day.

Thursday, August 26^th., 2021…... I was up early and out because I was needed to walk Q this morning. Sis was going in early for her scheduled colonoscopy. I got that task completed and stopped and brought coffee/tea back from Starbucks. Cathye had breakfast burritos ready, and we rested and enjoyed that. Then we headed off to Albany to shop for curtains and hangers for them. We hung around the house until the afternoon. Today was closing day on her house! She had already gotten together all of the keys and documents/receipts from the house, and she had her routing numbers ready for the bank transfer, so we were ready! We headed off to the escrow company in Albany and met up her stepson Chris, and they went on in. I went over to Abbey’s pizza to wait for them. They got everything done and came in and we had a nice meal. Chris was heading back home to Arizona and we came back into town and headed for the Lebanon Library for a benefit concert for Alzheimer’s. We had our chairs and found a good spot with my sister. We enjoyed to local bands before calling it a night.

Friday, August 27^th., 2021…… We were up early and went over to check on progress on the trailer. Since we fired Taz, we have been looking for help in getting things done. I already mentioned Don, who was amazing! He got everything done that he could given his brief time in town. We are now down to a few things that need expert help. She has the other guy, Randy, who will be setting her backsplash tiles and will drill through the wall for a dryer vent. The washer/dryer unit is in place and needs to be hooked up. The plumber, Sean, needs to add a receptacle in the wall for the hookups and needs to hook up the sink and disposal, and also the dishwasher, which Don installed. Baby steps but it’s coming together! We have been shopping! We headed over to Home Depot and looked at more items for the trailer. We stopped by Big Lots, and she bought new curtains and rods for every window. My job will be to install all of the rods. While we were there, a fireplace unit caught her eye! She also spotted a coffee/end table set, which she liked. Maybe another time….

Saturday, August 28^th., 2021…… Today was spent at the trailer. I installed eight curtain rods and she measured to see how much of the curtains need to be trimmed. Remember – this is a mobile home, and the walls are not as tall as in a house. We got all of that done and called it a day and came home to rest.

Sunday, August 29^th., 2021…… I mentioned the fireplace and tables would be for another time. Well, it’s another time! We went back to Big Lots and picked up the coffee table set. They were out of stock on the fireplace unit but the Eugene store had one. We took the tables back to the trailer and continued on to go get the fireplace. Boy, that thing was heavy and was in a big box that I needed help loading. Unloading back at the trailer was no problem though because we just opened up the container and removed it piece by piece and staged it in the house.

Monday, August 30^th., 2021…… Contractor Randy has been there and started the tiling job. He does really nice work. We ran some errands and made some appointments. We leave for our Boston trip on the 7^th. so we needed to get some things done ahead of that. We get back on the 14^th. and will have one day at the house before we head down in the motorhome to California on the 16^th. That trip will be for 20 days. We have two Camping Squares campouts in that timeframe plus Lydia’s and Jeff’s celebrations of life. On that subject – I have almost all of the planning done. Lydia’s will be on Sept 22^nd (12:00-3:00pm) at a friend’s clubhouse in Cypress. I will post again later (both here and on Facebook) with more details. Randy is working on a location (Glory Days or Joe Jost’s in Long Beach) so the date and time is still to be determined. Things will be a little limited for both events, given the covid restrictions, but they are both still on track. Today was mowing day. This time we caught it in time and the grass was short enough to mow easily and it only took one trip to the recycle yard with the clippings.

Tuesday, August 31^st., 2021…… Today we have an appointment with Safelite to get Cathye’s windshield replaced. Sean was also coming today to work on the plumbing. Randy was due back again to finish tiling. So, we decided to split the tasks. I wanted her at the house in case any decisions were needed about what went where so I took the task to drive to Keiser to the glass shop. We chose to drive to them because they were booked out past our time left in town. We took two vehicles and she stayed at the trailer, and I headed up and made the 45-mile drive in time to check in. Two hours later I was out of there and on my way home. Turns out the plumber was a no-show again. She is really frustrated with all of the delays and now knows she won’t be in the trailer before we leave on our trips. But they know what needs to be done and they can work while we’re gone, so we’ll just have to wait on that whole process! But right now, we can see some! The backsplash is almost done and looks great so far (even without grout!).