Looking for a reason, roaming thru the night to find my place in this world....~ Michael W. Smith

Frazzled is such a great word. Dictionary.com defines it as "worn out; fatigued". That would be me.

So what have I done this week to be so frazzled, you ask? Dear Hubby and I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday cleaning our basement. 28 1/2 years' worth of basement. I think we've both learned a valuable lesson about basements. If you have something you no longer need, if you have something that breaks and no longer works, don't put it in the basement. It's too easy to 'forget' that it's there. Until it's time to clean it out. Until it comes back to haunt you. I found boxes of old check books and registers, bank statements, insurance papers...I took 95 lbs. of useless old papers to Office Max this week to have them shredded. 95!!!!! The clerk who helped me couldn't believe how loaded down my shopping cart was with boxes and garbage bags full. I'd thought about going thru old papers and envelopes, sorting out the stuff to recycle and ripping up the papers with SS numbers or bank account numbers....but once I saw the volume I thought, "No way!" I would've been buried in it. I would've been sorting until next September.

Dear Hubby had to go back to work on Thursday. Oh. I think I might've mentioned he was supposed to have two weeks off to help me pack? Well, when it comes to applying for home loans, even tho our credit was excellent, banks don't necessarily like the promise of a job in Michigan. They actually need proof. So bye-bye vacation time and last Monday off to work he went at the warehouse here in Portland. But I'm not easily discouraged. We had a drop box delivered on Wednesday and I have spent the past two days hauling more junk out to toss in to it than I care to remember. I wish I had a dollar for every trip back and forth, back and forth. I wouldn't be a millionaire but I could've bought myself a nice lunch. Or two. Or maybe even three.

All told, I must've taken at least 20 loads to Goodwill. That's not including the trips my daughter made, too. Where does all this stuff come from? Where?!

The drop box attracted 'pickers' and dumpster divers like vultures. At one point we had the box almost filled to the top but pickers and gleaners were out there until bed time at least, sorting thru our junk. I guess it goes to prove one man's junk truly is another man's....well, let's make that men and womens'...treasure. When we got up the next morning, the box was barely half full. So we filled it again. And this morning it was half empty again. Even our neighbor Sonny was out there sorting thru this and that and asking me about a hundred times, "What are you throwing this out for?" I told him, "So you could find it, Sonny!" And this morning when he asked me that question yet again I told him, "Sonny, at this point I just want it gone!" And I do. Want it gone. Gone. Gone. And errands? And phone calls? I have lists to remind me I have lists.

And in the midst of this I've taken care of my grandboys two afternoons so my d-i-l could go out to lunch a last time with various work friends. Which was fine. She needed the break and I've been missing my little guys. We have them overnite tomorrow nite...my d-i-l's birthday is on Sunday so we're giving her the gift of being able to go out, relax with her hubby, and enjoy herself. My best friend Lizzee is stopping by to pick some stuff up. One of Dear Hubby's cousins is also stopping by to pick up some stuff too. You see, we have so much stuff we're even giving it away...share and share alike. Sunday we've been invited out to my mother-in-law's for a goodbye dessert and coffee get together to say our farewells to his family.

Monday I have the mother of a blog friend in the Tacoma area driving all the way down here to Portland to go out to lunch with me. We've been wanting to meet and with time running out we decided we'd better get 'er done! Wednesday my baby brother is coming over one last time. Thursday we have another dessert and coffee get together to attend in the evening...a goodbye party given by a friend at our church.

And then...

And then......

There'll be a flurry of last-minute packing of the day-to-day things. Everything will be loaded on the trucks. The vehicle transporter will load up our cars and trucks to haul back to Michigan. By the end of next weekend, we'll no longer live here. Dear Hubby and our d-i-l are taking off Monday the 28th to drive back....it's the only way to transport their dog Max. It's too cold this time of year for him to fly. No one would feel safe having her drive alone and she and Dear Hubby both love to drive, so this is the perfect solution. My son, my daughter, the boys, and I will stay at a hotel here for a few days, then fly out to Detroit on Saturday at noon. I spoke to James the Bank Guy today and he said he's really pushing to have our house in Livonia ready when we get there. We're hoping everybody and everything is synchronized to hopefully arrive about the same time.

Whewwwwwwwww.

I'm exhausted just writing about it.