It's not "Too Good" to use
Another edition about stuff - if it’s in your house, it’s not “too good” to use! I have been finding a few things still in their original packaging - placemat sets, cute little soap dish with rosebud soaps, etc. They were deemed “too good” to use. And now they’re getting sent off to the Salvation Army. Not what their giver or purchaser intended. So, if you have anything like that lurking, splurge! Use it!
Made more progress yesterday, I took the folks to the optician to get Mom new glasses. Then we went to their house and gathered some things. Made some real finds, things Dad has been looking for “for years”. He also dug up 3 Gingko trees, very small, and I potted them. Then I made him go through a pile of clothes of his. He’s just not interested in that kind of stuff. (Never has been.) We ended the day out for lunch. Gotta go to a place that has soup. The place they’ve moved to offers soup at lunch & dinner, and Mom has become accustomed to that as a choice. I think there’s a Seinfeld routine in that, eating dinner at 4:30 and must have soup.
Also made more progress on their finances. Found out that there was NO beneficiary designation on one of Dad’s accounts, we’ll work to remedy that. Found out how to get permission to revise the investment options in one of Mom’s accounts; there’s a big automatic distribution that does not have to be so big, and it’s just been rolling into her savings account earning hardly anything. So we’ll fix that over the next month so that account will grow, instead.
All in all, it was a good day.
With renewed energy I am off to their house today to attack some of the junk and sort through some more of their household things - there’s lots of bedding left in the house and they could use another spare set at their apartment. And, it’s Garbage Eve at their house so I can bag up a lot of stuff and leave it at the curb.
posted by Carole @ 6:20 AM
4 Comments:
Dear one, you're inspiring me more than you know. I've always been one to "travel light" when it comes to stuff (or so I always thought) but in reading your posts about your folks, I' realizing anew how my stuff gets in the way of my enjoyment of life. Thank you for sharing your insights as you go through what must be a difficult task.
Deep love,
Pat
No, pj, no -- don't throw out stuff -- you never know when you might need it! I don't know where my sister got her genes from, but I am my mother's daughter -- flea market queen!
Sharing only a few genes with pj,
--judy
Just remember, sis, who has to help me clean out mom's house when the time comes! Oh, yeah, and guess whose stuff we're clearing out of her garage over Thanksgiving? After HOW many years? (Shhh, I won't tell...)
I'm clearly the misfit of my family. Someone must have left me on the porch in a basket (which I'm sure my mom still has...)
pj
All those vases and unused soaps and furniture they don't need and everything--have you considered an Estate Sale? At least around here, an estate sale draws a lot of people and you can get a lot of cash for stuff, saving you probably a couple of trips to the salvation army. There'll be things left over, but it's sort of a recycling concept as I see it. Just put the stuff you're keeping in different rooms from the stuff you want to sell, and let people come in. That way you don't have to haul everything out to the driveway or yard as you would for a regular garage sale.
You might also be able to call someone to pick up what's left. Some of the services in our area (Hope?) will come out with a truck and take it away at the end of the day, saving you another trip.
-ellen
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