Stella's Social Club

[mlm Mike]

Mary, that is the most amazing moving primer. Totally agree with the purge, purge, purge advice.

X2!

 

[The Sheriff]

Grandson Cameron and I made red, white and blue cupcakes today. We only used a smidgeon of food coloring. We made blueberry puree and raspberry puree to get the cake and frosting flavors and colors.




Tucker is hoping I drop this one on the floor. I frosted this one.



Cameron frosted these two.

 

[The Sheriff]

Tonight we are having a bit of a Hawaiian plate lunch. I am making Huli Huli chicken, Hawaiian style macaroni salad, and steamed white rice.

 

[The Sheriff]

I finished making a video today of my visit to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall to honor my friend from high school, Tommy. He died at age 20 on June 2, 1968, just 62 days into his tour of duty. I am going to write a blog post about it on Monday but thought I'd share my video here first.

 

[welasharon]

OK Dar, it sounds as if you have decided on the house with the great kitchen and back yard and horrible everything else. If horrible means finishes and things that are easily fixed no problem. That can be done over time. Get the kids some paint and turn them loose on their own rooms. Even if you don't like it they will.

Perfect kitchen is a huge plus. Perfect backyard too. Location, Location, location. If it is near schools the children can attend through high school, that is awesome. If concerns about their current school situation has been stressful then you will get an automatic release of that stress upon moving. Pulling away from a house I loved was sad until the four pit bulls next door started barking and growling. Then it was pedal to the metal and no looking back. Getting out of a bad school situation will give everyone a new sense of calm.

Moving is horrible. There is no other way to put it. My best advice is to hire out what you can afford to. Let big burly men move the furniture. Enlist the help of all your children, grown and otherwise. Call in any favors owed to you by friends and family, not just for the day you move, but for the packing and unpacking. 

Regarding packing, I have a couple of tips. Buy boxes at Lowes or Home Depot. The boxes at Lowes have cut-out handles and are easier to carry. Here is my best tip. BUY THE SMALL BOX, AND LOTS OF THEM! A mover told me that if you have mostly one size of box it goes a lot faster because they carry and stack much easier than fitting a puzzle of different sized boxes gathered from behind grocery stores. The money you spend on boxes will be recovered in moving fees. Buy several medium boxes for larger items and a couple of the heavyweight boxes in small and medium. Do not buy the large box! It is almost impossible to carry and no matter how much tape you apply, the bottom always falls out. Ask for garment boxes from the movers. They are awesome. When the movers arrive you just scoop the clothes off the rod, still on their hangers, and place them in the box over the rod. The bottom of the clothes boxes are perfect for putting pillows and bedding like comforters and blankets. A mover once shared that tip with me. When you get to the new house you just hang the clothes back up in the new closet!

When you get your boxes unpacked at the new place flatten them as you go and stack in piles. Put an ad in the free section of Craigslist saying how many you have and what sizes. Leave them out front and say first come first serve and you'll take the ad down when they are gone. They will be gone in a heartbeat either by someone moving or taking them to the recycling center. Either way they are out of your hair and being put to use by someone else. 

Pack early. Give the kids their boxes and have them pack their own stuff. They can mark and stack the boxes in their room. If they need something before you go they have access to it. The night before the movers arrive move all the boxes to a central location like the garage. It will cut way down on time if they don't have to go in and out of the house. They pack the boxes in the van first so have them ready to go and in a convenient location. IT will make it easier to then get in the rooms and move the big stuff. 

Take the opportunity to downsize. Clothes that aren't being worn, shoes that don't fit, kitchen gadgets that get used once a year, duplicates, etc can go. Moving is the best time to purge. I can't tell you how many Goodwill runs I made during this move and it should have been more.

Put necessary items in boxes marked so you know which ones they are. Those can go directly into the room they need to be in. I packed a box for my bedroom with all necessities and one for the bathroom and kitchen as well. Just enough stuff to get you going is all you need. then have the rest of the boxes placed in the garage. It will save you money on the moving costs if they do that. They will come off the truck last since they went on first. The guys will be tired and carrying them inside will cost you more money. Then you can bring one box at a time into the house, unpack it, flatten the box and go get another. If you took my advice and bought the small box, any member of the household should be able to carry them in.

If you are carrying around years of old photo albums and pictures you don't want to display I have a suggestion for those too. Remove the photos from the albums and throw the albums away. They just take up space. You can find digital imaging services online that will send a box to you. Stuff the box full of photos and send it back to them. They will scan all the pictures onto CD's for you and return the originals. Chose the originals you want to keep, box them up and store them away. Toss the rest. Fifty dark, grainy photos of a choir performance take up space. On a CD they fit just fine. If you ever want them you have them. We store ours in a small fire-rated safe.

Regarding the chickens:

This move may be just what you need to get real about your ability to breed and raise chickens in the city. If you can keep three or four laying hens that is awesome. They can be raised as spoiled family pets. Build or buy them the cutest coop in Phoenix. Pick your favorite girls or start over. Spoil them with treats and love. You will eliminate the work involved with raising chickens. The time spent, incubating, cleaning brooders and coops, buying feed, carrying feed bags, shoveling shavings, cleaning up poop will be reduced to a manageable, recreational level. You will have more time and energy for other things. Like taking care of yourself! You have been cramming 26 hours of stuff into a 24 hour day since I have known you. Recently you have been ill more, tired more, injured more, and stressed out more. If I notice it and I haven't even met you, imagine how your family and friends feel. Maybe it is time to take a step back and re-order your life putting yourself closer to the top. Imagine how much better your glucose control will be if you were't always worried and working. I know you love your chickens. I know you would be breeding all kinds of birds of you had the time and space. You don't. Your kids need a dad, your wife needs a husband, your patients need a dentist, your church and community need you. Take care of yourself and you can take care of them. I am in no way suggesting you don't do all this already, I am just wondering at what cost to your well being. It is hard to have a chronic condition that puts limitations on you. Believe me I know about that all too well. You have to concede that you can't do it all. Letting go of something that was adding to your stress and worry is a good start to a healthier life. You will adjust to going from the crazy guy down the street with a hundred chickens to the happy guy with three pet chickens in his backyard. 

I hope I haven't offended you. We all love you too and worry about you. Whatever you do, even if you end up just sleeping with a stuffed chicken toy, you cannot stop coming here. It is time to put Dar first.

Good luck my friend.

Very sensible advise! Hard to do sometimes fur sure.

 

[drumstick diva]

Mary, what a beautiful. touching video - I can still hear the music playing inside my head. I was born a year earlier than your friend Tommy,. and saw some of my friends go off to 'Nam.. Some of them came back.

My father often talked about his days in the army and the different wars but, those were his wars and memories. Viet Nam was a war in my time it was personal. We were practically kids. A friend's husband came back but couldn't adjust to civilian life after what he experienced - he ended up killing himself.

 

[The Sheriff]

Mary, what a beautiful. touching video - I can still hear the music playing inside my head. I was born a year earlier than your friend Tommy,. and saw some of my friends go off to 'Nam.. Some of them came back.

My father often talked about his days in the army and the different wars but, those were his wars and memories. Viet Nam was a war in my time it was personal. We were practically kids. A friend's husband came back but couldn't adjust to civilian life after what he experienced - he ended up killing himself.

I understand completely Diva. My first husband was changed by it as well. I think the only good to come of it all is that we learned how to treat our troops returning from war a little better. The men and boys who went to Vietnam did so because their country sent them. Most were drafted. What happened to them on their return to the USA was unforgivable. One of the most touching aspects of being at the Memorial Wall was watching perfect strangers approach the Veterans who made this Wall happen and keep it going. They embraced them, shook their hands and thanked them for their service to our country. I was so emotional the most I could do was choke out a "thank you" and put money in the donation jars for the various organizations.

At the beginning of the video there is a quick shot of an elderly man using a walker. You can see him wiping away tears as my camera panned up to the flags. He and his wife were looking for a name and couldn't find it. A veteran volunteer helped them find the name and the man just broke down. I wondered if it was their son. The little girl with the red rose was looking for a "grampa" she never met. I tried very hard to be respectful with my camera. At times all I could shoot was the parking lot.

They expect that vault to be filled to the brim when they close it permanently on Tuesday. They are expecting 4,500 visitors for the Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday.

 

[galanie]

Mary, what a beautiful. touching video - I can still hear the music playing inside my head.  I was born a year earlier than your friend Tommy,. and saw some of my  friends go off to 'Nam.. Some of them came back. 

My father  often talked about  his days in the army and the different wars but, those were his wars and memories.   Viet Nam was a war in my time  it was personal. We were practically kids.  A friend's husband came back but couldn't adjust to civilian life after what he experienced - he ended up killing himself. 

I understand completely Diva. My first husband was changed by it as well. I think the only good to come of it all is that we learned how to treat our troops returning from war a little better. The men and boys who went to Vietnam did so because their country sent them. Most were drafted. What happened to them on their return to the USA was unforgivable. One of the most touching aspects of being at the Memorial Wall was watching perfect strangers approach the Veterans who made this Wall happen and keep it going. They embraced them, shook their hands and thanked them for their service to our country. I was so emotional the most I could do was choke out a "thank you" and put money in the donation jars for the various organizations.

At the beginning of the video there is a quick shot of an elderly man using a walker. You can see him wiping away tears as my camera panned up to the flags. He and his wife were looking for a name and couldn't find it. A veteran volunteer helped them find the name and the man just broke down. I wondered if it was their son.  The little girl with the red rose was looking for a "grampa" she never met. I tried very hard to be respectful with my camera. At times all I could shoot was the parking lot. 

They expect that vault to be filled to the brim when they close it permanently on Tuesday. They are expecting 4,500 visitors for the Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday.

X2! The way we treated those men returning from Vietnam at the time is unforgivable. There's a reason so many couldn't adjust and committed suicide. And it wasn't the war itself. I'm so happy we are treating them well finally and honoring those people with the wall and everything that goes with it. It's about time.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I agree with the treatment of the Vietnam gets upon their return. Horrible.

Mary - I hope you are posting that chicken recipe in your blog. Do you use a frosting bag to frost the cupcakes? I've never used one. They look delicious though!

 

[cbnovick]

Grandson Cameron and I made red, white and blue cupcakes today. We only used a smidgeon of food coloring. We made blueberry puree and raspberry puree to get the cake and frosting flavors and colors.




Tucker is hoping I drop this one on the floor. I frosted this one.



Cameron frosted these two.

those are too cool!!! great job!!