I normally start the week's post by Tuesday, but not this week. It is Thursday and I'm trying to remember what I did and what happened throughout the week. It's gone by so quickly!
The weather has stayed hot, but not quite as excessive as it was last week. I stayed in most days, watching curling and enjoying the a/c. In addition, I had to stick around early in the week as the chairs were expected to be delivered on Tuesday. I was able to use the tracker and saw the truck had left Calexico about 9:30 a.m. California time (an hour behind us). The drive is only an hour, but I knew the truck would have other stops.
Since I cannot see the trucks from my end of the park, mid-afternoon I wandered down to S and L's to watch from their unit for a bit. By 4 (and time for the next curling game), no truck had arrived. Around 6 p.m. I called Dome Hepot and they could only tell me that the delivery would likely be made the following day. Later I got a notification that the truck had returned to Calexico.
The truck did finally arrive around noon on Wednesday. A huge semi pulled into our small park. L spotted him and ran out to tell that he wouldn't be able to turn around at the end of the park, due to the size of the trailer. As I walked down from my unit, one of the permanent residents G, came to assist. The driver pulled the pallet from the truck and dropped the chairs in front of our clubhouse. With the extra hands, we had the chairs off the pallet and into the clubhouse in short order. From there, L opened the boxes, I pulled out the chairs, removed the coverings and delivered the chairs to the patio where S sprayed them with the fabric protection. As she was finishing, J arrived and helped L break down the boxes and move the cardboard to the recycling bin, while I gathered the garbage. We had the whole process done in less than an hour.
That afternoon, I went to play Canasta, though I had my phone tuned into the curling. I was able to catch the last couple of ends. After that was done, we set up for Thursday's coffee hour. S, L and I were responsible for purchasing the goodies and I figured I'd take care of set-up. But, the rest of the Canasta crew stepped in and helped and again, everything was ready for the next morning in a short period of time. S and L ordered the apple fritters (a must have for this crew) and a dozen donuts that afternoon and picked them up early the next morning.
We had a good turn-out at coffee hour, with about 20 people in attendance. I had announced earlier that the old chairs were up for sale, and managed to get rid of fourteen of them, for a $1 a piece. There is still a good number of chairs available, some of which are in bad shape and will be trashed, while the rest will be donated to a local charity thrift store.
After coffee, H and I started cleaning the remaining cabinets. At 83, this woman is an Energizer bunny! While I sorted through items she had passed me from the cabinets, she scrubbed down the interiors and laid down leftover magazines. There were empty jugs that went to the recycling bin, while broken items were tossed. Other items went into a box for next year's garage sale, and still others were put in the proper containers out in the party shed. I left about 11 a.m., tired and ready to relax and watch more curling! H continued until about noon, and cleared and sorted out the drawers. I stopped by later with paper towels I'd picked up, and oh my, everything looks tidy and organized. I just need to borrow the label maker from the office to finish the task.
Friday, I was at the clubhouse just before 9:30 and folded up the chairs. I knew there was a group at exercise class from 9-9:30, so when they had finished we moved the chairs inside and hung them on the racks. Finally, I can say the sage of the chairs is over! Though I do need to get to Dome Hepot one more time to discuss an appropriate something something for the trouble in ordering and receiving the items. I'm hoping for a gift card of some amount that we can use next year for the flowers we plant in front of the clubhouse each year.
At 11:30, H, S, D, and I met with many of the other women in the park for a lunch at the River City Grill. It doesn't look like much on the outside, slightly better on the inside, but the food was fantastic. I ordered an appetizer for my main, crab and salmon cakes, along with a side spinach salad. The salad had gorgonzola cheese, craisens, and walnuts, along with the spinach in a raspberry vinaigrette. The salmon/crab cakes were primarily salmon, but had some kick to them. The meal was a bit pricey, but very, very delicious. I don't eat out a lot and it was a treat.
My packing begins in earnest as I'm now just a week away from leaving. I'm sorting things out - items that were in the unit when I arrived in October, that I haven't used were boxed up and dropped off at a thrift store. Items I purchased for my family, t-shirts and shorts for Eli and craft items for my daughter are packed in a clear container. There are other items I purchased at thrift stores for use at home that will make their way into a tote as well. Something I wouldn't have thought about is clothing items that have elastic (mostly undies) which cannot be left behind as the elastic will be ruined by the high temperatures. I won't be taking a lot of the clothing home, but there are certain pieces I will want to take with me. My current knitting projects will be going with me too, though I'll leave the yarn I found here will stay behind.
Another tote will carry my bedding - so I'll have clean bedding when I return next November. I'm told that most people cover their bed and bedding with an extra sheet. By fall everything will be covered in a layer of dust that blows in through any possible opening. I have an extra sheet to through over the bed, pads to place in the ceiling vents, and duct tape to close off the stove hood vent. Windows are covered in reflective insulation, bags of water are tucked into the drains, and the toilet, and lastly I'll put out several glass jugs of water throughout the unit. Last year, even with this last trick, the molding on the upper cabinets above the sink partially melted in the heat!
So, I forsee a busy week ahead as I prepare to head north. There will be curling to watch as well, the playoffs of the Brier are in full swing, which along with my knitting will ensure it's not all work.
Have a great week ahead everyone!
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