STILL MOVING IN...still haven't closed...hmm

Friday, April 10, 2009 This is Jim’s weekend to have Austin and Molly, and since it is Easter, Sunday, there was no school today so he picked them up last night and brought them out. This morning Niki called and asked if I would go to her new house and put away clothes. There were, and still are bags and bags of clothes in the house and in the garage to be gone through. We put on hangers and hung up a bunch of Greg’s shirts and pants and some of Niki’s stuff. Sorting through Alexa’s old clothes, we made a major pile of things she has out grown; I would say there was at least enough to fill up two large black garbage bags. Alexa is now a 4T. Tomorrow there is a Deseret Industries drive in their area so we made a big pile on their front porch. I hope they do come to pick it all up. There is still a lot of stuff in their garage including ten or so large bags of clothes yet to be sorted and taken care of. Molly went over there with me and baby sat which took a lot of pressure off Niki and me so we could do the work. The mess in the upstairs playroom was driving Molly nuts so she cleaned it up on her own. Alexa was asleep when Molly and I left (she chose to take a nap on her own) and when she woke up and discovered Molly was gone she started bawling. Niki called and put Alexa on the phone with Molly and I guess that alleviated the trauma somewhat.

PIPE DREAM?????

Tuesday, April 07, 2009 Feeling sorry for myself. Here I sit broken hearted Came to poop and only…well, you know the story. The other day my Jim and I were in Brent Brown Toyota in Orem looking at hybrids. Jim is badly in need of a car. While we were there the salesman showed us a 2002 Toyota Avalon; mint condition-drives like a dream; only 80,000 something miles on it, driven by an older gentleman who traded it in on a new car. I went back in today and talked to Bob Sanders, one of the head salespersons. With my Camry as a trade-in I could get it for $7,000-7,500, an absolute steal. It is much nicer than the Camry and should last twice as long. The only problem is coming up with $7,000-7,500 plus tax and license. I really SHOULD get it but how? It is such a nice car. Alas!

MOVING DAY NUMBER ONE

Wednesday, April 01, 2009 Niki and Greg have yet to close on their house. They thought it would be as early as last Wednesday but they keep having it pushed back on them. It is now looking like tomorrow or Friday. At least they got permission to move their stuff into the place. They need to return the truck and trailer this afternoon. Problem number two The carpet layers were, as of today still laying carpet. They had said it would be finished Monday, the day before yesterday. In their defense there have been just the two of them, James Bjork and his helper. Today as they frantically labored they were both covered in sweat. So, we moved everything into the garages, one double garage and a single attached garage. That means this weekend and, I am sure, through the following week and probably later they/we will be moving stuff into their individual places in the house proper…Moving day(s) number two. The hugemungiously big-heavy office desk which, thankfully only has to go into the room which is just off the front door, is going to really be a chore. I recommend renting two, four-wheel dollies, placing one under each end of the desk and wheeling it out of the garage, down the driveway, down the sidewalk that goes along the front of the house and down “their” sidewalk to their front door and from there, manhandling it into the foyer, around the corner and into the office. Whew, that makes me tired just typing it. On a lighter note it was wonderful to see Greg and Alexa reunited after the week and a half or however long it has been they were separated while Greg was in Queen Creek getting ready for the move. Greg’s father Dave flew down and helped him the last few days and put his back out when it came to moving the previously mentioned heavy desk from the Scottsdale office to the trailer. The truck was the biggest one U-Haul has plus the trailer plus what I brought back in our van a couple of weeks ago. Whew again! Niki, Alexa and Stacey made a pizza run to Little Caesar’s and diet or no diet I ate a couple of pieces. In total there were the following helping with the move-in; Greg, Jim, Corey, Stacey, Bryant Llewelyn, Danny Palmer and me. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. It was funny in a way. Everyone had their cell phones and they kept ringing with work stuff from their fellow employees and clients and it chewed up a lot of time but I am glad business is going so well that, that was necessary.

FUN WITH GRANDKIDS

Saturday, March 28, 2009 Today Judy and I met Niki, Alexa and Gavin at the Cheesecake Factory at Fashion Place Mall for lunch. From there we went to RC Willey nearby to checkout washers, dryers and refrigerators for Niki, wood flooring for Judy and babysitting for me. Later we drove to their new home in Herriman to see what’s happening with the new carpeting. The carpet layer was there. He said it would be finished by Monday night; most of the pad had been laid. While we were at the Cheesecake Factory I told Alexa, “You’re a good communicator.” She responded with, “You’re not an alligator!” Last week I promised Jayden that today I would take him to Liberty Land to ride the rides and play the games. (See last Saturday’s entry). Today while Judy and I were at Niki’s new home, Jayden called me on my cell phone to remind me of my promise. I said ok, I would be there a little later. I had forgotten. A bit later Corey called and said Jayden was “still sick” and we needed to wait until next weekend. I could hear Jayden in the background madder than a wet hen. Corey mentioned that Jayden had had a bad night and earlier today he had tried to eat a peanut butter sandwich and could only handle a third of it. That is so not Jayden. He is a good eater; ala Corey. Next Saturday Jayden; I promise!

KISS TAG ACT TWO

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 This evening while we were at their house delivering pizza and some other stuff, Stacey mentioned that when she; or was it Corey, picked up Bailey after school, she jumped in the car, yelled out the window to a boy named Kegen and blew him a kiss. He shrieked and ran away and Bailey giggled.

KISS TAG

Monday, March 23, 2009 This morning my son Corey called. His nine year old Jayden was home from school sick and Corey wondered if I would stay with him while he went to some appointments. Of course I said yes. Later I talked to Corey on the phone. He said he was running late and asked if I would pick up eight year old Bailey from school. It was a cold yucky day. When Bailey got in my car she was giggling and said, “We were chasing boys and pretending to kiss them.” Oh boy!

THANKSGIVING POINT

Saturday, March 21, 2009 What a day. Niki called and asked if we wanted to meet her, Alexa and Gavin at Thanksgiving Point. It was a beautiful day. It was supposed to get up to 75 degrees and I believe it probably did. Judy suggested I call Corey and ask if he wanted us to take Jayden and Bailey with us. He did. He had been up until 2:30 in the morning doing homework so we drove out to their home, picked up the kids and drove to Thanksgiving Point. (Stacey was at work at Fedex-Kinkos.) We started out by getting something to eat at the deli. From their, we did the Dinosaur Museum. Unfortunately we started out going through some “reduced light” areas and Alexa did a minor freak-out, but after hurrying to a better lit area, she was ok and was having fun. From the Dinosaur Museum we walked to the farm animal zoo and looked at a lot of the animals. We got distracted before we were half way through when the kids saw the pony ride. There were six ponies attached to poles going round and round under an open sided tent. Jayden, Bailey, Alexa and I got in line and waited for our turn. When it was our turn Jayden insisted on getting on the biggest horse without help. One of the workers grabbed Bailey and put her on hers and I put Alexa on a small pony. I walked around beside her for one rotation but she was having so much fun and not needing any help so after that I waited against the fence next to where Judy, Niki and Gavin were sitting. Every time she got around to where we were, she posed or waved and Niki took her picture. After it was over we all left the ride but a moment later I found Alexa back in the entrance saying “My turn!” Funny! The girls decided to look through the shops. Jayden didn’t want to so he and I drove to Liberty Land in Lehi next. He and I played air hockey then Jayden climbed the rock climbing wall making it all the way to the top and hitting the buzzer button. After that he rode the Jumping Frog. He wanted to do more but we were running out of money. Later this evening we all ate at Café el Lago. Niki got out a bottle of hand sanitizer for Alexa and Bailey’s hands. Niki set in on the table and before long Gavin grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth and sucked some into his mouth. Judy read the label. It said to go to a doctor or call poison control. There is an Intermountain Instacare next door so Niki grabbed Gavin and ran over to talk to them. She was soon back with a relieved smile on her face. They told her that he probably didn’t get enough in him to do any harm and to just watch him. In spite of that it was a fun day!