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Oct. 30th, 2003
Better now, but rain is coming...
Oct. 30th, 2003 04:42 amThe move from hell is the final stages. We finally got everything out of the old house by Oct. 15. That left us with boxes and boxes everywhere in the new house. The backyard was a sea of boxes. We have been working that down. Problem is that rain is predicted here for Friday. We will have to really work hard to get things clear enough.
I have now given away, sold or placed on consignment 99% of my non-book stock. I am going to be focusing on the online bookstore for now. I just had way too much to list. I gave about half my stock away during the move. Ouch! We didn't have time to move everything so we ended up putting everything that was in the pavilion out on the curb and putting a free sign and a notice on Craig's list. That was a feeding frenzy. I had to not watch it was soo painful. Last weekend we had a yard sale to get rid of more plus to sell some of the furniture we didn't have room for in the new place. I even sold the loom on Craig's list. There is still more but until we get the rest of the house organized, we won't know what we are getting rid of. The plan is to go back to my old cliché motto: a place for everything and everything in its place. After the last year or so of clutter, I doubt the guys will complain about me being too much of a "neat freak" anymore. I look forward to a clean organized house again. In the meantime, it is driving me crazy.
Book sales are going well, selling about a dozen a day. When things are going well I make about the same as Lon does at Ancient Ways. I sell books (all kinds), cds, dvds, videos and some electronics. I expanded my venues. I rarely use ebay anymore since they charge way too much upfront. Amazon.com long since became the better place for my sales. I also added half a dozen other book sites including the American Book Exchange. This works better. Even the guys are comfortable with the book store aspect of my work. I am also hoping I can now turn back to my writing again. Bookstore owner and writer seems to fit -- oh, my God, I have become Cathy Ball (long story for later)!
Troy is still unemployed and searching. He has done some short contracts but unemployment runs out next month. We could be in big trouble then. In the meantime, he started an online Master's Program in computers. With the job market now it is no longer good enough to have the skills and experience to do the job, you have to have the credentials too. Sucks. So Troy is getting the paper to prove what he knows and expand his knowledge a little too. It is a 10 month evening course via online chats and website. He has papers to write, group projects and more. He spends the days helping unpack and job hunting and a couple evenings a week on school.
Lon still works at the store. He took on an extra day so now works 4 days a week. He seems much happier since we got out of the old place. Actually, we all are. He is starting a novel writing project in October.
Mary is very active again. She is on the Board of Directors of East Bay NOW (membership director), has joined a local Red Hat Society and is busy with her independent activism too.
Rowan is still in Iowa. He will be a pirate for Halloween. He writes us letters and tells us how much he misses us and wishes he was home in California. I ache thinking about him and with the need to hold him. He is in 2nd grade now and the top of his class. And he is bored. I told him not to worry, enjoy the parts of school he likes and that there will be things he doesn't already know eventually. I explained that really smart people are often bored with school but it is still important to learn how to show what you can do.
Oh, not only do we like our new house, we seem to be doing better physically. During the move we found that the old house had a mold infestation. Even the cats are happier here. Pierre is even active now and seems to be improving in health. (How many lives does that cat have?) Willow and Oberon also seem happier and more friendly here. And the fact that we don't have to climb stairs to get in and out of the house is a real blessing to Mary and I. My leg is healing but still painful. And I have never liked stairs, having fallen too many times even before I broke my leg on the stairs.
We are hoping to be more social again now that we have a more comfortable house again. Plans include resuming my monthly tea parties, some type of monthly potluck and discussion group, as well as a host of holiday parties including L&T's birthday party Dec. 6th, our Yule celebration Dec. 20th and more!
I have now given away, sold or placed on consignment 99% of my non-book stock. I am going to be focusing on the online bookstore for now. I just had way too much to list. I gave about half my stock away during the move. Ouch! We didn't have time to move everything so we ended up putting everything that was in the pavilion out on the curb and putting a free sign and a notice on Craig's list. That was a feeding frenzy. I had to not watch it was soo painful. Last weekend we had a yard sale to get rid of more plus to sell some of the furniture we didn't have room for in the new place. I even sold the loom on Craig's list. There is still more but until we get the rest of the house organized, we won't know what we are getting rid of. The plan is to go back to my old cliché motto: a place for everything and everything in its place. After the last year or so of clutter, I doubt the guys will complain about me being too much of a "neat freak" anymore. I look forward to a clean organized house again. In the meantime, it is driving me crazy.
Book sales are going well, selling about a dozen a day. When things are going well I make about the same as Lon does at Ancient Ways. I sell books (all kinds), cds, dvds, videos and some electronics. I expanded my venues. I rarely use ebay anymore since they charge way too much upfront. Amazon.com long since became the better place for my sales. I also added half a dozen other book sites including the American Book Exchange. This works better. Even the guys are comfortable with the book store aspect of my work. I am also hoping I can now turn back to my writing again. Bookstore owner and writer seems to fit -- oh, my God, I have become Cathy Ball (long story for later)!
Troy is still unemployed and searching. He has done some short contracts but unemployment runs out next month. We could be in big trouble then. In the meantime, he started an online Master's Program in computers. With the job market now it is no longer good enough to have the skills and experience to do the job, you have to have the credentials too. Sucks. So Troy is getting the paper to prove what he knows and expand his knowledge a little too. It is a 10 month evening course via online chats and website. He has papers to write, group projects and more. He spends the days helping unpack and job hunting and a couple evenings a week on school.
Lon still works at the store. He took on an extra day so now works 4 days a week. He seems much happier since we got out of the old place. Actually, we all are. He is starting a novel writing project in October.
Mary is very active again. She is on the Board of Directors of East Bay NOW (membership director), has joined a local Red Hat Society and is busy with her independent activism too.
Rowan is still in Iowa. He will be a pirate for Halloween. He writes us letters and tells us how much he misses us and wishes he was home in California. I ache thinking about him and with the need to hold him. He is in 2nd grade now and the top of his class. And he is bored. I told him not to worry, enjoy the parts of school he likes and that there will be things he doesn't already know eventually. I explained that really smart people are often bored with school but it is still important to learn how to show what you can do.
Oh, not only do we like our new house, we seem to be doing better physically. During the move we found that the old house had a mold infestation. Even the cats are happier here. Pierre is even active now and seems to be improving in health. (How many lives does that cat have?) Willow and Oberon also seem happier and more friendly here. And the fact that we don't have to climb stairs to get in and out of the house is a real blessing to Mary and I. My leg is healing but still painful. And I have never liked stairs, having fallen too many times even before I broke my leg on the stairs.
We are hoping to be more social again now that we have a more comfortable house again. Plans include resuming my monthly tea parties, some type of monthly potluck and discussion group, as well as a host of holiday parties including L&T's birthday party Dec. 6th, our Yule celebration Dec. 20th and more!
