The End Came Too Quickly

Last Saturday our little Abby succumbed to her liver disease. We have been so sad this past week, with bouts of tears scattered throughout the long days. Toby, her partner, still seems to be lost without her. Many was the time they would walk in tandem, turning around in sync to see if we were following. On the last night her health deteriorated quickly. Danny spent the night on the floor with her, gently stroking her to keep her calm. 

It's strange to think that at 5pm the previous evening she was walking around, stiff with arthritis and bumping into things due to her confusion. By 5am the next morning she was unresponsive except for intermittent crying, and we called the emergency hospital at Court House to do what had to be done. It was so hard to say good-bye. By 10am she was buried with her favorite bed, blanket, scarf, and name tag. 

Abby was smart and cute and devoted to all of us. Coming from a puppy mill near Charlottesville and transferred to the Virginia Beach SPCA she was the only one who looked us in the eye on the day we stopped by to 'just take a look.' Little did we know we weren't just looking. She chose us. She came to us with a fear of women (possibly from a female puppy mill owner) and especially hands. So, she was always partial to Danny from that first meeting.

He has taken this very hard.

We are now focused on Toby. He's not eating well and looks so sad all the time. He came from Alabama with a military family and when they had to transfer, they had to get rid of the last dog they'd gotten. We saw their ad on Craigs List and took Abby to see him. He was the first one she'd liked after we had previously gone as far as Manteo to find her a companion. She chose him and they were perfect for each other.

Last year someone dropped off Pepper, our undesired cat. She fell in love with Toby, and we figured she might be a good companion for him after Abby left us. We were right. They are together much of the time. But I dare say, at this point in time, she is still a poor substitute for Toby's long-time friend Abby, even if she is a necessary one. But she keeps trying.

We're glad we kept her.

I recently told Danny, "You know we're going to be left with a cat that we never wanted to start with?" But that's how life sometimes works. We reckon God had a hand in all of this because we sure didn't. And you can't go against God, right?!

The First Three Months

Before I could get my thoughts together to add a new post, I got sick. It wasn't until the water tasted like crap and my fever wouldn't let go that my daughter suggested it might be Covid. I had an old test kit here and Dr. Google showed that using one would have a higher risk for false negative, but that false positives are usually accurate. After my positive I called my doctor. At this point, I'm just trying to get through. I get so tired so fast. I just hope that part doesn't linger. The beginning was a struggle since I was about 2 days behind Danny's bout. Luckily before we got worse we were able to make a pot of chicken soup and that got us through for a few days when no one felt like moving.

In January things were pretty blah. Cold and wet, even snowy, left little to do. Danny and I started doing morning devotionals in January, reading from a Dr. Charles Stanley book each day followed by prayer for family, friends and country. It's a very positive experience for us to do together. We also watch sermons on Sundays.

In February it was my birthday, yeah! Not that anyone like to get a year older. We went to our favorite celebration station, The Butcher's Son, for my birthday dinner. The waiter actually sang to me and brought a little something with a candle in it.

Also in February, we had all the water pipes under the house replaced. The water was so much better than from the 34 year old metal pipes! (That's why crappy tasting water was a red flag for my sickness). I also did another genealogical research job for the lawyer. Unfortunately I could not find dates of death for the subject, but rather showed the man was still living two days prior to my release of information.

I got a new fitness watch at the end of February, motivated by the fact that I can make money just by walking. So far so good. The kids turned me on to MyFitnessPal and that's another dimension to help me focus. I'm losing weight and walking every day, even through my illness (but it takes way longer to accomplish).

In March we found out sweet Abby, who is now 15-16 has liver issues. Danny's been making the dogs' food for a while now as we were trying to figure out what was going on with each of them. We thought Toby had eaten a gumball, but gastro diet food seemed to straighten him out. The vet gave Abby some meds. She's perky, if not very bossy, wanting to be fed and go to bed at certain times come hell or high water. I swear she can tell time!

In March my Florida kids arrived to help celebrate Uncle's birthday (they couldn't leave work in Feb). So we had an even bigger event at the celebration station steak house once again. Also during the month, we visited another local church a couple of weeks. I was surprised to see so many people from my old church attending there! What's up with that?!

Coming in April we hope to have the RV gone to its new home. A young family needed an RV and we just happened to have one to let go. God is working this one out in barter.

I'm currently crocheting a new blanket but even that is tiring me out. Good thing there's no deadline! I read when I can, watch TV some, walk a lot, and pray all the time. I'm enjoying watching new leaves come out on the trees, filling in the woods behind my house. The woods' border of various flowers is just icing on the cake. Who could ask for more.

Family, Friends and Home Life of 2024

Happy New Year! I feel good about the coming year, don't you? My last year was pretty good. I finished up all my therapy and both knees are holding up nicely. I don't anticipate more surgeries for a while, if ever. I am still a bit limited in some movement, like getting down on the floor on my knees, but I'm not to bothered by it.

I enjoyed watching the seasons change. My entire back yard is still filled with Autumn leaves. I can see more of the amazingly beautiful sunsets now. They are totally hidden by the trees in the summer months.

The 3-month holiday season has just finished. We haven't had trick-or-treaters since we built the house in 1991, so we didn't miss anything there. Thanksgiving was held next door and was very small with just six of us.  While the FL kids were here for Thanksgiving they helped us get rid of the huge scrap wood pile that evolved after we redid our deck in 2023. It was almost as tall as I am, but it's all gone now! They hauled multiple loads to the dump and we burned the small stuff in the 'crematorium.' 

Christmas was at our house again this year. It's just easier to do it here when the kids come. This year it lasted for two weeks because the girls came in at different times. My Georgia kids came in for a week starting the Thursday before Christmas. They left the Friday after Christmas and a couple of days later my Florida kids arrived for a week. They left the Saturday after New Year's Day. It's always a great time when they all come home, but it does seems like a storm has blown over when everyone is gone again. Ahh... the peace and quiet is a pleasant change. We don't do presents any longer. Back in the old days, getting gifts was a once a year event. Most people just get what they want when they want it these days. So, I had a hankering for a hand-held chainsaw. I showed Danny a cheap-o and kinda knew he'd take over from there on the research. We ended up with a Ryobi with a 6 inch blade. It works so nice on our pruning needs!

Shortly before Christmas I reached out to some of my cousins and passed along some of the vintage quilts I had inherited. These cousins were all descendants of the same women who made them between 1830s and 1890s. I was nice to also visit with some of them that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Also before Christmas I attended my first Tea Party at a local church with my wonderful friends. It was really cool. I even won a raffle prize. I really do love being among people who love God.

Our journey to a new church home is still going. We had a bitter taste in our mouths from previous church experiences, but I refuse to let Satan win by keeping us out of church forever. Meanwhile, we read our Bibles daily and watch various sermons media and TV on Sundays when we don't attend a church. We pray for God's guidance as to where He wants us and we covet the prayers of others for us.

Our home downsizing has continued throughout the year. We're now getting to more of the 'small stuff' like what lives in your back closet and attic. Some of these things that haven't seen daylight in decades. On some I have to psych myself up to let go and send them to new homes via the local thrift store.  I got rid of some kids' blocks right before Christmas. I had a bunch of stuff I'd saved for my grandchildren, but alas, we never got to that milestone. My dolls are next as is all the record albums I haven't played in 30 years. Meanwhile, it seems that my yard is getting fuller. Danny recently bought a(nother) boat trailer that lives here. It was a I-gotta-have-this purchase. It's not just a little trailer, it's for the sailboat so it's fairly large. I try not to say anything, but I sure do think it LOL! I hope the sailboat goes away one of these days and takes the trail with it! We are currently updating the RV and hopefully that gets a new home this year too. I'd like to see a few cars leave as well but I'm not holding my breath.

Kitty Pepper has made herself at home, spending her days indoors with the rest of us and sleeping in the garage at night. I made the mistake of letting her inside early this morning when I couldn't sleep. I though she'd just eat her breakfast and sleep near my desk while I worked on my computer. But no, she cried the entire time because her fella, Toby was still asleep in the dog cage with little Abby. They get up at 6:50am when Abby (the queen) decides it's time. As soon he came out today, Pepper was happy again and never whined again all day! Needless to say, she won't be coming in early again.

I have finally finished doing my own personal genealogy research. I have pulled together all the ancestor reports, photos and resource documents into something I am proud to pass on. I have been working on this since the late 1960s. I had a great start because of all the family heirlooms of furniture and other items, letters, and tin-type pictures that my grandmother had. I was lucky that I was able to ask my grandmother many questions that most people don't even think of asking until their loved one is gone.

Late last night we discovered a broken pipe in the garage spewing water everywhere. So, today we have no water until the plumber arrives after lunch. I know we'd already planned to replace all the pipes in the house later this year. I guess this one just couldn't wait. At least it didn't break while everyone was here!

The Summer Gist

 I knew it had been a while since my last post, had no idea it had been so many months! Wow, let me think what's been going on.

Danny finished working on an old friend's boat. He's been decluttering his shop too. A massive job if you ask me.

We've been going to the chiropractors every 2 weeks to keep ourselves moving. Danny had to go back to the pain management doc in July but seems to be better these days. We try to pace ourselves :)

There was a black snake on the front porch. I can't believe I let him talk me into just watching it slither off. Yes, I know they're the good snakes, but they need to keep off the porch. Recently we were moving pine straw around some flower beds and I looked at the previous one we'd just finished in time to see a Red Belly slinking off. Gosh! I wonder where he was while we were working there!!?

Pepper, our new cat, was cured of ear mites and was fixed just in the nick of time. She had 5 little embryos inside her. Luckily without a heartbeat yet. So they are gone. She's gradually working her way into the house, but so far likes her garage domain best.

I've had another one of those annual coughs from hell all summer. That has really been a bummer and has made me fear I'd never be able to sing again. But finally I'm seeing days without coughing and now have hope to warble like a songbird again soon.

We've been visiting various churches but so far seem to enjoy TV sermons the most (probably because we go out for breakfast beforehand). Still, we both feel the need to find a real church home again. We have one we visit often, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to tick all the boxes for us. So, we keep an open mind and keep visiting around. (I do miss my old church a lot and often have dreams of being there).

 Our garden did great and is now beginning to fade as the leaves on some trees begin to turn yellow. 

I think we had the biggest tomatoes we've ever grown this year.

We've had lots of visitors over the summer: turkeys, deer, even rabbits. And let's not forget that big ol' bear we had earlier! The craziest visit was a recent exploration of our deck by a groundhog! Can you believe it? Up on the deck!!!

In addition to my genealogy projects I've also been working on making my hats for the homeless again. I usually donate about 60 at a time so I have to start early to have them ready by December. I'm thinking it's going to be a tough winter based on the berries coming up on my holly bushes. I'm about a third of the way through so far.

That's about the gist of things right now. Danny was delayed by the boat to get the new island painted but it's happening very soon (or so I've been told). Surely it'll be done in time for Christmas though ;)

Crazy Month

 What a crazy month I've had! I recently found two new relatives through Ancestry DNA. That's been a lot of fun, researching and confirming data. One is in Rocky Mount and the other in Oklahoma City. Wow! Who knew?!

We finally got all our garden boxes planted. It's our first time trying Super Bush tomatoes and they are doing even better than the Celebrity tomatoes. I put orange and red marigolds between the plants to keep the bugs down. When we planted we turned the traditional ice-cream cone shaped cages upside down. That was mainly to keep our new cat Pepper from thinking she had giant litter boxes. It worked. An added plus is that the legs that usually go in the ground are sticking up and the dragonflies love perching on them. We have a lot of dragonflies around now to keep the mosquito and fly populations down.

All of our okra plants are doing well, now. It seemed touch-and-go for a while. You-know-who decided they might not make it so he bought six more plants even knowing the crisis was averted. I told Danny this morning that I have spied a 1-inch baby okra coming along already! The peppers and Swiss Chard is doing well as are the tons of basil we have all over the place. I seriously doubt we'll be doing seeds again.

My miniature rose was starting to look a bit bedraggled in the pot so I separated the four plants and put them in a pot outside. Lo, and behold they are all getting ready to bloom again, even the two that I thought for sure were goners!

This past week we tried our hand at making just one square tomato cage. The wire is thin and has 2x3 inch holes, which I figure we can cut some to make bigger. The jury is still out on this experiment. I feel kind of bad since we had to buy a 50-foot roll of wire. But that was all they had. Oh well. I'll use some to corral my gladiolas!

Pepper the cat is still in residence. We had friends reach out to see if we could find her a home but came up empty. Both the dogs are ok with her now so I guess she's a keeper.

Danny's latest project is transforming a big old desk we thrifted into our new upcoming kitchen island. He's finished chopping it up. Last week we bought a dark brown butcher block top for it and selected a sage green to go with our main kitchen counters and tile backsplash.

And our biggest crazy surprise this past month was seeing this fellow in our back yard one morning.

We kept the dogs on leashes for a while and took all the bird feeders down, but things have pretty much gone back to normal now. I mean, it's only been once in over 30 years. Years ago Daddy had one go in his shop and snag all the cookies and snacks he had on his golf cart. Occasionally we see the bear out in the fields. I've always looked for him in the yard but never thought I'd really see him here. Boy, was I wrong! We still keep an eye out for him though. Guess that'll never go away now ;)

Progress No Longer Pending

I used to think that me falling apart and therapy would never end. But both are changing. Therapy ends this month (after over a year) and I am now doing my best to enjoy a new outlook with greater movement than I've had in years. I have abundant joy in simply being able to go up and down steps, or take a shower and reach my ankles... little things that everyone takes for granted. There are so many things I couldn't do for so long. I try to get up early every day and watch the sun rise, just to make my day longer.

Well, enough of that. We recently discovered a dark side to the church we've been attending for the last year. "To the curb, Alice" we don't need to waste time there anymore so that is definitely changing. I guess God has something else planned. I think there were signs we didn't want to see and it sometimes felt like we were trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Now we're listening more closely to His whispers and seeking to follow His guidance better. We learn by doing.

We now have a cat. That's a big change for us. We didn't go get one. We didn't want one.  But someone dropped her out and she happened to take up residence under our green shed. Danny started feeding her because she was so very skinny. She's taken to our little dogs, although the senior doesn't feel kindly towards "Pepper." She is very loving and lonely because she can't come into the house. (Not unless she sees a vet, gets flea meds and probably fixed to boot). But we'd rather see someone else give her a home, perhaps become someone's favorite barn cat. Please let me know if you're interested!!

I recently had laser surgery on an eye lens. There was film or something attaching to the lens I got a few years ago when I had cataract surgery. My vision is no longer cloudy, but I now have a few free-moving floaters that hover around like black gnats. I used to have a flock, but there's just a couple left now. They don't move with my eye, just randomly go this way and that; sometimes I can't see them at all, sometimes I can. Very strange. It's annoying sometimes, but very doable. Now I get to go buy some new photochromatic glasses! I can't wait! The last time I bought glasses I decided to not use those and just get normal glasses - big mistake! I miss them so much!

Now that the enlarged patio blocks are all in place in front of the greenhouse we finally set up our new 4-foot planter boxes this morning. They are going to work so much nicer than the hodge-podge of extra-large pots we used the last few years  for our tomatoes. We still need to add more dirt, but we're taking things slow so we don't hurt our backs. We bought a 3 foot kiddie pool in which to mix the bags of dirt together. That worked great! I'm hoping we get our plants in before "Pepper" decides we made her giant litter boxes!

Even though we stayed home on Mother's Day I had a good day. My girls joined me on a group messenger video chat and we had just the best time! And while I was doing that my sweet neighbor bought me a lovely miniature rose and a card that said I was a blessing to her on Mother's Day and always. Back at ya, Sweet Lady!

Last but not least, one of our biggest changes is that we got a new car with a fabulous deal, to boot! A lot of new toys to play with in that thing!

I am truly blessed. Progress is at every turn. I love waking up every day to see what wonderful things God gives to me. I thank Him for everything. My heart is filled with peace.

So Blessed to be Moving

We were able to finally move our seedlings to a garden bed. This is a huge experiment for us. Unfortunately I couldn't been down long enough to set them out or to get down on my knees to work. Danny had to do all the actual planting while I separated the tiny seedlings from the tray and passed them to him.

While we were busy outside it was beautiful, but oh the smell was terrible! It just so happens that this year they are spreading manure on all the field s surrounding our property. Good grief!!! I could still smell it (or at least I thought I could) when I went to bed last night!

We had a neighbor who shared her hydrangea offshoots with us so we've also been planting a lot of new little bushes. Today was the last one and I'm just so proud of myself to say I actually dug a hole. At least, I started it pretty good so Danny wouldn't have so much to do. It has literally been years since I've been able to do something like that. It's the little things in life, people! ;) Yes, happiness is a hole in the ground!

Speaking of beautiful a few years ago we moved a bunch of bluebells out from under a crepe myrtle tree from the front yard to our back yard. At the time I had thought we had gotten all the flowers moved. I guess I was wrong. The bluebells apparently enjoyed being thinned. There's more under the tree than when we started. We also have a nice showing in the back yard!

It's so nice to be able to get outside and enjoy walking in the yard again. I may be slow but at least I'm not using a cane anymore! All of this has been a long time coming. I am so blessed.

My Brave New Joyful World

 I have released the cane! Yes, I'm finally walking without a stick in my hand and I like it! It has been years in the making and I cherish each day and enjoy even the littlest accomplishments. I try not to take anything for granted, like going up and down steps (still a bit hesitant but much better now).

This past week I helped Danny move a bush in the yard. We divided it into thirds and planted three new bushes. I was grinning like a possum the whole time even though I got so tired so quickly. I was thrilled when he let me use the shovel and push down on it several times. I was very very careful, but gosh it was so much fun!

My neck therapy is going OK. My pinched nerve seems better; it doesn't fire off in my arm like it did in the beginning. Now, if I look up it feels like water running down my arm instead of hot sparks. I doubt if it will ever be normal without surgery, but at this point I'd have to be a lot worse to pursue surgery.

I've cut back on my weekly chiropractic appointments. I'm trying to stretch them out to 10 days now to try and clear our calendar somewhat. Between chiro and therapy we were out just about every day for the past year.

The colonoscopies are over and done with for another 5 years. We both were on cancellation lists and both ended up having our procedures done in the same week. Neither of us had any issues, so check that one off the To Do list!

Of course, I've been crocheting baby hats for the hospital, reading, and doing genealogy research. I've also been changing passwords that I've had since I started using a computer. It was just time to change some things and these days there are more and more people who seem to make it their life's work to steal from others and hack accounts and whatever else they can do to cause trouble. I've been contacting companies I haven't used in years and deleting accounts and personal information. Most have been very easy to do with a few that aren't even in business anymore. I like a good purge, don't you?

Danny has started building my garden boxes from leftover deck materials and it's not a moment too soon. I had recently asked him to get me a package of lettuce seeds. Being the sweet guy he is he came home with lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, basil, and okra along with a seed starting tray and a bag of dirt. Most of the seeds are coming up nicely now and will soon need transplanting.

We finally got our cables installed on the deck and I'm so glad we decided to use them instead of regular vertical rails. Our view of the back yard is not impaired at all!

On Friday we went to visit my cousin and pick out granite counter tops for our bathrooms. It's always good to see Hunter. He's a great guy and I'm lucky to be kin to him. I took him some paintings his mother had done that she had given to mom. I also took a couple of vintage quilts that my great-great and his great-great-great grandmother had made. I'm hoping that his nephews' children may end up cherishing these heirlooms.

We've been praying about church and I think we're ready to commit to the new church we've been attending. At the end of March it will be a year since I was at my old church. With that said, during today's sermon the preacher mentioned that Jesus couldn't do many miracles in his hometown because everyone knew him and thought he was just the carpenter's son. Later, I was thinking how in the church I grew up in it was always a bit intimidating to be bold in praising God. Most people don't raise hands or say Amen there and if you did it felt like you stood out and everyone was watching you. Maybe it was just me, but today's message gave me much to think about of my own praise life. So maybe it's a good thing that God has given us a start fresh elsewhere. I'm excited to see what God does in our lives now.

Aren't these peach blossoms gorgeous?

A New Year, A New Life

 It has been years since I’ve been able to walk around without some kind of issue hanging over me. It’s rather exciting to me to not need a cane anymore. I feel more confident every day and one day soon I will be able to descend steps without stopping to think about it. Life is good!

I recently had a wonderful birthday. One daughter showed up to help me celebrate! Danny surprised me with a beautiful cake and along with my brother and his wife, we enjoyed several meals together. We played catch up and also went to lunch at Coinjock Marina to belatedly celebrate Danny’s October birthday. We didn’t go back then because I’d just had surgery.

I finally finished therapy on my knees. It feels like I’ve been doing therapy forever. I finished knee therapy one week and then started therapy on my neck for a pinched nerve that runs down my arm when I look up. I feel like it’s gotten better since this issue began in early October and if therapy doesn’t get rid of it completely I think I’ll be able to live with it rather than have another surgery. I’m getting very tired of having surgeries!! Counting both eyes and even 2 times for tonsils I’ve had 12 different surgeries!! It gets old after awhile!

Now that my schedule is clearing up some I’ve had more time to work on my genealogy. Here it is years later and I’m still trying to clean p the mess that resulted from a bad merge. Every time I’d sit down and get involved something would happen and I’d have to stop what I was doing…usually heading to an appointment.

One last hurdle to get over and I'm hoping the year will be good. It's colonoscopy time. That's been hanging over my head for a few months now. I have to do them every 5 years and this year I will have a new doctor since mine retired. I'd been seeing him since the 90s. A new guy makes me a bit nervous, but I should be fine. Danny will have his later the same week. Once that's done we'll be ready for a steak dinner to celebrate!

January Tidings

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Both my girls were home for a week, along with their significant others. We ate here and away, we laughed, we enjoyed time together. I truly believe the days of dysfunctional family events is over. Everyone has a great time. This year we were able to get back to our former family tradition of having ribs for lunch. After our favorite rib place closed we spent several years having to make do with other usual meals, including doing brunch a few times (which was not a favorite), as well as the traditional turkey dinner with taters and stuffing. Luckily we discovered a close neighbor has a BBQ business and we got 12 racks of ribs from him on Christmas Eve... heat and eat the next day! It was fabulous!

My 2nd knee replacement recovery is going extremely well even while the therapy is a bit more difficult this time. I've been using the Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit for well over a month now with at least another month to go. Nothing like letting people electrocute you so your muscles will jump, right?! It would be ok if I could just sit there while it worked, but no, I have to stand up, sit down, kick out during the ordeal. But I must say I'm getting better results now than I had with my first knee. Getting better test scores, pushing more weight on the leg press, etc. I have a new TENS unit at home now so I can keep doing these lovely events on my own. What a thing to look forward to!

Since the home church of all my life seemed to have developed an 'out of sight - out of mind' policy and dropped caring about me after my surgeries, we have been going to another church now. I heard from that preacher multiple times to see how I was doing, unlike my former church. The people are friendly and seem to really care if I'm there or not. Maybe God had a plan for us to leave that included a new direction for me and Danny. I don't know, but so far it seems to be the case.

I'm hoping to be able to do some gardening this Spring. Gosh, it seems like it's been forever since I was able to walk around and do much of anything. Last year was such a bust with those crazy knee operations. I'm making planting plans, but it really remains to be seen whether I'll be doing much or if Danny will be my volunteer helper.

I've worked on several cases for the lawyer now. I love doing these searches to find ancient information needed for legal cases. My last one was simply to find a date of death for a husband that was presumed to have died before his wife. It turned out to be an easy find. I've been told it was easy for me. I don't know... it's a natural thing for me anymore. I've been doing genealogy research since I was 16.

Since it's January I've been going through my computer and email programs deleting all the old crapola. I try to do this every year. This year I'm deleting some of my email addresses and the store domain names that go with them. I'll just use the default names from now on. I've probably put a fortune out  paying for all this stuff and for a good number of years it paid off. These days, with Google changing how they operate it's been more difficult to get into search results. So why pay for all this stuff if it's not making a difference anyway? I also changed my investment people over the holidays. Looking forward to seeing what Vanguard can do for me this year!

Speaking of money, Danny dad's apartment finally sold and Danny has finally got paid for that. But once again there are problems attached as usual with anything involving his dad. They made the check out to the "Estate of" instead of the "Trust of" so now Danny has to get with the banks and the lawyer to see what can be done. There is now bank account for the estate. Murphy's law strikes again! So we have a nice bit of change sitting here waiting for the outcome! Maybe I'll get a vacation once this is cleared up!!

We're still cleaning out, throwing out, donating out a ton of stuff. What with the last of Mom's things distributed and all Danny's dad's stuff still housed in our garage things are bordering on cluster. I've inherited some more quilts made by my great-great grandmother and possibly even her mother. I certainly don't want to get rid of them! But goodness, what to do with them! I've got tables that were made by people in the family and I want to keep them, but I'm starting to think I need a bigger house for everything! So we've been swapping out thrift store tables and other items for the family pieces. Thus far, I've been squeezing things pretty good, but I'm running out of ideas.

Yes, a vacation is looking like a very good idea now!