Last Day of March

Hard to believe that the first quarter of the year is over. As Lydia mentioned a couple of weeks ago, "Just think! It will soon be Christmas!" (cough, cough.) And it's snowing outside, too boot! But she is right! I guess I keep thinking Christmas because I've been busy the past couple of weeks sorting through all our Christmas decorations along with those we inherited from Ed's parents' estate. Today I sorted through boxes of candles. I kept some and divided the rest between Amber and Kim. No one else wanted any. I think Christmas is finally behind me.

Ed brought home the beautiful carved wood screen that was purchased in India. We found a place for it in the living room and it adds a nice warmth to the room. He also inherited their carved wrought-iron and glass dining room set. If we had a formal dining room we would keep it, but it's impractical in a kitchen. We will sell it, but it will be hard to part with it because it is an antique from Panama.

I've organized my china closet and am giving some items to the girls. I put all the goblets and teacups in it, both Christmas and everyday, along with our china. It looks crowded, but they are more accessible and in less danger of breakage.

My new Epson scanner arrived and I've now synced it onto the computer. It seems to be working normally. What a relief after the last lemon that I struggled with for three weeks.

Ed and his sister, Cheryl, are plowing into the household belongings of his parents. They need to wade through all of that stuff this next month and then put the house up for sale.

Life is busy but it sure feels good to get better organized.

4 Panal screen from India (only room to display 3 panels.)

Ed's parents' China Cabinet. Table and Chairs are reflected in the mirrors.

Kitchen China Cabinet--organized at last!

Kimball's Easter photo shoot!

A nice Sunday to wear the cashmere wool shawl Eddie brought me from Nepal.

Christmas 1979--Eddie is 5 and Kim is about to turn 9. Photo found at Ed's mom's place.

First Round of Estate Finished

Today I finished the final stage of the packing/giving away to the kids all the Christmas items we received from Ed's parents' estate. It has been a long drawn-out affair. This phase is finally completely finished down to the last ornament. It feels good. Besides what the kids wanted, I am eliminating two very large boxes of items that we will save for Kate's garage sale later this spring.

We stayed up until midnight last night and watched the movie "Angels and Demons." It was a great show and we enjoyed it, even though we paid the price today for such a late bedtime.

I met Kate and Kimball at Target today for Kimball's Easter photos in his new outfit. He looked darling but wasn't too cooperate as he wanted to run around and explore. The pictures came out okay, but we weren't successful in capturing his bright toothy smile.

We went to dinner tonight with two new people who recently moved into our neighborhood. Her name is Cindy, also. I think it is the start of a nice friendship.

We went to Bear Lake last week with my sister Lydia and her husband Ted. It was fun to play games for a couple of days and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Our kitchen has been pretty torn up for a couple of weeks while we sorted through all the Christmas stuff that came out of Ed's parents' estate. We pulled down all the boxes of our Christmas stuff and weeded out a lot of accumulated so-so Christmas items. I found giant clear bins at Shopko and combined some of our decorations with some of their's. These bins were a great "find." I was able to get everything in six bins by ellimating a lot of over-size boxes that used to house miscellaneous items. We can see "at a glance" where things are located.

These bins stack three deep up on the shelves in the garage, and all six bins fit on the shelves designated for Christmas. It's a good feeling to have that sorting behind us.

Hectic weeks

Amber came to visit last week. We spent a nice evening together eating dinner, watching a movie on the computer, and she helped me with the sound affects for this blog. Hope you enjoy the songs while you read:) I forgot to take her picture. Hopefully she got a Utah picture and can email it to me and I'll put in on this blog.

I have spent much of my time these past two weeks trying to get my new scanner, Epson 600 V Photo scanner, working. It just did not work with my new Mac, even though research and numerous calls before purchasing it said that it would. Finally, I got a level II person at Epson. He said my scanner is defective. He owns a 6.5.2 Snow Leopard like mine and this scanner, and it worked like a charm from day one. What a hassle. But hopefully, I can get it replaced soon. Then I can get onto my projects---have lost so much time.

Ed and I went to a 12 stake Family History Fair last Saturday. It was very informative, but somewhat over-whelming.

Have spent time also on KSL.com buying toys for Kimball to play with. He seems more content now and it's fun to have him over.

Kate and I bought him a year pass to the Children's Museum which is loaded with fun things to do for children of all ages. I keep forgetting my camera, but next time, hopefully I'll have some pictures to show.