The Dynamic Duo

Moving is never fun, especially when you drag it out for over a year, as we have done. When I first moved to Nevada, I could not emotionally let go of the place in Idaho where I had lived for 3 decades. Heck, it took me about 8 months after he went to Nevada to take this new job to decide maybe it was time for me to up and join him. What if his new job didn’t work out and we wanted to go back to Howe? It’s funny how far making two mortgage payments for a year can go towards the diminishing of sentiment towards a house, however much you have loved it in the past. So, UltraMom, being the decisive and quick acting person you all know and love decided, one year after moving to Nevada, to hold a giant Moving Sale and, well, move on.
I thought I had done pretty well at planning ahead. Ads ran in the local paper for two weeks leading up to the sale proclaiming “Big Moving Sale in Howe! Lots of books, games and household items. Some furniture, farm and irrigation supplies.” I also asked a couple of friends to put up posters. And, perhaps most importantly, I arranged with my very understanding boss to take a few days off work so I could actually be there.
The sale was scheduled for the weekend, so I planned to arrive the Wednesday before. I had a lot of work to do. I had an appointment for the car in Elko at 7 AM that morning, so that, I thinks to myself, should ensure that I get an early start on my way to Idaho.
That wasn’t quite the way it went down. Since I wasn’t going home, I brought my “boys’ along, so after dropping off the car, I left on foot, equipped with gloves, hat, sunglasses and two dogs on leashes to walk the streets until such time as I should receive that call on my cell: “Your car is ready.”
I was very glad I had the hat and gloves, a little less glad I had the two poodles. There are not that many places in Elko where dogs are permitted, much less welcome. When I could no longer feel my fingers, I stopped in at another auto repair shop and sat down in their waiting room. I felt slightly silly and guilty both at the same time as I sheepishly turned down their offer of help and admitted that I had just come in to warm up. I did NOT admit that my car was being serviced at a different place!
Finally my cell phone rang, but it was not good news. “The rebuilt axle I got in is not the right one for your car. I can order another one, but not til next week.”……and so on. The upshot was I told them to go ahead and put a new one in, but another ½ hour later I got a call that the new one wasn’t right either. I would have to bring the car back next week, but there was no reason the car shouldn’t be just fine for a road trip. So, we walked back, collected the car, and were on our way by about 1 P.M. Not the early start I had been envisioning for my 6 hour drive, but, as usual, my “boys” were model travelers and we made the trip without incidence.

I left this post for about 3 days and have just returned to it, and I am amazed at my ability to string out a story, embellishing every little detail, no matter how boring, and running off on a tangent at every turn. This may be why I get bored writing about an event before I finish……….uh……..writing about it. So, today, you are going to see a new, concise UltraMom. If you are reading this out loud, be sure to read faster now.

I had arrived several days before the start of the “Sale” because I knew I had lots of work to do. Thursday morning, Bro-in-law Chuck and Bro & Sis-in-law Billie & Patty arrived to help me “clean out” the farm sheds. We pulled out rusty chains, trucking load-straps, plow parts, irrigation risers and pump oil. They set aside anything they might have a use for and we hauled the rest back to the house and attractively arranged it on the lawn to entice buyers. I could NOT have done it without them. I am also very fortunate to have several very good friends. My friend Sharon, whom I used to work with at First Security Bank (now Wells Fargo), came out Thursday afternoon and pitched right in vacuuming and cleaning as I sorted. Sharon and her husband Earl are also surrogate Grandparents to UltraJimbo. He stayed at their home many times when coming home late from a Jr High Basketball game, and tries to stop and see them when he is in the area. I was amazed when Sharon informed me she had recently celebrated her 70th birthday. What a woman! Later that night, another great friend, Debbie B, whom I used to lead Weightwatchers with in Arco, came by with Nathan, Rachel and Amy, three of my all-time favorite kids to help get stuff ready for viewing and selling.
Heather was supposed to come out, but had a very bad cold. I was distraught, but late Friday morning she called and said she was coming out after all and had just left Pocatello. She arrived 5 minutes later. This was a trick I had seen several times from her brothers, and it never failed to amuse and exasperate me all at the same time. I was inordinately glad to see her.
THE SALE
Saturday morning: a few folks stopped by, but for the most part it was pretty quiet. Finally I just started calling people and generated a few more sales that way. Chuck was invaluable help with pricing the farm stuff and answering questions.
Sunday, the second day of the sale was pretty much dead, and if anyone had showed up that evening they could have made the deal of a lifetime. Still so much stuff………..it was clear…..I WOULD BE BACK!

Two weeks later: UtraDad and I go back to hold Moving Sale Part II. In spite of my advance advertising, this goes much worse that Part I, and we finally start loading stuff up for the dump. Juliet, who runs the dump, keeps setting out our junk, so we tell her to just come by and get our stuff if she wants it. She does, so I get rid of a lot of stuff that way; stuff that is really too good to throw away, but that noone else seems to want. Juliet is a worker, and she volunteers herself and husband Dee to help transfer stuff from the house to the log cabin, where we will store it for the winter. John has put a new door on the cabin with a good lock on it. We will rent the house out for the winter to the daughter of a friend. She has three small children, and the locked door will keep them out of the cabin, and we will not have to rent a storage unit, for now at least. Most of the boxes belong to UltraJohnny and UltraJimbo, but there is a fair amount of stuff that belongs to us as well.
Patty loans me her carpet cleaner, and I am so impressed by it that I purchase one for myself as soon as I get back to Nevada. The “cat room” is especially problematic, but I go over it three times with the Carpet Machine and spray on a good half bottle of “Fabreze” and the smell seems much improved.
UDad has spent much of Saturday standing about talking to neighbors who stop by, including Lynn Haight, who was born the same year as Grandpa McDonald and was one of his closest friends. Later Udad makes time to visit another close friend, Raymond. He can’t understand why he is so exhausted; I tell him standing around talking like that is sometimes more tiring than actual work.
Home at last from his ‘visiting’, he pitches right in doing whatever I tell him. I tell him to scrub down the kitchen cupboards, one of my least favorite jobs. I don’t think he especially likes it either, but he does it well and without complaint. The couch is gone, so he goes to bed on the floor and I finish cleaning carpets and mopping floors. Monday morning we finish transferring the rest of our worldly goods to the car and log cabin. I am amazed at what UDad has been able to fit into the car, and chagrinned at the prospect of dealing with it once back in Nevada. We leave right on schedule, and as a reward we stop in Arco for breakfast.
So, there you have it: a semi-short, sort of to the point, narrative of UltraMom’s Sale. Next time, read faster.

UltraMom