The Cleanup

Imagine being a house for 56 years and, as the phrase goes, "Anything that came into this house, never left".

That's what has been going on for the last 3 weeks, "making these things leave"...we've been at the house doing cleanup detail....taking things out to the trucks (over eighteen 16-foot trucks so far, including two 40-yard dumpsters) and hauling them to the dump. Dump fees in California are steep....upwards to $165 a trip!!

One of the filled dumpsters....soooo much stuff.

Oh, did I mention that the three cats brought fleas into the house so we needed to put on some protection before going in for the first time?

We ended up talking and coordinating over 75 people for three weeks to get the house in shape and ready for sale. (Cleaners, recycling people, landscapers, sewer pros, pest control, lawyer, bank reps, real estate, etc....)  We're trying to get it on the market and sold because Dad will need the money to pay for his care/medical and hospital expenses. We're opening a special bank account for all of this. We sure don't have the money to pay for it. I'm not sure what people with no resources do.

Maybe when we're done, we'll get back to our six-week trip over to the Oregon coast.

I'm not going to post any of the inside photos. Just remind your older loved ones to start throwing away stuff before you have to get in and do it for them !

steve/kim/katie