Paris or Boston

I don't know why I have always loved this painting from Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte entitled Paris Street; A Rainy Day, but I have.  I have never been to Paris and I hate the rain, but something about the couple walking arm-in-arm with all of the umbrella carrying street-goers in the background caught my eye years ago at the Chicago Art Institute and there has been a print of it hanging in my home next to two of my favorite Rembrandts ever since.

Thus, when I saw this in the Toledo Museum of Art several weeks ago, I just had to have it. The print of Rainy Day, Boston by Childe Hassam is a lot smaller than the one I own from Caillebotte, but it looks so nice sitting the bottom frame with it.  Two different Impressionists capturing a corner building on a rainy day on the streets of a big city well over a hundred years ago is beautiful to me. Glad to have these in my home to remind me that rainy days can be just as beautiful as the sunny ones.  

Unpacking

Doug helped me unload the Pilot yesterday. We couldn’t believe all that I had fit in the vehicle to bring back from my parents. My Grandpa‘s World War II chest, hat, and sword made it safely to Florida as did Cameron‘s beloved G.I. Joe’s and a small tub full of my memory items from my childhood. I even fit in a few things that I thought we could sell on eBay from Brett’s collectibles. It was definitely a full load coming back.

Today, I started sorting through everything that we had put in the piano room. I unpacked my luggage first then started on the laundry.  Afterward, I placed items in rooms that would be their new home. The more I sorted and unpacked, the more I became overwhelmed with all that I had to do. Thankfully, I have a lot of time this summer to take care of everything. It will definitely be a big project, organizing has become a specialty of mine.  My goal to be done by the time Cameron arrives in August. I think I can do that.

Visiting with Meg

After arriving home so late last night, I overslept and didn’t make it to church. I felt bad as I love going, but I just could not get out of bed. Since I didn’t go, Doug decided to stay home too and work on a few things around the house. By noon, we were ready for our trip to Orlando.

Doug and I were both excited to see Meg and to bring her the American girl dolls that she had stored at Grandma Jane's. I was happy that they survived the trip and glad that we were able to give her the toy chest she asked for on her fourth birthday as well. I loved her plan to paint it to match the pink desk in the second bedroom.

For lunch, the three of us went to Miller’s Ale House. Meg and I both got the salmon. I didn’t eat much yesterday on the drive down, so I was thrilled with such a delicious meal. Doug headed out before I did. He was tired and wanted to get home and rest before his busy week at work. I took Meg back to her apartment and visited for a little bit before heading home. It was a really nice to visit with her after being gone for two weeks.

The Drive

I wish that I could say that today was perfect and that I was so excited when we pulled into the driveway at 12:30 a.m., but I can't.  It started great.  Last night, I drove to Brett and Karen's and we had a great time hanging out.  Brett even made turkey paninis for dinner which were really good.  This morning, Doug's flight to Indy arrived early and we were on our way by 9:30 this morning with the hope of making it to Ocala tonight.  Traffic was light and the rain held off for quite some time.  I was happy to be back in the sunshine when we hit Tennessee and thankful for the warmer temperatures.

Everything fell apart around 7:30 this evening when Doug and I got into a huge argument.  As the night continued, I realized that it wasn't the mustard on the car seat that Doug tried to clean up with Propel water that was the issue.  It was the fact that I had asked him to put a paper towel down before he ate his sandwich that upset me.  It was like it was the final straw of a very stressful year and I just couldn't take it anymore.  I felt terrible that I got as mad as I did as it is very rare that I argue with Doug.  It doesn't help his tremor, and it never makes me feel good about the situation.  It is definitely something that I will have to talk to my therapist about.  It has been over a year since I have been that angry.  Hopefully, she can help me figure it out.  Until then, all I can do is accept Doug's apology for the mustard and reiterate to him how sorry I was for getting upset.  Sleep tonight and rest tomorrow should help both of us.  

Garage Sale Success

I couldn't believe the total when I counted the money this evening and went through all of the tallies in our garage sale notebook.  All in all, we made $536.  I thought that was fantastic since we really did not have any big-ticket items in the sale this time.  Each of my children made enough for their entry fees into our family world cup pool and most made extra to put toward their monthly phone bill.  My parents were the biggest revenue makers pulling in over $300 for the two days.  I really appreciated the $100 tip that they gave me to help with gas money on the way home.

An added bonus to having the garage sale was that I got to hang out with Aunt Jan this afternoon.  I always enjoy talking to her and hadn't seen her since I arrived two weeks ago.  One of my friends from high school, Dawn, stopped by as well.  It was also nice to catch up with her.  I even visited with Gisela, the children's librarian who our family knew well. 

The best part about having the garage sale was getting rid of the boxes that had been piled up in my parents' garage since the spring of 2025.  By delaying the sale one year, it gave my mom time to clean out her own home. I was impressed by all that she downsized. I definitely am not interested in having a garage sale in Syracuse again, so it was very nice to end with a good one.  

A Great First Day

I was up well before 7 AM this morning to start putting things out in the driveway for the garage sale. It was a lot of work, and for a while I thought it was all going to be for nothing. We opened the doors officially at 9 AM but for the first hour and a half it was very slow. My dad questioned my decision not to put an ad in the paper, but with the money we had already spent on a garage sale permit and garage sale signs, I really didn’t want to spend it. By 10 AM I was thought we would be lucky to make $100 today.

Thankfully, around 10:30 this morning, people started flooding into our garage sale and did not stop. I couldn’t believe all of the small items that we sold today. It was so nice to see things fly out the door and I was proud of my mom for getting rid of a few memory items of my brothers that she wasn’t willing to let go off till this year. The couple who bought his Cub Scout uniform were thrilled with the vintage piece. The shop owner who bought Charlie McCarthy couldn’t wait to set him up in his store. It also gave my mom a chance to tell them about my brother, which was priceless to me. As much as people thought it would be hard for me to let go of some of those items, I was actually glad. This gave someone else’s family a chance to appreciate them and for me to finally be done with the ventriloquist dummy that used to scare me and probably still does.

Overall, the sale went way better today than I ever would have guessed a few days ago.  My original estimate of making $200 total for the week has already been superseded on the first day. As of right now, I don’t think we are going to be able to open Saturday because of the weather, but after today I have a really good feeling that we won't really need to. One more day tomorrow and I’m officially done with cleaning out my parents' garage.

Good News from the Doctor

I took my parents to Fort Wayne today so that my dad could see his orthopedic oncologist. I had not been to Parkview Hospital in a very long time and was extremely impressed with the size of it, the newness of it, and the entire facility in general. We waited just a short time to see the doctor, and I could not believe our professional he was.

While we were in the office, Dr. Johnson explained to my dad that as of right now he was cancer free. They saw nothing on his recent CAT scan. His lungs would be checked every 3 to 4 months because there was a 30% chance that the sarcoma could appear there. He told dad to look for any changes in his arm because there was also a 10% chance of reoccurrence in the original tumor area. The doctor was very pleased with how well the surgery went and was positive that my dad had clear margins. He then encouraged my dad to do physical therapy at home and was very pleased with his range of motion already.

Once the doctor finished with my dad‘s exam, he asked if we had any questions. I was ready with a few. I asked about the genetic risk of myself or my children developing a sarcoma especially since Doug already had the BRCA1 gene. He strongly encouraged them to do genetic testing between the age of 25 and 30 for Meg and 30 to 35 for the boys, and for me to meet with a cancer doctor to go over my risk.  Dr. Johnson also explained that while we were at an increased risk, given my dad’s age, and the fact that most sarcomas appear randomly, he told us not to panic. More than likely, this was an isolated incident in my family. I thanked him for the information and planned on talking to my children about it later. On the way home we stopped at Hacienda in Warsaw to celebrate my dad's good news. I did enjoy my taco salad, but most of all it was nice to relax and not have to worry so much about my dad’s health.