The Black Family

ADHD Addendum

May I add one more thought about the cost of "stuff" in our lives? The three (3!) storage units Kellie and I cleared out cost the lady who rented them for the last many years over $70,000. That was not a typo. The reason the woman finally agreed to evacuate them was her own eminent financial ruin. This is a blog so I will not spell out the obvious in detail but use your imagination.

I am asking myself what baggage I carry around that is dragging me down.

Storage Wars, part 2

Part 2

Did I mention there were three (3) large storage units we agreed to clean out? Of course that commitment was made when the grandiose illusions of working with real antiques were dancing through our heads. The antiques turned out to be mostly 90% off the clearance Christmas statues from twenty years ago, old crunched wicker baskets, stained and soiled clothes, broken doohickeys and dusty discombobbles.

The Salvation Army worker overseeing the donation station closest to our storage unit became our new best friend. Honestly. We got very close to this young man who cheerfully accepted all our junk with a smile. What a guy. He couldn’t figure out where we were coming up with all that stuff. Truck load after truck load of stuff he helped us transfer our treasures to his trailer. Over 40 boxes of books alone. Rusty chairs. A file cabinet coated in thick white paint. A pan without a lid. A red rocking love seat without a cushion. Yup. Real antiques.

So far, after listing the few valuable things we found on Craig’s list, Kellie and I have made a total of $40. That didn't pay the dump fee.

I haven’t watched Storage Wars in a few weeks. The scent of moldy cardboard and thick dust is too fresh in my nose and my back hurts. Maybe next week.

I plan to get back on track with more “Thoughts about Moving” next time. . .

The very very last of the three units! See anything you want?

This cool World War II Nursing cape was the treasure that went for our $40 payoff. A couple who did historical re-creations was thrilled to get this.

Still no takers on this awesome antique steamer trunk. Looks like it is going to Salvation Army too.

You might think people want to pay money for your antiques, but most people have enough of their own junk to store and don't want yours. The big trouble with this trunk is the size--where do you hide it?

Side-note to Thoughts on Moving

Side note to Thoughts on Moving

So I get distracted easily. That is probably what got us into this mess in the first place. We had been very focused on home improvements at Kellie and Scott’s new home until that fated phone call.

By way of rationalization, I love the TV show “Storage Wars.” It is sort of one big treasure hunt where a bunch of real characters bid on abandoned storage units without actually going inside to inspect what they contain. The climax of the show reveals what the winner finds hidden in the unit. Treasures. Antiques. Priceless relics. But mostly junk. But it is the hope of the one priceless object that keeps the viewers tuning in to witness the rags to riches finale of every episode. "That's the WOW-factor right there," as the guy who wears the black wife-beater every show likes to say.

Kellie’s “friend” (who happens to be a life-coach which should have been our first clue) called and asked us if we wanted to accept a wonderful opportunity to help out a sweet older lady move out of her three storage units. The story was that this lovely woman owned an antique boutique in New York City but moved to San Diego and brought her most valued treasures with her. She would pay us by dividing the proceeds of anything we could sale or trade us out for anything we wanted to keep.

Awesome! We were in! The trouble is, like the bidders on Storage Wars, we did not know what was inside the unit before we committed. And like a true Hole-in-the-Rock descendent, once we say we will do something, there is no going back.

The rest of the story tomorrow. . .

Kellie and Dave Hester trying to outbid each other. My $ is on Kellie, darn it.

Thoughts about Moving
Part 2

Tomatoes, Petunias, and Selling the Barn

While we were renting for one year in Ogden, LeGrand went to Blanding one weekend to plant our tomatoes and petunias so they would be ready for our return to Blanding. Yes, his planting went well, but he sold our property too--all of it including the barn and chicken coup. Without ever putting our home up for sale, LeGrand sold our property in six days and we moved out in about six weeks.

We did our kids a real favor by going through everything before we kicked the bucket so they wouldn’t have sort through our junk. After signing the sale contract, we frantically went through everything we owned and threw it out, gave it away, or packed it up. We did some serious contemplation about life and stuff. Some things I had been saving for years for just the right occasion were tossed or donated because we just didn’t have room or time to deal with them. Stuff became an anvil around our necks because we were not moving to another big family home. In fact, we were not moving to a home of our own at all for the time being. Simplifying and reducing were essential. And the painful process was extremely liberating in the end. I hate to admit it but Thoreau was absolutely right when he said, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Hanging on to “stuff” means storing it, cleaning up around it, and eventually moving it. All for what?

Kellie and I just helped an elderly woman with a real hoarding problem move out of three storage units. More on that tomorrow.

Still can't believe we sold it. . .

Thoughts about Moving

Part 1

It seems like we have been moving for years now. It might be my imagination, but my clothes smell like cardboard. My most valued piece of clothing is a good pair of gloves and the most important appliance we own is a packing-tape dispenser. Between our weird and frequent moves and helping so many of the kids relocate, I keep waking up in the middle of the night confused about where I am. Course that happens in the middle of the day too so that might just be old age.

Moving is hard. Physically, it can break you down. Emotionally, it can drain you dry. But it can also be a real rush too!

Being a CES family, we moved quite a bit as we were asked to take new positions. LeGrand always promised the kids there would be a blessing for each child if they would pray about the move and look for the tender mercies of the Lord in our new area. When LeGrand and I recently went on our mission, we really started thinking about how wonderful people are all over the world and how fun it is to start a new life. We weren’t afraid to move anymore.

(More on "Thoughts about Moving" tomorrow, part 2.)