Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Brush with Fame: John Beck

Ya, so we sat behind John Beck at Stake Conference.  He was BYU's Quarterback and played pro ball for a few years.   LeGrand caught up with him as they put away chairs after the meeting.  LeGrand stuck out his hand and said, "I just needed to shake your hand so my boys will be more impressed with me."  Brother Beck smiled and gave him a nice firm handshake.  How about it boys? 

Tutus

What is there about a dancing costumes that turn ordinary girls into prima ballerinas?

"Dance is the song of the body."
Martha Graham 

Where in the World. . .

Moving means changing homes, friends, wards, schools and jobs. There are always trade-offs in every transition.  

Some places are more fun to live in that other spots in the road.  But as LeGrand promised, there were blessings in every stop. In fragmented phrases here is a brief look back.  Monticello: warm generous people and solid foundations.  Kennewick: independence and a sense of new adventures. Pleasant Grove:  discipline and sense of accomplishment. Price: fun youth and supportive associates. Bountiful: epiphany that people from large places are just as kind and solid and wonderful as those from rural areas.  Blanding:  challenges to meet and surprising events to overcome. Idaho Springs: not everyone thinks the same way we do and Colorado really is so very gorgeous it almost hurts.  Ogden: every city has awesome history, excellent people, and real cultural treasures. Smithfield: you can live a rural lifestyle and only live five minutes from a busy city.  St. George: weather really does make a difference and old people are awesome.  San Diego: lots of people live in California for some very good reasons and again, weather really does make a difference.  

Can  you name the place?

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.