Moving On and Surviving

 It has been a long time between posts for me. Lots of things have changed. Mostly for the better and others are still stuck in the mud.

Ebay has taken a back seat for me. It is just on auto-pilot for the time being. I still enjoy ebay but I haven't been able to shop and source for inventory for a long time. I have mountains of inventory but I also have other priorities at the moment. 

I did sell my home in December. Thank goodness it was before the panic of Covid 19 hit. I got a great price and my realtor was fantastic. We had an offer from the 3rd family that looked at it after only 8 days on the market. Of course there were some minor things from the inspection that needed to be done, but that only took a few days. I already had another house that we had moved to when SweetiePie was so sick that stairs were a hazard. I'm working on that now so I can make it more comfortable and make it "my own". Right in the middle of a tear down of the kitchen for remodeling. Making do with the microwave, a toaster oven and eating out!! The wait will be worth all the hassle and having more than 4 sq ft of countertop space will be heaven.

I have also been working on a new project for a new adventure. I have purchased an old church bus, shuttle bus type, for converting to an RV. I have pretty much got it ready and I have taken it for a test run at a campsite at Carolina Beach (NC). Everything was pretty much working as it should. Just a few tweaks to be done.

 

Working on getting solar for the roof so I can be a little more independent with the travel. Looking forward to getting on the road when everything gets a little more normal. (fingers crossed).

I love to travel. Traveling was not something that SweetiePie enjoyed. He didn't like the beach either so now I have the opportunity to travel, go to the beach and all over the US.

These photos show almost ready. The glue in the ceiling was drying.

Pink Flamingo window insulation covering!! Almost ready in this photo. I don't have any photos of the completed interior with the bed and curtains up.

Happy trails!!

Hangin' in There

I can't believe it has been 10 months since my last post.

A lot has happened since then...A LOT of stuff.

My ebay store is still open, but just barely. I haven't listed anything in over a year, probably closer to two years. I had more important things to take care of. But I keep selling a small amount here and there that helps a little. I have all of my inventory in my "new" house, in the garage, and it fills it up to the brim.

About the "new" house. I have a modular home 50 miles from my permanent residence. Two far to travel back and forth daily.An hour and half, one way. The home is two story, the modular is a one story ranch. At the time I decided to move my SweetiePie was very sick and had had several bad falls and couldn't get up and down the stairs to our bedroom. Rather than move everything around I chose to move us to the modular home with the plus being close to our daughter and her family. I think it was a good move. SweetiePie could get around better and while it wasn't home we were together and everything was fine.

 September, 2018 SweetiePie had another fall and this time had to go to rehab for 3 weeks. After that, he was in a wheel chair and hospital bed. Plenty of room at the new home for all of his equipment.
He seemed to be doing fine, as well as he could be with all of his problems. Dementia, Parkinson's and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy(PSP) were taking a toll on him and his body. I needed to get us moved to the modular and sell the two story house. I was running in six directions at one time and trying to take care of him. Couldn't handle everything, so I focused on him.

After SweetiePie got out of rehab he was in hospice care. I can't say enough good things about hospice care. They saved my sanity and took very good care of him. In spite of all the good care he got an intestinal virus or bacterial infection (or something) and passed away November 26, 2018. It was too soon and we were not ready, but he was. He went very peaceful, which is what he wanted.

Miss him every day and always will. We were together 47 years. He wouldn't want me moping around with a box of Kleenex at my elbow. I had accepted long ago that there was no medication for his disease, PSP, and that he would not get better. Just make the time he had the best I could. Pie for dinner every day. Man on man did he love his pie!!

As they say, Life goes on. Time to get my s**t together and get moved. As it turned out I have a lot of s**t to get together. Ebay inventory went first to the modular home. Filled the garage and then some. I have been going back and forth from the old house to the new house weekly. A lot of things to do at both places.

I had hired a contractor (July 2018) to repair the master bathroom at the modular home and put in a walk in shower for SweetiePie. Well at the end of August 2018 he walked off the job with the shower not finished. What to do? I had my hands full with care for SweetiePie. I could take him to court and it would cost more money and doubtful that I would get any money back. He promised a $4000 refund. SweetiePie never used it.I contacted our local TV station Troubleshooter and a story aired in December about the problem. The original contractor didn't do anything but promise a refund, and didn't follow through. (I found out later that he had done the same thing to at least two other people)  The Troubleshooter contacted me in January and said she had a contractor/master carpenter that was willing to finish the tile in the bathroom for me. By this time my husband had passed and I was so grateful for someone willing to finish the mess left by the other contractor. I met with him and he knew what he was doing. He came and finished the job and it is wonderful. I also hired him to do the repairs at the home I was getting ready to sell. Best thing I ever did. He had done this kind of thing before, getting a house ready to sell. He knows his stuff and I am almost there, thanks to him.

So that is what I have been doing in my absence. Almost to the light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope to get the house on the market before the end of July. I desperately need a trip to the beach to chill out and get myself de-stressed.

I plan to get the house sold, get de-stressed, do some traveling and get ebay back on top. I have lots and lots of inventory to list. I refuse to call it my "death pile". I have enough to fill two stores if I just get busy and DO IT!!!

I may not be able to post for another month or so because hopefully I will be busy sprucing up the modular home after I sell the two story house.

Fingers, toes crossed XXXXX

I Wish

Everyone has a wish list...right?  There are always things on the list that will come true and some things that don't have a snowball's chance.  It's good to have both on the list. Kinda like New Year's Resolutions.

So let's have some wishes. Possible and "are you serious?"

I wish I had a clone or two or three. One to take care of ebay, one to keep my house clean so I would have plenty of time to take care of SweetiePie, so I could relax some, decrease my stress level and regain my energy. Stress level currently at about 10,000,000,000,000+.

I wish there was a magic pill to cure all sickness. Cancer, strokes, heart conditions, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's and everything else.

So that should make everyone's life a bit easier, right?

You're welcome.

Oh I forgot about the current contractors in my life. You know, the one who on July 9th, said that all work on the bathroom remake would be finished in 11 days from start of work? It is now August 28th and the tile in the shower is still not finished. 50 days!!!The walls have been painted. Partial electrical, partial plumbing and partial tile.

I really wish he would finish the job and get out of my life. He's a really nice guy. A new father with a 2 year old and a 5 month old. I feel for him, but I need my bathroom finished. I started this handicapped accessible bathroom when SweetiePie was walking pretty good. Now he can barely walk. PSP(Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) is quickly taking away his ability to walk and talk. If the bathroom isn't finished soon he will never be able to use the walk-in shower. He will have to be wheeled in.

Oh, one more wish. I wish that there were elves who come to my house and pack up 25 years of stuff, discard the old stuff that isn't valuable or usable, donate worthy items and save everything else for ebay. And also be able to do it the way I want it done without asking me anything. And have it done by next week.  And clean up after you are done.OK?

We are in the process of downsizing to a home half the size of the one where we raised the kids and took care of my mom. Too many bedrooms and bathrooms. The stairs are a serious problem for SweetiePie. We need everything on one floor with easy access to everything. I have already added  a ramp and front porch for easy wheelchair access. More renovation after we sell the larger house. Hopefully quickly.

So, wish elves let's get to work!!!

Hanging in There

Sometimes I wonder if I should just shut this blog down. Never enough time.

I don't seem to have time to get around to updating things. Things have gotten worse on the medical front for SweetiePie and we have had another family medical emergency that has taken a lot of spunk out of me.

As if Parkinson's and dementia aren't enough the neurologist seems to think that he has PSP, progressive supranuclear palsy. He has most of the symptoms but the dr hasn't officially diagnosed him with PSP. I almost hope that he will confirm the diagnosis because it means that more services will be available to help him and me. These new symptoms bring a whole new level of care required. All I want is 8 hours of sleep in a row.

PLEASE get a flu shot. My son-in-law had the flu and ended up with heart failure and in the ICU on a respirator, a heart and lung machine, a feeding tube and it was touch and go there for a few days. But the good news is that he pulled through and is doing physical therapy and hopefully he will be home on Saturday. At one point while he was sick, he had the flu and heart failure, my daughter had the flu, my grand daughter had the flu and then pneumonia. Knock on wood, everyone is well and SIL will be home on Saturday.

Ebay is something that I haven't been able to get worked into the schedule. Somehow it keeps going, but at a very slow pace. I guess I should be grateful for all that sells because it does help pay some of the bills. But if I survive I need to get back into ebay in a very enthusiastic way. That has been extremely hard to do. But, the last few days I have been able to carve out a bit of time to get some drafts done and listings scheduled. I hope one or two will be enough to boost sales until I can squeeze some more time out of the day.

I promise that I will keep positive and get things listed. One of the positive things that has helped me is Scavenger Life. They just keep on being positive and supportive of sellers. Like blue skies and calm seas, when I have time to listen to their weekly podcast. Keep up the good spirits guys.

Mother Nature Working---Not Me

Just staying warm and dry and it seems that I cook every 30 minutes and wash dishes every 32 minutes.

Mother Nature really knows how to dress things up...been snowing since about 9am and we have 4+ inches and it hasn't slowed down yet.

 At the front door

Stacked up on the deck
There is over an inch on the clothes line. Mother Nature covers everything  

STAY WARM

Time for a big pot of soup!!

Painfully Slow Around Here

I keep trying to be positive about ebay but it keeps getting harder for me to get back into the swing of things. I have very limited time and there are other things that keep getting all of my attention.

Sales have picked up just a tad. Not huge but better sales and more consistent. But listing time is non-existent most days. After taking care of SweetiePie for most of the day I just can't force myself to sit down at the computer and deal with listing. My service provider is a PITA and I keep having issues with SellerSourceBook and I just dread trying to list. Every time I  contact SSB with a problem it seems that it is my fault, my computer's fault or my service provider's fault. Granted they may all be contributing to the problem but SSB needs to accept some responsibility. But most days I don't want to deal with things after taking care of everything all day.

The most exciting thing today was 3 great sales and a very persistent bird. Two pair of shoes and a chamois shirt. The persistent bird was a male cardinal that was very determined to get in one of the windows on our front porch. He kept flying into the window and hopping on the window sill and chirping. Our "guard cat" was scared and wouldn't get near the window. So much for the guard cat.


This little fellow really wanted to get in.  I was able to get really close and he didn't fly away. Kept us amused for 30-45 minutes before he flew off.

I really need to get pumped up and get on the listing track. Maybe today's sales will get me going after SweetiePie goes to bed.

That and a couple of glasses of wine!

Learning New Skills

I'm so proud of myself. I changed out the battery in my car and didn't have to reset all of the codes. In my current situation I'm having to learn all sorts of new things.

Last week it was how to replace a drive belt on a riding lawn mower. This week it is how to change out a dead battery without getting a hernia, those babies are heavy.

Who knows what will be on the agenda next week. Right now, I'm hoping for nothing.

I knew there was a reason I liked to go out to the wash house with my dad when I was little. For you non-Southerners a wash house is a small building where the old well was and two black iron kettles for washing were. Of course we never used the building for that. That's where my dad's workshop was. A fun place to hang out. All those interesting tools and he let me use the hammers and stuff.

As for ebay I haven't had to go shopping for quite a while. I have enough to list for at least a year. Also I haven't listed since the end of August. I took a real break the first of September and didn't try to get any listings done while I was on vacation. When I was ready to list SweetiePie needed special attention and I haven't been able to get listing worked into the schedule.

So, I am 70% down in sales from the same period last year. It is what it is, but it sure does suck. At this rate I will not even make 20K this year. I hope I can get back in the groove before the 4th quarter is over with.

But, there are more important things than money.