Procrastination and Hoarding
My parents had to move this weekend. Really, they could have done it any time in the last 5-6 months. But today was the last day they could legally come and go from their house. My parents are sweet. If you ever meet them, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll love them. But sometimes they are bad with money. And they, especially my mom, are hoarders.
My Dad decided to buy a house 5 years ago, knowing that he planned to retire last year. At the time, I asked how they'd be able to afford the payments once they retired and they didn't seem to think it would be problem. They were disappointed by the size of the social security checks once they started rolling in. Even though the small business they started is helping, it wasn't enough to cover this mortgage. So they lost their house to the bank and are moving to my late Granny's house. They've known this was coming for months but had done virtually nothing to prepare to move.
Have you ever seen "Clean House" or "Hoarders"? If so, you have some idea of what we were dealing with this weekend. They've lived in homes full of boxes and piles of papers for at least the last 15 years. My mom has a VERY hard time letting ANYTHING go. But there is limited space at Granny's so she had to leave a LOT behind. I spent at least 16 hours between Friday night and today helping her rummage though boxes to find the things she wanted most: Her HS Year Books, Her Dad's Bible, a 100 year old story book my Great Great Grandmother read to my Grandfather, my Dad's motorcycle racing leathers, and her scrapbook. We found most, but not all of it.
We did find junk mail from 1982 though, and magazines from the 70's-2000's, and more boxes of toys and school papers than I could count. If I sound frustrated, that's because it really, REALLY was. All this crap burying things that are actually meaningful (like photos I'd never seen of my sister, my brother, and myself when we were kids).
Lance was a trooper. I don't think they would have gotten nearly as much done if he hadn't come to help move boxes today. There was no reason for him to come earlier, we were still putting things in boxes (even today). Lance and I called it a day around 6:30 this evening, but mom was still going through boxes in the garage. I could have stayed to help, but she could have taken care of this bit by bit over the last few months. If she had started sooner I'd have been able to help more. It just all around sucks.
I'm really tired, but I just can't sleep. Maybe now that I've vented I'll be able to crash.
My Dad decided to buy a house 5 years ago, knowing that he planned to retire last year. At the time, I asked how they'd be able to afford the payments once they retired and they didn't seem to think it would be problem. They were disappointed by the size of the social security checks once they started rolling in. Even though the small business they started is helping, it wasn't enough to cover this mortgage. So they lost their house to the bank and are moving to my late Granny's house. They've known this was coming for months but had done virtually nothing to prepare to move.
Have you ever seen "Clean House" or "Hoarders"? If so, you have some idea of what we were dealing with this weekend. They've lived in homes full of boxes and piles of papers for at least the last 15 years. My mom has a VERY hard time letting ANYTHING go. But there is limited space at Granny's so she had to leave a LOT behind. I spent at least 16 hours between Friday night and today helping her rummage though boxes to find the things she wanted most: Her HS Year Books, Her Dad's Bible, a 100 year old story book my Great Great Grandmother read to my Grandfather, my Dad's motorcycle racing leathers, and her scrapbook. We found most, but not all of it.
We did find junk mail from 1982 though, and magazines from the 70's-2000's, and more boxes of toys and school papers than I could count. If I sound frustrated, that's because it really, REALLY was. All this crap burying things that are actually meaningful (like photos I'd never seen of my sister, my brother, and myself when we were kids).
Lance was a trooper. I don't think they would have gotten nearly as much done if he hadn't come to help move boxes today. There was no reason for him to come earlier, we were still putting things in boxes (even today). Lance and I called it a day around 6:30 this evening, but mom was still going through boxes in the garage. I could have stayed to help, but she could have taken care of this bit by bit over the last few months. If she had started sooner I'd have been able to help more. It just all around sucks.
I'm really tired, but I just can't sleep. Maybe now that I've vented I'll be able to crash.