Monday again

This weekend was interesting. Allyson, Chad, Rick and I all went home to help Mom and Dad this weekend. Aside from the cow chores and the baby calf in the kitchen when we first arrived, the farm work was minimal. What made this trip interesting was the cleaning of Truman and Lorraine's house.

A small amount of back story is appropriate here. Truman and Lorraine were my mom's aunt and uncle that lived near the interstate (in the same house) for 50 or so years. Lorraine passed away a year and a half ago and Truman just passed away this past December. They never had children and Mom and her brother have been taking care of them in the past years. Truman also had (or rather, still has) cattle out on the farm as well. And they were frugal and saved everything. This is important.

A crew of family members fluctuating in numbers between 6 and 10 worked on the house for about 8 hours on Saturday with 2 breaks and no lunch. One room had been cleaned on a previous weekend. By the end of the day, we had a truck bed full of garbage bags destined for Goodwill, had taken away 6 or 7 truckloads of burnable materials, 1 truck of non-burnable waste, as well as items we had chosen to keep. She was a big crocheter and at least half a dozen garbage bags full of new yarn will be taken to Opportunity Village. Because of their age and the collection of papers/receipts/etc., several items were saved to take to the historical society or to the church.

Although the task was daunting (I spent 3 hours in her closet sorting through her clothes), it was far from dull. We found really old family photos, stamps, perfume sticks, maps, rare coins, war bonds; the list goes on and on. My cousin found a dress in the dry cleaner's plastic with a receipt from 1954. Not only was it historical, but it was hilarious. If you found an item that you gave them for Christmas, you were required to take it home with you. Additionally, anything that was not claimed could be saved as a Christmas present (example: my uncle will be getting a toupee). We will be seeing a lot of that stuff again.

It was just amazing to see what one can accumulate in a life time. Interesting for us as well as we, collectively as a family, had only gotten past the kitchen a handful of times. I think I held the record for remembering being upstairs twice. I found the daily log Lorraine had kept to be infinitely interesting. Journals were found dating back to the early '60s (and we suspect more will be found as we complete the cleaning process) documenting every expense (including the cost of a phone call) and every day's activities. Expenses would be on their own line in the notebook, but she would squeeze three lines of handwriting between two notebook lines documenting the day. A typical entry would read similar to this: Hi 35 Low 19. Sunny in the morning with light flurries between 10 and 1. Windy in the afternoon. Mary called at 10, said she would call back-didn't. Truman chored. Hauled grain to town at 2:06. Swept kitchen and bathroom. Fed cats. Ate supper, news, Wheel of Fortune, puzzle, news. Some days had more, but that was about as short as any entry was. In the margins were birthdays, deaths, basketball scores. For years. I can't tell you how amazing I found these notebooks. Not only could you see how much everything cost throughout the years, you could also see the restaurant names change (they ate out a lot) as they went out of business and reopened as something else. Although she was looking to record the facts of the day, occasionally her attitude towards these events would emerge. And I just think of the discipline and dedication it takes to do that every day. I'm not about to start doing it myself, but I am completely fascinated by this behavior and these books. I have a strange new-found respect for Lorraine.

We were bushed after working there, running up and down the stairs, breathing in stale air and dust. Dad took the fam + boyfriends out to eat and I was asleep by 9 pm. On a Saturday night. Yeah, I'm a winner.

Yesterday I was asked to help promote 4-H at the Iowa Events Center. It was fine, though I remembered how much I don't like marketing. But I did get to see the touring Lipizzaners- that was cool. I've seen them before (and have also seen a performance at the Spanish Riding School) but it's amazing how they train these horses to 'dance'. And then a relaxing Sunday afternoon and now I'm back at school. No rest for the weary. At least next week is Spring Break. No classes, though I still have to go to work...