13 September 2024 FRIDAY THE 13th!!! WOOHOO!!!

Writer hasn't written in awhile as we have been extremely busy at The Hermitage.

This "could" be a long write, as there is SO much involved and it "could" reasonably cover 35 years. BUT alas, she will try to sum up.

Life is messy. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. AND when you "think" something is the way it should be, more often than not, it makes unexpected turns. 

In the last 35 years we have left what we knew. Regrouped several times. Got back on track, only to be derailed several times. A few months ago, the kids were over for dinner and left this sage advice. "Stay in your own lane. Mind your own business." However, it seems that there are times when you are in your own lane, minding your own business, doing exactly what you should be doing AND someone sideswipes you! Throwing the status quo completely OFF! AND it wasn't YOUR fault, OR, YOUR choice!. Nevertheless, you keep rolling on. NOT like anything didn't happen, but you dust yourself off, keep going, and make the most of it. We have learned SO much!

Well, in the last 35 years we were sideswiped countless times by others. Because of this, ALL of us in The Hermitage were afraid to make any decisions as we were afraid of the outcome. SO, we were putting up with things, dealing with things, and trying our best to keep the ship afloat. 

We've learned about plans. Ours vs God's. His is ALWAYS the right plan. When our plan went out the window in 1986, we were devastated, distraught, frustrated, panicked, suicidal, and much more. Everything we thought we knew no longer made sense, and it seemed as though nothing really mattered anymore. We didn't care about life, as it seemed meaningless. We were lost and had four children to mother. 

Disciple was the one who tried to make things make sense. She put up a scripture--Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” We had to start somewhere AND that is where we started. We had NO CLUE what was going on or why for several years, but kept going...on trust. 

Then we learned about timing. God's timing. We learned there was a time for everything, a purpose, and a reason. Trust God. Trust the timing. Check out Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  

Life went on. We bought a new Hermitage built in 1895. A HUGE Hermitage. AN awesome Hermitage. Six bedrooms, three floors above a full basement. Victorian. The works. We loved it. BUT life went on and changed in multiple ways. 

We made a decision in 2008 and left this HUGE empty Hermitage. Packed everything up with the help of about 35 people and put it all in a 53' semi. Then everything went in storage for what was only supposed to be about 6 months at the most. That 6 months turned into 16 years. ALL of us in The Hermitage could sympathise with Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man when she married and said "I just want my things about me." For years we have wanted our things. All of our things. But the timing wasn't right. Something was always amiss. 

Then last month Organizer got things figured out. Disciple was off for two weeks at the Temple. Weather was good up there. Cousins were able to help. So, Chauffeur got the carriage ready and on Friday, September 6th she drove us up to Payson, Utah. We stayed with our cousin. Then on Saturday, at 9 we picked up a 26' Penske truck and drove to the storage unit. It took 8 of us less than 6 hours to load the truck, counting the time we took to eat pizza, visit, laugh and enjoy the company we were with. Half of us were over 70 or close to it. The others in their 30's or 40's we think. Those of us in The Hermitage were emotional and SO thankful to get this done. Curtis, the obvious "Tetris Master," and Charisse filled every nook and cranny. Absolutely amazing! The rest of us loaded dollies and Bruce and Mike ran them up and down the ramp from the storage to the truck. Efficiency at its finest!!!

There are many ways to show love, TIME is one of the biggest ways. When you give of your time, you are giving all and showing the greatest love ever. ALL of us in The Hermitage are deeply indebted to and give THANKS to Bruce, Charisse, Debbie, Curtis, Mikol, Mike, AJ. YOU ALL are the heroes of all of us in The Hermitage.

We played Farkle many times. Spent Sunday doing Family History with Debbie. We stayed up WAY too late, laughed and talked about life and lives. Farmer helped feed the chickens. Gardener helped sprayed weed killer on the yard. We went to have "Utah" Chinese food. We felt like a burden had been lifted. We felt like we were free from trials of the past. We could feel the cover of that book being closed.

Jessica and Jason came up from Cedar on Monday morning and Jason drove the truck back to Vegas. Chauffeur followed Jessica.

As Chauffeur headed down the on ramp getting on the 15 southbound, ALL of us in the carriage cried. We cried for several miles. We are SO grateful. Disciple prayed and gave thanks for everything that happened, how it happened, the timing, the help, the amazing family we belong to. She prayed that all of those who helped would be blessed in their lives and health. We were back in Vegas at 4:30. Jason unloaded a few BIG things, then they left to be back with their children. 

Tuesday was TOO smokey outside from the California fires, so we all stayed in The Hermitage most of the morning, taking care of things inside and arranging things. Angelo came over and moved much of the BIG stuff off the truck, leaving just a couple of big things. Some of us took boxes in since the wind came up and blew the smoke somewhere else. WE HATE the wind here, BUT that was a godsend! Jenny came by and helped with stuff that still needed to be put away before we quit at 9. 13,627 steps.
We have learned that Advill PM is our "friend." THANK YOU Angelo and Jenny.

Wednesday we had help from an AWESOME stranger who's in-laws live at the end of the street, the neighbor next door, Lora, as well as friends from Church, Colleen and Don, and Gina. The sister missionaries borrowed cookie sheets...and then brought cookies over. Another neighbor brought over frozen mangoes! OH MY GOSH!!! We'd never had them, but they were amazing! She also brought dinner over for those of us in The Hermitage! 8,981 steps.

By 4 PM on Thursday the truck was unloaded and swept out. Thank you to Lora, Dennis and Dave!!! Then another hero from Church, Garrick (Paula) Burden helped us take everything into The Hermitage, garage, and back patio. He moved so fast and was so amazing! It is done. The kitchen is filled. The living room is filled. We probably have two dozen chairs, etc. and nowhere to sit. HAHAHA...kind of a drag. 12,911 steps.

Organizer did a great job. We have amazing family and friends! We have opened and worked with things in at least 3 dozen boxes today. We have learned which ones to open and which ones to deal with later. We found that there are MANY boxes that came from Vegas, to Missouri, to Payson and back to Vegas that have NEVER been opened since 1996!!! THOSE we don't want to deal with at this time. They have "memories" in them that brought tears today...although some brought laughter. We've found random stashes of money in boxes. We found a real shark in a bottle. We have NO IDEA who that belongs to yet. We found 6 Christmas trees in 6 different boxes ranging from 2' tall to 7' tall! We already had two ironing boards and two irons here at The Hermitage, BUT in storage there were two more ironing boards, a steamer, and three more irons! AND the only two who use an iron are Seamstress and Quilter!!! We had two waffle irons here at The Hermitage, and now another one. We found LVHS swim team and football team gear. We found dresses Seamstress made for the girls when they were growing up. We found M.C. Hammer pants from the 90's! We found birdhouses that Artist painted. We've found treasures lost long ago, and now found. Every box has at least one surprise in it, IF NOT MORE! It IS Christmas in The Hermitage. We have EVERYTHING we ever wanted and more. We are blessed. AND because we have SO much more than we need, we have been giving things away. Clothes that no longer fit, but are back in style. We would LOVE to fit into them, but don't see that happening in the near future. We have huge bags of towels, pillows, and blankets ready to go to the animal shelter. We are sorting things for the garage sale, DI, kids, etc. 

Angelo drove the truck back today and Chauffeur followed. That is done! 

We've found that we have multiple bruises on our legs, today we have shin splints, AND we have a black eye from a board that fell. We really DO NOT think we are cut out to go into the moving business AND hope this is the end of our moving episode. 

Tomorrow Laundress is going to have to get a handle on washing ALL sorts of things. The counters are full, so Kitchen and Scullery Maids will be busy with things in there. Organizer is reorganizing cupboards and cabinets. Disciple will be going to a funeral in the morning. 

So this is the short story, the "sum up" of the last 35 years. Writer left out the difficult parts and gave some of the rest. Life is NEVER normal in The Hermitage and won't be for months. BUT we have our "things about us" and we are moving forward. We have NO idea what the future holds, but we know we have survived things we never thought we would. We know we have loving family and friends. This storm has passed. This part of our book is shut. A new chapter lies ahead. We don't know what, BUT Disciple knows that GOD knows and has prepared us for whatever it is. We have peace in The Hermitage. We have hope. We have been SO blessed!!!