This was the week for me to hit the ground running and try and tackle some of the tasks that needed to wait until we returned home. First off was to make an appointment to go to the DMV and see if I could get Mother's car title transferred to my name. Kuochun helped me with an appointment and was able to get me one on Tuesday but the catch was I needed to go to Waukegan, otherwise it was a 3-week wait. Kuochun went along but he was not allowed in the building since he was not directly needed for the business at hand. It was a hot day but at least there was a park bench under a tree for him. It was a lot of rigamarole but the end result was success! I had to leave the building twice to go to the currency exchange, first to get the small estate affidavit signed and second to get a money order to pay state of Illinois tax on the title transfer. The last lady I worked with was funny - she said it would normally be $15.00 but since we are from "Crook County" it was going to be $40.00. I was shocked and amazed but they gave me a new registration and set of license plates on the spot, the title will arrive in 4-6 weeks.
This took the better part of the afternoon and we were hungry so I looked up restaurants near us. I found Big Ed's BBQ which was about 8 minutes away. We were surprised to see it in a tucked away area but the place was massive and very nice. It is as large as a banquet hall. The food was really good, Kuochun and I sort of shared. I ordered the set of three mini sandwiches - pulled chicken, pulled pork and brisket. It came with fries and Kuochun ordered a two sausage platter with macaroni and cheese. I had the chicken sandwich and mac and cheese and tried the sausage. I ended up eating the pulled pork sandwich for dinner and Kuochun ate the brisket sandwich for lunch the next day. The staff was extremely attentive as well. We would definitely recommend Big Ed's to anyone who is in the Waukegan area.
There is not much to report in the way of new postings and sales. On Sunday evening, I posted the last of the Federico earrings from past years, the above pair and a matching pair with larger light green stones. There were no online sales this past week but the plan is to get back in the groove and at least post three new items every day.
I started my summer at home project with a major purge this past week, starting with my office. By all normal standards things are very organized but I would like to take it to the next level. Since I needed to take the online jewelry out of the travel bags and put the pieces in baskets for easier access while we are home this summer and fall, the office seemed like a good place to start. The room is small and for years, we have had an extra table for the big printer and a shelf where I stacked papers and "to-do" jewelry. I removed both of these furniture pieces and the room seems so much more spacious now. I cut the printer count down from four to three - we will take the extra one to Arizona. I have a huge jewelry backlog right now and it all fits in the closet. The online pieces are organized in decorative baskets and fit well in the display cabinet. My adorable floral art had fallen off its hook and fell behind the display cabinet. I was able to unwedge it and hang it back up. I feel so much more at peace now that the furniture is staged properly and the unneeded items taken care of. The only thing left to tackle are the three drawers of the credenza. Half of the items belong to Kuochun so he needs to go through them but I will go through my half at least.
Once the office is finished I will turn to the basement, where I have an empty furnace room and decades worth of paperwork to go through. I still have all of our receipts from our store as well as every piece of paperwork from every estate sale we have ever conducted. I have been scanning the estate sale paperwork for a couple of years now so my plan is to scan as many estate sale packages as I can (for as long as Sue has been taking photos of the cards of sold items and money totals) and let go of the rest. Then I am going to move the furniture to its proper places with a work area in one section, Mother's sun room furniture in another and the extra dining room set in a third. The plan will be to try and sell Mother's furniture this summer, then I could use the empty space in front of the TV for exercise.
I have set an ambitious goal for myself to list 100 pieces of jewelry online for the month of July. There is one more Federico piece to post (preview is above) and then I am going to turn back to vintage Native American jewelry. Back in February and March, I posted a few jewelry purges, which means I have already shot photos and written basic descriptions. I will post these pieces first and then start working on the 2025 Tucson Gem Show finds. While in Tucson back in late January, I wrote up full descriptions on about 75 items. These items just need photos and then they are ready to post. Although it is the "summer slowdown" if nothing else I will get a jump start on loading up the online venues for the holidays.
Until next time!
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