Fear Continued

I mentioned fear, but indirectly...I just hinted that it is something always waiting for me when I get lazy or distracted.

I have fear...about losing people, about having enough money (esp on our new retirement budget), and I worry about our health and how to do less and not feel less...

Tues this week was rough, our to do lists where long, things either broke or multiplied.  I felt DH frustration along with my own.  We lost 2 really nice leather Harley bags, which both contained 2 pair binoculars and our bird books.  We aren't worried about the bags, but binoculars are expensive to replace and DH was fixated on it.  I am disappointed the book we wrote our bird sightings was gone.

Last night I finally made a yoga class that I loved.  It was great.  The people nice, the setting lovely and the challenge just right.  Today I am sore! 

Cooking for my cousin and her husband who are coming to visit 2 nights.  We will go to War Eagle tomorrow with my sister.  My family has done this for 25 years.

Wed was much better than Tues.  We went to get our DL transferred and had a nice lunch.  DH used his gift cards for a new ser he really likes.  We had a nice lunch.   We used our amex points to buy me a bow, which I have wanted for years.  And came home to only find a sheepskin duster and a roll of shipping tape destroyed.  Could be worse.

Also the move could be much worse, if we only lost the bags, binoculars and books during our move..then that isn't bad.

Have you ever lost or broken something during a move?

More Heat

First, I just want to say my DH and I are so happy the soccer kids and their coach were rescued!  So much bravery.  I am humbled and grateful for soldiers and civil servants who take risks everyday to help other people.

I keep thinking that I should be adapting to life in the Extended Stay and be able to sleep, but in practice...not so much.  Was up several times last night, mostly because of the limited space trying to sleep.  I usu sleep really good after sweating so much in hot yoga.  We are used to a  queen.  When we prepaid back in March for our hotel, we asked for a queen or double bed.  They never explained no queen, only double beds - as in full size.  But some rooms have 2 beds, which we would be ok with.  We also asked for 1st floor for ease in walking the dogs and wifi. 

We got none of these things!  We are on the 4th floor next to fire escape stairs where doors are always slamming.  We have a single full bed and the wifi is non existent.  After getting moved in, we asked for a week about getting a queen bed moved into our room - no one ever got back to us - it seems no one there knows much of anything, they all refer to the "manager".  So, when i finally spoke to the one manager, he said no queens exist.  OK, what about a 2 bed room - well, they are all taken and no way to know when one is available till the people leave.  Then, 2 days ago, they offered us a 2 bed room - but just on the 3rd floor.  DH said he wanted to wait to move all our stuff when a 2 bed room is on 1st or maybe 2nd floor.  Uggggghhhhh.  I will just continue to enjoy the air cranked wayyyyyyy down and very cool room.

Supposed to be 98 and 99 through Monday.  Tues high 80s.  We are going to RH this weekend to relax and spread out, do some cleaning and laundry.  We will enjoy taking our smaller car rather than our ginormous older SUV.  We have taken the SUV every trip to RH for the past year and a half.  It costs nearly $100 to fill it up with gas versus $40 for the car.  So, that is nice.  All we have left to move to RH (4hours away) is what we are currently using in hotel.  So, that is a nice thought.
Stay cool and enjoy your Wednesday!

Weekend Work

Friday we brought big load lots of miscellaneous stuff.  Plus truck bed full of metal such as hall tree, more little tables, DH antique fan collection, etc.  We think we have one more large load and then one after that of ladder, vacuum, cleaning supplies,  etc.  It was hot friday and my SIL came by just in time to finish unloading.   I worked putting stuff away till 11pm Friday night.  Then I drove over and saw a movie and had lunch with my sister Sat.  DH worked on hooking up 2 stereos and wired speakers, unpacked his shoes and organized his shop.  we did a lot of organizing and decorating when I got back from lunch.  Whew we are tired.  Today is Sunday  and we will drive back and do as least as poss.  I will walk...maybe with my friend T.  Its hot though (90s) so we may do it later, like 6 or so.  we are coming with the last load next weekend and we have 5 people coming to get various items we gave them, which helps us and helps them.   It is getting close!  And retirement house is looking cute (full but cute).  Have a nice Sunday!

Glad this Week is Over

I hate hearing myself wish my time away.  I will have to work on that.  Anyway, got through the busy week.  Today is Friday.  Last night I did some freelance work and made $100 in an hour.  Had a GREAT time with friends having coffee last night.  Today I got paid and finally got my semi annual bonus about a month late.  But, that is about $300 extra I can throw toward paying off my NYC trip.  DH loaded the suburban up Wed night while I was walking (it was 91 degrees!).  I was glad, but sort of upset he did it all alone and after having hand surgery only 9 days ago.  I work till 11 most Fridays, and after work we will load up my little truck also and head to RH.  Last few loads, we are taking 2 vehicles just to be sure we can get it all.  After this last load we are pretty confident in our ability to get the remainder pretty easily.  Mostly just misc stuff for his shop, and a box for this room and that - so should not be too hard to put away tonight.  Tomorrow I am taking the morning off and having lunch/movie with my sister who lives an hour away - we meet in the middle.  Then tomorrow afternoon we are moving a large iron trellis my FIL made from a livestock panel.  They had ivy growing on it to block a hot western wall of their house, but they have since had trees grow up tall to take over the shade job and want to remove some of their more labor intensive garden features.  I want to use it to block a western side of our shop that gets constant sun with vining fruits and veggies, but DH thinks he wants a permanent feature like ivy.  I have never grown ivy, but we have such a mass of vines between our grapes and wisteria that I don't want another thing that I have to trim a lot.  I would rather grow food then just tear it all back in the winter and start over.  Guess we have all winter to decide what we will grow.  Have a great weekend!

Still Moving

DH brought trailer home from his brother's land yesterday.  We will load bikes and put extension ladder on it, fill the SUV and get as much as we can in back of my small truck.  This is first but not the last time we will take 2 vehicles.  It is a 4 hour drive from city house to retirement house.  We brought everything upstairs from storage room in basement last night to load, but we held off loading since it rained last night.  So, the CH is a mess.  I am so glad it looks like clear weather today to drive with the trailer.  DH will drive SUV with trailer.  I will drive truck and prob have the dogs ride with me.  I am tired already!  The weather is warming up fast here!  Looks like upper 80's today and then this weekend and all next week 90's.  I hope we don't get bad storms.
Have a happy memorial weekend.  I heard about Slabinski of Seal Team 6 getting a medal of honor.  I think it is sad the media is focusing on the controversy.  I wish our country could be more united.  Period.  I will just say a prayer for it and move on. 

Friday Eve

Taking the last of the worst load to RH this weekend (basically our entire garage).  So heavy stuff like tool box, tools, car washing cabinet, motorcycle jack/lift, etc.  We will have another load of large stuff better moved on the trailer than in the SUV, but it is not heavy stuff.  Then all we will have left is clothes, kitchen, bathroom and misc. 
DH is having hand surgery 5/30.  So, he will be unable to help much after that, but I am thankful for the timing being what it is, we will be mostly finished.  We are thinking about selling our large SUV then.  I will be on a mission to further reduce our vehicle/bikes and to lower insurance costs by going to liab only on a couple.  We are just paying so much in insurance/taxes on these depreciating assets that require so much time and energy maintaining.  I am over it. 
Today is Thursday!  Or Friday Eve!  Have a great day!

What I Did Today to Further Our Move

This is what I should call the blog from now through the summer.  Ha.  We started packing up clothes out of the closet and this weekend, I am going to pack up remaining bed linens we won't need and try out my new space saver bags.  After I finish painting the deck.
Our buyer has been by the house 3 times with friends to look at her new home.  We talked about closing date and getting everything moved, etc.  She had a friend with her last night, so she agreed to come back tonight and we would pick a closing date and a date to be out.  I am leaving several things for her and her friend, including my writing table and our queen mattress and box springs/frame.  I told her I had scheduled a pick up from the city, but they are like 60 and 90 days out and she said just leave it - she would get a new pad and use it and then get rid of it as she saw fit.  Done!  I will also leave some other misc furniture that we don't have room for (lamps, a chair, couple bed side tables).  Last night DH and I started talking about just want is left to move and it seems like so much!  I had a hard time getting to sleep.  One foot in front of the other...
I walked with my friend last night.  She will take full bed mattress/box springs and an armoire and full size mattress/box springs.  Finally, another friend going to drive up and pick up couch, loveseat and chair/ottoman.  We still have tool box and entire garage, bunch of coolers, 2 pet crates, wet/dry vac, bunch of golf stuff, 2 iron outdoor chairs, 2 folding outdoor chairs, 2 folding tables, 4 folding card table chairs, 2 rocking chairs, iron plant rack, 6 small plant stands/tables, blanket stand, 2 bed headboards, jewelry armoir, a grill, 2 filing cabinets, a printer, small book shelf, 2 bar stools and a final TV. 
We are leaning toward closing on 7/2 and asking her time until 7/10 to get the couch, loveseat and chair/ottoman - since that is when my friend is going to drive up.  That way, we pay June house payment and go pay extended stay hotel for July and then just take essentials we will need 3 months to hotel - clothes/toiletries/medicine.  Maybe we can offer to pay utilities until 7/10 as consideration, but I don't think she will mind because she already volunteered and we are giving her bunch of stuff and a great deal on a $1200 year old washer dryer for $750.

I Survived...

I survived A to Z challenge.   
I didn't do all the links/photos.  I mainly just wanted to see if I could find content to post everyday and I did.  So, I will keep going. 
Soon I will be saying we survived selling our house and moving!  This is a momentous year and even if I stop after this year, it will be a time capsule for a big year of change.  Downsizing and uncluttering, selling a house, rightsizing our stuff/activity/lifestyle, moving from city to country in diff state, retiring...
So I got my continuing ed finished for my prof license Thursday thru Saturday.   We took our dogs and went to RH after my DH had minor surgery wed.  I only worked 20 paid hours this past week.  Then wed night I framed some art and hung it, and I and spent the rest of Wed evening unpacking my truck.  Mostly clothes and racks for storage in the garage.  I also hung some glass crystals to jazz up an old light fixture. 
Thursday I visited with my in laws after my seminar and completed the chandelier for our entry way.  Friday I lunched with my sister after my seminar and then worked on my attic storage and painted 2 lamps.  I also hung 2 towel racks...so master bath is finished for RH.  I was so tired I went to bed at 7.30!  My seminar is an hour and a half drive from RH.  So, last half day was Sat, then I ran home and got the dogs and drove another 4 hours back to CH and put 2nd coat of stain on CH deck.  Whew.  I did not get to the leaves---was too wet.  I will do that late May. 
My husband and I - I think we are still just in shock that our house is under contract and we have a more definite timeline to make everything feel real.  The big stuff we are keeping/moving is almost all at RH, we just have a tool box and motorcycle jack/stand and misc pers effects (kitchen/bath/clothes) to move.  We figure 3 or 4 more trips with our SUV and one trip with our trailer for the bikes.  Can't believe it!

Couple of Befores

So we got last 2 bookcases moved and the less sturdy shelf from Ikea we will use for shoes and folded clothes in back of closet.  All three along with a bunch of coats and a few dishes and other odds and ends fit back of suburban!  Oh, and my new rug for sitting room!

We literally had to remove chair rail moulding and sledge hammer the 4th bookshelf into the dining room/library.  Then I painted them white again.  Looks a bit crowded, but good!  I will not be keeping the large round table and hutch in there for ever.  It will be better with a smaller table.  I will prob wait until my niece or nephew get a house and then see if they want the set.
 

Then I put new rug in sitting room and moved that smaller rug into library.  The thing I am most excited about though is that we are getting rid of moldy pink shower.  The shower has no fan and a door, plus the floor is not angled toward the drain.  So water just sits all around and mold has grown that I tried everything to remove.  The shower is large and plain off white tile all the way up from the pink tile, so we are leaving that.  They will take out the pink tile and built in seat, angle the floor and put a strong fan/light in the top.  Our contractor also pointed out that the grout had been covered or replaced with silicone caulk down around the bottom where all the water stands/mold grew.  We think these changes will fix the mold.  (I should probably say mildew). 

My husband helped me take off the little door and it already opened the look so much!  We decided to try it with no curtain for a while, see if we can leave it off all together.
 

Next time we go to RH, we will have all tile floor in master and updated shower.  I can hardly wait! 

It was truly the last thing that we are going to change that made us sad every time we looked at it.  A few other changes will have to wait until we can save up for them, but the house just looks amazing to us and we just love being there. 

Have a wonderful week.  Hope someone reading drops by and tells me what spring cleaning/organizing/purging/improving has inspired you lately.

Anticipa-ation...

Remember the ketchup commercials?!

We have waited about 4 years to list our house and we still have a little while before we are ready.  But we will be listing in less than 60 days!  Last night I looked through FB and eNeighbors and saw that other people were creating evens/pages for homes that they will be soon listing.  Seemed like a good idea, so I did too and put up profile and cover picture with our view and said "View available soon!"  It really is exciting!

Last night I dropped off taxes paperwork to CPA and I am happy to have that off my plate onto his.  This weekend, we take another full load in suburban to RH.  Can't wait to get my new rug down in sitting room and bookcases in library/dining room!  So exciting.  I will post photos soon.

I also prematurely maybe, but I don't care.  packed my warmest pj's, wool sweaters, turtlenecks, coats and winter boots.  No going back now!  I am just trying to make sure that 1)  we are packing as much as we can take each trip (is 400+ miles round trip) and 2)  keep the organization going, as we unpack and put into place our long term storage/organization plan down there.  In the beginning it was easy, we just took a load and unpacked quickly.  Now, with things getting more occupied I have to do some planning to get things put away.  It is a good problem, in a way.  But some days I feel like stuff is winning.  Want to have that part behind me. 

Have a wonderful Thursday!  How is your spring cleaning/organizing/lent going?

Happy Valentines Day/Ash Wednesday

This title of my post today really gets to the heart of what is important in my life today.  Celebrated Fat Tues last night with yoga and a spinach smoothie, then asleep before 9pm! 

 

This weekend we are taking 4 large bookcases to RH to start our "library".  We are maybe the most excited about this aspect of our Retirement Home.  Well...that and my yarn closet (stay tuned for photos). 
 

I went back and reviewed how much money I have made selling just on ebay.  Since April 2015 I have put over $5,000 into my bank account just from reducing stuff we don't need/have room for by selling on ebay.  This does not count FM Marketplace (not that much) and CL - even less.  But, should not be too hard to get guestimates in those areas either...I checked FB...made about $1500.  CL I made about $700.  PM my grand total after only one year is $2378.  I spent quite a bit of the PM amount, and a little of the ebay proceeds also.  This was mostly spent on items to redo mine and my husband's wardrobes from business/dressy to casual wear.  Things like hiking boots, snow boots, rain/work boots, comfortable motorcycle boots (took me couple years to find the right pair after my last pair wore out) and rain coats/warm utility coats for both of us also "re-tooling" our golf club inventory!  I have decided I am not going to try to buy a daypack for hiking sight unseen, but instead go into the sporting goods store and talk to people who know what the options are and have used one or more.  But that will be fun!

The Days Are Getting Shorter

I feel better today, had a rough day yesterday.  Not eating lunch helped.  Today I am feeling sad because I am really missing my after work walks.  Walking on the treadmill at the gym might have to be my next step since I sold my treadmill and elliptical a couple months ago.  What was I thinking selling it so soon?!  I guess, I am just at the point where I am ready to clear things out because as much as we plan, who really knows what kind of time table we will actually be on and the sooner stuff goes, the better! 

So, I missed hot yoga Monday since I was hurting and had killer headache.  Yesterday I was still pretty sore, so I went home and took it easy.  Except, I did clear out a bunch of room in upstairs walkin closet so my husband can start putting his stuff in the closet upstairs and can start cleaning out the basement walkin he has used for 10 years.  It was HIS idea when we moved in!  But it has been nice, his and her closets!  Not down in RH (retirement home).  We are going from 2 large walk in closets to one small one.  Oh well, we don't need near as many clothes!  He has been a real trooper letting go of stuff as he sees me clear stuff out and strategically move carload by carload.  He even came up with a few things to give my work friend who has a large farm and an unfinished house and seems to be missing his heavy coat right now (said it is all dirty).  My husband has plenty of coats.  He and I both have (had?  I hope) a coat thing.

I may try to do a gentle yoga tonight.  I hope you are having a great week if you are reading.

Sunday Drive Day

This post is from sunday, but i had to delete start over, still cannot do photos

Well, we got 4 of the 6 projects finished at RH this weekend.  I will try to post a photo.  Every trip down we load as much as we can which involves unloading and organizing so we can fit more next trip.  But, its all good. 

Got sheets and towels clean for girls weekend in 2 weeks.  Got an old light taken down.  DH got lawnmower tire fixed.  We have a person we pay now, but never know when that could fall through.  He also patched a hole in porch ceiling and used spray foam master closet where I suspect spider enter (ewww).

I cleaned weeds out of 2 raised planters and rescattered existing flower bulbs, plus transplanted my peonies.  One of the planters was full of rocks, I moved those too.  My sister (D3) came and visited while I worked.  She got some peonie bulbs, some wild onions and some cypress vine seeds.  We told her to watch where you put cypress vibe, cause it will never go away once it starts!

We got to share couple dinners with my dear in laws, but SIL and BIL were away dealing with BIL mom's estate.  She passed this summer with a house so full of stuff, you could barely walk through it.  Literally a path.  Plus, she had barely a spot cleared on her bed large enough for her to sleep.  Between these stories and seeing my Aunt's (PA) place, i vow to give my stuff away while I am alive so I dont leave a mess like that to my loved ones.  We have no children (thats another post).  But I wouldnt want to put that on anyone.  My DGM (grandmother) has been great about this, every step of the way deciding she can no longer drive, downsizing from house to apt, moving from apt to indep living, etc.  She is my role model in aging (and many other things!)

So. I will continue as long ad i am alive to be aware and organized, and hopefully proactive. 

My MIL always cuts out articles on local history.  This time it was about a local lake and how a wealthy businessman from Chicago had arrived and built a resort.  The resort eventually flooded to create a lake.  My DH and I enjoy reading about history.  We enjoy her thought that we might enjoy reading something.  I wonder if hoarding is a newer phenomenon.  I suspect it is.  Maybe because stuff is so much more readily available.  I wonder about this, that is the type of dialoge in my head.  At least when I drive 4 hours home, my mind isnt doing such random thoughts.  If you have to work tomorrow, like me, have a great Monday.  We dont get Columbus Day if thus year at my firm.  But I am mighty grateful for the income.