The last several weeks have been very hectic for our little family group. We are , my mother 78, my husband 65 and myself 53. Our home was listed for sale July 29 for showing. There were 2 showings by realtors prior to the actual start showing date by special request which we allowed. Then there were 2 showings on Monday 7/29, 2 showings on Tuesday 7/ 30, 3 showings on 7/31 and then 1 on 8/1. The evening of 8/1, our relator called to say we had a couple of bids. One was for asking price but we cover closing costs and the other was for $2100. more and we share closing costs. We opted for the one that afforded us a bit more money. The buyer wants to close on the house on August 30. That could work but will leave us homeless for a short time. We are trying to negotiate a lease back program with the buyer for a couple of weeks after closing. No response yet.
Since we ordered the new carpet and had it installed about a month ago, we have being in full flung packing mode. Though I have still been working as much as I can, I still have been taking more time off than usual to assist Mike with the packing. We may have gotten carried away as we boxed up a great deal of stuff prior to the carpet being installed. Packed all those boxes in the shed and then started getting serious about getting more of the household stuff packaged. Perhaps we have come to the point of being overly aggressive about packing. Last night, after finishing up for the day, I had a nice bottle of Chianti chilled in the refrigerator. Got it out and ...no corkscrew!! guess I will have to go get a new one I packed a good part of the kitchen utensils that I thought we wouldn't need that much for the next few months. I have no doubt that I will have other situations where I packed some gadget or other that I could use. We will just have to make do. With the exception of the garage and the stuff we use everyday, bedroom, living room, dining room & some kitchen stuff, we are about 85% packed and loaded. Yes, loaded, also. We have a 28' ABF freight pup semi trailer sitting in our driveway. WE started loading it Wednesday and now after 3 days of stacking high and tight, we have it packed back 14-15 feet back floor to ceiling , sided to side. We have installed 3 dividers of sheets of plywood just to stabilize and secure items from shifting and /or falling during the transport to New Mexico.
Things are for the most part falling into order. There may be a gap between when we have to vacate this home and before the new one is ready. If so, it may be challenging but not impossible. The priorities over the next few months include, taking care of mom and making sure she has all she needs and is not left alone more than a few hours at a time. She can stay by herself a good part of the day but needs to be reminded when to take meds and eat, and have those provided for her. If it turns out that there is going to be too much of a gap between getting out of this house and getting into the new house, we may move all to NM and set Mike and mom up in a motel and I will have to come back here to finish my work up till my vacation starting 10/4. That leads right up to my retirement of 11/1. I still have some FMLA time left and may try to use that to get out of here sooner but only if the new home is up in place and ready to move in. If the new home is not ready, I can use some of the free motel reward stays earned from work for mom and Mike and I can work for a few more weeks for the extra money. So many "what if's??" Just have to work one step to the next then the next till all is settled in.
I spend hours mentally writing or creating blogs, stories or even working on my family historical novel. I think I have written 10,000 pages in my head. Sadly though, not quite any where near that many on paper or should I say digitally? This retirement is anxiously awaited. I only fear that I will try to do far too much in the first few days, weeks, months and even years. I must pace myself. For 30 years now, I have always been on someone else's schedule and time restraints. It is anticipated that I will enjoy getting up in the morning and knowing that I do not have to jump into a truck and drive 500 miles, crawl into bed in a second rate motel just to get up and do it again 3-6 times a week.
