Take it, Store it, Give it, Trash it, What is it?

The packing continues, and we are to the point that we've had a huge garage sale and sold most of our better, useful, items.  We've put into storage the majority of what we plan to keep.  We've made countless trips to Goodwill and gave yet another huge load to the church yard sale, and another big load to the veterans.  Now we're at the point that its decision time - just how much to do we need to take and do we have room for in the trailer.  We've also come across a few items that I've wondered - "where the heck did this from"? or the "what the heck is this"?  There was a whole drawer full of cords and wires from computers and VCRs long gone, bags of parts and plastic pieces, blank postcards from places I swear I've never been, school pictures of kids I don't know...how do we accumulate so much?

It's been quite an eventful 10 days or so.  Just a few days before we got an offer on the house, we got our water bill.  It was 3 times higher than average.  Turns out there was a water leak somewhere between the meter and the house and/or the barn.  Great.  So I called the city to turn off the water until I could get a plumber.  Did you know that plumbers don't FIND the leaks? They just fix the leaks.  I had to call a company called American Leak Detection (talk about a specialty!) and for a mere $400 they will find the leak for you.  They mark it with spray paint in the grass, and then you call a plumber to fix the leak.  Another $800. 

Then I planned to sell my car (a Toyota Rav4).  I owe about as much as it is worth, so I thought I would have a hard time selling it.  I listed it on Craigs List (www.Craigslist.com ) and on www.AutoTrader.com.  I sold it that night - from the Craigs List ad.  That was $60 wasted on the AutoTrader ad that they wouldn't refund (I called and asked).  I wasn't sure how to go about the sale since I first had to pay off the car before I could transfer the title, and I needed their money to do so.  Well the buyers and I came to an agreement, we drove up to the bank (in my car) and got the bill of sale notarized, came back, her husband drove off, she got in the car and it wouldn't start!  Are you kidding me???  That car has ALWAYS started.  She looked at me like "what kind of crook are you?"  I swear it hasn't given me a bit of trouble.  We finally had to jump start it.  I'm hoping I just left the lights on or something.  They drove off to what I hope will be a happily ever after transaction.

I hadn't expected to sell the car so quickly, so now I have all these errands to run and doctors appointments to go to with no transportation!  Other peoples' lives seem to run so smoothly....  Oh, and did I tell you I was supposed to be having foot surgery during all this?  Needless to say, I have postponed it.

The buyers' inspections have been done and they found a small spot of "mud tubes" - which I learned means - termites.  So the buyers want us to do a termite treatment.  Do you have any idea how much termite treatments cost???   Then today, the truck, THE truck that is supposed to be taking us on this journey, started making some terrible noise.  It's like we are hemorrhaging money and we haven't even left yet.  I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.  Stay tuned...

The Preparation

They say today is the first day of the rest of your life.  Well that has never been more true for us than today.  We sold our house.  His house.  My HOME.  This is the place I've ever stayed the longest.  I only lived in my childhood home for 16 years.  I've been here 20.  It's been a good home.  A safe home.  The place we raised our little boy.  The place that sucked our wallets dry!  Isn't that what a house does?

The good news is that it sold to the daughter of a good friend that passed away many years ago.  We've only had sporadic contact with his widow and two daughters over the years, but I have pictures of her having Easter egg hunts in the backyard and conked out on the floor on New Years Eve in this very house.  So it feels like its going to family and I'm happy that my home will soon be her home.

In the meantime, however, is all the work of packing away 20+ years of STUFF!  What to keep in storage? What to give away? What to sell? What is keepsake and what is just crap?  And how the heck do you pack for a trip where your destinations are yet unknown and the length of your stay undetermined?  I'm a WOMAN damn it - I need to know what shoes to pack!!  Will I need a coat in Florida in January?  Will I need gloves in Alaska in July?  Ack!!  These questions are keeping me up at night!