The "M" Word

I've recently discovered a new "bad" word. It ranks right up there with the best of the bad. In fact, the infamous "F" word might as well accept its newly claimed status as second on my list of never-to-be-uttered-in-public terms as this new word is far more foul.

What's the word?

MOVING!

Yes, my friends, I have discovered moving is NOT for the faint of heart.

One large house, almost fifteen years and 4 hoarders equals a don't-ever-do-it combination.

While I may be exaggerating on the "hoarding" part of the equation, it is amazing what I discovered I had labelled worthy of saving/keeping/storing over the past 15 years. When all was said and done, we filled one super large trash container (a dumpster to be exact), donated truck loads to Goodwill, several more to Salvation Army and many, many loads to the local Children's Home. I gave items to friends and family and even managed to sell quite a few things. In the end I was left with more than a moving truck's worth of bounty to carry into my new home.

So much stuff.

Yet I never felt the situation was as bad as it really was.

I suppose it was one of those times where I saw only what I wanted to see.

Fortunately, my children took responsibility for purging and storing anything that belonged to them. My daughter had no problem parting ways with her excessive loot. Only seconds of consideration was given to each item. Keep...donate...trash...all easy decisions for her.

My son?

The process wasn't so easy for him. I actually fear he has the makings of a true hoarder. What seemed like hours passed as he weighed the sentimental value of one thing after another. His "keep" pile kept growing...and growing...and growing. He finally went so far as to purchase a storage container to keep all the items he couldn't bear to let go of. Toys, stuffed animals, tools and random "stuff"...all had enough value to warrant saving.

In his defense, he is living in a one bedroom garage apartment leaving him with very little space for storage. So the storage container is a necessity. It's the keeping of so much stuff that gives me pause. I suppose I can't totally blame him for being the way he is. I was much the same in my younger days. You never know what you might need one day. Right? After moving all the crap around for a while, I finally learned to let go of LOTS of "things"...although this move has left me realizing I still have some learning to do. I'm sure his time will come. If not...well...all I can say is it is now his problem. Ha!

A few snags occurred with the move. Would you expect less? To summarize, a few days prior to closing, I was informed my new place would not be ready. I spent 5 days in a hotel with all my belongings sitting on a moving truck. This wasn't the only problem I experienced but nothing has been worthy of a breakdown of any sort. I'm just rolling with it as it comes.

As of tomorrow, I will have been in my new home a full week. All but a few boxes have been emptied and much of the decorating has been done. Work has been overly demanding lately and we have been celebrating birthdays (mine, my daughter's, a good friend's 50th) in marathon style. Very little time to tackle the job at hand. My plan is to be settled by the end of the week. I only took one day off work to move in or I would already proclaim the job done. I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to rid myself of the clutter of the moving boxes.

I can officially say I am exhausted!

So...

Do you understand why the "M" word is no longer welcome in my vocabulary?

Really...I throw up in my mouth a little bit every time I even think of the word.

Such a gross thought...

but I cannot tell a lie...

Until next time...

For Real???

Has it really been 4 months since I last posted? I swear I only thought it had been a few weeks. But as it usually does, Life is rolling along at lightning speed.

So much has happened.

So much to share.

While I will spare you the details of the past 16 or so weeks, I think it's high time I share a few of the "big" events". The biggest being...

I'm Moving!!!

Yes, my friends, I'm packing up and moving on!

And oh has this been a long time coming.

When I suddenly became a single girl 7+ years ago, I knew there would come a day when I would move from our oversized "family" home. Initially, I wavered as to when I should make the move (don't ya just love puns?) and sell the house. The main consideration was how the sale would affect my kiddos. I rather quickly decided to do my best to stay put so my children would have home to come home to as long as they were still coming home.

In other words, I felt it best to keep the house until my youngest graduated college and started life on her own.

That was a major undertaking to say the least. A big house to clean, heat and maintain along with an excessively landscaped yard is not my idea of fun. Think weeds, weeds and more weeds to be sprayed, pulled and cursed. Just when I would think the yard work had ended for another year, an abundance of trees made for the raking of some 55 gazillion leaves. Three levels of flooring to vacuum, 5 toilets to clean, appliances to repair, drainage issues to address, a lightning strike that created electrical problems...I'm tired just typing it all.

Maintenance and repairs have tried to get the best of me but I have survived. All this has made the idea of "maintenance free living" provided by a townhouse a dream come true.

Now the time has come. Keri will be graduating in May and I can officially claim "empty nest" status in every sense of the word. Roughly 8 months ago I listed my house and prayed for a sale. Those prayers were answered a few weeks ago. An offer came through and I'm finally making the transition from "family" mega-house to a much smaller "single girl" townhouse.

I'm so excited...

Overwhelmed...

And a little bit (okay a lot) sad.

Fourteen plus years of memories made in our home makes the goodbyes all the more bittersweet. But bigger things are on the horizon. And the best thing of all... memories have no address. They belong to me and follow me wherever I go.

Before I sign off to go pack a few more boxes, I wanted to share another bit of news.

I am also moving from my cyber home. My timing is impeccable. Don't you think? Two moves for the price of one. (ha!) The past few months I have been working with a web designer creating my new internet address. My desire was to wait to make the announcement when the design was complete. But I'm too excited to keep quiet. We have a few more items to tweak so I will continue to post here for the time being.

Should you feel so inclined, you can check out my new space at My Extraordinarily Ordinary Life.




I hope Life is being good to all of you. Please leave me a note and let me know of your latest and greatest!

Much love,
-L