The Countdown begins!

 

So yesterday I took apart the last lego set that needed to get packed, yes I have lego of my own, some people like crossword puzzles, some jig saw puzzles some ...oh heck I love them all! 3187 pieces packed and ready to go! I plan to have a lego wall in my tiny house, priorities you know! ( photo shows a 1/3 of the set maybe....

So I made myself a list of things I need to do starting Tuesday this week. I get two days to relax before the crazy starts. Course today will be shoving since last night I got 5" of new snow. ( side note, its weird to say I instead of We...)

Tuesday - Gym day which I am finally feeling good about going back, then I'll stop in at UHAUL to get the run down on procedure of pick up on Sunday , Go to agway to grab a couple bales of shavings and hay for the goats and chickens, see if they have water storage tanks since I might like a couple more. Got to pick up new windshield wipers for my little car since one is falling apart, and stop at the post office to see if they found a missing package.   

Wednesday will be a day of cleaning up the rooms that are already empty. 

Thursday I'll clean the fridge, stove and bathrooms bring Izzy her birthday present and my new mattress to the camper ( its rolled up memory foam.). 

Friday will be a roller coaster day - closing on this house at 9:00 In Jeffersonville, then I'll come back home and stuff all I can in my car from the garage, then closing for the land at 2:00 in Morrisville, after which I'll bring the first load of stuff to the land and hang up some Christmas lights outside .  If I have time before dark I'm going to move some firewood that is in the way for the camper and bring it inside for when I start using the wood stove.

Saturday - I'm going to bring all the stuff thats in the garage, might be three carloads and in between, I'll set up the space for the chickens ( hang their nesting boxes, roosts then bring them over they will be the first ones to spend a night there!) I might clean the chimney that day although there is no rush as the little space is nice and cozy with just the space heater running.

Sunday will be pack up the house day with the help of my daughter and son in law, I believe everything will fit in the truck then I'll put the dogs and cats ( In crates) in my car and leave my house here in Eden for the last time. I totally expect there to be tears heck I cried when we moved from all our houses so its normal for me! But yes this time will be different, although I'm happy with the fact I know Anders spirit isn't in this house , he floats free somewhere out there on the great lakes this I know.  So I'll spend my first night in the cabin Sunday night. The hardest part will be the dogs, since Montgomery has no loyalty to me and has no recall, yes my fault maybe we will work on that.  I'll be getting lots of outside time I expect ..:) 

Monday I have two wonderful friends coming over to help unpack the Uhaul and then I shall take them out to lunch <3 meanwhile the kitties are enjoying all the piles of stuff to be kittys and sleep on...:)

The camper, I told Ryan that I don't want it until I get the UHAUL moved and then I need him to coordinate with my son in law to be there to help level it. Once there I'll use the tips I got from my friends on getting the propane flowing and use the propane furnace to warm up the camper and the electric space heaters, I'm not sure if I'm going to skirt the camper after all as I'm sick of spending money on it! I've got lots of insulation on the floor now and if its really cold out I'll just go sleep on the couch in the cabin with the wood stove. :) All is good! 

So a busy week ahead but for now its time to watch Star Wars New Hope and then I'll go shovel the snow that is still coming down, go feed my goats and chickens, ( side note: can't wait until my chickens coop is actually attached to my living space, well except for coffee my rooster.....lol I'll be able to visit them all the time!  

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring :) 

Serenity Now

      Whew, its been a crazy week, phone calls, real estate addendums, people wanting this, wanting that, pay this pay that.  

     Today I went to the town office to get a copy of Anders Death Certificate , yes, I cried but its okay just seeing it in print it kinda cuts like a knife is all, I needed it for the lawyer evidently the buyers bank wanted it since of course the house was in both our names .  So after I got it and dropped it off at the lawyers, I went to the local propane company to see if I could schedule them to install a 100 lb tank on my camper once I move it....Nope sorry we don't do that.....ahhh yes, so I went to tractor supply and got another space heater and another small 20lb tank, alls it will run now is the propane stove and I'll probably run the furnace to keep the camper up to temperature than shut it off. 

     The electrician came to the cabin yesterday and checked the electric and said all looks good and I won't have to worry about blowing fuses, He installed a new 30amp outlet for me to plug the camper into so I can run all the space heaters I need when its really cold. I was please to find an outlet in the area I'm going to put the chickens so I will have a place to plug in their heated water dish, and a light in there too!  The cabin was cozy warm with just the small electric space heater so thinking its insulated better than we thought, not that I want to live in there permanently but will be spending a few nights on the couch in there as I decided its going to be easier to move in with out the camper in the way of the moving van.  I sent the electrician a copy of my little house to give me an estimate.

     Today I started calling to get services switched over and then my daughter mentioned she didn't think there was a mailbox on the property so I checked an no there isn't, so I went to go get a post office box , course when they assigned my number she mentioned that it was a least a foot of the floor in the post office since the post office has flooded twice just this year once 7 feet I told her that if I knew it was going to rain heavy I'd be sure to come get my mail LOL also eventually I'll put up a mailbox at the house but will wait until the site work is done maybe even the house. I got the electric service scheduled to be switched and when I went to switch the internet...they told me I probably wouldn't be happy with it where I'm going because for some reason in that town its 2/3 slower than here...so I checked another provider, nope can't get it, then another one, nope, so had to go with Starlink...which is why I went to get my post office box since I need a place to mail it too since who knows when it will get mailed...

     I went to the camper and installed the new propane tank and low and behold I went to light the stove and no gas was coming in...ugh ...so went to my facebook winter camping group and they gave me some tips on how to fix that problem so I'll try Monday since I just want to stay home tomorrow...LOL  

     I came home , unloaded the car, fed ex came with the new mattress for the camper then I decided to take a hot shower and get comfy which I did, sweat pants, Anders viking kitty t shirt and his flannel shirt.  now I'm watching starwars in time line order...:) best movies ever...

    Monday I start switching all my addresses on everything I can remember.....Oh I got all the times for the closing, so before I go to the last one for my land I'll load up the car with as much stuff as I can fit with stuff from the garage as that needs to go in first. then I'll go look at that view again, oh how Anders would love this view.... 

A New Year

 

     Its been a busy week ,  I've packed up a bunch more stuff. The Realtors on both places have been sending me messages, things I need to do , contact utility companies , insurance etc etc. Still haven't got the low down from the lawyer yet though on the closing date and time confirmation so I haven't ordered the U haul yet.  But time is ticking ! I've got a bunch of ideas on things I want to try to get done outside before the ground freezes up or we get a ton of snow. Number one steps up to the camper with a platform that I can put my grass rug on to wipe my feet on, a dog fence which means I'll have to pound a few posts into the ground anywhere the trees aren't close enough, LED white Christmas lights all around the house to light it up some so people know someone is living there and makes it easier for me to bring the dogs out IF I can't get the dog fence up in time. All these things I am looking forward to doing! I remember putting up fencing when Anders and I moved here, because when we moved here he shortly went back to work! I remember my neighbor joking about how he would be out on his deck drinking a beer and watching me driving in fence posts and putting up fencing. I am NOT afraid of hard work.

These are photos from when we moved here, this is the dining room/kitchen, it was the same in the Living room and master bedroom! I remember the day after we moved in was the superbowl and I stayed up late that night cleaning an isle in the livingroom so Anders could watch the superbowl on TV. While he did that I unpacked the kitchen.

Now I don't even have enough boxes to fill ONE room! I have decluttered and simplified so very much! Keeping whats important feels great and it gives me more room for new memories.

     So its a new year I admit this morning I made a mistake and watched a video that Anders made , I don't know if you've ever lost anyone Your Mother, Father, Spouse and you say..."oh if I could only hear their voice again....." Well so I watched this...

Anders heading up "exclamationpoint alley"  ( which has a story of its own on why I called it that)  hearing his voice for sure sent me into a direction I have worked so hard to avoid but I know thats all part of the process. It made me so proud to watch the video though as he loved his job so much and was so very good at it. 730' ship for anyone who doesn't know, we all teased him about the stories he ALWAYS told about it, but you know I would give anything now to hear "the football story" course I think i have most of them memorized .  BUT I'm not going to let this get me down, yes I am allowed some tears but later I'm going to get my warm coat on and go out for a walk and get some fresh air. Clear my head and start taking apart my last lego set "mos eisley"  I can't wait for my Granddaughters and I to rebuild them again on the front porch of my new little house. 

So yes the New Year and 2 weeks to go til I move and begin my new life , the best part is the process of beginning that new life will be doing the things I love to do, spending time outdoors, and using tools to build things! 

17 days to go...

 Packing -  3/4 of my belongings are packed, one thing that this process has taught me is we all collect too much stuff! I'm thankful that for the past year because Anders and I were planning this eventual move so I have already sold or tossed out so much "stuff".   I have only allowed myself one box of Old memories ( my kids school papers, baby books, etc ....)  I already have plans in my new house to have one wall that is full of built in shelves with designated spots of memories, one shelf exclusively for things that were Anders, and I can't wait til I can put them out again already.

Its exciting to be planning my future, yesterday I talked to an electrician whose going to go to my new property to install a new 30amp outlet outside to hitch up my camper to. This will make it so I won't have to worry about blowing fuses when I fire up the microwave or the toaster over  .. and if I find I need it I can get another one of those cool 4.2 amp infrared heaters for my bedroom.  He is also going to work on a quote on wiring up my new mini home.  

Also great news for me I have so many people lined up to help me move my heart is overflowing and a couple 3 hours from here who offered but I said thanks but no way, but I'm so touched that they offered to help, Lisa your a good friend but stay home * insert heart here!  I'm so happy that I have finally relaxed about the whole scenario, I'll stay in the Cabin until the Camper can be moved , heck I might even bring a can of paint to cover up the weird walls and I'll hang up some of my paintings and pictures in there to make it look....  well better!  

Still waiting for the closing confirmation from my lawyer but meanwhile I pack a little everyday, and look forward to my journey.

19 days to go

 

So I made it through my first Thanksgiving and Christmas without Anders, thanks to my supporting friends , wonderful family and an invite to my wonderful son in laws family's Christmas Eve get together.  Brief moments of guilt would creep in with my subconscious whispering "really should you be laughing right now? Your husband passed away just a short time ago" But you know, I know very well that's exactly what he would of wanted. His whole life he hated seeing anyone sad. So I powered through. 

The hardest part is seeing my Grandchildren's achievements  knowing just how proud he would be of them seeing them play sports, create things, etc and then I have to go back to my belief that those that pass away are still here with us watching those achievements. So once again I power through.  

I took down the Christmas Tree the day after Christmas only because I wanted to give it to my goats, they LOVE Christmas trees. It made them so happy. :) After all thats what its all about making people and critters happy..:)

I spent a lot of time packing up more stuff yesterday getting out of the Holiday Season ups and downs and getting back into the , holy crap how am I going to do this, sell one house, buy some land, move the camper, move all my stuff, my chickens, dogs and cats.....breathe Donna!

I can't WAIT until this is all done and I'm at the land, living day to day, planning what I want to do tomorrow...

So now I'm living with piles of storage crates and piles of stuff waiting , I sent a request through the realtor to see if they would let me move in the day before closing since that way it would be a Sunday when hopefully there would be more people available to help versus on Monday a work day. If so I'll spend my first night in the "cabin" and then the camper could come in the next day when the driveway didn't have so much traffic.  My brain is on over drive. Course they might say no, and I haven't got the official ITS ON ! The appraisal is finished and the value was found though so now just waiting for the underwriters and the lawyers to say good to go.

Meanwhile I can't believe its almost January and I'm out doing chores in a shortsleeved shirt.  BUT now I'm hoping that this weather holds out until January 15th!  Today I'll pack up more stuff , maybe even haul some stuff out to the garage incase the sellers so nope you can't move in until closing day and the buyers want in the house on closing day....what a crazy system...so anyhow if your reading this stay tuned if there is anyway you can help carry stuff out of the house or in the house, or drive some stuff to the land in the back of your truck or car...:) I'll buy the pizza!