I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
The Big Move
EJ didn’t have to work Friday so he and I drove down to our old house while JJ stayed at the new house to take care of the pets. As we drove away, we checked our mailbox and we had mail! It was the first day that mail arrived at our new address! And the mailperson had written “Welcome!” on a little note. So cool! It doesn’t take much to entertain me, but this is the first time in about 25 years that we have had mail delivered to our home. At our old house, we had to walk to the post office every day because everyone within the Village limits had post office boxes. Of course, at our new house our driveway is so long (and steep) that I have almost as far to walk for our mail as before, but, hey, it’s our own mailbox.
Anyway, we had driven several hours when JJ called to tell me that when he took Danny outside, he accidentally locked himself out of the house. Oops. JJ said he felt stupid…but who hasn’t locked himself out at one time or another? We helped him figure out how to get back into the house and he said, “Lesson learned! I’ll never do that again!”–except this morning he and I were in the garage and accidentally locked ourselves out. Oops. Fortunately EJ was in the house and could let us back in.
I’m glad EJ and I were able to drive down on Friday because we had a lot of work to do to get ready for the movers. We went to bed late and woke up early and got back to work. I packed the Xterra while EJ did other stuff to prepare for the move. About mid-morning, our movers arrived: Two of EJ’s friends as well as EJ’s nephew, his son, and his friend and his son. Besides our Xterra, we had a pickup truck, and a pickup with a large trailer. We spent several hours loading the furniture and boxes into the vehicles. We got a lot of things moved but we didn’t get it all so we will have to make another trip or two.
We all left about mid-afternoon. First friends in the pickup drove away. then about 45 minutes later EJ’s nephew and crew left, and then we left. Even though we were the last to leave, we were actually the first to arrive because the others got a bit lost. The others pulled into the driveway right behind us. Then everyone helped unload the trucks and trailer.
Meanwhile, one of EJ’s sisters had driven to our new house with food to feed us all. That was such a tremendous help because we didn’t have to worry about feeding the everyone. I’m very thankful for everyone’s help.
After everyone left, we still had work to do. EJ put together our beds. I worked hard too, but I was so tired that I really can’t remember what I did. We were totally exhausted when we finally got to bed. As we lay in bed, several cats settled around us.
We worked all day today getting settled in. We got most of the furniture in the places we think we want them. I mostly sorted through our clothes and put them away in dressers. I worked all day with only a few breaks. I had a hard time stopping for the day because I kept finding one more thing to do, and one more thing, and one more thing. I finally stopped because my feet were aching so much it was intolerable. There is still chaos in the house, with boxes everywhere. It’s going to take a while to get everything put away. And we also need to paint the walls and install new flooring. We wanted to do the painting and flooring before the move, but we ran out of time.
So, I finally quit working for the night, and I’m sort of laying on the couch with my feet up. I can look out our big living room windows and enjoy the beautiful scenery. And then I saw a doe walk out of the trees and graze. And I thought “This is why I wanted to move…I love being able to see wildlife in my yard!
First Days in the Enchanted Forest
We just got Internet installed today! Yay! I’ve been writing each day about our first week in the Enchanted Forest and I can finally post it.
Weekend, May 30-31
A week or so before we moved, I worked at hauling junk from the basement. I threw away things I knew were junk—like falling apart cabinets and old boxes. I didn’t throw away anything that I knew EJ wanted or anything that I was unsure of. This last weekend EJ continued the process—he sorted through the things he wanted to keep and the things he wanted to throw away. JJ and I mostly hauled the junk he was throwing away to the dumpster. When we were finished, the basement looked much emptier!
JJ’s phone had died last week, so Saturday we took the time to go to the cell phone company and buy him a new one. We aren’t eligible for discounted phones until our contract ends in January, so JJ planned to buy the cheapest phone he could and then upgrade it to a smart phone in January. However, we learned that there was a promotion on his phone, and if we changed our plan, he could have a smart phone with no increase in our monthly payment. So of course he got the smart phone. He loves it.
Sunday we decided what things were essential to take north with us this week. EJ crammed the Xterra so full that I think he couldn’t have packed even another toothpick.
Monday, June 1
On Monday morning we got up early and while EJ tied a few more items on the roof of the vehicles, JJ and I captured the cats, put the most aggressive ones in the three plastic carriers and the rest of the cats in the cardboard carriers I had bought from Amazon. We were on the road by 7 a.m. and the moment we started moving seven cats began meowing in harmonic protest. They protested for most of the trip but they didn’t escape from the cardboard carriers, which I had been concerned about. Only one cat messed in her cardboard carrier. Meanwhile, Danny rode with EJ in the Xterra. He was the perfect, calm, and SILENT companion.
EJ led us to our new house in the Enchanted Forest and then he got Danny out of the car before he sped off. He had to drive through heavy traffic to our bank in the Emerald City to get the money he needed for the closing and then drive back to another town for the closing. Meanwhile JJ and I got the garage door opened and released the cats from their imprisonment. When we opened the carriers, they all scrambled to hide in various parts of the garage. JJ stay in the garage to comfort the cats while I got the comfy lawn chairs unfastened from the top of the HHR and sat on the porch to enjoy our new property. Danny let it be known that he wanted in the house, but when that didn’t happen, he sat quietly at my feet.
I was considering how long I could last before I had to discreetly find an out-of-the way place to, uhm, relieve myself, when a car pulled up our driveway. It was our realtor. EJ had said he was a really nice guy; after meeting him, I thought so too. I’ve been told he doesn’t live very far from us. He unlocked the lockbox from the door of the house. We chatted a bit and he showed me a little of where our property line is before he had to leave to get to the closing. I’d like to find all the boundaries of our property, but that will have to wait until we have time.
Since the realtor hadn’t said we couldn’t go into the house, I went in to use the bathroom. Danny came in too, and then JJ and I started capturing the indoor cats and putting them inside.
The animals all reacted to the new house differently. Kee-Kee was angry and hissed for a while before he settled down and accepted his new surroundings. Little Bear explored the new house with large eyes and nervous meows. Timmy explored boldly. Luke fearfully scrambled up into the rafters of the garage and hid. Meanwhile, Danny acted as if he has always belonged here. He’s always had to be on a leash because we lived in town so I was planning to keep him on the leash until he learned to not run off. However, we quickly put aside the leash because Danny shows no desire to wander off. He follows us in and out of the house and stays close to us at all times. I only take the leash when we walk to the mailbox and put it on him just before we reach the road. We don’t want to risk him getting hit by a car. A few times Danny rolled in the grass with happiness.
After about an hour, EJ returned. The house was ours! Yay! We unloaded the Xterra. We hadn’t been able to bring much: Sleeping bags and pillows, some dishes and cups and pots, clothes, EJ’s Lazy-Boy (with his back problems, he needs to sleep comfortably), two foldable lawn chairs for JJ and me, towels, toiletries, clothes, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, and a small cooler full of food. After we finished unloading the Xterra, and looking around the house, JJ got ready for work and then we went out to eat in the Emerald City. Afterwards we dropped JJ off at his job while we went got a few groceries and air mattresses for JJ and me.
EJ and I returned home and talked and planned. Earlier, before EJ had returned from the closing, JJ and I had opened all the windows in the house. Little Bear found a ripped screen and escaped outside, but I quickly caught him and brought him back. I warned EJ about the screen, but he thought it was a different window so he opened that window. When I noticed it, I gasped, “EJ, that is the window with the ripped screen!” so we closed it quickly and counted cats to make sure they were all inside. We found three of the cats, but we couldn’t find Timmy. We searched every room, and every closet, and every possible hiding place, but no Timmy. We went outside and searched. No Timmy. Sadly, we went back inside. Then I happened to look up and saw Timmy sitting on top of the kitchen cabinets as proud as if he had won a game of hide & seek. That has become his favorite place. Silly cat.
We realized that there were no overhead lights in the living room, so on our way to pick up JJ from work, we went to a store in the Emerald City to buy a lamp. The Emerald City is very busy with traffic because it is a desirable tourist destination. It is a very beautiful city, but I wonder how I will ever learn to navigate it. We picked up JJ from work and drove home.
Back at our new home, EJ used the portable air compressor to inflate the air mattresses and I put our sheets and sleeping bags on them. JJ had gone out to the garage but still couldn’t lure Luke from the rafters. I lay on my air mattress and several of the cats settled around me. I was almost asleep when I heard EJ and JJ talking so I got up. JJ had had a nightmare about Luke in the rafters so he and his Dad went out to the garage to get him. Apparently it was quite an adventure getting him down, but they managed it and brought Luke into the house where he explored and settled down. The guys said they had heard a coyote, a screech owl, or maybe a whippoorwill outside.
I should describe our new property and house. A long driveway winds around and climbs up a steep hill to our house. Our house is in a clearing on a hill. There are forested ravines that circle the clearing like a moat around a castle. Our property includes the ravines and continues into the forest a bit. When on our property, we see no other houses–and although we can hear the occasional car drive by, we cannot see the road. We are completely hidden from the other houses and road by the trees that surround us. Alas, the trees block out our ability to see the sunrises and sunsets, but we can clearly see astronomical happenings in the night sky. The property is very beautiful and peaceful…but after lived in towns all my life, it also is strange. It would be easy to believe we were the only people in the world.
There are a lot of things I like about the house. It has a much better floor plan than the old house so that we never feel cut off from each other here. The kitchen and bathrooms don’t have as much storage space as the old house, but the closets in the bedrooms are bigger and the pantry is HUGE. The new house also has bigger windows so the house is filled with light. Our old house had narrower windows and we had to have lights on even during the day to fight the gloom.
The windows are all low so Danny can look out them. He already runs to the window looking out to the front porch and driveway when we return home. The new house isn’t as solid as our old brick house. Although it was hard work getting the firewood, I will miss our wood stove which kept us toasty warm. There are enough differences that the new house feels alien. I think it will feel more like home when we move our furniture up here. Curtains also will help the house feel more homey. The new house just has valances and blinds so even though there is no one around to look in through the windows, I know that JJ, especially, feels more exposed and vulnerable. Also, the sounds of the house are different. And the sounds outside.
In addition to the house being different, the scenery up here is different with lots of hills and valleys, trees and lakes. The climate is different too. EJ says that we are several degrees difference in latitude than where we lived before. EJ says that summer will not be as warm and that we could get 200-300 inches of snow over the winter. I cannot comprehend that much snow. Also, the towns all have unfamiliar names, and the business are different, and I do not know where anything is. Neither do I know much about country living. Everything is strange and I feel more like a tourist than a resident right now, although I know that will change soon–especially after we get our furniture moved up here. Our old village is already beginning to feel like a fading memory.
Tuesday, June 2
EJ noticed that the HHR needed new back tires so this morning we went to a tire place to get some put on. JJ will be driving this car until we find a winter-worthy vehicle so we don’t want him to have any problems. We had actually bought a used Suburban over the weekend. The mechanics at the dealership were just going to fix a few minor problems and EJ would pick it up next Saturday and stuff it full of boxes for the Big Move. However, the dealership called today to tell us that they had discovered a very major problem. We mutually cancelled the deal. We will have to find a different vehicle before winter that can handle the snow.
After the new tires were on the HHR, we went to the bank to get my name put on the account. We were going to go to a hardware store to get more house keys made and to buy paint, but the guys both had to work today and they were tired.
JJ left for work late in the afternoon. He got there all right, but made a few wrong turns in the dark on his way home. Thank goodness for Viki, our GPS! JJ is a bit spooked by all the changes in his life, not sure what he’s doing, nervous about driving to and from work. He thinks cancer sort of rattled him and made him a bit agoraphobic. I think he could be right, but he has to face his fears and conquer them so he can move forward.
EJ leaves for work a couple of hours after JJ. EJ worked his first 10 hour shift, leaving for work in the early evening and returning home the next morning.
Left alone in the evening, I puttered around doing dishes, putting some of our few possessions away. It’s very, very quiet here. I love it…but it is a bit freaky to see no roads or houses or people.
Wednesday, June 3
I was the first one up this morning and Danny wanted out so we went outside together and enjoyed the morning. Two of the outside cats—Rikki-Tikki-Tabby and Tesla–are adjusting very well to the move. They quickly learned to use the cat door in and out of the garage, and they are enjoying wandering around. They join us when we sit on our front porch. They both have followed us down the long, steep driveway when we walk to get the non-existent (so far) mail, which we preferred they didn’t do because we don’t want them to get run over by a car. I didn’t see the third cat, Annie, until last night in the garage. I was relieved because I had been beginning to think that she was a casualty of the move. This morning I spotted her in front of the garage, but as soon as she saw me she ran around the garage and into through the pet door in the back. I haven’t seen her since. I think she’s totally freaked by the North.
EJ is trying to adjust to his new shift, but he was able to sleep only 5 hours today. I worry because he said he fell asleep a couple of times on the way home from work. After he got up, I fixed a good breakfast and then we drove off to a town that is much bigger than Anatevka but is much smaller than the Emerald City. We have not yet given it a figurative name. It is where I will probably do most of my shopping. We went to the Secretary of State office—most states call it the Department of Motor Vehicles—to get our addresses officially changed on our driver’s licenses.
All week I have been quizzing us: “What’s our address?” I asked. I’m hoping that if we practice it, we will become more used to giving our new address instead of our old one. So far we can recite it quite well when we practice, but when we have to tell others we stumble over it.
We couldn’t find a hardware store, so we stopped at the nearby grocery store instead. Then we came home and ate lunch. After JJ left for work, I looked in the phone book and found the address of the local hardware store. EJ and I drove into Anatevka but couldn’t find the street so we stopped at a store for directions. The employee directed us to a different hardware store just a few miles away. We drove past a large beautiful lake that is very close to our home. We will definitely go to the park for picnics SOON.
We found the hardware store and bought a few paint supplies and got new keys made (which though they look exact, don’t work). We looked at the color samples and chose a cream-ish color for our living room, which is currently a dark blue color that we don’t like. We also brought home some color cards so we could decide what color to paint our kitchen. We almost like the red color, but not enough to keep it. We have to paint the kitchen a color that will work well with the blue counters. EJ suggested yellow, which I thought would be nice, so we brought home yellow paint cards. I don’t like pale yellow—I think it’s too cold–and I didn’t want the color to appear to be too similar to the living room, so we chose a warmer and bolder yellow. We will pick up the paint on another trip to the hardware store.
We forgot to look for mailboxes—ours is dented. We might have to go to a bigger home improvement store for the mailbox.
We were planning to rip out the carpet and get vinyl flooring installed this week, but we have been too busy and tired to take on that project so it will have to wait until after we move.
This coming Saturday is our big move. The following week we think we will return to the old house to complete some projects. The following week the furnace will be installed in the old house. We are thinking that after that we will stop working on projects and call the realtor to sell our old house.
Thursday, June 4
Early this morning I took Danny outside. We started walking down the driveway. I figure that if I can walk down the driveway and run back up several times a day, I will get in shape and lose weight. Tesla and Danny followed me down. Danny was nosing around near a line of trees when suddenly there was a cacophony of noise as a female turkey erupted from the trees. At least, I’m quite sure it was a turkey, but I have found that a lot of birds look very similar to each other. Anyway, Danny chased her across the driveway. I ordered Danny to stop, and surprisingly he did. I grabbed hold of his collar so he wouldn’t be tempted to chase the bird, who was on the other side of the driving running up toward the house. I put Danny in the house and watched as the turkey headed back to the place she had erupted from. I’m sure she probably has a nest there.
Later the Internet guy drove up. I was totally glad to see him. It’s amazing how dependent we have become on the Internet. We look up phone numbers, find locations, check the weather, connect with friends, do a variety of research…The Internet guy was friendly and it was interesting watching him get us hooked up. He walked around with an antenna to find the best connection. He had to put the satellite dish—or whatever—halfway down our driveway and then run a cable up to our house. He ran part of the cable through our forest, but we will have to bury the cable that runs across the clearing to our house. JJ is ecstatic about the new Internet–it’s much faster than we had in the south.
Ahhh! Life is good in the north.
Rubic’s Cube and Tetris
This afternoon–as late as I possibly can to reduce Internet withdrawal–I will cancel our Internet service at our old house and we will be disconnected until we can get Internet service at our new house. Hopefully that will not be too long, but the week ahead will be extremely busy. Since I have to approve each comment before it’s visible, any comments posted after the service is cancelled will be in limbo until we are reconnected. Please be patient!
Yesterday the dumpster was delivered. The man who delivered it jumped out of his truck and we discussed where to place it. The dumpster was bigger than I expected and I’m glad I just rented the smaller dumpster because a bigger one wouldn’t have fit in our yard! I thought it was fascinating to watch how the dumpster was unloaded in the tight space without hitting our garage or truck. I spent the afternoon throwing in the junk I had piled in the back yard when I cleaned the basement. I’m sure we will find more junk to throw in it this weekend.
I think that problem solving is like Rubic’s Cube. My mind constantly works through different solutions, trying to find the one that solves the problem. My mind seems to problem solve even in my sleep because many times I wake up in the morning with a new thought or solution.
Photo from Robertvanluan.com.
On the other hand, I think that packing and moving is more like Tetris, in which items have to fit just right in the boxes and tasks have to be timed just right so they fit together. At first the pieces move slowly so I can get them to fit in the right places, but as time goes by the pieces come faster and faster and there is less time to think, so the pieces don’t fit quite so well, and finally there’s no time to think at all and the pieces stack in wrong places and with a scream of frustration I give up and lose. I can’t play Tetris very often because, to quote Jayne Cobb from Firefly (a favorite science fiction TV series) Tetris “damages my calm.”
It was impossible to get the closing changed to today, but I was able to change the time to earlier in the afternoon on Monday. This will eliminate some of the problems–like JJ will have time to shower in the house before going to work and I probably won’t have to drive him to work or pick him up later. This will give me time to get my bearings. Also, the sellers have given me early access to the garage in case the cats are desperate to get out of their carriers before EJ returns from the closing.
For the last couple of months, EJ has been working first shift but on Monday he goes back to working second shift, which at this company is 7 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. Normally second shift is wonderful for us because we can spend time with EJ in the morning and we have time to get errands done. However, I focused on the problems of the cats, EJ at the closing, and getting JJ to work, which is resolved by the earlier closing, but I forgot about the shift change and how it affects EJ’s schedule. He said the earlier closing will not give him time to get much sleep before he goes to work that evening. AHHHHHGH! He solved that problem by asking for Monday off. Problem solved.
Photo: Dogster.com
But then during the night my mind was working on problems and solutions and timing and getting pieces to fit, and I woke up this morning thinking, “Oh, my goodness!” My mind has been focusing on arranging people to help us move and all. I had forgotten that EJ’s schedule was going to change. With EJ’s new schedule, he will have to work until 3:30 a.m. next Saturday morning (June 6th). When he gets to our new home, we will all have to leap into the car and drive hours to our old home so we are there when people arrive to help us move. We will have to help load everything into various trucks, trailers, and cars, and then drive hours back to the new home and unload everything…AND WHEN WILL EJ GET ANY SLEEP?? Oh, my goodness! I forgot to schedule sleep!
I have no solution. I mean, I could offer to drive down state so EJ can sleep on the way, but I have absolutely no sense of direction and get lost super easy. So that won’t work. Neither can I drive on the way back north for the same reason. I could stay down here for another week so that I will be able to be here when people arrive to help us move–and EJ can sleep a little before driving home. None of us would be thrilled by that solution, but it might work. Or EJ could take next Friday off, although he’s already taking Monday off work, and as a new employee I know that he doesn’t want to ask for too many favors. Still, they seem to be more understanding at this new company….? I’m not sure which solution is best so I texted the problem to EJ so he can be pondering a solution too.
Meanwhile, after work today, before driving down here, EJ has to contact the furnace guy to schedule the installation of the furnace, he has to call his two friends to tell them that we can’t use their help this weekend but certainly could use their help moving next weekend, he has to arrange to have the electrical service at the new house switched over to us on June 1, and he has to stop at a Verizon store to help JJ get a new phone. JJ’s phone died this week and I certainly don’t want him to be driving on lonely roads through the Enchanted Forest without a way to contact us if he needs help.
We will spend the weekend working at the old house. Monday morning we travel north–with me and JJ in a car filled of seven unhappy cats. (Danny rides with EJ). The plan is to spend next week tearing out the old carpet in the new house and installing new flooring. Also, we will be painting walls. Also, we need to get new Internet service, get some groceries since we can’t transport many things up with us, and probably a lot of other things that have slipped my mind.
Ai yi yi!
My body is tired, my mind is tired, my foot is hurting, and EJ and JJ are exhausted too. It feels like the Hell Week that Navy Seals must get through during their final week of training. We are beginning to get stressed. Last weekend JJ had sort of a meltdown and tempers flared. A couple of days ago I had a meltdown when my carefully orchestrated plans fell apart. I texted EJ last night that now it’s his turn to melt down.
We will get through this, I know we will, and we will get all settle into our new house and we will be able to relax and enjoy our new surroundings.
Well, I’ve got to go do some more packing. This is what my house looks like this morning. I will be SO GLAD when everything is moved into the new house and I no longer live in a maze of boxes. Disorder and clutter is difficult for me to endure.
I will see you all when I’m reconnected again in the North!
The Best Laid Plans….
Ok, the Plan is that EJ goes to the closing on Friday after work, then he and JJ go to the new house afterwards to drop off the boxes of painting and cleaning supplies, sleeping bags, pots, clothes, and other items that we packed last Sunday. Then he and JJ drive home. Saturday EJ drives the Xterra up with Danny and with additional supplies (food, towels, dishes, lamp, etc.) while JJ and I follow him with the HHR filled with seven cats in seven carriers (3 plastic and four cardboard). Two friends are to follow us, one driving our pickup filled with beds, a table and chairs, and maybe a lamp, and the other driving his own pickup filled with some of EJ’s tools. Then the one friend drives the other friend back home leaving our pickup at the new house.
That was the plan.
But as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”
The mortgage officer arranged for the closing to occur on Monday, June 1st, at 4 p.m. So this is what will happen:
EJ will drive home on Friday night with the Xterra still filled with the boxes that we packed last weekend in the expectation that he could have the closing by Friday and drop the boxes off at the house afterwards. (The mortgage officer had said she expected to have the closing this week.)
We will have to repack the Xterra with only the barest essential items since there will be no extra trips. We will have to choose carefully since we have limited room in the vehicle. So fewer clothes? Toiletries? A lamp? Food?
Our friends will not be able to take anything north for us this weekend since the house won’t be ours to move into. Since our big moving day is scheduled for June 6th, we will have a whole week of absolutely no furniture–no beds, no table, no chairs. We will sit and sleep on the floor. I find it almost impossible to sleep on the floor–and after two years of being unoccupied, I don’t know how clean the floor will be.
JJ and I will follow EJ up in the HHR with the seven cats in their carriers. Little else will fit. We will have to squeeze in kitty litter and pet food.
We will have to leave our old home early enough on Monday for EJ to get to the closing at 4 p.m. I will have to wait at the new house for EJ to return from the closing. He will go back to working second shift on that day so depending on how long the closing is, he might have just about enough time to hand me the keys before heading to work. Only then will the cats be able to be released from their carriers. I don’t know if EJ will have time to help me get the pets in the house or to unload the Xterra before he drives it to work. I will spend the next few hours alone in an empty new house. I don’t even know if there will be lights.
While EJ drives to the closing, I will have to take JJ to work. Since at that time I will not have the keys to the house, I will have to take the dog and seven cats with me. If I can get the dog to fit. Otherwise he will have to ride with EJ to the closing and wait –an hour? more?–in the vehicle after having already been in the vehicle for a long drive.
After dropping JJ off at work, I have to somehow find the new house which I have never been to located in an area I am totally unfamiliar with. I am severely directionally challenged, which means I get easily lost. I even get lost in movie theaters. I get so easily lost that my sister-in-law insisted on walking me to the bathroom at the hospital when JJ had his first cancer surgery because she didn’t trust me to make it back to the waiting area by myself. A couple of years ago I even went the wrong way when I drove out of a Boy Scout function at a place two blocks from my house. Yup, this is going to be a disaster and I’m scared I’m going to get totally lost in the Enchanted forest and never be seen again.
Assuming I make it to the house, I will then have to go pick up JJ when he gets off work at 10 p.m. It will be dark. I have trouble finding my way when it’s day and I get even loster at night. I don’t see well when darkness hides landmarks–and EJ says the night up there is the blackest black he’s ever seen. JJ will be fortunate indeed if I can find him and get him back home.
All this after a long journey and a tiring day.
Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
I am so totally screwed.
My stress level has climbed to new heights.
Tonight I wrote an email to the mortgage officer–outwardly calm but inwardly desperate–asking if we could either:
1. Change the closing to Friday. This is the very best option. We could follow our original plan.
2. If that isn’t possible, change the time of the closing on Monday to earlier in the afternoon. The pets would still be cooped up for additional hours as we waited for EJ to return from the closing and we wouldn’t have any furniture and only limited supplies, but EJ wouldn’t have to rush off to work, and JJ could drive himself to work. Or, if he didn’t feel confident driving that way himself the first time, we could have a breather and get the pets settled before I dropped him off. I might do better if I didn’t have to rush him to work with a car filled with animals. Maybe.
3. Perhaps we could get the keys before the closing. If we could get them on Friday, we could carry out our original plan. If we were not allowed to move a few things in over the weekend, I still could drive directly to the house and get the cats out of their carriers.
Meanwhile, tomorrow the dumpster arrives at our old house and I will begin throwing in junk. Friday I have to cancel our Internet down here. I was going to also fill out the change of address cards at the post office, but I don’t know how that will work when we don’t close on the house until Monday. EJ’s sister, who used to be a realtor, said sometimes people back out of buying/selling a house even at the closing. So I would feel better if I could change our address on the day of closing–except I will be up north. Maybe I can post-date the change of address? Or something.
I really hope we can do option 1 and get the closing changed to Friday.
Redi-Care
My foot has been hurting more and more–along with a tingling numbness that I’ve felt ever since I fell over the stupid exercise thingy. I was getting concerned that I might have broken my foot. At first I thought that I’d just wait until next week and find a doctor in the Emerald City, but then I imagined the problems that could develop if my foot healed improperly. So this morning I gave up and called my doctor.
Alas, my doctor is booked solid this week. The receptionist said that her physician’s assistant could see me Friday morning, but the dumpster was supposed to arrive on Friday. So I said I’d go to an Urgent Care place instead.
I was on my way to the Urgent Care in the town 30 miles away, but before I had gotten very far, I decided to turn around and go to the little clinic in our village. I figured they would also be booked, but they are affiliated with the little hospital ten miles away and they could tell me if there was an Urgent Care there. It seemed to me that there was, but it didn’t show up when I googled “Urgent Care.” As suspected, the little clinic was booked until Friday, but there was a “Redi-Care” in the hospital that accepted walk-ins.
So I went to the hospital and sat in the waiting room for about an hour and a half. I figured I’d have a long wait so I wasn’t surprised. I think people and conversations in waiting rooms are interesting. The older lady next to me was cradling her hand. She said that her thumb started hurting the other day, and this morning all her fingers was hurting. She was born and raised and lived in my village all her life. Eventually another older woman came in for a Wellness check. She was very warm and talkative. She said she used to work at the hospital, and she shared her memories. She was called away for her appointment, and then the first lady was, and finally me.
I had another long wait in the exam room, but finally a physician’s assistant and a student came in. I explained my injury and she ordered an x-ray. She led me to another waiting room. The woman getting an x-ray before me came out. She was my neighbor, who lives just around the corner. She had fallen and hurt her arm. Apparently, people from my village are getting injured.
I enjoyed talking to the x-ray technician. After she finished the x-ray, she walked me back to the exam room to wait for results. When the PA (with the student) returned, she told me that the x-ray showed no broken bones, fractures, or anything. The radiologist will look more carefully at the x-rays, but the only thing that showed up was that a tendon had an area of calcification on it. She said that could be causing my pain/numbness but that was a separate issue completely unrelated to the injury. That seems odd since I felt no pain or numbness UNTIL I injured my foot. So we shall see.
The important thing is that my foot is not broken. The PA told me to take ibuprofen, ice my foot, and keep it elevated–which is pretty much what EJ had recommended. I took ibuprofen and am icing and elevating my foot when I am not packing. I am taking lots of breaks because my foot hurts. It’s a good thing I am mostly packed.
This afternoon the landfill called to tell me that they can drop off the dumpster tomorrow. Yay! Tomorrow I will begin throwing into the dumpster the junk that is piled in our back yard.
In the far North, JJ’s phone has died and he is trying to figure out what to do. It might be a simple problem–like a dead battery–but if he has to he will buy a cheap phone until January when our contract period expires. At that time, he will get a better phone.
The mortgage officer has not yet scheduled the closing. I’m so hoping it will be this week because otherwise I will have to stay down here for another week.
Oh, last weekend EJ told me an interesting story. He had to get homeowner’s insurance for our new house, and decided to use a local branch of the insurance company we use for our auto insurance. The company is located only a couple of miles from where EJ works so he can easily stop in after work if he needs to get with them. Well, the branch in the north called our branch in the south, thinking it would save time to get the information they needed from our current agent. However, our insurance agent down here went totally ballistic and screamed at them. Apparently, he felt the northern agent was stealing us as clients. Wow. EJ let the northern agent know we definitely wanted them to handle our homeowner’s insurance. EJ is thinking about having our auto insurance transferred north too. I mean, the insurance agent down here doesn’t own us, and it doesn’t make sense to have any business handled down here when we will be living hours away in the north. I expect more fireworks when the agent learns we are leaving him completely.
Life is interesting.
The Furnace Guy
The furnace guy came, as expected, at about 11;30 a.m. I let him read the note EJ left for him and then took him down to the basement where he looked at the old furnace and the ducts. The people we bought this house from had had the furnace installed just before we moved in as a condition for us buying the house. The furnace guy said that the ducts were too small for the furnace so it hadn’t operated efficiently and was probably the reason it died as soon as it did. He gave me an estimate of how much a new furnace would cost. He said he could install it in about two weeks, that it would probably only take a day, and that he works on weekends. That is a relief because I prefer that EJ be here when the furnace is installed. I did my best to answer the furnace guy’s questions about the ducts and cold air returns and gas line, but EJ knows the answers a whole lot better than I do.
Some friends have suggested we not worry about getting a new furnace and just decrease the price of our house but we didn’t want the lack of a furnace to scare away potential buyers. People are funny, and I’ve heard that some won’t buy a house simply because the walls–which can easily be painted–are a color they don’t like.
My foot didn’t hurt much for a week after I injured it on the exercise thingy, but now it’s beginning to hurt. There should be warnings on exercise machines that they can cause serious harm. I’m hoping I didn’t break any bones or anything. Yes, I know that I should have it looked at, but besides the fact that I really don’t have time, there’s no guarantee that I would get an appointment this week (although my doctor is good scheduling us in when we need her), and she’d probably send me to get an x-ray. Our doctor is in the City an hour away–and I have no idea where the x-ray place is and I would undoubtedly get lost. I don’t have EJ or Viki (our GPS) to help me find my way. I thought about going to Emergency at a hospital in the next town, but that costs a lot of money. So I figured that my best option is to wrap my foot and take Ibuprofen for now. If I have to, I will go to a doctor up north. We have several foot wraps, but I sent them all north with EJ in the boxes marked “bathroom.” Of course, I did. So after the furnace guy left, I drove to the grocery store to buy a foot wrap.
Since I was at the store, I bought a few other items as well and I was able to get six empty boxes from the produce department for moving. Yay! I had written a list before I went to the store, but I forget to look at it, and I had all my items on the checkout counter waiting to be rung up before I remembered that I had forgotten to buy the foot wrap–which was why I went to the store in the first place. I drove to a pharmacy a couple blocks away rather than go back into the grocery store. Hopefully the wrap will help my foot.
When not meeting with the furnace guy or going to the store, I packed. My bathroom and kitchen cupboards are mostly bare now–just a few more cupboards to go–although not everything is in boxes. I packed away most of the dishes and plan to use paper plates and bowls for the rest of the week. I’ll be glad to get up north and stop living in a chaotic maze of boxes.
I had left the door of a upper cabinet opened after I emptied it, and Timmy jumped onto the middle shelf inside. I was busy packing a few items and told myself I’d get him out when I finished. I was in the living room taking a break a while later when I heard THUMP! THUMP! I went to the kitchen to investigate and realized that I had absent-mindedly shut the cupboard door with Timmy inside. He was trying to open the door and get out! I scooped him out of the cupboard and closed the door.
After work EJ had to drive to our bank and drop off my Power of Attorney so he can sign on my behalf at the closing. Our mortgage officer said she has requested a rush and just needs the conditions to be final approved. I’m hoping we can schedule the closing this week–otherwise some of our plans will have to be reworked. It might even mean that I have to stay down here another week, since I can’t move north with the cats until the house is ours, and I don’t want to try transporting seven cats and a dog by myself.
EJ said the traffic in the Emerald City was terrible and it took him a long time to get back to the hotel room after he went to the bank. EJ picked up JJ and dropped him off at work and it took him another hour to get back to his room. With the construction and tourist season beginning, the traffic is getting worse. EJ said it reminded him of the gridlock scene from Doctor Who. He said that the traffic won’t be so bad between our new house and his and JJ’s places of work.
The Last Left Behind
I was hoping that we could get the upstairs bathroom and hallway completely drywalled and mudded so that I could paint them this week, but that didn’t happen. Not much got done on Saturday because weariness caused tempers to flare a bit and other things went wrong. However, we all worked together on Sunday and made progress even if we didn’t get all the desired projects done.
On Sunday EJ worked on the drywall. Meanwhile, in the basement the large shelves in the basement that had held the paint from various projects was falling apart, so JJ used the sledge-hammer to break it into smaller pieces that we could haul out to the junk heap in the back yard. We will throw all the junk in the dumpster that is scheduled to arrive later in the week.
After we broke apart the shelves, we drove to the store to buy a few items but most importantly to get more boxes for moving. We were told that they had no boxes; apparently everyone is moving this weekend and getting the boxes before us. We stopped at three other stores and was only able to get one box. Bummer.
Later EJ, Danny, and I drove to the home improvement store to get a few things that we will need to complete projects both down south and up north.
EJ will close on the new house this week and we will spend next week at the house before the big moving day which is scheduled for June 6th. During that week we will work hard tearing out old carpet, installing new flooring, and painting the walls.
Meanwhile, this morning we packed the Buggy (EJ’s name for the Xterra) with items for the guys to drop off at the house after the closing. They are taking up cleaning and painting supplies, sleeping bags, hangers (for JJ’s work clothes), pots and pans, mixing bowls, and kitchen utensils. EJ still had room in the Buggy, so we packed clothes and a couple of boxes filled with bathroom stuff. We didn’t pack anything perishable, precious, or breakable because these items will have to ride around in the Buggy until after the closing–which might not be until Friday. We figure the more stuff we can transport up north, the less we have to do on moving day.
Next weekend we will pack the Buggy with Danny and more things and we will pack the car with cats. It will be nice to be all together again–both human and pets. Luke really misses his JJ.
We are arranging for a friend to drive EJ’s pickup truck with beds and a table and chairs so we don’t have to sleep and sit on the floor all next week. EJ is going to ask another friend who offered his pickup and services a while back to transport EJ’s tools. These friends all live in our area so the one can take the other one home. Otherwise EJ will have to drive him back down in the Buggy and then drive back up which is a lot of hours of driving. The truck is sort of a beater and we don’t know if it could take repeated trips up and down the state. EJ plans to just use it as a utility truck up north–to plow out the driveway in the winter, etc.
The guys left this morning at about 10 a.m. I took Danny for his walk and then paid all the bills so I don’t have to worry about them in the next week. I spent the rest of the day packing. I took many breaks because although my bruises are just about healed from my fight with the exercise thingy a week ago, my foot has begun to ache. I take Ibroprofen and ignore it because I have too much to do. I have to get all the packing done this week and do things like cancel our Internet down here as well as get our address changed at the post office, and also show the furnace guy the basement so he can write us an estimate. EJ said this is a great time to have a furnace installed because people aren’t thinking about furnaces. It would be wonderful if the furnace can be put in soon. I told EJ that if the guy can install it next week, I would stay down here…although I so don’t want to. I just know that the sooner we get everything done down here, the sooner our lives can transfer up there. Once the furnace is installed, I want to finish only a couple of projects and then call the realtor to sell our house.
There is a lot to do.
But it’s exciting. I have butterflies in my stomach. I can’t quite believe that I will soon be in our new house! JJ was astounded that we are moving so soon. It came so fast. He is excited about moving, but he said he’s going to miss our house. He has lived here all his life so that is understandable. I told EJ that there is going to be a lot of new things for both JJ and me. EJ grew up in the country, but JJ and I have only lived in towns in this area. I grew up only 30 minutes away from where we currently live. So it’s all going to be strange. And exciting. And take some getting used to.
A Rain of Maple Seeds
Today was an extremely productive day.
I decided to paint the floor of the front porch this morning. The day was beautiful–a cloudless sky with just enough coolness to make working a pleasure. I really enjoyed painting the porch, although Rikki-Tikki-Tabby and Tesla wanted to join me and I had to keep shooing them away so they wouldn’t get red paws. Unless the floor gets scraped when we move heavy furniture and appliances, I think one coat of paint will be enough.
This week I finished painting the garage and painted the front porch. EJ and JJ aren’t going to recognize our house when they arrive tonight.
I was expecting our mortgage officer to email me a Power of Attorney so EJ can sign on my behalf at the closing so I periodically came into the house to see if it had arrived in my inbox. When the email came, I printed it out and then took it to our local bank and had my friend notarize it and fax a copy to the mortgage officer. EJ will have to take the original up with him to give her, but the copy will allow them to get started.
When I got home from the bank, I took Danny for his walk. As I walk or drive here or there, I have been thinking to myself, “Soon I will never go this way again.” It’s a way of saying goodbye. I wonder if I will be sad when I move away? I have been mostly focusing on my joy of going to the Enchanted Forest.
With those tasks out of the way, I started the next one: I mowed the lawn. I love the look and smell of a freshly mown lawn. As I mowed, a rain of maple seeds fell from the trees. It was kind of cool to mow with billions of maple seeds helicoptering down, but I also felt victorious because every spring billions of seeds fall from our maple trees and I spend hours pulling them out so they don’t grow into seedlings, saplings, and a forest of trees that grow so thickly they could imprison us in our house. THIS year they can rain all they want but I won’t have to worry about pulling them out because I won’t be here. I asked EJ if there were a lot of maple trees on our property in Anatevka. He said there were mostly evergreen trees and I was thrilled because I’ve always wanted to live in or near an evergreen forest. The needles of evergreen trees make a carpet that deadens sound so that sitting in an evergreen forest is very quiet and peaceful and soothing to the spirit. I don’t dislike maple trees–especially in the autumn when they are ablaze with beautiful color. I just don’t like pulling up billions of seedlings in the spring.
After work EJ called a furnace guy about perhaps coming to our old house next week to give us an estimate for putting in a new furnace. If the guy could come while I am still down here, it would save us a trip south. EJ called me to tell me that the guy is coming Tuesday morning. Yay! Next week is going to be super busy and although I would have really liked to attend the closing for our new house, I think it’s better that I get stuff done here.
Up North, JJ was excited because Comic-Con is being held in the Emerald City this weekend and he and his Dad were going to go for an hour or so before heading home. Comic-Con is a convention Comic-Con that takes place in various places in the world in which, as one site described it, “all the nerds descend to express their fandom for all things geek. From movies to TV shows to comic books to collectible action figures, it’s all here. And there’s a lot of it.” Celebrities often attend and fans dress up as their favorite alien, superhero, villain, or science fiction characters. Both EJ and JJ told me that the traffic was the worst they’ve ever seen and they couldn’t find the convention. Bummer. I told JJ that aliens must have hidden the convention with their cloaking device, but we’d find it next year and attend.
After talking to my guys, I worked on pulling down some plywood from the woodshed. We had turned the grape arbor into a woodshed by enclosing it with fencing. We had not quite finished it when JJ was diagnosed with cancer. As a temporary measure EJ nailed a piece of plywood to the unfinished back side. Every now and then over the last few weeks, I have been working at removing it. I finally got it off today. I took a piece of leftover fencing and nailed it there so it looks nicer. The woodshed can easily be turned back into a gazebo.
Now, after a day of productive work, I am relaxing as I wait for my guys to come home. As busy as the last few weeks have been, next week will be even busier–with the furnace guy coming, and the dumpster being delivered, and the final packing to do, and a bunch of other things. But NEXT weekend, I will be heading up to our new house in the Enchanted Forest! I am so excited.
Cats
This morning I decided to get gas in the car, go to the bank to close our account, and stop at the post office for our mail. In a few days, we will actually have mail delivered to our house–for the first time in over 20 years. In our small village, people who live in town have post office boxes. Anyway, I aborted the mission because there was so much traffic. EJ and JJ will laugh at that because the most traffic down here is nothing compared to the traffic in the Emerald City (caused by road construction). But there were also cars at the gas pumps, cars parked in front of the bank, and cars at the post office so I thought, “I’ll just do it later.”
I came home and walked Danny and then I got my paint clothes on. I painted the black double doors on the garage white to match the other doors. The doors won’t match in design but they will match in color. Then I got the ladder out and began scraping loose old paint from the high up places. When I had scraped off as much paint as I could reach from the ladder, I went into the upstairs of the garage and leaned out the windows–one on each side of the garage–to scrape more paint. While I was working, I heard a scurrying on the roof. I imagined it was branches scratching the roof. Or a squirrel. Or goblins. Or those creepy aliens from the movie Signs. Yikes.
After I knocked off the loose paint, I set up the ladder and painted the high up trim. I painted as high as I could reach with a brush and then I used the roller on a long pole to reach higher. I had to stand in our neighbor’s yard while I painted the opposite side of the garage. While I painting the trim there, I heard some blackbirds swearing in anger. “Wow! Something has them all upset,” I thought. Then I saw that one had a worm in its mouth and was flying close and then flying away. “They must have a nest of babies somewhere close,” I thought. And then realization hit: “Oh! They are swearing at ME because they can’t feed their babies because I am so close!” I told them I’d be just a couple of minutes. As soon as I left, they calmed down.
I went upstairs in the garage again and leaned out the window to paint the areas I wasn’t able to reach from the ladder and pole roller. I didn’t hear scurrying this time, but although I was completely safe leaning out the windows, I am a bit afraid of heights. I’m glad that I will no longer have to climb high places to paint. The garage is old and dilapidated, but it looks better now then it did.
When I finished, I took a shower and changed into clean clothes, and then I got gas in the car, picked up the mail, and stopped at the bank to close our account. I gave the two tellers a hug because I am no longer a customer of this bank and might not see them again. They are actually more than tellers because the husband of one used to work with EJ and the other’s husband was involved in JJ’s Scout troop. So we have several connections. I told them that if they are ever up in the Emerald City they are welcome to visit.
When I got home, I emailed our mortgage officer–she’s a peach–and told her that I might not be able to make it up to the Emerald City next week to close on the house and could EJ get a power of attorney and sign on both his and my behalf. She replied “Absolutely” and said she’d get working on it. Now, whether I can make it up to the Emerald City or not, we can close.
One of my tasks next week is to cancel our Internet. I will then be off-line until we can get Internet service at our new house. EJ says that might be awhile, but I snorted, “Ha!” because everyone knows that Internet is one of the highest priorities! I already have our new Internet Service Provider chosen. But it might take a week or two to get connected. During that time, we will be busy tearing out old carpet, installing new flooring, and painting walls. But I will take pictures, and I will write when I have a free moment or two, and then I will post everything when I get reconnected.
People always say that cats are aloof but our cats crave attention. With three of us giving the cats attention, we can keep them satisfied, but with just me at home….well, I can’t give them enough. Sometimes I am surrounded by cats wanting attention and they follow me around. Kee-Kee is sometimes VERY vocal in his demand and he also gently and insistently paws my face if I ignore him. I am glad when we get them all up north. The indoor cats aren’t the only ones wanting attention. After I finished my errands, I sat on the front porch to scrap loose old paint from the floor. Rikki-Tikki-Tabby came and sat on my lap as I work–as he often does when I’m outside gardening. Then Annie came and sat on my lap too. So there I was, sitting on the floor of the porch, trying to work with two cats on my lap. I didn’t get much work done.
I’ve been debating whether to paint the red floor of the front porch before or after we move. Moving heavy furniture out might scrape the new paint, but I don’t think they can ruin it that much, and I have plenty of red paint, and I can always touch it up afterwards if they do. I almost painted today but with the cool temps, I don’t want to start too late in the day. Besides, I had cats on my lap. I decided not to paint today. I was really tired from all my hard work so I went inside and fell asleep on the couch. While I was sleeping, I suddenly jerked awake with the sensation that I was falling–you know? I thought for a moment that I was falling off the ladder. Yikes! I was relieved that I wasn’t falling off the ladder and I fell back to sleep.
Since we don’t think it’s wise to give our location on the Internet and we don’t want my abusive family to find us easily, we have been coming up with imaginative names for the area we are moving to. I was trying to think of what to call the town closest to our new house. The town is small, but several times bigger than the village we live in now. EJ keeps calling it Anatevka after the close-knit little town in The Fiddler on the Roof, one of our favorite movies. So that is where I will say we live. We are moving to Anatevka which is located in The Enchanted Forest, not far from the Emerald City.
Rush!
This morning at 9 a.m. I got dressed in my “Cleaning the Basement” uniform–work jeans and sweatshirt, headscarf, headlight, and work gloves–and headed for the basement. I had conquered my fear and worked in the musty spidery basement without any anxiety. I have confronted a lot of scary things in my life and one really cool thing that I have learned about fear is that it’s a bully who backs down when you confront it.
I saw only one or two spiders while I was I was down there and they quickly darted away. I also saw a strange looking creature on an old cabinet. It looked sort of like a white octopus. There were a couple smaller ones nearby. I have never seen such a thing before so I took a picture of it.
I put some stuff in the car to donate and I hauled old falling apart cabinets and a bunch of other junk into the yard. EJ and I had discussed whether to fill the pickup with junk and haul it to the landfill or rent a dumpster. When I saw the pile of junk growing, I texted EJ to ask if he wanted to just rent the dumpster afterall. Since they will drop off and pick up the dumpster, we won’t have to take the time to drive to the landfill. He said yes, so I called the rental place. They told me that they won’t have any until May 29th. Ok. I reserved one. Then I went back to cleaning the basement. I worked until about 2 p.m. and I was amazed and proud of all the progress I made. I want to clean enough of the basement so that we can easily haul out the chest freezer, shelves, and EJ’s tools and stuff. I also wanted to make the old furnace accessible so maybe we can get a furnace guy to come while I’m still down here so he can plan what needs to be done to install a new furnace. I don’t know how we are going to arrange to get the furnace in since we will all be in the north soon.
I am watching the days quickly pass by and I have a lot to do so after I ate lunch, I went out to paint. I painted a strip of green trim on the back porch, painted the garage door, and painted our front door…all green. Then I started painting the trim on the garage. I got all the parts done that I could do without getting out the ladder. It was getting late so I thought I’d finish up another day. I will probably need EJ or JJ to paint the way up high places.
I came inside and took a shower to wash off basement dirt and green paint. I had just sat down when the phone rang.
It was our mortgage officer. She said that once EJ arranges for house insurance–which he needs to do ASAP–we can schedule closing. She said it’s possible we could schedule the closing for Tuesday.
AAAAAHHHHHH!
All my plans were made for closing on Monday, June 1. I have arranged to have the dumpster dropped off May 29th, and I was hoping to get the furnace guy here and arranged for him to install a new furnace. I have to close out our other checking account, cancel our internet down here, fill out change of address cards at the post office. I was going to do all this next week! And a Tuesday closing would mean I’d have to bring the dog and seven cats up all by myself….The mortgage officer said we could schedule the closing for Friday of next week if that will work better. It might. I could dash up on Friday and then we could drive down and get the pets, and essential items like sleeping bags and cleaning supplies and clothes. Or EJ could get a power of attorney and do the closing without me on Tuesday. That would save money on the motel room. Or….EJ and I will have to discuss this when he gets home. He’s currently at the Secretary of State (i.e., DMV) getting the tags renewed on his pickup.
I am so not ready.
But I am excited.
We have arranged for EJ’s nephew to help us move on June 6th. That still hasn’t changed. He has a friend who has a commercial truck and they will come down and move us. Yay! Until then, we will be camping out in the new house, tearing out the old carpet, installing new flooring, and painting walls.
The Basement
Ugh, the weather sure is crazy. Monday was a warm 80 degrees. The weather forecast had said that it would rain but since it hadn’t rained all weekend as predicted, I took a risk and I painted the front porch. I began at 9 a.m.–or maybe before–and painted until mid-afternoon. It looks nice.
I was going to paint the green trim and maybe the garage door today, but it was too cold. There are frost warnings out for tonight so when I finished all my work today, I went out and covered the plants I had put outside. I also turned the heat back on.
Being unable to paint messed up my schedule. I drank coffee as I contemplated how to spend my day. I didn’t want to have an unproductive day when we have less than two weeks before we close on the house. I feel rushed to get as much done as we can because I don’t want to keep coming south AND I want to get our house up for sale soon.
I decided to work on the basement. When I last went to the dark basement to find paint, I had managed to find the light to turn it on. I left it on, but EJ turned it back off. So I decided to work in the first of the two rooms of the basement. I got on my work clothes–which is also my paint clothes–including a old sweatshirt–and put a headscarf on to protect my head from spiders and their webs. I went into the basement, but in the small room there is exercise equipment, a chest freezer, and EJ’s work bench piled with stuff. I had no idea how to pack it. I peered into the pitch blackness of the other room. Nope, I couldn’t do it. I changed my clothes.
I decided to walk to the post office for our mail and then walk Danny. As I walked I thought that I really need to get a start on the basement. So when I got home, I changed into my work clothes with spider protection head scarf and went into the basement. I put a few things into an empty kitty litter bucket, but I felt overwhelmed by the task of packing EJ’s stuff. I peered into the blackness of the other basement room. Nope, I couldn’t do it. I changed my clothes.
I decided to drive to the grocery store. I knew I would have to go sometime this week and I might as well go on a cold day when I can’t work outside and I’m too scared to work in the basement.
When I got home, I remembered that we had decided to donate JJ’s dresser. He has had it since he was born–his crib and dresser were a set–and it’s really much too small for his adult clothes. I’ve been wanting to get him a new dresser for years, but never did. I measured to make sure the dresser would fit in the car. Yup. No problem. I took out the six drawers and slid the dresser down the stairs, and carried it and the drawers out into the car. I took Danny with me to the Hospice store. I had worked with the woman who helped me unload the dresser years and years ago–at my first job at McDonalds. I had told her I had a little dresser to donate but when she saw it she exclaimed, “TJ! You said it was LITTLE!” Well, I thought it was little–it’s smaller than EJ and my dressers and is much too small for JJ’s clothes. The woman said, “Did you put this dresser into the car yourself? I don’t know how you did it.” I told her that I had even carried it downstairs. She was impressed.
Photo from LOTR.Wikea.com
When I got home, I was determined that I needed to get a start on the basement and no darkness or spiders were going to keep me from it. I put my work clothes back on, grabbed a big broom and a flashlight, and swept the spider webs from the ceiling as I advanced into the dark. I felt like Frodo Baggins with his sword and elvish light. I got the lights on–they have to be turned on individually. Once the lights were on, I felt braver. I worked for a couple of hours and made a lot of progress. I hope to get more done later in the week.
Soon, soon, soon, I will be in our new house in the Enchanted Forest. I love Google Earth because even though I am not up there, I can explore the area. It’s fun. I look at pictures of our new house and it’s difficult to believe that soon it will be ours. I have told JJ that at first the house will feel strange and unfamiliar, but it won’t be long before the house is “Home.”
Baby Birds
My guys have been here…and are gone again.
One of my neighbors said I must get really lonely during the week here all alone. I do miss my guys like crazy, but during the week I keep busy and just try not to think about missing them. I think instead of getting as many projects done as I can so we don’t have to return too many times this summer, and I think of the exciting life waiting me in the North. The hardest time is after my guys leave. Sunday evenings are the worst…I am filled with a lonely ache.
My guys will leave me behind only one more time and then my exile in the south will be over. However, I told EJ a couple of months ago that I will never really ever leave our village–a part of me will be here forever. He said, “No you won’t,” but I told him I could prove it. I reminded him that a couple of years ago the Google car took my picture several times while I was walking Danny so I will always be in our village on Google Earth. It’s like Danny and I are haunting the village.
Yesterday morning (Saturday) EJ and I drove to the Secretary of State with the intention of renewing the tags on pickup truck. “Secretary of State” sounds very important, but actually it is what other states call the “Department of Motor Vehicles.” EJ says that Michigan is the only state that calls it the Secretary of State. We had to drive to the city because that branch was the only one in our area that was open on Saturday. When we walked into the place….we took one look and went right back out. It was filled with people–busier than I have ever seen any Secretary of State office ever. We decided that EJ will renew the tags up in the Emerald City sometime this week.
Since we were already in the city, we decided to go to Lowes to look at flooring for our new hours. Then we went to Menards. We really would like to get wood flooring, but it’s too expensive. It would take too much of our savings and we need to have enough money to buy a riding lawnmower to mow our five acres in the summer and a plow to clear our driveway of snow in the winter. We considered laminate flooring, but it’s of lesser quality and just about as expensive as wood flooring. Since we’d like to have the flooring put in quickly, we’d have professionals install it, which adds to the price. So after talking it over, we decided that we will settle for vinyl flooring that looks like wood, which is what we have in our house now. It’s less expensive than wood and laminate flooring and we can easily and quickly install it ourselves. Also, if it wears out, we can easily replace it. We have this type of flooring in our current house and people often can’t believe it’s not actually wood.
This morning EJ and I were scared awake at about 5 a.m. by a very strange sound. It sounded like a loud slap….slap…like a wooden ruler slapping against a desk. EJ got up to investigate and discovered that Luke had pried open the door to the upstairs and now was trying to pry open our bedroom door. A couple of the other cats had followed Luke upstairs. EJ got the cats downstairs and he followed them down and fell asleep in his new Lazyboy. He said Luke tried to open the upstairs door again. The cats aren’t allowed upstairs…We have a door on our stairs to keep the heat downstairs, and I don’t want to lug kitty litter up and down the stairs. However, once we get to our new house, everything will be on one floor and they will have access to the whole house.
This afternoon EJ worked on putting up more drywall. A while back he built a platform over the stairs so he could put up drywall in hard to reach places above the stairs. He is going to have to dismantle the platform for moving day (which is in two weeks) so we can get the upstairs furniture downstairs, which means he will have to finish the drywall next week. That is going to be our next weekend project. I’m hoping I can paint all the wall during my last week at this house.
I kept EJ company today while he hung drywall…and helped him when I could, which wasn’t much. While I was upstairs, I opened the curtain in JJ’s room and startled a Mourning Dove, who startled me. Then I saw that the Mourning Dove had built a nest on the window sill. She had two babies in the next. I got EJ and JJ and we stealthily observed the Mama and babies. I also took pictures.
EJ and I also stood for a while and watched the baby sparrows in the birdhouse outside the kitchen window. One of the babies keeps poking her head out of the door and looking around in wide-eyed wonder. We cooed encouragement to her as she got her wings out of the house, almost ready to fly away, but she lost her courage and withdrew back into the house. Soon she will leave the nest.
I think our house is very pretty in the Spring and Summer and I love all the birds nesting on the sills, and in the vines on the house, and in the birdhouses. However, in the north we will also have birdhouses–and the I think the variety of birds will be greater, if only because we are in the country. EJ drove JJ to the house a few weeks ago, and JJ said there is a nice birdhouse already at the new house. I will enjoy continuing the birdscaping there. I’m not going to take down my birdhouses down here until late summer when the birds are done raising their families because I don’t want to harm any baby birds. However, even if we sold our house as soon as we put it up for sale in mid-July (I hope), I doubt we’d have the closing before autumn.
This week I’m going to try to get all the outside painting done. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, but I’m hoping the weather will be nice for the rest of the week.
Rabbit Trails
A friend said something the other day that sent me scampering down some rabbit trails. For those who might not know, “going down a rabbit trail” is an idiom that refers to thoughts or discussions going here and there off the main topic. Although some people think they are distractions, I happen to love going down rabbit trails in my thoughts because they can lead me to some interesting and profound places.
Photo from Fanpop.com
An example of a rabbit trail is this: Last weekend EJ asked if we had any bread. I told him that we had some on the counter, but he couldn’t find it, so I said, “There, see? I’m pointing right at it.” That made me think of Kaylee, a character in a favorite science fiction television series from the early 2000s called Firefly because she had said much the same thing in an episode. Firefly makes me think of how much I enjoy science fiction, which makes me think of when JJ asked me last weekend about the sore on my face. I told him it was where an alien had entered my body and now it was in the process of taking over my brain. That made me think of the science fiction program called Stargate SG-1, in which parasitic aliens entered a person’s body and possessed them.
Photo from sg1.cz
These evil parasitic aliens declared they were gods and enslaved people from various planets, demanding their worship. One of the main characters on the show, an alien named Teal’c, had once served these false gods, but he had rebelled and now fought against them. His example caused others among his people to also rebel. When any of his people were facing death, they declared victoriously, “I die free!” This always makes me think of recovering from abuse because abuse enslaves a person’s mind, causing a victim to believe he/she is worthless, inadequate, and a bunch of other things. Recovery is really a battle against false beliefs forced upon a victim by a godlike abuser who demands submission to his/her control. I have told EJ that when I die, I want “I died free” to be written on my tombstone because it has great meaning to me.
All EJ did was ask where the bread was, and locating the bread was all he was thinking about, but my mind skipped and leaped from one thought to another and ended up in a totally different place. That is a rabbit trail. So when I say that a person said something that made me ponder, I simply mean that he/she said something that caused my thoughts to skip and leap and wander from one place to another, and it may (and likely is) very different from and unrelated to what the person had in mind. I am not saying that the person was thinking or saying what my thoughts wandered to.
My friend said something that started me thinking of how very difficult it is to watch someone have wonderful dreams come true when he/she is going through intense suffering. I know how difficult it is because I have been there. I have seen good things happening to people while I and my family have suffered with things like chronic illness, infertility, miscarriage, abuse, financial struggles, my son’s cancer, and many, many other things. I know what it’s like to see others get pregnant when I struggled with infertility, or when I heard of loving families getting together when my family is abusive, or when a person gets the new house in the country that we would have loved while we can’t escape town, or when a new boss gives his friend, who we knew abused his family, honest and loving EJ’s job. It is hard.
Thinking about how difficult it is started me wandering down the rabbit trails. Actually, I revisited memories and experiences and lessons learned in the past.
First, I thought about a woman I had worked with years ago, before JJ was born. She was quite terrible at empathizing with people who were suffering. I was sometimes appalled at her lack of sensitivity and empathy. However, she knew how to “rejoice with those who rejoiced” better than anyone I have ever known. She totally shared in others’ joy without the slightest sign of envy. There was no “Nothing good ever happens to me” nor “Why can’t I have good things like that?” When someone shared a good thing with her, she asked tons of questions about it and was totally excited for them. She increased others’ joy through her sharing in it. I decided that I wanted to be more like her when it came to sharing in joy. I have really tried to share in others joys…as well as their sufferings. Both are tremendous gifts to give to others.
Thinking of joy-givers made me think of joy-suckers. Rather than increase joy, as my co-worker did, some people are very good at decreasing it. For example, I can’t think of a time when my sister was ever glad when something good happened to me. She always said things like, “Nothing good ever happens to me” or “You are God’s favorite–He always gives you good things and never gives me good things.” She always made me feel guilty about having good things happen to me, and after awhile I felt reluctant to share good news with her because she always diminished it. I always ended up trying to reassure her that I don’t always have good things happen to me, and that good things do happen to her, and that God has no favorites. I know now that she is a narcissist who must always have the focus on herself. I have finally concluded that it’s ok to enjoy good things because every gift is from God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). I’m not saying we ought to be insensitive to those who are suffering–absolutely not–but that I think we can be joyful and grateful when God gives us “good” things. EJ and I have often discussed that difficult times are also gifts from God…but that is a topic for another day. I think we ought to enjoy the gifts God gives because they help us rest from difficult days in the past and often they strengthen us for difficult days ahead. I don’t know if I explained my thoughts about this very well, but I hope you understand. I really try hard not to be a joy-sucker who sucks all the joy out of good things other people have.
Hmmmm. That, I think, is the real gift of those who share in the joy of others. They give people the gift of being able to enjoy the blessings that God richly provides them. That is a tremendous gift to give others. As the old saying goes: Share sorrow is halfed sorrow and shared joy is double joy. Or as Romans 12:15 says, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. I currently have a friend who is wonderful at both rejoicing and weeping with others, and she is such a blessing! I would like to be more like her.
Another memory that my thoughts skipped to is of a time when a friend got a tremendous job and began to make a great deal of money–like $100,000+ a year. And her husband also worked so it seemed they were bringing in truckloads of money. At the time, we were struggling to make ends meet. EJ’s company had given him the choice of either getting laid off or continuing to work but at a lesser job for 1/3 less pay. He chose to continue to work–mostly for the health insurance but also because if he got laid off, he might never be called back to work. You know, “out of sight, out of mind.” At the time we were struggling to make ends meet, our vehicles developed problems and our furnace died. Envy began to creep in: “Yeah, and all I have is problems!” But then I remembered that my friend had told me stories of times when she was a single Mom and was so poor that she couldn’t even afford to buy toilet paper. I’ve never been that poor. And she has suffered other very terrible things in her life–both before and after she got this tremendous job. I felt ashamed that after all she had gone through, I begrudged her the good things that were coming into her life. I stopped being envious and started being glad that she could now enjoy abundance.
This was a valuable experience that helped me realize that when we see people experiencing wonderful things in their lives….well, we have no idea what terrible, dark seasons they have endured before. Maybe they are just now finally enjoying good things after years of terrible suffering. I am sincerely glad, now, when I see others finally have a season of blessing. If I feel envy start to creep in, I reject it, reminding myself that they may desperately need this time of goodness in their lives.
That is what has happened to EJ, JJ, and me. We have gone through years and years of difficulties. We have prayed fervently for answers and for relief that didn’t come and we accepted it and praised God through it. But we were tiring. I have always tried to walk when I couldn’t run, to crawl when I couldn’t walk, and to at least not retreat if I couldn’t go forward, but JJ’s battle with cancer took the rest of our strength. It is exhausting to be a caretaker and in the last year I had no energy to do anything. I still clung to God, but I found myself just trying to get through the days–and so did EJ and JJ. Desperately, I told God that I knew that He is good and faithful and keeps His promises, but I now needed Him to carry me and to show me His goodness in tangible ways that I could see and feel. “I will faint,” I paraphrased, “unless I can see Your goodness in the land of the living.” And finally we feel God is moving us on to a wonderful place where our spirits can be refreshed and strengthened. These days I am frequently thinking of Ps. 66:10-12:
For you, God, have tested us,
refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net
and bound our bodies fast.
You made men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water.
But you brought us out
to a place of plenty.
I know these are inadequate words for those who are in the midst of brutal suffering, but it really has helped me to consider these things when life has been hard.
That is where my rabbit trailing thoughts have taken me.
What I Did Today
Not long after I got up this morning, the mortgage officer called. Apparently it’s a regulation now that they have to compare our tax information to the information that the IRS has to make sure it matches. She had tried to get our tax returns from the IRS site but it wouldn’t let her. She suspected it was because she wasn’t entering the information exactly as it was on our tax return so she gave me a link to the site and she helped me set up a profile which WAS A PAIN! When we finally got the profile set up, I clicked on the tax information she wanted, but nothing happened. Grrrr! She looked at the FAQs and we figured out it was the popup blocker causing the problems. She helped me figure out how to turn the popup blocker off on my computer and it worked! But then I wasn’t able to save the document and email it to her–I got an error message–so instead I printed it so I could fax it to her. About midway through all this frustrating procedure, I said, “Sheesh! You expect me to deal with the IRS site when I haven’t even had a cup of coffee?” We laughed.
I don’t remember having to do all this stuff when we bought our current house more than 20 years ago. The mortgage officer said it won’t be long now before the mortgage process is completed. Yay!
After getting dressed and eating breakfast and drinking half a pot of coffee, I left to run my errands. I stopped first at the bank to get the document faxed. I also closed one of our two accounts. I plan to keep the other one until I don’t have any more documents to fax since customers can have documents faxed for free. Since the bank is only two blocks from home, it saves me having to drive ten miles to the next town to have documents faxed. Besides, I really like the tellers. They are nice. EJ worked with the husband of one of the tellers and the husband of the other used to work for the Village and also was very involved with JJ’s Boy Scout Troop. They looked up our new house on-line and think the house and setting is really nice. I am really going to miss them when we move.
At the bank I also ran into the daughter-in-law of our neighbors. She used to watch JJ now and then when he was little. She said it’s going to be very strange not having us live here–and she told me to keep blogging about our adventures!
For the last few weeks, villagers keep stopping me and saying, “I hear you are moving!” When I went to vote the other day (last week?) I ran into an older villager who, after saying “I heard you are moving!” told me that she had always liked our house–she had been here a lot when she was a child because her best friend lived here. Occasionally over the years various people have shared memories of our house. One had said that the front door used to face the other street, but when they put in the fireplace they moved the front door so the entrance is on the other street. I think it’s interesting hearing about the history of our house. Only it won’t be our house for long.
When I finished running all my errands, I took Danny for his walk. I figured it was best to do it before I got busy. On our walk, I encounter another neighbor, who is interested in how we are going to transport a dog and seven cats to our new house. We have decided that Danny will ride with EJ and the cats will ride with me. I have two nice cat carriers and I bought five cardboard ones. I plan to have JJ ride with me so if any cats escape, he can keep them from distracting me. My neighbor said she might have a nice cat carrier that I could borrow. She said she would look around at home for it.
After Danny and I got home, I talked to my dear friend on the telephone as I ate lunch. Then I went outside to paint the back porch. This has been the only day I could paint this week because earlier in the week it was rainy, damp, or cold, and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain again. I painted the third side of the porch that I hadn’t been able to paint before, and then I put a second coat of paint on the other two sides. When the weather is nice again I will paint the third side again and then I will begin painting the front porch. When I have all the cream painting done, I will paint the green trim everywhere.
I thought about mowing the lawn after I finished painting, but decided against it. I went in and relaxed instead.
I am developing a lot of colorful bruises from my tumble over the exercise thingy. I have found dark bruises on my arms and legs. It’s kind of hard to see in the pictures, but my whole left foot is one big bruise. Ouch. It’s surprising I didn’t break anything. As I was falling over the thingy, I imagined being seriously hurt and my guys finding my cold lifeless body when they returned home.
Since it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, I think I will do some more packing and also make potato salad for my guys. They arrive home for the weekend tomorrow evening.
The Things We Leave Behind
It’s been a rainy week. I keep checking the weather forecast to see if conditions will allow me to paint this week. Today and tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny but I do not know if it will be dry enough to paint today and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow night so….painting outside this week might be a “no go.”
Yesterday a cold front came through and the temperatures dropped through the day to overnight lows in the 30s. I was chilled so I turned on the heat. Brrrr.
When EJ first moved up north in early March to begin his new job, JJ and I got a lot of the packing done, emptying bookcases, closets, and drawers. We left the kitchen and downstairs bathroom alone because most of the items in those rooms are “essential.” However, since this week’s weather prevented me from working outside, and since our moving day is getting closer, I decided to begin packing the kitchen and bathroom. I plan to pack everything except what I absolutely need. I will have to get more boxes before I pack too many more things because I am running out.
Since JJ was diagnosed with cancer, I have not exercised much and our eating habits deteriorated. (We were too tired to fix healthier meals.) I gained some weight. Last night I looked in the mirror and thought, “Bleagh.” I hate doing exercises–like aerobics and pilates and exercise equipment. I think they are boring and feel like work. I’d much rather take walks outside where I can enjoy my surroundings and forget I am exercising. There are a lot of trails through beautiful surroundings near the Emerald City and I plan to do plenty of walking when I get up there. However, I thought I might as well get started now, so last night I took the exercise thingy downstairs. I don’t know exactly what it is called. It’s not a bike or treadmill or elliptical–you lift your own weight by pulling back on the handles and pushing with the feet, sort of like a rowing machine. EJ says it works on strengthening the core and I thought I could use it while I watched something on Netflix to take my mind off the boring exercising. I managed to get the thingy downstairs (which was exercise in itself!) but Luke ran upstairs while the door was open. Rats! The cats are not supposed to be upstairs. He stopped halfway up the stairs, so I went to grab him but I forgot I was on the other side of the exercise thingy and I fell across it. Besides various bruises developing on various parts of my body, my foot scraped across the thingy and it is bruised and swollen. So now I have an exercise thingy downstairs but I cannot use it. This is my normal experience with exercises and exercise equipment. I always seem to hurt myself when I interact with them. I rarely hurt myself walking my Danny.
EJ has been working first shift for the last month. After years of working second shift, he is not used to getting up early so I have my phone alarm set for 6 a.m. so I can make sure he is awake. Each morning I send him a text such as “R U awake?” or “Wake up!” This morning I texted him “Have a gr8 day!” and then fell back to sleep. When I woke up again an hour later, I noticed that I had forgotten to send the text so I pushed “send.” He responded with “Uh, okay…” I looked at the text more closely and saw that I had actually written “Yage a tr8 day!” Obviously, I was not awake when I first wrote it. LOL.
Photo from powerlisting.wikia.com
This morning I chatted with JJ at FB. He told me that the electrical people needed access to their hotel room and he was expecting them soon. The first image that came to my mind was of superheros with electrical powers. I know the electrical people JJ is expecting are simply repairmen, but I think the way I look at the world is much more fun. For example, the other day JJ saw a small sore on my face and he asked, “What happened there?” I could have told him it was a simply a small sore (duh) but instead I told him it was where an alien had entered my body and now it was in the process of taking over my brain. He said, “So I should kill you before it takes complete control?” We have fun conversations.
Photo from: nanonews.tumblr.com
This last weekend as we drove to the thrift shop to donate tables, I told EJ that I think we are storytellers. A nonstoryteller would say something like “After I worked outside, I drank a glass of ice water.” However, as a storyteller, I (and we) have to tell the whole story: “It was a brutally hot, humid day and the sweat poured off me as I pushed the mower over the long grass. All I could think of as I worked was the jug of cool water in the refrigerator. When I finished mowing, I staggered into the house, reaching into the refrigerator for the water like a desperate man dying of thirst in the desert….” A nonstoryteller states facts, while a storyteller describes the scene in vivid detail, making the reader understand the difficulties, the struggles, the emotions, and then the relief.
I told EJ that I want to describe how important this move to the Emerald City is for us, and why moving there gives us such feelings of joy, delight, and freedom. However, to describe that, I would have to put into words the difficulties, the struggles, and the emotions we felt living down here. However, there really is too much to put into words and I do not know how to set the scene without appearing to be negative. Like how do I describe EJ’s struggles at the company he worked at for 17 years? Without describing the struggle and his legendary endurance, a reader can’t understand the awed joy and relieved disbelief he feels working at his new company. How do I describe JJ’s struggles down here, including battling cancer? Without that, you can’t understand his joy and hope at being in the North.
And how do I describe my own struggles down here? I’d have to be able to put into words the damage of emotional abuse, which is difficult because so few understand it unless they’ve experienced it. I’d have to describe the struggle, pain, damage, difficult journey toward recovery. I’d have to put into words how it feels to brace myself whenever I go to the store in case I run into abusive family, or how various places are painful triggers. Moving to the Emerald City represents freedom to me–freedom from the dread of abusive encounters and freedom from triggers of painful abuse. I’d also have to describe how much I love natural beauty and how difficult it has been to have the sight of sunrises, sunsets, and approaching storms blocked by neighboring houses, and the stars blocked by the light pollution of nearby towns. Or how I long to see wildlife wandering across my yard. I do the best I can to bring beauty and wildlife into my yard with gardening and birdfeeders, but I thirst for more natural beauty like a desperate man in a desert longs for water.
Photo from w3talks.org
I told EJ that in the North there are layers of things we love. The foundational layer is the various beauty of the land–the forests, the sand dunes, the rivers and lakes and Great Lakes. Next there is the natural activities–gazing at the night sky, walking the trails, birdwatching, fishing. There is also the layer of simply enjoying having five acres in the Enchanted Forest to putter around in, gardening, EJ working in his shop, sitting on our patio drinking coffee in the morning. Then there is a layer of activities like watching the Tall Ships or the huge Great Lake boats or visiting lighthouses. There is also a layer of cultural activities such as festivals, and art shows, and libraries, and many other things we can enjoy. There is layer upon layer and each layer is a delight to us.
As I go about my day, painting and packing, I think of all these layers. I think that without understanding the things that we leave behind (abuse, discouragement, lack of wild beauty, lack of exercise and unhealthy food) , a person can’t understand the joy we are reaching for, but sometimes there are no words to describe it.
I Love To Go A Gardening 