Time is running short, a pressure than never leaves these days. Covid didn't help. Recent rains didn't help set up a sale. So we're playing catch-up.
A PODS has been ordered, with the surprising discovery that the one over twice the size of the small one isn't twice the cost. Not even close. Originally I wanted the medium sized container but they only have those for local moving and/or storage. It's either 8' x 8' x 6' of space, or 8' x 8' x 16'. Our first thought was go little, sell off furniture and restock once north from thrift stores, or in Steve's case, get a quality storage bed new at the height he wants and delivered to wherever we wind up living. (Our two recliners, his a lift chair, and his scooter were never in doubt for going.) But PODS's version of little and my version of adequate while little do not match. So we'll keep most of the furniture, sell a few pieces, and count on all the younger relatives to assist later.
That sounds like an excellent excuse for a pizza party, right?
Among the decisions which have changed are keeping the roll top desk, the hutch, the sofa and dining table, our patio table with a glass top, a lawyer's bookcase, and the oak low table made by my late father-in-law (on the Rosa side) back when he was a master carpenter, not yet a high school teacher, constructing it lovingly for his own two rowdy sons to play on. It needs a new finish after 75 years, and can then be handed down to my great grandkids, keeping this heirloom in the family. At least one of those is already rowdy enough to put it to very good use. I hear he destroyed a few TV sets before his parents mounted the latest (we all hope) one high on the wall. We'll leave the washer and dryer here, and all the built-ins, and offer the option of the queen bed in the master bedroom which fits beautifully in that builtin-in wall-to-wall unit. Of course any queen bed would fit there, and I would happily take mine up north as it easily converts to a full for a smaller new home, while keeping the under-bed storage space. The connectors just become shorter.
There will still be two moving sales, the final one depending on when the house sells. My realtor assures me that it should sell quickly. March is a great month here for snowbirds who wish to return and hate rising rent prices and landlord uncertainties. It is when we bought after all.
There is much left to pack, and needs to be planned in stages. We will be using the microwave up to the end, relying on it so much we might just leave this one behind at the last minute or try to jam it into the car. It can be replaced easily. How many cooking utensils do we leave to the end? So we just give up and go fast food for a couple weeks? I, for one, am used to opening a can of a particular brand of soup with a pop top and eating it straight from the can. Cheap, nutritious, a good variety of flavors, and perfectly acceptable without heating, IMHO. Much good food doesn't need cooking, like dried or fresh fruits, bread and peanut butter, etc. We can get along with paper plates and plastic utensils, both of which I'd rather use than pack our supplies of.
Once the PODS arrives, we have 30 days to pack it, all decisions being made, and have it removed. That's not a PODS policy. That's Sun City's. So we put it in the 21st, and have it taken away to storage March 21st at the latest.
Then there are the club deadlines. I have glass projects to finish, and am actually getting to the place where the end is in sight. Stuff can be packed. Classes can be taught. I have changed one thing, giving me lots more time and still getting the job done. Instead of 2-day workshops which are exhausting, and limited to two people each, I will hold a couple demos. These are only hands-on for me. I don't have to do a complete set, nor take half an hour to go over safety and basic glass cutting techniques. The people interested will either already have those skills from another glass teacher's class, or get the basic ideas and go take the other class to practice them and then switch to what I'm teaching, which is wind chimes. I dug out samples of chime pieces already made showing variations, and over this weekend took tag ends of glass to make what I didn't have as finished examples to show. Then I cut other pieces in the correct combinations to put together from raw glass to finished chimes. They'll see how to use U-clips, where and what to glue, how to decorate plain chimes in a second firing for one effect, or even in the first and only one for a different effect. Instead of 8 hours, it will take 2, getting done in one day, and since the demo uses no club supplies, it's free. I have even let them know I have no objection to them taking pictures or even video with their phones to help them remember how something is done for when they try it later. (I'd print something out, but the printer and the laptop which works with it are packed. Their box is buried in a stack of boxes somewhere.... )
The best part of that for me is I don't get exhausted by 4 hours each of two days walking all around overseeing my students for technique and safety. Besides price, the best part for them is they get to see what can be done with "known" glass. We started using donated glass to make wind chimes because the pieces mostly are big enough to make two or three of them each. But you can't add frit or stringers or mix colors because only same glass fuses together. Unknown glass is OK for practice but known gives more fun options. Why wait until you make your second or third one to get to play?
I have a realtor lined up, and she'll be here next Thursday. We've been emailing back and forth, but it's time to sign a contract. I've been taking photos of some of the improvements made to the house, sending her both those and a list of what we've done and when. The photos can be a challenge when everything everywhere is stacks of boxes, painting isn't finished, doors are off, repairs aren't made.... She has recommended a couple electricians, and is impressed by the choice of new countertops in the kitchen. I cleared out the storage cubbies in the master's back wall, selected a few fancy display pieces to put in some for staging, made the bed (!!) and got some shots. I'll be looking the following week to get shots of the bathroom remodel, not just because it will be beautiful, but because I might try to do the same in the new place if it has a tub instead of a walk in shower. No way we'll be moving in until it's accessible! That means a bed Steve can get in/out of, a safe bathroom, and a ramp to the level of the car. In effect, it may mean I go in to a potential place, take all kinds of pictures and 360 degree video, and come back out to show him so a decision can be made.
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