So the move is complete and chaos has reigned. We were supposed to be out by Friday evening, however, my car’s transmission went out and now I’m car shopping at a time I can’t afford it. Spawn and I just might do one car for a few months, so I can save up some funds. No, we won’t fix the car – the transmission is 3500.00 to start and the car is 17 years old with 270000 miles on it. Pretty much everything under the hood is original, so I will be selling it for whatever I can get. Either way, out landlord gave us through Saturday and we locked the door for the last time just at midnight. It hurt. I can’t tell you how much we cried all the way home.
Moving on.
I showed this earlier.
Yeah, it’s pretty.
I have no storage, no garage, so I now have 2 storage units as well as a wrap around porch and deck that are full. Starting sometime this week, we will be working hard to get everything at the house done in 3 weeks, so I can decorate some for Christmas.
I mean, I have 3 trees. Sheesh.
The porch overhangs already have light hooks up. Yay.
The bedrooms upstairs are bigger than what we had, but everything else is smaller. No storage…
well, there IS storage, sorta…
This is sad because it’s really a big shed. Almost the size of a 2 car garage! There are shelves, a potting table. Sadly, it leaks and the floor might as well be a trampoline. Sad.
And you can see how soggy. This was 2 days after the rain.
The bedrooms upstairs are bigger than the bedrooms we had, which is amazing as the bedrooms we had were huge! The master bath is nothing short of amazing. I have a tub! I’ve not had a tub in a master bedroom since I can remember. 20 years??? More??? I took FULL advantage of that tub last night.
While bigger bedrooms are nice…The living room and dining room is combined, meaning it’s smaller. 2 pianos don’t fit in the living room, so we had to have one of the pianos placed in the 4th bedroom.
Yeah, there is a 4th bedroom downstairs. It’s a guest room – bedroom, half bath and a closet.
Well, use the word ‘closet’ loosely. As there is no coat closet in the house, this closet in the downstairs bedroom has been designated the coat closet except…
Three.
Onward!
My previous living room while narrow, was rather looooooooooooong. In the end it held, a 7 foot couch, comfy chair with comfy ottoman, a rocking chair, 2 bookcases, a short bookcase and 2 pianos.
Not happening here.
Dining room is equally cramped. IN the formal at the house of the Shady Vale, I had the dining room and chairs, buffet, a big bookcase and all of my albums. I had wall space….
Not anymore.
Somewhere, I need to put the baker’s rack and the bookcase for the cookbooks in there somewhere.
THe 4th bedroom is the family room. Lots of books, the 2nd piano, the so-called coat closet. The lazy couch, the television how I have no clue how we’re going to hook it up because the cable is in the dining room. There is a coaxle hook up in the dining room and in Spawn’s cave.
AH! The kitchen. Again, smaller than previous…
And then, there’s the upstairs. Of course, to GET to the upstairs…
My feet, legs and back HATE me. HATE ME!
Gizzy likes to hid on them. I’ve fallen twice.
It will be home to not only my bedroom, but my cave and the closet is really too small. REALLY small! I’ve commandeered the closet in Spawn’s cave, which, believe it or not, bigger. The bathroom, is beautiful!
Continuing on…
Spawn’s bedroom and bath. That is not Spawn’s furniture.
I should get a picture of Spawn’s shower. The tilework is gorgeous. And that is his cave. Home to the closet I’ve taken over.
My white whicker chairs will go beautifully on my front porch, the turquoise arondacks on the back deck. Our bbq’s are in the storage unit, but there is an extra one in the ‘shed’. We have a clotheline – I love a clothesline – and a firepit.
It will beautiful decorate in December. If I can get it clean.
All in all it’s a beautiful home – it’s been well kept, decorated beautifully, has brand new carpet, and I don’t like it. It’s too expensive, it’s too small. I live on a dirt road, which is killing my lungs, and while the county maintains it on a weekly basis, they scrape it just before the trash comes through and seem to think it’s their job to knock over every full trash can they can. I was warned.
I’m grateful for it. I’m glad it came available. I was afraid everything would be going into storage and Spawn and I and the cats would be living in a motel. It came really close to that. My leasing agent held it for me on Friday, we looked at it Monday, signed the lease on Tuesday, started moving in that evening and had a truck with furniture loaded in on Wednesday. I drove. It wasn’t pretty.
What really bothers me is the house we had decided on before the house of the Shady Vale, came open this past weekend. 4 bdrms, 2 ba, LR, DR, Family room, breakfast room, Screened back porch, wood baricade back yard, shed…. garage. and only 50.00 more than the House of the Shady Vale. This one is $350.00 more on the month. That’s a lot. Wouldn’t be so bad had I not been put in the position of needing a new car. Now.
But it’s okay. This one will work, we’ll just need to… budget and work it.
It means eating at home a lot, it means getting rid of the clothes of mine I’ve not worn in a while as well as getting rid of the clothes I can no longer wear.
Too big. It’s really a nice problem to have. I have clothes that are too big. Bras that are too big. Underwear that is too big.
But I have a roof, I have a warm or cool place to live, there is a kitchen Spawn can cook in and we had a welcoming committee when we moved in…
and when life gives me lemons…
There will be a Guy and Gen ficlet this week. Friday, for Guyday! Something funny and sweet and sooooo Guy.
Even if some ‘fans’ don’t like him and think it’s okay to dis Guy and every fan of Guy in the universe. Fuck ’em.
zee's muse 
Zee…I love the new place! I’m just worried you’re going to have to keep moving until you realize that you are supposed to ruthlessly throw away stuff every time you move! But really, a wrap around porch! You are so blessed!
I threw away so much when I moved the last time. THis move was not helped by the fact I inherited a LOT of my mom’s stuff.
We are spending the next 2 weeks CLEANING this house and getting it together and then we get the Christmas from the storage and IT will go in the attic when it’s over. The first unit – a 10 x 15 are things we know we want and the out ofseason clothes I don’t have room for here.
The 10 x 20 will be ruthless gone through – trash or someone else’s treasure – come after Christmas – a car load at a time. There is furniture in there we need but have no room for now because we are stuffed to the gills here – room will be made when we put everything away and clean.
Books are going to GOodwill.
Clothes that either a) don’t fit or b) I’ve not worn in years are going to a clothing charity. The majority of our linens are going to Goodwill.
I keep saying I won’t do this again. I won’t. I moved in bags this time. I can no longer lift book boxes or anything heavy.
I said I was never moving again after we bought our house in Pittsburgh, two moves ago. I think I’m learning to go with the flow better. I hope so. We have a storage unit we are slowing emptying. It is a process. You are doing great Just make sure you nap on the weekends!
I said when I moved from Savannah, I wouldn’t move in more than one truck again.
Well, I did. I moved in 3 trucks and many carloads. Would have gotten done faster, if my car hadn’t croaked! So I’m saying it again – no more. I downsized this last house, but I had just moved my mom’s stuff into my house so that hurt. That in itself would warrant a 20 foot truck. A chair, 2 huge wicker chairs, 3 lawn chairs, an outdoor bench – photos galore, kitchen stuff…. and I made it a point not to take anything except what I could use.
That and the pictures.
We will start working out of the storage unit once we get Christmas up. I don’t think we’ll go full out like we did a few years back – when I had up 2 trees and decorations galore. But I might. I have 3 trees and I can put one up in the living room, Spawn’s room, and the outer porch. If I have any energy left, that is. I’m determined to get down to the 10×15. That 10×20 is going to take some work. I have furniture in it I can’t get into the house right now because of the mess. Several book cases, my rolling filing cabinet, the old student desk we’ll put the upstairs television on, a lot of the clothes will go to the church charity. I’m culling my closet. I’ve got clothes I’ve not worn in over 10 years and I’ve lost weight, so it’s 2 sizes larger, they’re going! I’ve got a few pairs of uncomfortable shoes. Going.
Most of my hardbacks are going on Ebay or Amazon and my paperbacks are going to Goodwill. I had the entire set of The Bastard series and I never read them. I started the first one several times and just couldn’t get past the 3rd chapter. So, no need. A lot are going that way. Especially, if I can get them on ebook.
The next time we move, it will be because Spawn has a job and his moving out to his own place and I’m going to be seriously downsizing! I’m not hauling all this stuff with me.
Can I ask a question that might look mean on the outside? It’s coming from a dark place inside of me that I must ignore for an unknowable time. You said, you took only things you could use that once belonged to your mother- Most of which, I gather, are in storage. You honestly have no room in your home. Were these truly items you needed or pieces representing your mother that you can’t yet bear to part with? I ask myself this question constantly.
Christmas. A chair she recovered – the last piece she did. The quilt that’s on my bed. pictures. ALL the pictures, I’m storing. That’s what the 4 of us agreed on. Large pictures that will grace my wall and my bedroom. Somewhere here there is a picture of my bed in her purple bedding with the bigass picture that went with it. Clothing I’ll sell on ebay or amazon – really nice suits. For the most part.
The Queen Mother’s China. It didn’t BELONG to the Queen Mother, it’s her pattern. Over $750.00 worth low-balled, probably close to $1000.00. My sister took the other set and the good silverware.
When I brought them home, I was unaware that the owner of the house was going to put it up for sale 3 weeks later. I had room for all of it.
The china will go in the china hutch I have. The pictures are stored in a closet. When I get settled, I’ll do the job of scanning and sharing them with my siblings. Christmas will go up here and then in the attic. The woman was all about Christmas and I loved going home. I have a lot of stuff and I’ll get rid of what’s mine. Mostly books. Part of me is heartbroken to consider it, the other part is like – I’ll NEVER read any of the John Jakes Bastard series anyway!
As for parting with my mother’s things, I’m being reminded daily that I wasn’t my mother’s favorite child. She had a preference for my brothers, especially the eldest one. I came to grips with that a long time ago. In her eyes, my only redeeming value was my son. I’m slowly being reminded of the difference she made between us.
It was never my intention to bring a lot of her things with me – but I was asked because, I had room at the time. I’m reaching a point where I can’t get anything done in my home because of the clutter that’s in it. Can’t find my glasses, all of my pots and pans. I see things going a carload at a time into storage and then bringing it back a car load at a time. A lot of what’s in storage is mine. Books. Lots of books. She considered reading a waste of time. You could be doing other things. She made a BIG deal out of my brother’s writings, stuff he’s done recently. She refused to read mine. Surely, I had better things to do.
I’m sorry. I know this sound bitter and in a way it is. She made such a difference between us. The relatives say – Her boys do no wrong, her daughters do no right.
There has been harsh words between me and one of my brothers in the last 18 months. My sister will always side with him and the other brother tries to make peace. He’s getting back together with his 2nd wife, who will cut him off from all of us. Chances are when my dad passes, that will be my last contact with them and I’ll retire somewhere cheap and quiet. Sadly, even my son sees the difference.
Also, I’m worn out from rehearsing our Veteran’s Day program. 10 AM Thursday morning can’t come soon enough. (that’s when it’s over!)
It’s over! I hope it went well!
I was so proud!!!! It went wonderfully!
Of course it did! You are amazing that way.