Our Apartment is Taking Shape!

I remembered to take my camera with me the day after Thanksgiving when the Northern Michigan part of our family was with us for the holiday. We were walking around the neighborhood and stopped in front of Beacon Hill at Eastgate for this photo. Those of you who have been following my blog will notice that the third floor is taking shape. That spot right on the corner is ours. You can see that the interior walls are going up at the same time. I'll post another picture when the roof is being added.

My Saturday Walk

It's a lovely fall day today and I decided to take a walk. As usual, I walked over to Beacon Hill and was surprised to find the construction going on, even on a Saturday! It's exciting to see Tyvek (I call that "gortex for a building") going up on the West wing and roof trusses starting to go up as well. There are stacks and stacks of walls on the ground, ready to be lifted up and become the third floor of the West wing. Forgive me for not having my camera with me on this walk. I'll be sure to take it the next time.

Construction Continues Apace

So, what does that rather old fashioned word "apace" mean exactly? I'm assuming in this case that it means rapidly, because that is what is happening with the facility construction. As you can see, the second floor of the East Wing is going up and the third floor will soon follow. If you've been reading earlier posts, you may notice that the office building which is behind the facility is starting to disappear.

We've been told that the goal is to have the roof on by the end of December. At this rate, they just may make it!

First Contact With a Realtor

Well, I've met with a realtor and taken her through the house. She lives in the neighborhood, so she is familiar with the schools, etc. The house next door sold last spring and is similar to ours, so she offered that as a "market survey". I'm not sure that one house is enough as that house sat empty for a year before it sold and ours has some nicer features, but I'm prejudiced, as you can imagine.

Anyway, she went through the house taking pictures of everything, the mess in the basement included! How embarrassing. Oh well, if we chose her to be our realtor, won't she be pleasantly surprised when we get this place ready to sell?

I'm waiting for the other possible realtor to come to meet us and see the house, then I'll decide which one to work with. All of us who are planning to move into Beacon Hill at Eastgate are being assisted in the move by a Chicago company called Moving Station. I have a contact there who can advise us and will keep the realtor on his or her toes. This a complimentary service offered by Beacon Hill. The realtors will make their reports to my contact at Moving Station and she will advise me of what we need to do to get the house ready to sell. Clean out and paint the basement and the garage are the two biggest projects. If we are wise, we'll do the basement this winter and the garage next spring.

Getting Serious About Downsizing

Now that our new home is being built and we can see daily advances in the construction process, it is time to get serious about downsizing. After 47 years in our home where we raised three children, we have accumulated a lot of stuff and nearly all of it is ours! Our adult children all have homes of their own and have long ago taken their stuff with them. Sometimes I hear folks our age tell me that they still have their kids stuff, closets and even rooms full of it! I tell them, just have the kids come and tell them it's time to grow up and take care of their own stuff.

I've set a goal of getting something out of this house every day. Setting out the trash and recyclables on Thursdays counts, as does taking things to the Goodwill, and giving some books to a friend who has a used book sale business. For Mothers' Day two years ago I gave rings that had belonged to my grandmother and Stan's mother to our daughter and daughter-in-law. Those were tiny items to get rid of in the bigger scheme of things, but nevertheless, I counted them toward my goal of getting rid of something every day.

It's not easy. I will share my efforts at sorting through the memories at another time.