Making Progress on the Stuff

I do hope my readers haven't been worried about me since my last post about feeling panicky. In the past two weeks, the panic has subsided as we begin to see progress in getting the house ready to sell. Here is what we have accomplished recently:

1. We've decided to list the house for sale on June first.
2. The realtor's photographer has photographed all the rooms. [It took me three days to get all the surfaces cleared off, dusted, and stuff tucked away.]
3. We put out a LOT of paper to be recycled this week as well as an extra huge box of trash.
4. Our handyman has spruced up the exterior of our house and painted the garage walls which REALLY needed painting.
5. I've shipped some "treasures" to my daughter as birthday gifts. UPS did the packing for me.
6. I've chosen two other "treasures" to give to a fund raising auction at Olivet College.
7. After my husband spent considerable time sorting through old family papers, we've taken several boxes of them to our summer home. [Will the kids ever be interested in looking at these? If you keep documents long enough, they become historic and worthy of archiving.]

That's an impressive list, if I do say so myself. Even the basement is beginning to look slightly less cluttered. With June first as our deadline, we'll have to keep at the task of downsizing.

That Panicky Feeling Strikes Again

It seems as if every time I participate in a session for people who will be moving into Beacon Hill at Eastgate, I start feeling panicky. Two days ago we attended a seminar on the actual moving process. This morning I woke up at 5:45am thinking about all the stuff I can't take and won't want to take to our new apartment home.

I've spent the day cleaning house and putting away stuff, getting ready for the real estate agent's photographer who will come next week to photograph the rooms in our house. That activity only served to make me aware of how much stuff I have yet to deal with. Around three this afternoon I was feeling overwhelmed when my cell phone pulsed out its special ring, notifying me that our daughter was calling. She cheered me up with lots of suggestions of how I could deal with our stuff, some of which she was able to tell me she would like herself.

After talking with her I realized that I shouldn't spend the whole day working. I needed to take a break. Tonight I'm going to a symphony orchestra concert, so I'll listen to wonderful music and forget about stuff for the evening! Then, maybe I'll be able to sleep later tomorrow morning.

The Lady Is Putting On Her Face!

Just like a woman who wouldn't dream of being seen without her full makeup, our building is in the process of having her facade applied. When all the outside panels have been applied and painted, and when the balconies and doors have been installed, she is going to look really grand.

Spring is coming on fast with daffodils in full bloom and trees flowering and leafing out. As soon as the facade is complete, the landscapers will be at work.

The pressure is mounting to get our house ready to sell! I took three boxes of old books and sold them to an antiquarian book store this week. Counting the four boxes of books that I took to the used book sale at our neighborhood library, and one given to a friend who sells books on the Internet, that makes 8 boxes of books out of the house. There will be a library at Beacon Hill and we have been asked if we have books we would like to contribute. It's hard to know which books to save for Beacon Hill. At some point we'll have to share our list with others so that duplicates can be sorted out.