The Excitement is Building

Today was our "commencement day" at Beacon Hill at Eastgate. That's what the staff calls the time when the future residents visit the facility to take a tour and view progress on completion of their apartment. Oh, and lest I forget, write the check to pay for the life lease of that apartment.


Since we live in the neighborhood, I've been driving by to see how things are coming along, and the progress taking place every day is amazing. Landscapers are busy installing shrubs, flowers, and grass seed. Carpet is being laid in apartments. Electricians are at work everywhere. Dishwashers sit in boxes in the halls, waiting to be installed in apartments. At night, the place sparkles with the light from the chandeliers in the common areas. The new carpeting, which the interior designer chose, has been put down. Here she is in the left photo above, cleaning it, as there was a lot of heavy traffic on it this rainy morning. The facility librarian is busy also, as you can see in the other photo, opening boxes of books that have been contributed by some of the future residents. We delivered our box of books which included some classic fiction, some local history, and some health related books.

The central area at Beacon Hill is going to be beautiful. I have more photos which I am saving for the next blog posting. When I go to sleep tonight, I'll be dreaming of beautiful, comforatble spaces in our soon to be new home.

Toting the Beacon Hill at Eastgate Bag

We are now just a little over six weeks from our moving date. The tote bag pictured above was a recent gift from the staff at Beacon Hill at Eastgate. I'll use it on moving day to carry those last personal items that I won't give to the movers to pack and that I will be sure to need right away in our new home. I may also use it when I'm going to the grocery for a few items, thus saving myself several of those ubiquitous plastic bags.

Our house is still for sale, but the last folks who came to see it stayed a long time. As you may know, when you are selling your house, you are to stay out of it while the buyers and their realtor are looking at it. Well, I came home after the allotted time and they were still in the house. So, I parked a few houses away and sat in my car, waiting for them to leave. When they came out of the house, they stood on the walk talking to the realtor, then they went to their car, had another thought, and stood in the road talking some more. A neighbor came out and stood with them, presumably telling them about our quiet street, the nice kids who live in nearby houses, etc. At least, I hope he was giving them a positive picture of our neighborhood. Finally, after 1 3/4 hours, they left and I went back into the house which is still ours.

Regardless of when it sells, we are moving out in November. In the meantime, if you see me or someone else carrying one of these Beacon Hill bags, do stop and say hello. We'll tell you how happy we are that moving day is almost here!

Dining at Beacon Hill at Eastgate

Last week I attended a focus group for those of us who will soon be moving into Beacon Hill at Eastgate. With 13 of us seated around tables, we were asked to share our eating habits... what do we usually eat for breakfast, for lunch, how often do we go out for dinner and what is our favorite restaurant? It was an opportunity for each person to share what is most important for them in the dining experience at our new home.

Those are the words that were used: your home. We heard from Victor, the Director of Dining Services (pictured above on the left) his desire to make the dining experiences responsive to our wishes. "It's your kitchen", he said. Tim, the chef (pictured above on the right) echoed that intention, adding that he plans a community garden behind the building where some of the vegetables and flowers that will be used on the dining tables will be grown.

Our focus group was one of several that were held over a two day period last week. All of the comments will be summarized and will help inform the staff as to what to include in the "dining experience" at Beacon Hill. Cheryl Lucas, the consultant who has been assisting with the plan, said, "We can design a building, but you can design your own food service......We work in your home."

From the very beginning of our relationship with Beacon Hill, my husband and I have been impressed with how responsive the staff has been to our questions, comments, and needs. After last week's meeting, I'm looking forward to being served meals in our new home!

Now We're Getting Serious!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I'll bet you thought I had fallen off the earth. Not quite, but I did get sidetracked by an extremely hot summer. I took a vacation from thinking about moving and selling the house.

My big news is that we have a move-in date. We will settle in to our new apartment in Beacon Hill at Eastgate just before Thanksgiving. In the meantime, we have had to lower the price on our house in order to attract what few buyers are out there these days. It's clearly a matter of supply and demand and right now there is an oversupply of houses for sale in our community.

I'm sorting through stuff in the house and moving some of it out. A company called Pak Mail came today to ship some art work, furniture and dishes to our daughter on the West Coast. Pak Mail is a national franchise and they did a professional job of packing the fine china in bubble wrap and sturdy cartons. While the timing is not right, I'm going to make this our Christmas gift to her this year. If she wants a package to unwrap on that special day, she can open one of the boxes of china on December 25!

Having Doubts

We've had no action on the house since we lowered the price a week ago. I'm starting to wonder if it was wise to put our house up for sale during the summer. Maybe we should have waited to sell it after we move into Beacon Hill in December. At that time the house would have been emptied of all our stuff and we could have all the wallpaper removed and the old carpet taken up. Then the original oak floors would be revealed and the walls would be ready for the buyers to paint.

Today, however, is another beautiful summer day. The peaches that we picked yesterday are ripening on the kitchen counter and the cicadas are buzzing. It's time to get outside.

A Lovely Day for a Swim

We're having another absolutely gorgeous day. I'm watching the chickadees and woodpeckers come to the suet at our bird feeder. Three pileated woodpeckers have stopped by to peck at the aging birch logs that line our woodland paths.

In the back of my mind there is always the house. We're still waiting for the buyer who falls in love with the house. One of my new friends, another future resident of Beacon Hill at Eastgate, told me that a 70 year old woman fell in love with her two story house and was ready to buy it with CASH! The woman's family talked her out of the deal, and advised her to get a ranch house, as she wasn't getting any younger. Well, none of us are getting younger and that is why this 70-something woman and her 80-something husband decided to move to Beacon Hill.

The lake is "flat" today. Time to go for a swim.

Waiting for the Sale

It's been a hot summer in Michigan, a good time to go barefoot and just put on your shorts and a tee shirt every morning. I'm thankful we can be at our summer home, where we enjoy time with grandchildren and their parents.

Meanwhile, emails from our realtor keep us up to date on showings of our house. We have had quite a few showings, but none have come back for a second showing and no offers have been made. The house has been listed for six weeks. Should we lower the price? That is the recommendation we are getting, and perhaps we should do that this week.

The recent issue of Grand Rapids Magazine published its annual listing of area school systems and East Grand Rapids rated number one. If we want to sell the house to a family that wants their kids to get into that school system, we probably need to have the sale happen sooner rather than later.

I'll keep you posted (pun intended!).