Resting Up

The last week has been a long one - finishing with the sorting, packing and getting rid of.  So much to go through even though I had only been in the house four years.  Amazing how much we accumulate as time goes by!

My closing was set for Friday at 12:30, so Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday I spent every day working - packing box after box.  And I really had gotten rid of so much.  I only kept a few kitchen things, but then there was my studio.  How do I choose what to keep and what to sell or give away?  Tough choices.  I think I eventually ended up with nearly 30 banana boxes!  And that was after I said I was getting rid of everything!

I am so thankful for Elaine and Doug Hefner who not only gave me a place to stay while all this was going on, but gave freely of their time and assistance.  Ed gave me his whole day Thursday.  We started at 10 AM, making two trips in his pick-up to the storage unit, one to Goodwill, and two to his house.  I owe him a debt I'm sure I will never be able to repay!  He was a trouper!  (Though we both felt how much we have aged since we last did a major move!)

After Ed went home, I finally returned to my own house at 10 PM and found Elaine there, still cleaning, having arrived around 7 PM!  What a friend!  We got the entire first floor cleaned and ready for the walk through the next day, but just couldn't keep going in order to get the basement done.  We left around 11:15 PM, and headed back to her house.

Friday, after only a few hours of sleep, I returned and spent the morning cleaning the basement, which is where I had had my studio.  It was hard to see it empty.  I went next door to say good-bye to the neighbors, and headed to Panera for a good cup of coffee as I waited for my realtor, Marlene Sausman.  She picked me up about 11:45 and we headed down to Pittsburgh for the closing.  That was the easy part.

The whole week was very stressful.  I had a hard time sleeping because the many thoughts in my head were going round and round thinking of all I had to do, what hadn't been done, how many hours did I have left to get everything done. . . .  etc. etc.  Friday night after we had closed, I had the first good night's sleep I'd had in a long time.

Now after resting for the weekend, I'm heading out tomorrow morning to go visit my brother in Traverse City, Michigan.

Stay tuned as my journey continues.  I'll post again soon.