And so it begins...

Have I mentioned that I'm not good with change?  Well, I'm not.  I hate them all.

Steve found out that due to how corporate "pays"; it was most advantageous to take 2 of his 4 weeks of vacation right now. His thinking was that he was going to need to pack some stuff to put into the apartment to cook with and his clothes would have to get to Anthem.  No way would all this fit into his Crossfire.  (It's a 2-seater sports car)  With this in mind, we're hoping our daughter-in-law's rented moving truck will be able to fit these items in there and they'll cross the desert this very weekend.

My husband also decided (wisely, I might add) that while he was here and taking off the time-he'd better pack as much as possible because I will not be able too.  

As he started, he told me that I needed to part with all the stuff that did NOT need to follow us to our future home.  Darn.  It's MY stuff.  Okay, I did reconsider on some items:  all the Woman's Day magazines that I have my name in as "contributing reader's advisor" (over 150).  I also probably let my husband dump some magazines that I actually had a short story or a handy hint in because I couldn't find it and didn't feel like looking at each page.

I also let him toss some very outdated text books from college that weren't worth donating.  Does anyone really want a 30+ year old book detailing the benefits of using videotape over film in TV news?  Neither is used anymore really.  Plus, I threw out my own half written Master's thesis on my view of that very subject.  Nice to know that even though I will always love film, I did see the videotape was the future of TV news even way back in 1977.  

Sigh.

On the flip side, I asked Steve if he really needed to keep the silver water ewer that some family member gave us as a wedding present.    I don't believe we ever saw  that person after the ceremony and I have NEVER been into polishing silver.  

On that subject, I'm keeping my antique Community silverware that my grandfather gave me as a wedding present.  While I didn't really like him, my grandmother and I were very close-so that box is very important to me.  Steve packed it and the china we haven't used in over 10 years as well.

We were told to de-personalize the house, so all the family photos sitting and hanging everywhere are now in boxes.  We're not "tchotchke" people, but I somehow had a plethora of glass vases.  Over a dozen to be exact.  Four were exact copies of one another.  We kept two.  One is now on the glass table that held all of our family wedding and anniversary photos.  We went to Big Lots and bought some fake sunflowers and glass stones and put them into that particular vessel.  Looks nice-cost $12.  We found a similar one on the clearance table at Michael's for $77, so we're feeling very creative at the moment.

Kohl's had a great deal on a candle and glass holder-$3.89 for both.  This along with a couple of Indian pots we had filled the table left barren from a different family photo table.  

Already our home is looking like a "sale" home and the sign won't go up until September 10th.

We bought some perennial flower packs that our gardener planted in both the front and the back.  The landscaping looks a lot better.  At least as good as it's going to get since our gardener went to the "Hanna-Barbara" school of landscaping.

I've passed from the "crying" stage to the "sighing" stage.  Our daughter-in-law is getting excited about joining our son-as it should be.  I'll miss having her here and the grand pets as well.  I'm hoping that even though she and our son missed this time together that she enjoyed being here and felt at home.

I know that Pepper, our tabby, is going to be heart-broken again when his friends leave and he'll be alone again.  But my husband is already saying things like, "as soon as we find a home we can find a dog".  I think having Billy and Lily here has helped him remember how wonderful it is to have a canine around.  

Life is changing very quickly-even if we weren't starting another chapter; I do wish it would slow down.

And another thing-I promised to watch the grandkids for Labor Day weekend, so our last weekend together for a while-we won't even be together.

Oh well, we'll always have Laguna Hills.