They say that the top five stressors in life are death of a loved one, divorce, moving, major injury or illness, and job loss/retirement.  With Dad’s death, MW’s (Mr. Wonderful’s) official retirement, and selling our home of almost 16 years to go on the road, I guess it should come as no surprise that I haven’t been feeling quite up to snuff.  Add that to being further away from the kids, Boogers, friends, and my BFF Tina, and you get a case of bad attitude mixed with a cocktail of sore back, no sleep, and weepiness. In other words lugubrious, funereal, woebegone, disconsolate, melancholy, and somewhat bitchy. Hmmmm…I might not be the easiest person to live with right now.  Let’s hope it doesn’t bring on the fourth stressor! (I do LOVE a good thesaurus, though, so writing that last bit cheered me up considerably.) I know it is all going to work out fine and that the full-time RV adventure will be terrific. I also know that I will be seeing both the kids, Boogers, and Tina often. After all, my house will move, and we have places to park it in the Greensboro area. I think once we get through all of the logistics, it will be fine. Man, this would be a terrific time to be able to wiggle my nose like Samantha on Bewitched!

Barn construction has run longer than expected, which can mostly be blamed on weather. In fact, we were over there a couple of times in the last few weeks and saw several trees down along TN 33. The crew has been out there when they could, though, and we were happy when the roof trusses went up. It is amazing how small a building looks when it is just a staked out area on the ground or a concrete slab. We were really worried that it was going to end up looking like a toy barn! I thought we might have to paint it pink and call it a dollhouse (LOL). It turned out fine, though, and they are moving along now. We have made a few minor modifications along the way as things have come up, which I’m sure Nick (the builder) appreciates.

Coordination and planning for a move is always a challenge, but it certainly kicks it up a notch when you are downsizing, storing long-term, and planning to live in an RV.  That added the need to look at everything through a “do we need it in the RV for the next couple of years” lens, followed by a “do we need it enough to store it” lens.  That means you can’t just throw it all in a box. The packing of the stuff became a total ordeal. To start with, MW worked on the 49 boxes of books. (I know, it’s an illness! No paperbacks, either.) As the month progressed, we cleaned out drawers, closets, and nooks and made piles…donate, give to kids, give to Boogers, give to Mom, give to Tina, sell, put in car for road trip, put in truck until we get back from road trip, put in storage for the long haul…our house was covered with piles! MW and I are both “place for everything and everything in it’s place” people, and just all of the stuff sitting around was driving us nuts! We finally got everything packed up for storage and hauled to Tennessee. I sold some larger items on Facebook Marketplace, then Tina, the kids, and the Boogers came over to take what they wanted. After a delivery to Goodwill, we were left with the furniture and the truck and car piles. Whew! We could breathe again, but the work wasn’t done.

Our original plan was to move everything ourselves with help from some friends and family for loading into a rental truck. After packing, loading, and delivering two loads of mostly boxes to the storage facility in Tennessee, my back and knees were NOT HAPPY. We decided that our bodies are just too darned old to handle the furniture, so MW hired Two Men and a Truck to schlep that. BEST DECISION EVER! (Yes, I’m yelling!)

On the house sale front, everything went fairly well. We had a little negotiating to do for repairs and some extra paperwork for an encroachment, but it wasn’t too bad. Our agent (and one of my dearest friends) Ashley Meredith is amazing! She kept everything flowing and in line, leaving us to the other stuff.

In the middle of all of the above, I had to meet with clients and take care of some client work, including several tax returns. Everyone is prepared for the transition from in-person to internet-based bookkeeping/taxes. It is going to require some changes to basic processes, but I think it will work out great.

Also in the midst of the chaos, we had doctor’s appointments, post-retirement health insurance issues to take care of, and the long list of changes associated with becoming a resident of another state. I’d tell you to ask MW about the 3+ hour phone call to get all of the property insurance straightened out, but I’m afraid talking about it might send his blood pressure through the roof…again!

Finally, the last few days in Browns Summit were upon us. The kids and most of the Boogers picked up their stuff and hung out with us on 7/8. We dropped off our truck at a friend’s house and the furniture was picked up on 7/9. After some final house cleaning, we had a lovely dinner with Tina Ring, Ashley Meredith, and Hillary Meredith that night. On 7/10 we had another pickup, then went to breakfast with the kids so that we could see Booger Butt before hitting the road. (He was away when everyone got together on 7/8.) We went back to the house for a few final cleaning chores and our last goodbye, then hit the road for Tennessee. We spent the night in Bulls Gap at the Quality Inn. The next morning we were up early to meet the movers at the storage facility (although they didn’t show up until almost 10AM…ugh!). MW stayed there for the unloading while I headed over to Sneedville to register the RV and my car, get the mail, pay the building supply folks, and check the barn progress. The movers finally finished at about 1PM, and we headed to Georgia for a long, relaxing visit with my Mom and Bonus Dad where I will search for my good humor. (We haven’t told her we are moving in permanently yet, but we will get to that. Just KIDDING!)

I’ve got to go now because I’m having another moment…sniff, sniff. Stay tuned, and we’ll see you on the road!

Talisa

If you enjoyed this blog, like and follow us below, and please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!