I will keep a running record of what we are doing each day in preparation for this big move. This will be of little interest to anyone but Jim and me but we will be happy to read about all we did when we are comfortably settled into our new home.
Yesterday Jim called State Farm to change our renter’s policy to the new place—and change our address. Today he called Xfinity to arrange turning our system off here on October 29 and setting up the new one on October 30. It actually is going to cost us less money because the basic cable package is part of our Stonebridge monthly fee. Jim said the salesperson, was quite chatty and wondered what he had taught and then asked if he had been to the Holy Land. Well, as it turned out that it was the amusement park she had in mind, not the land of Israel!
I went to the USPS site online to put in an address change for October 29. Nothing is easy but eventually I made it work and did not sign up for additional services being advertised by them. I think I did not! They did charge me $1.25 for some reason, but I turned down extended forwarding services at greater prices.
I changed the Green Drop pick up from October 12 to October 19 so that Laura can look over anything she might want when she comes later this week and what is left I will give to them. I tried on a dress I have not worn for years and it was too small, of course, so that goes into the giveaway pile.
We threw out plastic leftover containers and tops that did not match. I’m looking for a safe way to dispose of Mounjaro injectables.
I bought an inexpensive landline phone from Amazon because our friend Pam says that is how you communicate in the community. Stonebridge has its own phone exchange so we do not pay for that. I bought a cart at her suggestion too—to transport groceries, etc. from the parking lot which will be quite a walk. We will miss having a garage.
So that is it for today. Unless I get inspired to do more. I wake up in the middle of the night and write things down and even emailed Laura about a plan. It will be so good to be settled in—in a few weeks.
October 10. My goal for today was to empty the drawers in our walk-in closet because the closets at Stonebridge are smaller and there won’t be drawer space there. That meant finding room in my two dressers which are already full-one in the second bedroom is full of music and summer clothes. But I made an effort to throw out some things and give other things to Green Drop.
Again, I had so many lovely scarves that I have forgotten I have. Maybe I will dress with more care wth living with so many others around us. I will probably forget where I have put my bathing suit and all the belts I never use and then there are all those panty hose I never wear. The top drawer in my dresser has always been where I stored my stash of chocolate—my antidepressant cure. And that’s where I keep some of the nice things Jim has written to me for birthdays and anniversary’s. Those can stay there! A place for underwear and socks is less important.
October 11 Israel Mizrahi, the Brooklyn bookseller, came at 6:10 am and left with a van full of Jim’s books. How much did he pay Jim? It never came up, Jim said. It’s OK. We are both relieved to have so many books go to someone who can do something with them and not just fill a landfill. I managed to sleep through the whole process thanks to ear plugs and a sleep aid. I thought it was a night to indulge in help! Jim set his alarm for 5;30 am so he could be ready to greet Israel. The early time was necessary so he could return to NYC for his nephew’s bris. He said he had ten children of his own.
I wish I could add photos of the shelves he took and of the pile of books Jim kept for his own use—now on our bedroom floor.
But this is a day of great progress. Jim will not call in students to glean books, which may be a shame but this was easier and it is done!
Jeff and Susan brought us pizza and left with the metal shelving in the garage and the smaller wooden bookcase in Jim’s study. The metal shelving will go in their basement and Katie will take the wooden bookcase. Plus they took some glassware and a 9X13 glass baking dish—because I don’t need two of them. I rarely even use one!
October 12
Amazon delivered the landline telephone and shopping cart that I ordered at Pam Wakefield’s suggestion as well as some plastic containers that we can store meds in. We filled out our mail-in votes but will not register to vote in Somerset County until after we move. Otherwise we didn’t do much today. Probably there is not much to do this week until we have our two meetings with Byron Home on Wednesday and Friday.
October 13. I just emptied the closet in the yellow bedroom of all my winter things. There is an article in the NYT today about the neuroscience of decluttering and why it is so difficult. I do not need all the warm sweaters that I own but I love every one of them. So I will not part with them just yet. If there isn’t room for them at Stonebridge, I may have to do so with regrets. Others may need the warmth. But while emptying the closet, I found a shadow silhouette and wondered who it was! Jim! So we saved it all these years. Now to dump it? That hurts.
It is so strange to look at all the empty bookshelves in the hall. But a relief to have all of those books gone.
October 14 Deborah, our space planner, sent us a preliminary drawing of our new home and everything fits! Almost everything. We cannot take all six black bookshelves but three of them should fit in the living room along a wall. Susan says she could pass bookshelves on to our grandchildren! The cedar chest and Jim’s favorite mission chair are in! And even my keyboard has a place under a window in the second bedroom. And the lovely glass table we have in our entryway will fit behind the loveseat in the living room. And nothing looks crowded! Hooray!
There are three closets and they are not as large as what we have now. I am thinking the bathtub which we never use here will be my storage place for the boxes of weekly calendars and Blog2Print books I have accumulated over the years. And maybe the toys we have saved.
I am very happy with Deborah’s work and happy with the way it looks. And relieved.
It’s still two weeks until we move and we have assigned ourselves tasks for many of those days. But we are making progress and I think I will post this and start a new entry after our “walkthrough” with the movers on Friday.
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