Moving Day

We’ve moved several times over the years, but it’s been fifteen years since our last change of address. I’ve been pushing to move for a year. As we get older, and Rick’s Parkinson’s advances, we need to be in a one-story home.  No more stairs. No more steep hills that keep us house-bound (except for an exercycle and treadmill).  We need flatlands and sidewalks where we can get out and take a stroll or a bike ride without endangering our lives.

Then we heard, the perfect house “might become available” in a neighborhood we’ve liked for years.  Voila! A one-story ranch style, smaller (by half), on more land, backed up to “green space” (no one can build), in a quiet, established neighborhood only ten minutes from church, grocery store, doctor/hospital and three minutes to our daughter and son-in-law (my tech support).  If we fall and can’t get up, we’ll know who to call.

The house wasn’t on the market, but the owner was “thinking about selling”.  Shannon and I met our realtor and had a walk through.  I said, “I think Rick needs to see this one.”  (He had given me a long list of things the house would have to have for him to be willing to look – let alone move, and this one had it all. He’s had his heels dug in up to his knees.)  So, we ambushed him, took him captive and dragged him over.  And he said, “This one will do.”  Hallelujah!

So, we took a risk and jumped on it without first selling our house.  We weren’t sure we had a contract when we went away to Alaska for two weeks.  We laid out the fleece.  If the owner agreed to our price and made the decision before a specific date, it was a go.  If not, we’d happily stay where we were.  The owner vacillated and told our realtor, “I really wanted twenty-five more.”  $25K that is.  But he didn’t say that.  So, she said to his realtor, “Twenty-five of anything?” His realtor shrugged.  She offered twenty-five quarts of Baskin-Robbins ice cream!  He laughed and signed the papers.  We were in escrow by the time we got home., already several days into the 30 days we had to start packing and planning when to put our house on the market.

It’s an “as is” sale, which means there is a lot of work to do.  (A river otter had been living in the swimming pool, but decided to move on.)  Rick and I are not strangers to work.  It took fifteen years to get all the improvements done on the other house.  We hired a top-notch inspector to go over, under, around and through the property with a fine-toothed comb and tell us everything that needs fixing.  We have our list.  Now to prioritize.

First things first: I have a manuscript due in December.  I’ve been working on it all through the moving process. Work projects have already begun.  I’m back where I started writing: at the kitchen table.

Alas!  In all of the upheaval, blogs had temporarily fallen by the wayside.  We are settling in well, and are back to full-steam ahead.   Next time – I’ll tell you about the backyard!