The Next Chapter

After thinking about, talking about, and then planning a move to Oregon it has finally happened. It was not an easy decision considering I would be leaving Collin, Denise and Dylan, 36 years worth of friendships, and the sunshine and beauty of Colorado.  Having grown up in upstate New York it is like coming back home with somewhat similar weather and with the lush green trees and flowers. I will be near my brother,  a cousin, and of course Megan, Damian, and Avery.

The original plan was to put the house on the market in the spring after storing things that would not be needed for staging the house. I had gotten a bid for painting the downstairs and one room and hallway upstairs and I planned on putting new carpet in downstairs.  In the middle of February I received a call from Charlotte, an old friend, who said she had a couple who were looking for a ranch house in Eaton and would I be interested in having them take a look at mine. (Charlotte and her family lived in a duplex next to us when we were first married so we go back a long way--we lost touch as she moved around quite a bit and ended up in New Mexico until about a few years ago.)  I really didn't think anything would come of this but I was wrong. The name of the husband sounded familiar --he just happened to be a student of mine in 1990-91--and a very nice boy.  He and his wife and 2 year old girl had been living in a one bedroom condo since June and loved the  house.  The deal to sell was made by the end of that week.
Staging the house was going to be stressful for me and I was happy that I did not have to do all the upgrades. Plus I knew that this couple was going to take very good care of the house and yard and that made me happy. The house where my children grew up would now have a nice young family to repeat the process.

Collin and Denise arranged to have a going away party for me at the Eaton Country Club on the 17th of March. It was a beautiful day and there were many people who took the time out of a busy Saturday to come and wish me good luck on my next chapter--The Next Chapter is the title Denise put on the invitations. There was cake, coffee, and lots of hugs.

The going away party cake

The moving van situation was a new one for me and fascinating. The huge Allied truck arrived on March 20th around 9:00 (after having backed down 2nd Street instead of 2nd St Rd--I warned him about that mistake) backed all the way down the cul-de-sac and went perpendicular to my driveway to load up on the side of the truck. There were two men who took until 6:00 to load all of my things, carefully wrapping furniture and packing boxes into the van. Things were piled to the top of the van and put in just like a jig saw puzzle. A week later on March 27th the van pulled up to Megan's house at 11 and left around 2. There were 3 movers this time (including the driver that packed it in Eaton). Megan had marked the floor of the garage with blue tape designating where everything should go that would allow them to still park 2 cars in the garage. We were all doubtful that it would all fit but these moving guys are clever. I had numbered each box and had written in a notebook the contents beside each number. Before the movers came I made a list of the boxes that I wanted to have access to and a list of what should in Megan's house. Megan brought out a white board from Avery's room and listed all that information. The movers put boxes that we wanted easy access to to the side and at the end they were distributed around the outside of the 'pile' (which was at least 7 feet tall).

It doesn't look like a lot but it is!

As for my part of the actual move, Megan arrived at DIA the afternoon of March 19th and we drove to Eaton to finish up the last minute packing. Katherine had dinner for us and we stayed with her Monday and Tuesday night.  Collin and Dylan came down to have dinner with us on Tues at the Morehead bed and breakfast.

Wednesday, March 21, Megan, Barkley and I left with a car packed to the brim and a dog who had the whole back seat. At first Barkley was unsure of this as he has always had the very back of the car but after about an hour of standing up he settled down and was a very good rider for the rest of the trip. The weather was great for the 2 days it took us and I enjoyed the scenery as Megan chose to drive all the way from Cheyenne.  Katherine had made us a box lunch which we ate while driving as we missed the rest stop she suggested. Megan called ahead for a reservation in Twin Falls, Idaho where we had a ground floor room as Barkley does not do stairs. Not wanting to leave him in the room alone we went through McDonalds drive thru for dinner. He was not happy with the room--he wanted to be outside --or the room was just strange to him--we did not know what was bothering him but he whined for what seemed like forever but finally settled down so we could sleep.

Thursday, March 22, we got an earlier start than on Wed. and made it to Megan's around 4. We stopped again at a McDonald's for a late lunch. We listened to Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and had some really good belly laughs.

The first five days the sun followed me here but has now gone on to greener pastures. I knew the rain would be coming but thoroughly enjoyed the sun while it lasted. Barkley has slowly adjusted to this new life. He will not go up or down the basement stairs.  He does not like hard wood floors as they are slippery. He has come into the kitchen by walking from the deck onto the small rug and then across the only wood floor he will step on to get to the living room carpet.  From there he can watch us eat and also can join us for TV. He will not walk into the house from the garage even though there is a small carpet by the door. But--I have walked him every morning for an hour, most of the time leaving around 6:30 (unless I am able to sleep in which is rare). We walk a short way through the neighborhood and up to a cemetery where there is a view of the city below. It is a hilly walk and I was huffing and puffing at first and my legs were sore but it keeps getting better. (And Chrissie, I am still doing The Five Tibetans every morning)

Megan, Damian, and I went to see The Hunger Games on Sunday night after having a very nice vegan dinner--yes this is Portland! The movie followed the book and was not as violent as I expected.

So here I am now in my very comfortable quarters. More on that tomorrow or whenever--I am retired.