So your kid moves out and goes off to college.
Ahh, finally time for my lovely wife and I to relax and enjoy life as empty nesters.
Relax?! Ha! Why do that when you can indulge in one of the most stressful, time consuming, maddening events imaginable -Sell your house, pack up and move!
Yep folks, you heard me right. Instead of taking some time to stop and smell the roses (and if you’ve read anything I’ve written before you know I’m a big rose smeller) I convinced my wife we should proceed with the downsizing process.
We had the good fortune to live in a large, older home which we loved. We both eschew the suburbs and their newer home models for great woodwork and classical style. After living in a big, old home for 12 years, I can’t blame anyone for wanting a nice, new, well-insulated, non-drafty, easy-to-repair home. Instead of waiting to realize our home was too big for us when we couldn’t get up and down the stairs we made the decisions a little earlier in our lives.
Let the fun began – nothing like going through all the “stuff” you have. From 2nd grade pioneer projects to reports cards my mother had saved from 4th grade (not too bad, might have to include that on my resume!), our “stuff” was nearly overwhelming. But bit by bit, piece by piece, we sifted through our own artifacts like a pair of archaeologists on an Egyptian dig. In the end, I think we preserved enough of the vitals to pass on to our daughter, who can someday use this as a foundation to her own collection of “stuff.”
I’ll skip over all the real estate transaction stuff (only because it’s boring, time consuming and not funny – I prefer funny blog posts).
Yey! We sold the house and are ready to move into our new home (in the same town, love the city). We found a smaller (older, of course) home with a style we like – and enough room to keep our marriage together!
The movers arrived in two trucks (Tip: Moving companies well worth the cost) and four gentlemen under the age of 30 with strong backs. I felt bad watching them do all the work, despite not wanting to do any myself and paying for the whole thing. I marveled at their ability to cram a king-size mattress up a narrow stairway and haul dressers and furniture from house to house. The whole time they maintained a sense of humor I never had when helping someone else move. One of their discussions went from using the Thigh Master as an upper body workout, to debating how old Suzanne Somers is, to how celebrity women look good well past 40. I tip my hat to you young moving company employees!
After two weeks of hanging curtain rods, getting the hang of using a garage door opener and re-learning where the pots and pans are, we’ve started to settle in. The dogs and cats seem to enjoy the new place (which makes my life easier) and we are too. It wasn’t easy living behind my daughter’s childhood home (believe me, she’s protested loudly and often from her current college campus confines) but decisions have to be made -they’re not always easy but that’s part of life – OK, enough with preachy stuff.
On a cold day in March it seems like a good day to turn the heat way up and take a nap with the dogs – like all empty nesters should – right after I figure out what to do with all my CDs (who still uses CDs for God’s Sake! Sounds like another blog post.
sinkingliner 