missing and not

It has begun.

The first box, of many many many boxes, has been packed.

I took all the wine glasses down to clean the mirror in the bar and thought, "Why would I put them back up just to pack them in a couple of weeks?" So, into a box they went. I packed up a few more things, too. The seal has been broken.

One thing I really can't believe is how much STUFF I still have. I did a major purge 2 years ago. How do I still have so much stuff? As I packed, I thought, "Will I miss this over the next few months while it's in storage, or have I used it in the last 2 years?" If the answer was no, out it went. Lots of it went into the garage sale pile.

April is going to be very busy with work and my goal is to list the house by May, so I suppose starting to pack and declutter now isn't a bad idea. Oy, it's so much work.

It's funny, I was sitting on the couch this afternoon looking out the window thinking, "I should go outside and enjoy the back yard/ pond while I still can." But the truth is, I don't sit out there much and I don't think I'll miss it that much. Every time I sit out there, I can't help but look around at all the work that needs to be done and it is usually more stressful than peaceful. Plus my allergies are so freaking bad lately and sitting outside doesn't help.

This is a really cute house in a great neighborhood and I will miss a lot of things, but there's plenty that I won't miss.
I won't miss trying to pull in and out of my driveway while a bunch of cars are around.
I won't miss cleaning the pond or any of that maintenance.
I won't miss sitting in traffic on 99 to go see FG.
I won't miss cleaning the 2300 sq ft of floors and the 3 toilets. Yes, I'm excited to be closer to FG, but I'm most excited about downsizing, for sure.

FG. More and more I think about how we talk about moving in together and how I feel about that. Oh, what a huge leap that is! Some days I have myself convinced that I'm ready and it would be an awesome thing, and some days I have myself convinced that I really like living alone. Either way, the plan is still for me to buy myself a cute little house that may (or may not) turn into a rental property one day.

I've been keeping an eye on the active listings and there are a lot of really good potential homes in the area. I've seen a few that I really liked come and go, because the timing's not right yet. There are so many variables with buying and selling a house and I'm really hoping that things fall into place without too much stress.

Remember, reckless optimism!

Oh, also I took Pumpkin to the vet and she's lost some weight but overall is very healthy for her age. According to her labs, the kidney disease has not progressed very much in the last year. Yay!