Monday, June 1, 2009

We've earned it


Friday was the last day there will be for a while dominated by labor related to the move. After I finished here, I spent the next several hours moving all those boxes from the dining room (there were more on the other side of the room) and the basement out to the garage, (pictured above) which will be the final staging area for them until the truck comes to take them (and the rest of our earthly possessions) away. We still have a pickup's worth of boxes stored in a room at my sister's house, which we will get this week and, believe it or not, stuff into the scene you see up there. (It can be done!)

Yesterday we did the last bit of boxing up of things that we know we won't be using for the next three weeks. All that's left now is last-minute kitchen stuff and the lamps. So we find ourselves with a little time to kick back and plan some actual fun.

We spent a good portion of Saturday with the woman buying our house and her partner. We always imagined that if we ever sold this place, it would have to come with its own user's manual; we invited them here to start that process with a little walk-around tutorial on how things work, everything from the various gardens to the sprinkler system to the water filter. We had a wonderful time with them and will probably see them again once more before closing on the 19th. They kept swearing they will keep doing things exactly as we've done them, right down to the color of the petunias in the garden out front. All we could do was laugh. We know they'll take possession of the house and make it their own...at least we hope! A museum, meant to be kept as it is now, it most definitely is not.

We're having a very big farewell party on the 13th of June, which will be so crowded and busy there will be very little chance for any quality time with our favorite people. With that in mind, we're planning a very small dinner the week before just with them so we can savor each others' company once again--and I can start emptying the freezer! The soup and dessert have been waiting to be used for months. Now's their chance.

Steve's in his long-anticipated decompress mode, the worst of the time-sensitive work behind him, and his physical office closed down. He'll do light work from home for another two weeks, and then he's officially free. It's nice to have him back.

4 comments:

Linda - SE PA said...

Hi Ralph,

I sensed a "real change" in the wind in your commentary. Steve is home, the boxes are packed, the plans in order and planning the goodbyes.

This is a poignant time - take plenty of pictures for the memory album.

Sounds like you found the "perfect" folks to take your home over. Sense, eventually, they will make it their own - yet, I feel they will soak up the specialness you and Steve created.

Really nice post today.

Ralph said...

Thanks, Linda. Today was actually pleasant, running errands and doing just "normal" stuff (although some of it did have to do with preparations for the move). The down time is very nice.

Anonymous said...

Looks like it's all coming together. How far from the coast will you be in NC? Kitty Hawk is a cool place to visit while you wait on your house. I love it up there. Of course my favorite is the D.C. area. If I hit the Lottery I be back.

Ralph said...

We're equally distant, one hour, Z&M, from the northern causeway to the Outer Banks (more or less Kitty Hawk) and the southern one (Manteo Island). Because of geography and there being water in the way, we can't just drive straight east to get there, we have to make a loop either to the north or to the south. In our rental in Edenton, it'll be easier to go south via Manteo. From our completed house in Hertford, Kitty Hawk will be the way to go.