We're In!

It's been several days since we moved 1.8 miles east of our old home, but it might as well have been across town. Everything had to be packed and labeled. We ended up with about 44 boxes, and had them all unpacked in 2 days. They have all been put away somewhere, but now I will have to rearrange. I will also have to give more stuff away. I have given 2 huge loads of furniture, clothing and household items to CRC and St. Vincent de Paul. I will now have Goodwill come take the final load. I'm an equal opportunity giver.

The thing about moving is that it's both a physical and emotional drain. I don't think I've ever been more tired than I was the Monday night of our move. But, as Ron said, he felt such satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Hard work is very rewarding. The emotional side of it takes its toll too. Even though this is a good move, we're happy with our new place and our ability to throw out many things from the past, there is also that little voice in me that wants to hang on. We both agree that the 5 1/2 years we spent in our last house were among the most stressful of our 42 years together and that moving is a new beginning for us. Throw out the past, both physically and emotionally, and move on. That's what we've tried to do, but if you looked at the amount of stuff we still have, you would wonder what we actually got rid of.

I was a collector for many years. I have a big paperweight collection and a big collection of crystal animals. We also have trophies and pictures from our horse racing days. This part of the past I did not throw out. The memories of buying the paperweights and animals, and the memories of horse racing are good, and I love looking at all this "stuff" and remembering.

Pepper is adjusting to his new home too. He's got a completely fenced yard to run around in, new streets to walk, new dogs to meet. Our next door neighbors have a big dog that bangs against the fence to try to get to Pepper. I hope he'll settle down.

So all is good. New surroundings, new neighbors, a new beginning. It's tax time and Ron is busy, not as busy as he'd like to be, but moving forward. It's all good.