He came, he saw, he left. Dad pulled out about 4:00 this morning. It was a pleasant, if brief and none too intimate visit. Not that our relationship has ever been terribly intimate or close. Interference with the business of moving out and moving in was fairly minimal. I guess we lost about a half day of efforts over it all. Still got the fish tanks moved and my computer desk and computer set up, complete w/new wireless connection installed. The family reunion was also a brief affair, by necessity. None of my favorite cousins were there, but I did see a couple of relatives that I had not seen since I was 12 or 13.

This whole house-buying and moving process has been fraught with odd coincidences and things that would have seemed unique or strange even if we weren't going through all of this. I find it to be something of affirmation that we are doing the right thing, as though the Powers That Be are coaxing us along with little clues and hints somehow. With each succeeding day of being in the new place, I become more and more certain that this is a place we were meant to be for some reason, and that my time at the old place was well and long over. The overarching sense of rightness associated with our new home is palpable and ever-present, and it is a satisfying and encouraging feeling for me.

Now, if we can just get done and rid of the old place in the next ten days...

You can do it! And if not... have you met the new owners of the old place yet? We let the previous owner of our house, an old woman who was dependent on her son's muscles and vehicle to move her things, leave some items in the garage for several days after we "officially" moved in, until her son could get there the next weekend. Maybe your new owners would be nice too.

The new "owner" is a guy who will effectively rent out the place to cultivate a FSBO situation. When it sells, he pays us an agreed-upon price.

Getting everything out of the place and the flooring laid by 8-15 will save us $400.00, so we're motivated.

So...Here We Are
 

Three months. It has been three months, nearly to the day, since the PODS container was dropped in the driveway of 13130 Sycamore in preparation for getting the hell out of Dodge and on to a fresh locale. I had finally decided that 37 years in one place, in one suburban town, was enough. I was finally prepared to leave the known for the possible, the staid for the transitional, the familiar for the mystery.

Yesterday at about 7:30 PM, I handed over the keys to the house that my mother and stepfather bought from my aunt and uncle when I was not quite 13 years old - to a perfect stranger. I had just taken one last walk through the place where I smoked my first joint, got my first blow job, built my first marital bedroom, raised my only birth child, nursed my paralyzed mother, held my mother's wake...and found that I could, in fact, leave it to someone else, someone who might make their own memories there.

Today, for the first time in three months, I did not walk into my Grandview home and pack something, clean something, paint something, throw something away. I carried nothing from house to car for transport to my new house. I picked nothing up from the old front yard, watered nothing that grew in the flowerbed, turned off no forgotten lights or dripping faucets.

Today was my first full day living solely in my new home. I awoke in Raytown, went to work from Raytown, returned to Raytown, helped my son put things away and hang pictures in Raytown. Tonight, I sat on my front porch and listened to the cicads and the small fountain make their buzzing, burbling sounds. I stood in my back yard and realized that I might actually be able to mow it and pull its weeds this week. I smiled when I considered that I will be able to attend band practice for the first time in a month.

My grapes are ripening on the vine, and my winemaking friends are jockeying for position to get a share of the harvest. As summer wanes, a new life begins for my family and me. Thanks to everyone who has thought of us, sent us good thoughts or major juju.

It worked. We're here. At long last, we're *just* here.

Would you care for a mint Julep or bourbon and branch water, Suh? ;)

You cain't serve a mint julep that'a way! You've got to put a little slide into it, son!

Either will do fine, thanks. :)

Very nice. Peace to you and yours.

:thumb:

Congrats on finally being in your new home :)

Great, Big, Giant SIGH. Ain't life grand? Savor, savor, savor.

Fantastic! And thanks once again for sharing with us the joy of finding a place that is Just Right. My move to my current habitation was equally a homecoming to a new place, and you've just reminded me of how good that feels!

OK Els, it's TTGTGTGTG!




(time to get that get-to-gether to-gether or else it's got something to do with genetic sequencing ;) )

Finally took the time to dump some pics taken of the inside of the house the first day we started moving stuff in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elspodepics/

It looked a lot more roomy, then.

That's a really nice looking place. I like the front yard a lot with that nice shady tree and the long porch outfitted with chairs. I can picture hanging out on that porch in the shade.

Also, I'm very envious of that barn with the apartment.

You've got a nice place there. But you already knew that, didn't you?

Indeed. I'll have to shoot a pic of the porch now that we've inhabited it. Got some planters with herbs, a small fountain and a fish tank (!) on it. Great for your of-an-evening sittin' needs.