The hard part

We've reached the hard part of this move, saying goodbyes, parting with the last of our stuff, and confronting my feelings of inadequacy when it comes to home maintenance. 

The goodbyes are bitter sweet, but we aren't dropping from the face of the earth, we will be back to visit and we hope that many folks will come visit us. 

Clearing the house is difficult and we've reached the stage where most things that we can't rehome will just be heading to our Happy Little Dumpster. There will be final runs to Habitat, Green Dogs, Goodwill, CASPCA, and Circa today and tomorrow. Some things that I had hoped to sell have not. I hope to never again post anything for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I had refused to have a yard sale because I could not stand the idea of the local population invading our space en masse. Instead, we've dealt with them one at a time through Marketplace. Some people have been great, but so many are flaky and I'm reminded why I didn't want to have a yard sale. I'm content with donating the stuff we might have sold at such an event. 

The house has been difficult and we've thrown a lot of money at it in the past month, but considering how little we spent on home maintenance, repairs, and improvements over the past 25 years, I can't complain, much. The insultation from the attic has been removed (it will be replaced), mold has been treated, and ceilings have been repaired and repainted. The damage that Woody had done to our outside a/c unit piping and conduits was repaired yesterday. A plumber fixed a leaking toilet. The vines have been removed from the house. I managed to kill yet another mower and will be happy if I never own another one. In fact, at this point I am thinking that I should be a renter for the rest of my life. 

Clay and I have both been stressed and are not getting a lot of sleep. There are things that won't get done but everything that's truly essential will. Bailey's health certificate arrived via FedEx today. Come hell or high water we are out of here on Thursday. 

We said goodbye to beautiful Bridget and her parents on Monday evening.

The dumpster is approaching full capacity. 

We had a farewell dinner with Duvel's family on Tuesday evening.

Chester, also a former foster, is Duvel's big brother.

Our flamingos didn't fly too far away and have settled in nicely in new gardens.