Getting moved in.

Well, we're here! After our house was completely emptied on Thursday, we drove down on Friday. I took the three cats - they meowed the whole way. When I got them to the house, I almost lost Tofu. Carrying him from the car to the house, his cat carrier broke and he ran across the street. I had to coax him out of the ivy over there to pick him up and get him into our house. I locked them into one room with food and a litter box for the first few hours - they were pretty freaked out. Tofu kept hiding behind the toilet.

The furniture and boxes were delivered Saturday morning. We made a priority of getting a bed set up so we would have some place to sleep. But three days later, there are still a lot of boxes, although Gordon has made a huge dent in them.

Our house is half a block away from the track, so I walk up there in the morning before I go to work and run for a couple of miles. Then I'm a short 10-minute walk from work. I haven't actually driven since Friday. I could get used to this!

Only one more sleep . .

Yesterday, the truck got completely loaded up.  The house is empty except for what's coming in out cars.  Just the important stuff really - the cats and our wine collection.  Last minute tasks today and the heading down tomorrow at the crack of dawn.   This is it.  We are really moving. 

All packed up.

Yesterday our moving company sent two men out to pack our house, garage and shed. It took them about seven hours, and I'd say we're 98% packed. They needed a couple of other dish packs. That'll get done today.  Today they come back to load it all into the truck!  Our house will be empty, and we will spend the night in our neighbor's spare bedroom. Tomorrow will be last minute cleanup.  It was a hard physical day today, and I was just worn out at the end of it. I expect the same today. 

Yesterday, I made one more,hopefully last, trip to the thrift store.  I should have my own personal parking space there by now!  

But the best news is that our Hercules house is listed and on the market. And it looks fabulous! 

Almost there!

So tomorrow the packers will come to the Fair Oaks house, whether we are ready or not!  We are still doing some final sorting in the garage and shed.  Dara spent the day here on Saturday and she was a big help, going through there with Gordon. She is way more ruthless about not keeping things than me. As Gordon said, I use reason, but she uses contempt.  Our friends Sean and Jenny are here today for last minute packing and exterior projects. If we don't get it all done, we will be calling it good enough.

A new phenomenem has started. We live on a quiet street, not much traffic passing by.  In past homes, when we've left things on the sidewalk, somebody would come by and take them.  Especially in Berkeley.  Things didn't last five minutes there.  But not on this quiet street, so most things we've wanted to give away, I've either free cycled them or taken them to the thrift store. But a few days ago, Gordon brought some things up to Fair Oaks from our Hercules house.  We are having a big trash pick up day in a week, so we plan to put these things in it. So we simply stacked it in the front yard (even though you're not supposed to do that) to wait for the big pick up. Well, the next morning, a bathroom cabinet, light fixture and ironing board were gone!  Now it's gotten to the point that when we put something out, there's a good chance it'll be gone in a couple of hours. Sometimes we've seen cars pull up and take things, and we've spoken to a couple from down the street. They just inherited the home from his father, and they are sort of looking for anything they can find to furnish it.  It's good for us and it's good for them, so we like it. 

Speaking of the Hercules house, it is done!  It will be listed in the next couple of days, and there will be an open house is weekend. At last.

Getting down to the wire

At the time of writing this post, we have less than a week before the movers come and start to pack us up. There's still a fair amount to do, mostly in getting things ready to pack in the garage and shed, but we have made tons of progress. Amazing what you can get done when you're both not going into work! The house in Hercules needs a couple of last minute things wrapped up, and then to be cleaned, photographed and staged and then it can go on the market. And hopefully sell!! The house in Fair Oaks is getting emptier and emptier. Let me just say how much I love Freecycle! I have gotten rid of more pieces of furniture than you can imagine through Freecycle. I did look on Freecycle and found that there is not a group for Orange County! How will I get rid of things when we move there? Additionally, we have contributed four or five Kia and truckload of household goods to the Snowline Hospice. I hope that they can really get some value from them. The exterior of the Fair Oaks house looks good - new fence, painted fence, landscaping, some painting (although still a little more to do).

So it's the home stretch - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and now we're beginning to think about things like, how will the cats adjust to their new home? They won't have this big yard, and there will be a lot more people round them. Should be interesting. Perhaps my new blog will be a Catwatch blog.

A new fence at the Fair Oaks home

When we moved to this home in 2009, one of the first things out neighbor Max said to us was that we needed to build a fence. There is a wire fence between us and Max & his wife Michelle. They have dogs, and apparently so did the prior owners. The prior owners were not good neighbors to Max and Michelle and there were issues because of that and because of the dogs. Now since Gordon and I moved in, there have been no issues at all between Max & Michelle and us, and we don't have any dogs! So while Max was anxious about a fence at first, since our relationship has been so positive, it's just become less of a priority. But now that we're moving, we thought it was time to build the fence, just in case the relationship with the new neighbors is not as smooth.

The first step was to clear out the area for the fence. It was completely overgrown with huge ivy. Max and Gordon, with help from our friend Steve, dug out at least three of four green bins worth of ivy. We were actually worried that the county wouldn't be able to actually empty the bins because they were so heavy. Then Max and Gordon started to build the fence, which is over 120 feet long. They first dug holes to put in 16 steel posts, then they braced it and then nailed up the boards. It was a big job, and they did it during the hottest days of the year so far, working three or four hours in the morning before it just got too hot.

The fence looks amazing and provides a lot more privacy to our back yard. I just wish we had done it before!

Getting things ready to move

I have been off work for almost a week now and have spent that time doing more physical labor than I have in a long time! My main focus has been on minimizing what we're taking with us, so I have made lots of trips to donate old things. In addition, I have done a fair amount of painting to get the house ready to rent. Some before and after shots of my handiwork are included. I did touch-up only in one of the bedrooms, but we also had a new carpet installed. The picture doesn't do it justice! My other project has been painting the fence in the former chicken yard. That has made an amazing difference.

We also visited our home in Hercules this weekend. It looked so much better than it did a week ago! The landscaper completely transformed the front garden, as you can see in the picture. The painter was not finished with the inside, but it already looks 100% better - so much brighter and cleaner.

I must say, it's a little strange to be making our homes look so nice for new people to move into them. I really regret not doing some of this work just for us to enjoy it. That's my advice to all homeowners. Take a week off a year to do projects around the house for you to enjoy.

A day of clearing

Today (Saturday) was my first day officially off work. I spent it clearing things out of the house and making big donations to a local charity's thrift store, the Snowline Hospice Thrift Store. My first trip was with my little Kia simply packed to bursting point - at least 25 boxes of things in there. Then our friends came over with their large truck, and we moved furniture, old TVs, and even more boxes! We also gave some pieces to them and a mattress and box springs to another friend.

In addition, Gordon and our neighbor Max are building a fence, so that our neighbors and our renters can have some privacy. All the materials were delivered today, and Gordon, Max and our friend Kurt got about 40% of the posts and framing done, which is awesome.

So we've still got a long way to go, but we're getting there.

The NeverEnding Party

Today, Friday May 9th, is my last day at Sac State. That's a happy-sad moment for me. I am looking forward to my new venture, but sad to leave so many good friends behind. The last two weeks have been filled with wonderful celebrations. I have been wined and dined and have had multiple parties. I have visited so many great restaurants in Sacramento! I may have eaten more in the last two weeks than in the previous six months combined.

But yesterday, my official going-away party, was truly wonderful. I got to visit with lots of friends and co-workers, and was the recipient of many kind words. But the most touching moment was when my good friend Ed Mills did this video. A lovely tribute from a great man. I could not be more flattered!

Selling our Hercules house

Since we are moving to Southern California, and our tenant in our Hercules home has moved out, the timing is right to sell that house.  This weekend, we spent some time checking out the house, meeting with our realtor and figuring out what needs to be done to get it ready for sale. I haven't been there for four years, so it was kind of cool to see it again.  The garden is so overgrown, as you can see in the pictures below. So that's one thing we have to address before we sell it. And since it's empty, it's obvious that there are lots of things to be done inside. Our tenant had little dogs, and you can definitely tell they were there. We only had carpet in one area, on the stairs and hallway, but that needs to be replaced, and it needs to be painted throughout, and there are some baseboards the dog sort of messed up. In addition, the kitchen looks very old, so a few little things in there will help. We've arranged for most of the work to be done, and then hopefully we can get it on the market and sold soon.

We were attending a party in Hercules on Saturday and we decided to spend the night in the Hercules house. I was prepared - air mattress, pillows, sleeping bag - but when we got there at 10 or so on Saturday night, we could not find the stopper for the air mattress. We did find it the next morning in the driveway! So on Saturday night, we had to find someplace else to stay, and ended up spending the night at a Motel 6 in Pinole. The room itself would have been okay, except that they only had a smoking room available, and it smelled horrible. I felt physically ill on Sunday morning when we got up! Nothing that several cups of coffee couldn't fix, though!

Dara, Zac and the boys came over to see the house while we were there. It was kind of cool to walk around the house where we spent so much time, one last time. Dara had some memories (some of which I have repressed!!!) but she enjoyed seeing her old room. Aidan, who spent the first two years of his life there, obviously had no memories of the house. The lemon tree is overgrown, but that means there were lots of lemons. So both Dara and I have our final batch of lemons from the old house.

I'm hoping this sale goes well and goes quickly. We have decided for tax reasons to wait to sell our house in Berkeley until 2015. so the sooner the better on this one.

One month to go

So it's exactly a month before I start my new job. Our last week and our next week are very crazy; lots of parties and events, finishing up at my current job and getting ready to move. This week, for instance, I had three evening engagements for dinner or drinks. In addition, on Thursday, Sac State had it's annual 5K fun run. The first Sac State 5K was in 2009, the year I started, and I've done it every year since, so I wasn't going to miss my last one! Additionally, IRT has always fielded a good team in the Sac State 5K, and this year was no exception, as you can see from the picture. So I sure wasn't going to let my team down. Even though Sacramento summer came early! Thursday was a hot day, and even though the 5K doesn't start until 6, it was still above 90. So it was a struggle! But, our team did well, and I finished second in my age group - one of the benefits of getting older! - with a time under 30 minutes.

In addition to being wined and dined and participating in sporting events, we are frantically getting the Sacramento home ready to rent, and getting things packed up. Gordon has been working tirelessly on garden projects. We have for years talked about building a fence between ourselves and our neighbors. It's time to do that now. But first, Gordon and our neighbor Max have been pulling out some very stubborn ivy right along there. It's a nasty job. In addition, Gordon (with some help) has fixed up a number of other outdoor features - gates, drainage, sprinklers. So much to do! I have also been working on clearing out old things. Picture frames. Candles. Baskets. Where do these things come from? Our house does have a fairly messy look right now. When I am off work, there will be several trips to the Goodwill to empty things out!

Our future home

On Friday, we took a quick tour to Southern California to see Ashling and also to visit Chapman. Flew in Friday and spent most of Friday at Chapman. I was able to take care of some things to make sure that I can hit the ground running on June 2nd. I am set up with email, phone and card key access already!

Most importantly, we figured out where we are going to live initially. An AVP from Facilities took Gordon, Ashling, Ashling's friend Audrey and I to visit a few University-owned homes that are available to rent. We quickly settled on a lovely home very close to campus. It fits our needs very well - three bedrooms, two baths and a garage. A very nice yard where I am sure I will spend many evenings. A nice grapefruit tree and orange tree.

After we were done with our business at Chapman, Gordon and I spent the evening in Newport Beach enjoying some Spanish food, and finished up our visit with Ashling on Saturday. We flew back to Sacramento on Saturday evening to find that it had poured in Sacramento on Friday. Gordon found that to be a positive on Sunday, as he had some more yardwork to do here in Sacramento to get the house ready to rent. He plans to finish up some drainage and terracing work in the front yard, and he and our neighbor Max will build a fence between our back yards. While we do have a garage in the new place, it is smaller, so the big thing for us is to continue to eliminate things from our garage. Next up - old pictures that have been stored out there for five years.

Take my furniture - please!

So I mentioned that we are trying to purge before we move. I've started to work on boxes in the garage - old Christmas lights, wrapping paper, rafts, sleds etc. All have found a good home. Today, I even brought a box of Halloween costumes into work for people to pick through, that's going well. So far I've gotten rid of WonderWoman, an Inuit and Queen Amidala.

But furniture has been more of an issue. I called a charity that does pickup in the area. They did note that picking up is at the discretion of the driver. I left a couch, loveseat, two chairs, and end table, and a file cabinet in the driveway. The driver exercised discretion and only picked up the end table! My neighbor, Bob,took the file cabinet. I didn't want to drag the couch and love seat back into the house, so I left them outside. When Ashling came home, she suggested that we look like a frat house. I do have to say, though, it was sort of convenient to have them outside. A place to sit when I'm talking to my neighbors, a place to put things when I'm packing up the car. But I was a little concerned that my neighbors might complain about the frat house look. So I turned to one of my favorite resources, freecycle.org. Posted the couches, chairs and a lamp. Gone by the end of the day! People will take anything for free, except for old TVs.

Purging

One of the good things about moving is that it's an opportunity to go through your stuff and get rids of things. Or so they tell me. Obviously "they" have not moved that often. And "they" have no idea how it feels to own a dozen pair of boots, each one a little different and appropriate for a different outfit. I mean look at the picture. How hard do you think it is to part with boots like that?

So it's hard, but it makes sense to try to minimize how much we bring. My weakness is the closet; I have clothes that have been with me longer than either of my children. How can I get rid of them!! But the fact is, the weather is different in Southern California. I don't need winter suits, coats or boots. So I sorted through my clothes and put all those together in one place. I invited my girlfriends over to go through them, and some of them went home with new things for their closets! I like it when that happens. The remaining pieces will go to St. John's Shelter for Women.

Old furniture also should not move. Especially old furniture that's been scratched by cats over the past several years. The problem with that, though, is that nobody really wants furniture with kitty damage. We arranged for a truck from a local charity to come by and pick up some big pieces. We dragged them out to our driveway in the morning. On our way home, I was very excited, looking forward to seeing an empty driveway. That was not to be. Of the eight pieces of furniture we left out, they took two. Our neighbor came by and took one more. We took smaller pieces back into the house, but now, we have two couches outside our house, I am sure our neighbors are thrilled with us! But we do intend for them to go away, and it doesn't make sense to drag them through the house again.

I am actually scared to look in the garage. What are we going to do with that stuff???

New homes for the animals

We've always been catlovers, but since we moved to Sacramento from the Bay Area, we've added to our menagerie. We've had six chickens and two fishtanks full of tropical fish. There's no way they were going to move with us.

The good news is that we had no shortage of people wanting to adopt the fish or the chickens. My co-worker, Kevin, claimed the fish. He came over one Tuesday night after work to pick them up. This was a big job! First, he and Gordon had to fish around to get the fairly panicked fish out of the fish tank and into the awaiting buckets. Covering the buckets with fish matters! Those things will jump right out if they get panicked enough! Anyhow, we emptied and disassembled the tanks and packed everything up in Kevin's truck. It took us about two and a half hours, most of the time on draining those extremely large tanks. I felt bad for Kevin, he had to go home and set them up after that. I think he was up until after midnight. He did lose two fish on the way home, two small catfish I think, but most of the fish, including the very large plecostomus (two of them) are thriving now, I hear.

My co-worker Lucinda, who lives up in the foothills, and her husband Steve decided to adopt our six chickens. We also agreed that Lucinda could take the chicken coop. So moving the chickens became a very large task - not just catching the chickens and putting them in cat carriers, but also extracting the coop from our chicken yard. Here's a picture of the coop in Steve's truck. I am not sure how this happened, since I know we moved the coop into the chicken yard, but the coop does not fit through any of our gates. So Steve, Gordon and our friend Doug ended up removing two gates to carry the coop out to the truck. I helped, I really did! I also helped catch the chickens. That was interesting. We chased the chickens into a corner and then tried to pick them up. apparently, chickens can fly, and when you reach for them, well, they fly right at your face as a defensive maneuver. I found myself outwitted by the chickens several times; but ultimately, other people (definitely not me) caught them and put them into cat carriers for a ride to their new home. Lucinda had read that chickens are traumatized by moving and generally don't lay eggs for a while afterwards. Not these chickens. By the time she got home, two of them had laid eggs in the cat carriers.

Here's a picture of the coop being picked up and moved. That was hard work! Afterwards, Gordon, Doug and Steve broke into the Irish whiskey to recover. you can see why they needed to drink!

We're moving!

Earlier this year, I applied for the position of Chief Information Officer at Chapman University (www.chapman.edu) in Orange. Orange is in Southern California, adjacent to Los Angeles. After a rigorous process - four steps, including a two-day interview and a day of visits - I was offered the job. I'll be starting my new job on June 2nd so Gordon and I will be moving to Orange at the end of May.

The positives about moving, in addition to the fact that I am moving to my dream job, are the weather and the beaches. Many other people would talk about the fact that we're so close to Disneyland. Not being a big Disneyland fan myself, I'm not ready to put that in my positives list. I'll also be closer to Ashling, since it's about 30 miles from Cal Poly Pomona, where she's going to school. The big negative, of course, being the distance that we'll be moving away from Dara, Zac and the boys, as well as Nan. We are thinking that we'll do a lot of visits each year.

The big challenge now for us is the moving. We are planning to rent our home in Fair Oaks, and to sell our home in Hercules. No change on our Berkeley home yet. But there is significant work to getting two houses ready to sell or rent! And not a lot of time to do it! We are trying to go into purging mode. I've started that with my wardrobe. I have offered all my winter clothes and many of my boots to my friends and colleagues. We've had some visitors come over and enjoy going through my closet to take what works for them! But this weekend, I plan to donate the remainder to St. John's Shelter for Women, along with toys and blankets. Next up is books. Then pictures! We're even trying to purge furniture. Sadly, some of our couches and chairs have been scratched by the kitties and don't seem to be much in demand. However, we've already cleared out one room. Gotten things out of the garage. Brought Nan two cases of wine. Nobody that comes to our house goes home empty-handed. But there is still a *long* way to go!