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!