6 Weeks to Move

Dang, our buyer decided not to be a buyer, at least of our house. I am bummed. My vision of my cute little apartment in Key Biscayne is receding. Am I allowed to draw an frowny-face next to my signature on the release of deposit form? 🙁 Maybe we should do like a former neighbor did: keep raising the price until we get a higher class of buyer. It worked for him. Theoretically, there are other buyers ready to make an offer. Could be true. The upside is that I have more time to pitch and organize our possessions. Stalking Peacocks 🦚 

After I swore I would not try to find good homes for our stuff, I have fallen off that wagon. Time to become one with the trash can again. Longleaf Strap Fern Campyloneurum phyllitidus Angolese Staghorn Fern Platycerium angolense    Dot and Scott came by and picked up most of my potted plants and some plant books for the  Equality Garden Club 's sale to raise money for   Kids in Distress . I still have some treasures left,  including a white bat plant. I will weed out extras next week. Three big pots of cane begonias haven't found a home. I do like looking at them, but they do not want to be near the ocean. They get to stay for the next month before moving on. The flamingos will be coming with us. I also gathered up all the art supplies I could find and will take them in a couple of days to the FAT Village Center For The Arts . Grant dismantled the remaining aquarium and took it to work to gi...

I love Key Biscayne. So many people riding their bikes. Water views all around the causeway. Shade everywhere. I belong here.  Now I just need an apartment so we can live here for the next year. Key Biscayne is hellaciously pricey; I am notoriously  cheap. Plus very few apartments take pets, even lovely, quiet, no-problem pets like our Annie. I met Realtor Carla in front of the CVS for our  date to tour potential apartments. She had three: a 2/2 in a building built in 1968 and hadn't been updated since, including a, I believe original, wall of mirrors in the living room and original bathrooms. The balcony was large enough for my chairs and table. another 2/2 in the same building with a remodeled kitchen open to the living room and new bathrooms. Plus its balcony was faced by palms so lovely shade. a ground-floor 1/1 in a darling u-shaped building that centered around a pool and barbecue area with both gas and charcoal grills. To the side was an undercove...

At least Annie is relaxed.  I'm suddenly overwhelmed by how much I have to do. It turns out the furniture I wanted to donate is too old and worn. I understand. However, that means I have to find a way to get rid of what we aren't going to move. My hope was to have one room empty today so I could begin amassing there what we are moving. Three weeks ago I began a meditation program from Just Sit  by  Sukey and Elizabeth Novogratz. I'm at the 5-minutes/day stage. I hope it kicks in because I need calmness right now. The philosophy  is that to meditate you have to sit and meditate, hence the call to just sit.  I guess doesn't mean sit in the corner and sob. Sigh. On to the next plan. I'll call another donation place and plan to put whatever is left, even if it's everything out for bulk pickup in 2 weeks.

I admit it's my fault. The contract was signed by buyer, countersigned by us with one little change (using our attorney for closing; not a deal breaker our broker claimed the buyer said). Bikes To Move Along However a countersigned contract is just a negotiation. Buyer now wants 15 days for inspection. Uh oh, that's what killed our previous contract. We've now signed the new contract, which may or may not result in a sale. Sigh. Nevertheless, I continue in my quest. The worst that will happen is the sale falls through. There are other buyers out there. I'll still be ready to move. I schlepped a wicker chair with a broken strut and a little table my grandfather made over to our fabulous furniture repair guy Abdul. If the chair could be fixed, I'd have  new cushions made for it and its twin plus ottoman. Within an hour after I dropped it off, Abdul called: the chair was ready. Could I pick it up? He'd replaced the strut and painted it to match the fros...

The nice young man who off-loaded my car at Faith Farm also filled out a ticket to schedule a furniture pick up on Thursday. Oh, no, they don't take book cases. They recommend Habit for Humanity. Then a co-worker mentioned that it was actually up to the driver. Those book cases will be out next to the garage in all their perfect, recently-dusted glory. And they will be empty of the complete sets of Great Books and Gateway to the Great Books. So much knowledge, however if I didn't get to it in the last 25 years, I'm probably not going to in the next 6 weeks. Plus I checked Ebay. I can always replace them if I get too lonely. Even though I swore I wouldn't, I did put the books up for free on Craig's List. Bulk trash may be in their future.

No As Obsessed As I Am I woke up at 4:45 am so I could get in some extra time obsessing. Maybe I'll be too tired to bother having an anxiety attack later today when we actually sign the contract. Grant loaded my car with things we are admitting we will never use: extra camping equipment, outdoor tables, many holiday decorations, and lots of other odds and ends. We keep telling ourselves we can always buy new if we ever need it. We know we won't. To Faith Farm they go. I had 2 projects today: pack all the Christmas and other decorations we are keeping  go through a box of sentimental grot from who know when. Packing the decorations was fairly easy. We don't need all those mugs, candle holders, Easter grass. Okay, we do need to keep some plastic Easter eggs; I'll use them this year. I know 7 large plastic bins are about 6 too many. Best I can do at this time. The sentimental stuff turned out to be all the saved letters between my first husband and me b...

We spent a couple of hours in the garage sorting and pitching. May need a dumpster.  Bulk pickup in 2 weeks. Our goal is to have most of the junk out by then.  But now we need a break. We doned our white clothes, loaded up table, chairs, and cooler, then headed out for our first Diner en Blanc My guesstimate is 400 people celebrating the lovely evening with dinner and dancing. We cobbled together our white outfits from our closet and local thrift shops, plus white spray paint to renew a pair of Grant’s shoes.  Next time we will know to bring fancier table decorations.

Home Sweet Home We have a contract on our house. If all goes well, closing is April 1st. After a year having it on the market, suddenly it's 6 weeks until we move. After a year of diddling at de-cluttering  per FlyLady and watching Marie Kondo on Netflix, time to get our butt in gear. This is a record of how we do. After living in our 3/2 house for 40 years (bought in April, 1979), raising 4 children in it (2 born at home), we plan to move to a 2-bedroom apartment for the next year. We will be ruthless in paring. That is the plan. We are not going to find the best home for all our stuff. We are not going to have a garage sale. We are not going to sell on Craig's List. All good things. We are going to give away as much as we can. We are going to put piles out for bulk pickup. We are going to grieve, and we are going to celebrate.