This Year is Our Year for Success!
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It’s the first house. It’s more expensive, but a much better fit. The second house looked great in the pictures, but not nearly as good in person. The first house requires very little work to make it very comfortable for us, while the second one would have required quite a bit of remodeling to make it work for us. The first is very bright and open while the second was very dark and the floor plan was not open at all.
We are still negotiating with the sellers for our new home on repairs to be made. The inspection noted that the roof on one side and across the back was in very poor shape and that we would likely have difficulty finding insurance for it in its current state. The sellers are balking at filing an insurance claim on it but did finally agree to do so and see if insurance will cover it. They agreed to extend our option period while we hash this out.
The inspection report for our house was very clean, with only a few very minor repairs noted. The inspector claimed that 19 of our windows had lost their seal, which we pushed back on. We’ve never seen even a hint of an issue on any of our windows. They dropped their request for money toward new window panes and we agreed to repair everything else on the list. So I think the sale of our house is a done deal.
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Maryanne, I saw a report on the news that liquid egg substitutes have a big recall because some containers were contaminated with bleach, Ick. It included Eggbeaters and Better than Eggs. I know you use egg substitutes so you might want to read up on the recall.
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Pam, it sounds like you made a great choice going with the more expensive but move in ready home. With DH’s recovery, you don’t need any DIY projects. How’s his recovery going?
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Pam - wow, your house sold in one day! That's amazing. Hopefully you'll decide on the house you want to purchase.
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As of today, all the hurdles have been cleared and we are set to close on both the sale of our house and the cash purchase of our new one on April 21st. Our buyers agreed to lease our house back to us for 1 week at no charge to give us time to complete our move. So now I am trying to finish packing as much as I can while also selling or donating furniture I won’t need in the new house. I’m also trying to motivate DH to continue going through the garage and getting rid of things he won’t need anymore. That’s a very slow and frustrating process because he thinks he needs all of it.
My new dining room will be larger than my current one, so I decided to sell both my dining room furniture and my breakfast room set. I found a used table on Facebook Marketplace that will seat 8 or more for a very reasonable price, and the owner is even delivering it! I’ll purchase a sideboard and lighted curio cabinet for additional storage because I have a lot of china and crystal that will need a home.
This week we have a lot of medical appointments, but in between I’m packing and making phone calls to handle as much as I can related to the move. Our last move was so long ago I’m having a hard time trying to remember everything I need to do to make this happen. I hope I don’t forget anything important. Our realtor offers a moving concierge service, so hopefully they will be able to keep me on track.0 -
Pam - congrats! I don't envy you the move but once it's finished sounds like you'll be happy!
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When is moving day? All the downsizing you did should make it easier. You mentioned staying in your old home a few days past closing. Are the old owners still living in your new house?
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Today was a busy day. I’ve sold almost everything we no longer need for the new house. I just have a rattan chair and ottoman left, and I only listed it today so it may take a few days to move it on. I’ve made enough money selling stuff we don’t need anymore to pay for the move and the new furniture pieces I’ve bought. DH is amazed!
The new house was unoccupied, but when we went over with our realtor on Thursday to meet a carpet salesman and take measurements, we were surprised to find that someone was staying there. We immediately left and tried to contact the seller’s realtor. We found out that someone was staying there for a few days while packing up and clearing out the house. Even though we called out very loudly and Rand the doorbell, she never heard us. So we had to postpone our mission and reschedule for Monday. The house is supposed to be emptied by tonight, so hopefully next week we won’t have any problems.This morning the buyers for our house came with their carpet guy to take measurements for rooms they want to recarpet. We had planned to leave while they were there, but were expecting someone to come to get furniture. We explained that to them when they arrived and they were fine with us staying. It turned out to be a good thing. We were able to answer a lot of questions they had about the area, neighborhood, and the house. They seem like a really nice young couple. They have a daughter who is 2 1/2 and are expecting a boy in June.
We are closing on both houses on the 21st, and planning to move on the 24th. Hopefully we can get the new carpet laid on the 22nd, and have the 23rd to move clothes and small items over, and maybe lay some shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets and drawers, if I can find it! I had 2 big rolls of it, but I’ve packed them and have no idea which box they are in.
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Pam - thank goodness that that's all it was - someone staying a couple days. I've heard about people moving into empty houses and it being a nightmare to get them out.
You really have pulled off a masterful feat! KUDOS! Glad your hubby can appreciate it.
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Happy Easter. Today was the first time in three years (pre-hurricane) that church was standing room. We got there in time for seats but it was the most crowded I’ve seen in years.
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We closed on both properties yesterday. Both were the easiest, smoothest transactions ever for us. It’s definitely easier and quicker when it’s an all cash transaction because there are way fewer documents to sign. Now we just have to finish packing and move!
The packing is almost done. We still have a few small pockets of areas that we need to finish, but I think we are about 90% there and the actual moving day is Thursday so we have 2 days to finish. SIL has been a huge help again. She has tackled the garage, which was by far the worst area of the entire house and the one where DH was the most resistant to getting rid of things. She has been able to reason with him about some of the things he was especially reluctant to let go, and where I had been completely unsuccessful. And she’s doing all of this work while battling a sinus infection and bronchitis!
The previous owners of our new home left us a large screen TV mounted on the wall and a French door refrigerator that we weren’t expecting. Both are older, but appear to be in good working condition. We will probably move the refrigerator to the laundry room where there is a space for it, and use the TV as is because it’s bigger than the one we have. Now we need to sell the freezer we have used in our pantry and had planned to move to the new house, as well as 2 smaller TVs we won’t need anymore. I’ve had very good luck selling things on Facebook Marketplace and on the Nextdoor Marketplace app, so I don’t anticipate much difficulty selling them. If they don’t sell, I can always donate them to Goodwill. We’ve made almost daily trips to our local donation center. They recognize me there now because I’ve been there so many times.0 -
Well, we are moved into our new home! I’m sitting here looking at a sea of boxes waiting to be unpacked, and having mild anxiety over how to organize it all, but we are here and the worst part of it is behind us. We still have a few things at the old house that we need to bring over today and tomorrow, but it shouldn’t take too long to finish that up. My cleaning ladies will be there at 9 this morning to give the old place a thorough cleaning before we turn it over to the new owners on Monday. SIL has been a huge help in this whole process and I’m glad she will be staying until Wednesday to help me get some of the boxes unpacked and organized.
While the cleaning crew is at work we will be taking a load of hazardous waste to the city environmental services location. We tried to do that on Wednesday only to find they are only open Thursday thru Saturday! It’s hard to get rid of old paint, cleaning products, and a whole lot of other solvents and items DH had accumulated.I also have someone coming to the new house this morning to assemble some of the new furniture that I bought. That will help some with the unpacking and organizing.
Time to get busy.
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Pam -I"m sure you are glad to be moved but sounds like a daunting list of tasks to be accomplished to really feel at home! Best of luck!
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I'm having hip replacement surgery in July and there's an amazing list of things that need to be done ahead of time. Not looking forward to any of it!
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Maryanne, everyone I know who has had that surgery has said they wished they hadn’t waited so long to do it because they felt so much better afterward. It will be a difficult 4-6 weeks, but you should be feeling and moving a lot better by then. Some of my friends found it helpful to find out what exercises strengthen the muscles around the hip and started doing them in advance. They found that this shortened their recovery time and improved their outcomes.
We finally finished clearing out our former house today, a full day earlier than required. Now we can concentrate on getting our new house in order. Yesterday we realized that the air conditioner wasn’t working, so we have a repair scheduled tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a minor issue. This house is 12-13 years old, so I wouldn’t expect to have to replace the unit yet. Luckily, the weather hasn’t been too hot for the last couple of days.0 -
Congratulations on being moved in. Your SIL will be a big help unpacking and organizing the new house. How is DH adjusting to the move? Is he still recuperating? Once you get the essentials unpacked, you can take your time with the ret. Just do a box a day and it will get done.
Maryanne, I didn’t realize you needed hip surgery. Pam’s suggestion of exercising in advance to strengthen the muscles sounds like good advice. And you’re very receptive to PT. Many people are not. A positive attitude and willingness to do the PT exercises will pay big benefits. I have my last hand PT today. I planned to end last week but missed my appointment. I lost track of my days and thought it was Wednesday when it was Thursday, the appointment day. I didn’t realize the mistake until that evening. I apologized, will pay the missed appointment fee and finish today. Mary had recently complimented me on never missing an appointment and then I messed up the last one. I’m glad she could see me today.
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I think I forgot to mention that while all of this moving was happening, I also developed tendinitis in a tendon on the side of my left foot. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been in a boot but today I graduated to an ankle brace. What a relief! That boot is so heavy and so hot that I couldn’t wait to be liberated from it. The doctor said I had let it go on so long that I was facing surgery if the boot and ankle brace didn’t reduce the inflammation. Needless to say, that scared me enough to faithfully wear the boot, no matter how inconvenient. It was probably caused from all of the unaccustomed activity like going up and down the stairs many times daily, carrying boxes, etc. hopefully once I’m unpacked and can rest more, the tendon will stop punishing me.
Today I got most of my kitchen in order. A lot of it is complicated for me because this kitchen was designed for a tall person and that I am not! So I’m having to think of solutions to make things accessible while also utilizing all of the space because the kitchen is smaller than my previous kitchen. It’s a challenge, for sure. I have the same issue in our bathroom. Much less storage, and a lot of it is hard to access. I’ve been shopping under cabinet organizers and have ordered several different styles to see what works. Today I got one to organize my pots and pans under my stovetop. I have a huge cabinet under there, but not a single shelf. So everything was just piled in there until I could get something to organize them where I don’t have to unload all of them to get to the one I need.
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They gave me exercises to do. I hope they help! Unfortunately I found the p/t at the orthopaedic surgeon to be far inferior to the two places I went before (neither of which still exist).
Pam - Good luck with the a/c and the ankle!
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The A/C issue turned out to be a switch in the attic that got turned off. What we can’t figure out is how, because to our knowledge no one had been up there. The technician thoroughly checked out the system and told us it was in good working order. At our request he put a piece of tape over the switch and wrote on it that it was not to be turned off, so hopefully it won’t happen by accident when someone does go up there.
My kitchen is about 95% done at this point. I still need to unpack the dining room and our bedroom needs a lot of work, but today I decided I deserved to take the day off. Apart from organizing my empty boxes to try to post and sell them, I’ve done very little today. Yesterday I didn’t feel very well, and I really think I needed the rest. I’m feeling a lot better today.0 -
Rest when you need it. Unpacking is a marathon, not a sprint. Getting unpacked a little quicker doesn’t gain you anything if you exhaust yourself. How is DH adjusting to the new house?
My SIL called Saturday to say her husband, DH’s brother fell at his assisted living facility and broke his hip. He’s had surgery and is doing okay. What surprised us is he fell on Sunday and she didn’t tell us until Saturday. He’s probably in rehab by now and the hope is he’s able to go back to assisted living. He has severe Parkinson’s and speaks very little. We saw him in December and he looked very frail. We’ll stop and visit him during our trip home.0 -
DH is doing pretty well. He likes our new home and is glad we moved. He’s making very slow progress in setting up his study/lair and I’m trying to stay hands off on that. Before moving, he was determined to keep an enormous number of books and other things that he simply refused to part with, so I told him he could keep anything he wanted but he would have to find a place for them. So that’s why I’m trying not to intervene and help him organize it, unless he asks for help.
I’ve just about finished getting our bedroom, bathroom and closet in order. The only other room I need to work on is the guest room, which since SIL left has become a dumping ground for things we didn’t know what to do with, lol! It’s a mess but I think I can clear it out fairly easily. A lot of it is pictures and family photos so I need to decide what I want to hang and/or display and then what to do with what’s left.
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Helene - I'm so sorry about your hubby's brother!
Pam - I'm glad you are getting organized and have air conditioning!
Yesterday would have been my sister's 73rd birthday. I still miss her!
I feel like I'm drowning. The state is computerizing everything Cat Rescue needs to file and the programming is terrible! I feel like I spend most of my life dealing with that kind of stupid stuff.
Still 2 months until my hip replacement surgery. The pre-op stuff is annoyingly disorganized.
We're having a problem with a homeless guy at one of the colonies. I hope he doesn't manage to get us prohibited from feeding there. We've met lots of homeless guys in the past but this is the first one that's both scary and intent on interfering with the colony. I've started carrying mace.
I am continuing to work hard on weight loss. I'm slightly more than 50 pounds below my all-time high weight. Cardiologist thinks I should be even lighter. I can't accomplish that without basically eating nothing. I'm doing a low calorie, high protein bariatric diet. Gets tiresome after awhile. I want a pint of ice cream. Someone in the book I'm reading was eating a pint of Cherry Garcia and I thought "even the authors are tempting me now". LOL!
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Maryanne, it sounds like you are doing a good job with your weight loss! It should really help with your recovery from hip replacement surgery, too. I’m sorry all of the pre-op programming is such a pain. We went through some of that before DH’s shoulder replacement surgery, too and it was annoying.
Carrying mace with you when you feed the colony is a good idea. Maybe this homeless guy will move on soon to another location.
We just had an appointment with DH’s neurologist. I like this doctor more every time we see him. Today he talked with us about testing to more definitively nail down an accurate diagnosis for the cognitive issues he is having. Initially DH wasn’t interested in doing more testing, but I persuaded him to do it because, depending on the outcome, there may be some treatments available to him to slow, or possibly even reverse, some of the cognitive decline he’s experienced. To me, that would be worth the inconvenience of undergoing more testing, which consists of lab work, an MRI, an evaluation with a neuropsychologist, and a PET scan. Depending on what these tests show, he might be a candidate for infusion treatment that could destroy the plaques that have formed in his brain, and potentially improve or at least stop further deterioration. I found it very encouraging that that is even a possibility.
On Friday I had lunch with my grad school friends, and it turned into a total debacle. Two of them got into a fight at the end of our lunch, and it got loud enough that other diners were turning and staring. My other friend and I did our best to calm them down and finally just got them out of the restaurant, but I’m not sure the relationship can be restored at this point. It makes me very sad since we’ve all been friends for 35 years. I honestly think both were at fault in different ways, and both were guilty of escalating it instead of trying to defuse the disagreement. I thought both were behaving very out of character. I won’t take sides, but I did reach out to both of them and I’m having lunch on Friday with one of them. I’m really worried about her because she lives alone and is very stressed due to the very recent death of her only sibling and she also takes care of her elderly mother who has multiple health issues. And she has financial issues as well, so her life is a real pressure cooker. My other friend is dealing with a health issue of her own, an alcoholic husband, a difficult relationship with her only daughter, and handling a lot of issues with her mother’s estate. So they both have a ton of issues and unfortunately took a lot of their anger and stress out on each other.
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That is so sad about your friends arguing in the restaurant. You may have to see them separately if you choose to continue the friendships. It sounds like both are dealing with a lot of stress but that doesn’t explain why they would verbally attack each other.
My SIL texted Sunday to say BIL’s rehab was unsuccessful and that he was back in assisted living facility and had been placed in Hospice. We expected to make a short visit to him tomorrow. We just arrived at our hotel in Delaware at 5. We found a text from her saying he was failing fast and had been given last rites. She sent it at 3 so he may be gone already. We left her a voicemail but haven’t heard anything yet. She’s probably overwhelmed but the stress of the last couple of weeks. He was DH’s only sibling so it’s got to be extra hard on him.0 -
Helene, I’m so sorry about your BIL. I hope you and your husband were able to see him before he passed. Praying for peace for both of them.
I have to say that DH and I are very happy with our decision to move, but my feet aren’t taking it well. I spent 2 weeks in my big orthopedic boot on my left foot, followed by 2 weeks in an ankle brace while we were moving, and now I’m back in it for my right foot, which began hurting while I was still in the boot for the other foot. I had an MRI on it last week and yesterday was told I have a stress fracture in it, so back to wearing the boot for another 2-4 weeks, if all goes well. It’s more of a pain (literally!) on the right foot because to drive I have to take off the boot and substitute the post-op flat shoe, then put the boot back on when I arrive at my destination. And the boot is really hot, and as the weather is heating up more and more, it becomes even more uncomfortable. My feet just can’t seem to catch a break, no pun intended!0 -
I got a text from SIL while we were several hours say that BIL had been given last rites and was near the end. We were still in MD so there was no way to be there. We spent tha night in DE. I had texted and left a voicemail but didn’t hear back. I wasn’t surprised because she must have been exhausted. My niece called in the morning to say he had passed during the night. They were tied up making funeral plans so we continued the trip home, with rain most of the way. The funeral will be next week, after the holiday.
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