Household

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We’re Setting Up Housekeeping

While we are still here with all the proper addresses attached to our credit cards, etc. we have been getting some things set up for our life South of the border. We went ahead and signed up with Earth Class Mail. Formerly called Remote Control Mail, it is a mail forwarding business that is set up for people who are comfortable with doing work online. When a piece of mail arrives, you are sent an email. They attach a picture...

And Yet Another Step Closer

WOW. Our second garage sale was today. And what a crazy day it was. Everything sold except a few ragtag things that can go in an easy trip to Goodwill. So now we have only a mattress and box springs on the floor, a plastic table in the kitchen with two outdoor chairs, and nothing else! We even sold the tv and all of our books! I guess we’ll be heading to the library and using our computers for entertainment...

One countdown done, one to go

This is a post from the usually silent member of the blog team. Those of you who read us regularly know that there has been a countdown clock on the upper right area of the screen for almost a year, tracking the days until my retirement. Well, there are no days left. I have just come home after my last day of full-time gainful employment ever. I am in a bit of a daze, but I feel great. I have...

Another step closer…

Maya (up) and Tiko (below)       More changes have been happening around here…     This weekend my brother in law came over for the furniture that he and my sister wanted. Several chairs and bookcases and assorted items like some of my grandmother’s coffee cups have now found a new home.     But the biggest change for us is that we found a new home for our second parrot, Maya. Maya was our first bird, a...

It warms my heart…

Last weekend our oldest son and his family arrived with a rental truck to help us achieve our Mexico dream. And an important part of that dream is to empty our house out – but since so much of our furniture had come to me from my parents, it was essential to find the furniture a new home within the family. We had a really nice visit, and many pieces of our well loved family furniture now has a new...

Another project completed!

      Our move to Mexico – and the fact that we’re only taking what our van will carry – finally got me off my duff to handle a project that should have been done long ago.   At long last some old treasured family VHS tapes have been transferred to DVD. It will be fun to watch them again when we are settled in Mazatlan.   My dad being interviewed about food on the radio on Thanksgiving in...

A Landmark Day

  Photo Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times Today marks a couple of milestones….Paul has only three more weeks of work, and it was the opening of the new Tacoma Narrows bridge. Sunday was a festive day where more than 60,000 people walked and ran across the bridge to mark the occasion. Today when Paul crossed the new bridge he had his easiest commute in almost seven years. Too bad it didn’t open sooner so he could reap the benefit for more...

Another project!

This must be when my enthusiasm for painting was born… My latest project is going through a number of boxes of pictures and memorabilia and scanning them so they can be with us in Mexico. I am actually really excited about this project since my untidy boxes of yellowing paper and jumbled pictures will now be organized and easy to access. (Don’t worry, they will be backed up on Paul’s computer and also our backup hard drive.) Once the item...

Now I Can Relax…

  The hardy banana   This morning the new owners of our house came over to meet us and ask some questions about the place. I was in agony all night last night that they would come over and something would make them change their mind and back out of the deal. Why would I think that way? I am usually a very optimistic person, but for some reason I have been very anxious about the fact that a deal...

Ah, Mazatlan!

  Our courtyard with Virgin of Guadalupe We have started packing! I can’t believe how well it is going, too. I have packed two boxes of books, one of kitchen things, and one of vases & breakables. I can see one more box of bathroom things, one more kitchen box, and another for our home office. All of our clothes and bedding is going in plastic bags in the car top cargo box. It feels so real now that the...

Odds and Ends

When you are reducing your worldly possessions from a big house to what will fit in the minivan, a lot of odds and ends come up that you wouldn’t face in a normal move…. I have been packing books. Should I keep a dictionary? Or will the computer be enough? What should I do with my grandmother’s binder of typed poetry? It is awful but it is hers! What should I do with my favorite heavy turtleneck sweater that I...

Yahoo!

Our big news is that the Buyers have removed their inspection condition – we have to do a few things but we have agreement and there are no further conditions or contingencies. So, the house is sold! Now I can really get going packing things up. This will be fun! The deal has to close on or before September 1, so we know we will be in Mazatlan sometime around the middle of September. The hottest month of the year….which...

Cross your fingers for us…..

      After a lot of negotiating, our house is sold!   I guess I should qualify that since they still need to do the inspection, and if something comes up that we can’t negotiate through, the deal could possibly flip.   But we are cautiously optimistic….and are anxious to be through this condition period so that we can get started packing and selling. Until we know for sure about the inspection we want to keep the house looking...

Nuestra casa, nuestra casa!

Yes, it is our house now! The wire transfers came through, the signatures are done, the notario is paid, and the house is ours! After so much buildup is was incredibly easy. Happy faces and handshakes all around. I went to dinner with the former owner of our house (wow that was fun to type) last night and it was great to finally relax and get to know each other now that it is over! He is getting going on...

I need to take a deep breath….

I have known that a challenge for me – not just with regard to our move to Mexico, but in general – is to be a bit less intense about transactions. This would be things like – when people don’t call or come when they said they would – or people saying they would do things and then not doing them. I can get pretty cranky sometimes, and especially get frustrated when I had multiple assurances that there would be...