New Apartment, New Friends, and . . . Covid????

 This seems as good a time as any to write about my move into my new assisted living apartment just down the street from Michelle in Talent Oregon. No pictures yet. I will wait for those until I can show you an organized, mostly neat apartment. For now, let it suffice that I am pleased. I have a large bedroom, a small sitting room, a tiny kitchen area with microwave, fridge and freezer, and bathroom. There is a lot more storage than you might imagine. The food is good - three meals a day ordered off a  is menu and cooked by two really good cooks. I'm making friends of the several other ladies and learning to listen with patience to those whose ability to remember words is less than mine. I am almost moved in.

Yesterday afternoon Marc and Akira were coming to put together a bookcase and as I walked out of my room to meet them at the front door, a nurse was standing in the hall doing something and she asked if I had heard. No. Covid!! So she tested me - I'm fine - handed me a mask and sent me on my way. I called Michelle to warn the guys to wear masks. They came, put the shelves together and left. I wanted to hug them especially as Akira heads back to Eugene today but I didn't because I just didn't know. 

Wow - it is Never dull!!! 

Dean is back in Southern California, living with his son Rob and searching for an Air-Stream to buy. He will travel in it, fish along the way, and come to see me as often as he can. We are already talking about a trip to the beach. Meanwhile, although I continue to be sore and slow moving, I think I am healing some because I do a lot of resting and then my movement is walking a lot, unloading boxes, and lifting my little weights. 

I'll send pictures when things are just a little more organized. Meanwhile, please hold a good thought for this new adventure we are on. 

This is the Way We Move Our Stuff

 I can finally say, I am ready! Later this afternoon we will go to the storage units and do one more check and pick up a rocking chair to go in the car we are driving to Oregon. Coming back to the house, we will put two chairs in the back of the car, stuff some soft things in between the arms and legs of the chairs, and in the morning put the suitcases in the very last thing so they will come out first. The pallets have already arrived in Oregon. Ninety-nine percent of my stuff is in Oregon awaiting my arrival.

Not all of this is mine. Several boxes have things for the daughters and grands. A lot of mine hang on the walls so won't take up that much floor space. The time has finally come. The next blog will come from Oregon announcing my final arrival! Blessings on the journey - both yours and mine.

Another Hot and Hard Working Day - uh, Hour.

 Have you ever seen a Pod commercial? They show a family loading or unloading a Pod. The parents are probably in their late 30s, early 40s. The two teenagers are strong, healthy and helpful. Everyone is smiling as they pick up boxes or small pieces of furniture and move them in or out of the Pod. HA! (You do hear the sarcasm in that expletive, I hope.)

Dean and I are in our 80s, moving from 4500 square feet into 406 square feet (me) and however big an AirStream is (Dean). Not your ideal commercial family. We have needed help. 

Fortunately we have had the help of two families ~ both of which brought along a teenager. One came to translate to make sure his mom understood what I wanted. He pitched in and worked over and beyond that though. I didn't realize that was his function until the end of our time. I knew granddaughter Emily had come to work. She is quite the organizer. We'd open a box, I would take a look and sigh, and she would say, "we'll just take it one item at a time" and we'd go to work and rather quickly the box would be sorted and we'd be moving on.

We were supposed to work again this afternoon and the heat is just too much. Dean tells me he needs a rest. He has been doing more than I expected. All I do is sit and supervise into which pile things go.

Emily helps set up a covering to give us some shade. After about 15 minutes the wind began to blow so the tarp came down before it was blown away, Fifteen minutes after that there was no more wind.

Boxes on top of boxes on top of boxes, each one going somewhere to either come to Oregon with me, come later with Dean, go back into storage for Dean to go through later or into a car to be taken to another friend, Monica, who will put the contents on eBay. Slowly and surely with a lot of help from our friends.

And this, my friends, is Old Ted. Ted came to me on my first birthday which means he will soon be 80. When he arrived he was white and fluffy with shiny black tack eyes. The tacks were almost an inch long and very sharp. A wise grandmother said, no. She removed the tacks and replaced them with shiny black button eyes which is all I remember. As you can tell, Ted is real, having been loved long and hard for years and years. He spent the last 21 years on a shelf in our library with several other old and treasured animals. Soon he will return to another shelf in my little apartment with the same friends. It was good for a moment to see him, hold him, and assure him (and me) we are still on this journey together. 

Almost Done Again!

Well, here we are almost 6 months later and our house in Tahoe has not sold and it is time to make another decision. After long hours of conversation with Rob, Dean's son, we  have come to a decision: I am going to move into an assisted living apartment just 5 minutes from Michelle. Dean is buying an Airstream to travel, go fishing, and come see me. 

Our "stuff" is finally out of pods and into storage where I will sort and mark for moving to Oregon, staying here, or being donated or tossed. We only thought we had down-sized before. Now we are doing it for real. My little one bedroom apartment has plenty of wall space for shelves to hold some precious items and to hang family pictures and art. Family members are getting pictures of items to help them decide if they want the items or not. We are fortunate to know someone whose business is putting items on eBay. 

Storage area where I will start sorting sometime within the week. 

We still have Lots of stuff. I am both dreading and looking forward to sorting. It is amazing to me how easy it is to make a decision when push comes to shove. In the previous blog I said how I was done and ready to move on. Well, here I am doing it again and this time I am ready to sort and get ready to be in Oregon in my new little apartment no later than November 15th. I have also learned not to live in expectation of a certain date and for now, I am holding out for the 15th. 

I guess I should say that it is not unusual for couples in their 80s to move into assisted living. We just happen to be doing it separately. This is best for both of us right now. Dean will absolutely Not move into assisted living. I am looking forward to being fed three meals a day without having to lift a finger except to point to the desired item on the menu. (yes, I will have a choice)

This saga continues and I will post more pictures and let you know how this journey plays out. It is rather fun to be looking forward in hope at age 80. Life moves on in interesting ways. 

Almost Done!

 There comes a time in every human project when the person or people involved are ready to stop! It may be a business deal to conclusion, pregnancy to birth, rehearsals to opening night, or moving to settling in. Right now, in my life’s journey it is moving (again) to settling in.

Our house in Tahoe has not sold so we can’t buy another house at a lower elevation in Oregon. Our plan is to sell, buy, and move in. Right now our plan is to store some things, move some things by shipping, and move some things in the car with us. This process is taking forever. I am so ready to be done!

Our present landlord has generously offered to let us rent his out building for storage until we return to this house in November when they move back to Florida. What we are all hoping is that our house in Tahoe sells, we buy this house, and when we move again in November, it is to come to “our” house with our stuff and he and his wife are moving to Arizona. 

Right now though - this minute on the 27th of April 2023 - I am over it. I am done. I want to wave my magic wand (or twitch my nose if you are old enough to remember Samantha) and have all the packing, storing, and decision making behind me and be in Southern California. 

The truth is - in spite of this rant - we are doing and have done well. All but a few little items are in the out building; UPS has picked up 8 of our 9 boxes to ship; the car top carrier is proving its worth; and we have Amazing helpers: Michelle, Marc and Trinity, and our cleaning company women. A thanks and shout out to all of them. Our 80-year-old legs and arms are grateful for all the help. Two and a half days, and we will be on our way. 

Advent Intent

Packed away in a pod somewhere is my Advent wreathe. Years and years old, it is a wreathe into which I have put the four candles of Advent. In the center is the Baby who I switch out on Christmas day for a large white candle to celebrate the coming of the Light into the world. All of it tucked away in a pod somewhere awaiting our first Christmas in our new home which hasn't happened yet. This year we are out of our Tahoe home and in a lovely little leased house in Jacksonville, Oregon, using someone else's furniture and dishes. So what to do about an Advent wreathe?

Well, I do believe that intention tops ritual and so I improvised. I wanted to do something for Christmas decorations so I bought a garland like one I had bought last year. We stretched it out across a cadenza in the living room. I borrowed 6 lovely red balls from the folks who own the house. I had brought some battery powered tea lights so I put 4 of them close together in front of the garland. When we find the AA batteries we brought with us, we will be able to light the garland's lights. 

Meanwhile, the tea lights will be lit every Sunday between now and Christmas in anticipation of the coming of the Light into the world.

What happens in my heart and mind during this time has very little if anything to do with the accompanying decorations. And yet, it is nice to have some decoration to focus my attention on the important things of the season. Advent blessings, dear friends.

We're Moving!

 Some of you know this so forgive the repetition. For others it is the first time you are hearing this. After I had my 'episode' back in  December and all anyone could say is, "Why is your oxygen so low?", we decided we needed to get off the mountain and down to an oxygen rich level. And so began the journey. 

Dean said we should move to the Rogue River Valley close to Grants Pass Oregon so we headed to Zillow in search of some houses to buy. We found 6 we were willing to look at. Our realtor here found us a realtor there and we headed to Oregon during Michelle's spring break. There was a house I really loved right on the river and we made an offer, they accepted, we got the first part of a loan, ~~ and the market crashed, interest rates soared, we couldn't get the bridge loan and new decisions had to be made. 

After nothing happening for months, we decided to let go of the house in Oregon, ski-lease our house here and rent a place on the Applegate River. One of the things that had kept us from ski-leasing before was my thought of everything we had to clear out, move, store and put behind lock and key. All of that had been done. A large portion of our stuff was tossed, donated, or stored in pods in Reno awaiting moving to OR.

With that decision made, we found a little furnished house in Jacksonville OR and will be moving there on November 1st. A friend here is leasing this house for us. Another friend will be the property manager. Still a lot to do to get ready to go but mainly we just have to pack our clothes and go. We are taking the grill - Dean can't be that close to a fishing river and not have his grill. Just a wee bit more complicated than just the clothes and not much. Only have one closet to lock. 

Plans at this time are to move in on November 1st, throw away the oxygen tank, and breathe! 

What happens next? Who knows? For the first time in my life, the future is wide open. Stay tuned for the next chapter in "You're Never Too Old to Do Something Different".