Six weeks from today we will be moving into Scoopy. That’s not far off, but in that short time, we have a lifetime of things to do.
Our house is still in complete disarray, boxes and papers everywhere. Over the years I have read numerous blogs about how to downsize, and the recommendation mostly seems to be to handle one room at a time, sorting things into four piles: keep, sell, donate and trash.That’s it essentially, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Once we decide to keep something, we then decide where to keep it, either on the road with us in Scoopy or at my parents place in Texas. The last one requires a bit of thought, because things in Texas might be stored, or used in the ranch house. So how we pack it makes a difference. Stuff for Zoe and Zac’s new apartment in Bellingham also falls into the “Keep” pile, which includes lots of furniture and household items. Tara is moving to San Diego, so will not be taking much from home as she can buy what she needs cheaper than we can ship it all to her.
“Sell” is the majority of our stuff, which is nice because mostly we can just leave it laying around and the estate sale folks will handle it. It does, however, make for a cluttered house. Our donate pile is empty, as our Estate Sale person instructed us to try and sell everything first, then donate what doesn’t sell.
Shredding like it’s 1999 Lots of wires but where are the gadgets?
Trash is a monstrosity of a category. We were big on saving everything. We have come across old bank statements and phone bills from 1978 and beyond. I kept every term paper I ever wrote in high school and college. It’s overwhelming. Steven has literally spent days sitting at the shredder and there is still more to come.
Texas Room (and Scoopy stuff)
Sell and Sort Room (still a lot to go through)
Our estate sale isn’t until the end of June, so it seems as though we have plenty of time. We don’t. My Mom arrives Monday the 2nd, my Dad follows on the 8th. My sister arrives on the 11th, and Zoe and Zac’s dad arrives on the 12th. Yep, we will have a house full of guests in the midst of all this chaos. But it’s all for good reason, as Zac and Tara graduate from Skyline High School on Friday the 13th.
Saturday following graduation, we get a 20′ U-Haul truck and start loading all the stuff designated for Texas. My parents will be driving it home instead of flying. By Monday the 16th, everyone will be gone, along with a chunk of stuff that is taking up a lot of room.
But there is no rest for the weary. As soon as the last person leaves, the estate sale team arrives. Over the next 10 days, they prepare for the sale, which is scheduled for June 27 & 28th. Before then, everything in our “Keep” pile has to be shoehorned into our bedroom so that it isn’t snatched up at the sale. When we return home on the evening of the 28th, our house will be “empty & broom clean”.
Seemingly, at that point we can breathe again. But no, July is just around the corner…
UP NEXT: Whirlwind!
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one box at a time..the next six weeks will just fly by!!
Your parents are so terrific! don't they want to drive Scoopy home to Texas and let you drive the U-Haul???
Not sure how I stumbled upon your blog, but I'm hooked. I'll be following on Feedly – my RSS reader.
We officially launched our full timing life in January 2012. The emotional drain on us while freeing ourselves from the trappings of life was overwhelming at times. Two and a half years later, we look back and think we should have done this sooner. If you care to peak into our journey, you can find our blog at waggintailsrv.com. Welcome to the new lifestyle.
This was such a fun time for me. I was eager to rid myself of our old life and start our new one on the road.
Have fun.
Kathi Boozer – our blog site is on arlonboozer.com
It was hard enough to prepare to be "snowbirds" by selling our dream home and moving into a new condo, I can only imagine how you are feeling!!
But I am sure the excitement of your new life style is carrying you through this.
Linda Payne ( RV Dreams ) does a session on Emotional Transition, that talks about the tears of joy, tears of frustration, and second-guessing that each person seems to go through on the road to fulltiming.
It is totally normal to wake up in a panic, and wonder what the heck are we doing?? … ha ha.
It is fun following your journey, and will only get better.
Take care … TnT
Oh wow, this brings back memories that are still too close to the surface for us — we started full-timing last June, and the last few weeks before we managed to get ourselves out of town were beyond exhausting, both emotionally and physically. I felt like I was never going to claw my way to the top of the pile! But we did, and you will, and you will be SO HAPPPY that you're doing this now! We are thrilled that we finally shoved ourselves out of our comfortable nest and took to the road. Just keep your eye on the prize. 🙂
The box of cords looking for their gadget cracked me up!! We have yet to match up the few stragglers we've found and anticipate the cords will be in the freebie box at the yard sale :-). Your system is definitely working and hopefully your guests will be more help than hindrance (I see on FB that Mom is a dynamo!). I see it all coming together smoothly and you sitting in Scoopy with a glass(es) of wine saying "Hell, that wasn't so bad."