Breathe In, Breathe Out

I spoke with our loan officer this morning. The appraiser still hasn't filed his appraisal with the VA. That information has necessitated a call to the moving company to bump our moving day back about a week (at least). That makes me just a little grumpy, but there are so many blessings to offset that tiny bit of news. Our grandbabies will be here in 2 days, with their parents in tow. I  plan to spend all next week vegging, playing in the back yard with the girls and not worrying about moving or packing or traveling or anything. It's going to be a fun week, with Hailey's graduation as the centerpiece of the week. We are going to eat good food (cleaning out the freezer in the process), laugh, play and enjoy each others' company. We have also scheduled a family pix. It'll probably  be our last opportunity for a very long time.

Hailey's class had an awards assembly last night, giving out the scholarships and awards. Hailey is graduating with honors, so she will get to wear the gold braid on her graduation gown. I'm so proud of her and her hard work. She is SOOOO ready for this whole thing to be finished.

The moving company rep came yesterday for our walk-through. It's so revealing to see your home through another's eyes. I thought I was doing well with the decluttering--then again, maybe not. There is still so much to do, maybe the additional week will be a blessing.

I've been trying to get loose ends tied up and knotted. There are so many little things that go along with moving. Got our Temple Recommends renewed--our stake leaders will be nearly 2 hours away in ND, but only 5 minutes away here. Stocked up on new unnies. Ordered a new Washer/Dryer set (half the price of anything we've seen up in ND). Scheduled final "girlie" checks. Took the sewing machine in to be cleaned and serviced. Still so much to do, but I'm getting a handle on it.

We are finally enjoying spring/summer weather. I'm reveling in having the windows open and the breezes wafting through. I even took one blanket off the bed!

Let It Go

Tad was home this last week, and we spent lots of time cleaning. We spent one whole day cleaning out the garage, another whole day cleaning out the shed and two other days doing yard work. We also spent that cleaning time making piles of things to be donated. Now it must be understood that we are NOT packrats. I am really a pretty organized person, and things have NOT piled up. We'd never qualify for an episode of "Hoarders". We have lived in this house for 8.5 years, though, (the longest we have ever lived ANYWHERE) and things have accumulated a little, since this is where we raised our 3 kids. We ended up making 4 trips to the Youth  Ranch donation drop-off, just in this week. That doesn't include the fact that I make a big trip to the drop-off about once a month. Most of it was stuff we've used well and outgrown the need for. It was all good and usable. The beauty thing is, it's now OUT of our lives, OUT of our heads and OUT of our house. We don't and won't miss it, especially since the kids are all (going to be) out of the house. I love the mental freedom of a good de-cluttering. I know that there are tons of blogs showing how to organize things in one's home, but I've always thought it was better to have less to organize in the first place. I don't have before and after photos, since this is not that type of blog, but suffice it to say that a little more breathing room is a wonderful thing. It will also be much easier for the movers to pack our household goods.

Crunch Time

Things progress towards our moving day, but we don't even know when that will be. I need to call our moving coordinator this week and let her know what our tentative plans are for closing on the house and when we want to move. This is the first time in my live I've ever NOT packed the boxes and loaded the truck for a move, and it is weird! Usually by this time we are living out of nearly full boxes and the walls are bare, but this time I'm not supposed to pack anything. The only thing I CAN do is declutter the house and every room so the movers don't pack something I don't want to take. There is a little bit of overlap between what we are taking for ourselves, what we are leaving until we sell the house and what Hailey will need to survive until then and after. Ack! I'm afraid that when all the dust settles there will be too many things in the wrong places.

Tad has only 1 more rotation home before Hailey's graduation and our moving week. She has 2 weeks of school left before graduation and boy, is she trunky! Tad will be here for 1 week, go back to work for 1 week then come back for her graduation. We will enjoy spending that week with all of our family and playing with the grandbabies. Then the week after that we will be doing major decluttering and taking lots of stuff to Goodwill and  waiting for the moving crew. Makes me tired just thinking about all of it.

The new house is progressing towards completion. We have the skirting on, the propane tank has been delivered, the front and back steps are in progress and the deck has been built. The sidewalks on the front and side of the house are poured and that's just what we can see on the outside. We've been told the inside trim work is also in progress. I'm so excited to see it in person!