Again, I prove I am no blogger. I can't post for months at a time.
The last few months I have been continuing and accelerating the downsizing.
Two thirds of my kitchen have been given away, donated, spread among family. Entertainment Center, Pool Table, Piano, Pinball Machine all gone. Some I made a nice profit. A 5 year old has the Piano and I hope my mom is happy and that Valerie is as well. The new family who has it will tune it, use it and teach their kids how to play. The entertainment center was being picked up by a father who was giving it to his daughter in her new home and he was keeping the TV as his quit working a few days earlier. The pool table landed at a store in Macon and the Pinball in Iowa with a new collector.
Since Valerie and her portion of the clan have moved out, I am now the only occupant of the house. 5800 square feet, 3 floors, an entire apartment just for me. Of course the logical part of me is pushing along. I have been prepping the house, continuing getting rid of stuff, and will be listing the home for sale soon. Brian and Katherine have graciously offered to let me have a bedroom in their house while I figure what is next. This helps immensely as I can take my time to sell, don't have to worry about finding another place immediately. Kraig and Lisa want me to come down and visit and I think I will. My belongings with the exception of day to day items will be in a storage building until I need them again.
My emotions are getting more level, the painful bouts of missing Joan, getting angry, damning things is growing further apart. I can smile more about our shared memories. We all went to Tybee last week during the grandkids break and scattered Joans ashes into the ocean. She loved Tybee and planned decades worth of vacations there for us, for the kids, their friends, the grandkids and their friends. Rae, Scott and Brad all attended which made it extra special. I still worry about Scott, hopefully he is handling things as well as he leads me to believe.
My real estate career has obviously taken a back seat. I handle whatever clients come my way, but I am not actively seeking more until I get moved. Thankfully Howard and Kim have been helping me with a lot of house prep. Makes it easier. If all goes well I should have the house listed this month, not the prime time of the year but I don't wish to wait until February.