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| A few of my swirling thoughts (or what happens when you drop your camera in water.) |
--The paperwork on the house is slowing down. Yesterday, there were only two emails concerning the purchase, and two phone calls concerning work to be done. The day before we took a break with only one email. I've talked with several people and no one ever remembers having this much paper work when they bought a house. There seem to be a lot of new regulations, both local and national, to protect us--or annoy us depending on your perspective.
--The getting-rid-of-stuff continues in full force. Since we signed the contract for the new house almost three weeks ago, we have given away four loads to various thrift shops, two loads to charities who sent trucks to the house, 14 boxes of books to the library, various items to friends and family, and a truckload of things, including a boat, to a scrap metal yard. We are not being brutal with giving away our things, but after 19 years a in house, even with regular purging, stuff accumulates. There is plenty more to do in this area.
--Whoever thought hot flashes were a good idea? Probably the same people who thought up menstrual cramps. Sometimes these natural processes are not so fun.
--My book club recently read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, and it got a thumbs up from everyone. It's hard to describe the plot without giving too much away or without it sounding like a depressing book that you wouldn't want to read. (That's what happened when I tried to tell Aunt Martha about it.) It is an easy, humorous read with a feel good message that just happens among some depressing situations. The main character, Ove, has had some back luck and decided that life is not worth living. However in his attempts to end it all, things happen until his life is transformed for the better. Ove is the type definition for the word curmudgeon, however I loved him. This was a book I read a little at a time because I wanted to come back every day and have a visit with him. As you can tell I recommend the book, but it's pretty popular right now, so it might take some time for you to find at the library. You might want to put a hold on now if you're interested.
--Oh my. I've just gotten started and my computer time is up. Time to get the recycling out, feed the cats, and get ready for work
Have a great day. That's my plan.
It's amazing the amount of work/decluttering that you have managed to accomplish amongst all the paperwork, I'm sure many discussions about various issues and you working outside of the home to boot! You're doing such a great job handling all of this, despite the anxiety that you were feeling.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that all this paperwork will indeed protect you if anything should happen. I know that despite all the paperwork and assurances that we were protected, nothing protected us from the previous owners or the house inspector or the city NOT knowing that the house had actually never been connected to the city sewer system: the people who sold us the house had only had it for 2 years and there indeed had been sewer pipes installed on the property by the owners before them, back when the city had allowed people to connect themselves to the sewer system on their own (!). Come to find out, though, that they never had actually connected the house to the sewer pipes themselves so everything was still flowing into 3 ancient septic systems that nobody suspected were there (including one right under our concrete and tile front porch!) that hadn't been pumped in decades and that all pretty much decided to back up within a few weeks of us moving in! Oh, and the sellers AND the previous owners had been paying for city sewer service for YEARS for nothing. Oh, and there was a fire in the 80s that destroyed a great part of the city records so the city could never find the record of the house having actually been connected to the city sewer even though they had been billing the successive owners for years. What a clusterf***. We just ate the $15,000 it cost us to actually collapse the septic tanks and then connect the house. And then a couple of years later, we had to pay another $5,000 to reconnect part of the house properly since the original plumbers hadn't used the right diameter of piping so we were getting backed up again. In the meantime, the original plumbers had gone out of business so we couldn't recover anything. This is another reason why I'm having nightmares about ever selling our house because who knows what else we don't know about at this moment, but that we might be held liable for. A lawyer we consulted told us to save our money and not bother suing the home inspector or the previous owners because the onus was on us to prove that they knew the house wasn't connected and then we'd still have to try to recover any money even if the judgment was in our favor, which was a long shot to begin with. In that moment, you realize that all the paperwork you filled out is pretty much useless and I believe only serves to line up the pockets of the various entities that charge you exorbitant fees for "document fees" and such nonsense. Yep, I'm pretty jaded!
I might have to put the book you recommended on my reading list. I'm actually very much in favor of people ending their life whenever or however they choose to, as long as they don't take other people with them. But I especially liked how you described your reaction to the book as wanting to go on visiting with the character every day. I have had similar reactions to books written by Stewart O'Nan ("Wish You Were Here", "Emily, Alone") and "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" by Maria Semple. Some books you wish would never end... My soon-to-be 18-year-old daughter feels that way about the Harry Potter series, lol.
I'm in total agreement with the hot flashes thing. Goodness, why can't it be like a tap and it gets turned off when you're done having kids and that's pretty much it? There I go whining about plumbing again :)
Good luck with the continuing decluttering/cleaning and signing of paperwork. Think of how much easier (and cheaper!) it's going to be to move without all that stuff you're letting go.
It sounds like you've really had a difficult time with your house. Hopefully, you've lived in it long enough to figure out what's wrong so you can fix it if you want. My husband suggested that we get a house inspection before we put this house on the market. That way we could fix stuff ahead of time. I think we should just wait because every inspector sees things differently. And every buyer has different things fixed. I think we're in reasonable shape, but as you said, you never know.
DeleteI don't remember the amount of paperwork you are describing when we purchased our home 14 years ago. Glad you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteSo funny you brought up hot flashes. I'm not having those, but I am having insomnia and my monthly cycle has been increasing in frequency (boo!). I Googled "peri-menopause" this morning. Seems we are having some sort of mid-life crisis theme. ;)
You know, sometimes it is not easy being female--especially where hormones are involved.
DeleteI have a magnet on my fridge of a very sassy woman saying "I'm still hot, but now it just comes in flashes"
ReplyDeleteLove it!
DeleteI think its good to move now and then, forces one to get rid of the unwanted and accumulated. Lighten the load, which is always good. Now I have a rule in this house. If I haven't used it in a year, it goes. It helps me, this rule. Things never pile up. I like to feel I could get up and go with little fanfare. Too many moves have created this in me. I did not know buying a house involved so much paperwork that takes such time! I am excited to see your new place, but I think worried over your squirrels, deer and birds, who will miss you.
ReplyDeleteNo need to worry over the critters. There are plenty of trees, shrubs, and plants around for them to feast to their hearts content around here. We had feeders because we liked watching them up close and it was entertainment for the cats. I'm already trying to figure out how we're going to set up a show for them at the new house. We'll just have to see how it works out. But as you can imagine, the cats are a big consideration in this move.
DeleteI think you have a very smart rule about getting rid of stuff. I'm not quite there but strive to only have things around that I can really use or want.