Thursday, October 29, 2015

T-2 Days and Counting

Okay I will never be ready. I had planned to spend the entire day packing. That's a joke. I got to spend the entire day running around for the bank and the attorneys. I did get to do the walk through of the house. Both outlets have been fixed and so has the shower, which will get a new head. The painter was there to do touch up work. I feel kinda bad as I will be painting the grey walls as soon as possible.

So this is what to day looks like:

I needed some space cleared in the living room. These are books I've written. And there are more somewhere. But I have gained a little space.


Me, looking at what I have to crawl over to get to the empty boxes I will be half the night filling. See the horror in my eyes.  But as soon as I post this, I'll be back at it. Might or might not have a post tomorrow.

TTFN


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

T-3 Days and Counting

Okay, it's Wednesday. I am officially overwhelmed. The final draft of closing papers came today via email with what I need to bring for closing costs. No real shock there. The shock came when I was told I had to surrender all of my credit cards. I knew they had to paid but nothing was said about surrendering them. Although I almost think this might be a good idea.

On my list of things to do??? Pack. I'm beyond where I can even think. So, I'm just packing. Whatever was on the list will get done. I just know as I look around I am overwhelmed. Most of my things were packed. Where on earth did all these boxes come from?

I have checked all the papers I need for the closing, they are in a file and I know where the file is. I have checked the items I need to put where I can find them. Those will be the items I take with me on Friday afternoon. I have the items I need for cleaning they will stay here on Saturday.

Garbage goes out tomorrow, I will take it out again on Sunday after I have cleaned the apartment. Monday morning I do the walk through, pay the last rent, and drop off the keys. While I am not an apartment dweller by nature, these are not bad. Some of the people I've met here are super. It's not a community, it's just people who live here and work. While it is not transient, people stay for a long time. And 8 of the units are owned by the people who live in them, so there is some permanence.

Remember not to look for me for a while after Friday as I will be without internet until I figure out what I can get. I still worry it will be Comcast. Although not until they fix it so I'm not paying for TV since I never ordered TV in the first place.

Back to my boxes.

TTFN

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

T-4 Days and Counting

Tuesday accomplishments:

  • Movers are hired and will be here at 9am on Sat. They will take down and set up beds. 
  • Cannot get AT & T Uverse at the new house even though they have a hook up in my front yard. This was a major part of my afternoon.
  • Have spoken to my person at the bank and his assistant
  • Have spoken to the paralegal at the attorney's office
  • Needles for insulin have been ordered
On my left to do list:

  • Call Direct TV as it looks like they will be the best game in town
  • Make the bread
  • Find dinner
  • Continue packing
The continue packing will be on the list for the rest of the week. Added to the list somewhere in there probably for next week is to call my friend, Jane LaRoche to get information on her friend who does interior painting.

I will be mad if I am forced to take Comcast with me for internet. They are awful.

I am also working on Christmas gifts so there is that to keep me busy when I cannot look at a box one more minute. For times when I need sanity. I'm hoping the rain from Hurricane P will blow out by the week end. Yes, we are getting some. Moving in the rain is not my idea of fun.

Things are progressing.
TTFN

Monday, October 26, 2015

T-5 Days and Counting

Monday: Checked off my to do list are
  • Power is in my name starting Friday
  • Water is in my name starting Friday
  • Meds were picked up and address was changed.
  • Address was changed at bank and checks were ordered
  • Next Steps was accomplished.
  • All bills are paid and mailed
  • Moving crew is hired.
  • Address change has been picked up from post office
  • Broken package, thrown against the door on Friday was left with PO complaint dept.
  • Baby layette, winning gift from party have been mailed.
Still left to do::

  • Order needles for insulin from doctor
  • Call AT & T about Uverse for internet
  • Call Direct TV
  • Cancel Comcast on Friday & return all equipment
  • Continue packing
  • Find dinner
  • Write humorous bio for author spotlight
  • Write 300-1500 word story due Nov. 5th for Christmas anthology (Before Friday on both writing pieces as I won't have internet for a while after Friday).
  • Make last loaf of bread and do dishes.
Yeah it looks like a shorter list, but really it's not. I'm taking the garbage out on my way to find dinner. I'm not cooking this week. If I can't eat it on a paper plate with my fingers, it's not being served. Everything is being packed. Except one coffee mug so I can have my daily dose of tea. That means one pan gets left out, too. But since it will only have water in it, I'm not concerned.

Breathe, just breathe.
TTFN

Friday, October 23, 2015

T-7 Days and Counting


At this point I am doing nothing but packing. I'm not grocery shopping, I'm not buying anything but garbage bags and a Swiffer mop. Mine did not survive the trip down here. 

Management and I are good on me cleaning on Sunday and doing a walk through and turning in keys on Monday with my final payment. Since my deposit is being returned, we will put it toward a month's rent and I will not have to pay as much to break the lease. This is a good thing.

Monday's to do list looks something like this:
  • Next Steps volunteering from 8:30am to noon
  • Contact Berkeley Electric about transferring service
  • Contact St. John's Water about setting up an account and starting service
  • Change address at the post office
  • Purchase garbage bags and Swiffer
  • Pack as much of kitchen as possible. 
  • Contact AT&T about internet.
Tuesday & Wednesday look like more packing. Thursday is final walk through of the house. I need to check a couple of things.

Friday is closing. In the afternoon I am moving some small things into the house. Mostly clothes and items I need to know where they are. Stripping my bed and doing laundry if possible. If not I'll haul all the laundry to the house and sit it on a shelf in the laundry closet. 

Saturday is moving. We have the truck for 6 hours. I know we can get this done.

Sunday is sweep, mop,vacuum the apartment, clean kithchen and bathroom. Make sure it looks like new. 

Monday, Nov. 2nd 10am walk through and pay final rent. 
Tues. Some silly Dr. appt. Hopefully go scout out a new washer and dryer.
Wed. Dentist appt. Hopefully a washer and dryer can be delivered. Laundry time.
Thurs. Settle in

So my work is cut out. Don't look for me on Facebook. If you need me, call or text. If you're volunteering to help with the move, let me know. I'm still looking for a head count.

TTFN



Thursday, October 22, 2015

T-8 Days and Counting

Okay are we starting to get a little frantic, yet? The answer would be not really. I walked through the house today and got photos with the new floor in the bedrooms and hallway. Doors are not in yet. I found a couple things I was unhappy about, but I'll fix them. They are minor.

This is the best photo of the floors. This is the smallest bedroom and will be my office/sewing/craft room. I have come to the conclusion it is senseless to unpack then repack when I am ready to paint. I'll be painting all the bedrooms and the living room before I unpack everything. I'm not packing again unless I get the hairbrained idea to move again. So, the room you are looking at will be a light green with a dark green feature wall. From the window to the corner and the corner half way across the wall will be book shelves. My desk will sit on an angle in front of the book shelves and will have room for my two drawer file cabinet. Book shelves will be open so the green walls will show through, um hopefully. Depends on if I get rid of some books or not. And the blinds will be replaced with roller shades and lace curtains.

The apartment has a path through the living room, I am trying to make a path in the spare room to get to empty boxes. The whole thing is a project.

On the upside I was able to reserve a 17 foot UHaul for relatively little money. We have six hours to get us moved out and the truck returned. I have two dollies a big one and a small one. It should keep us busy.  If I have enough people to help me we should be able to knock it out in less than six hours. Took three of us 5 hours to unload when we got here and put up the two beds. I don't think we'll have an issue. We aren't going as far this time.

TTFN

Friday, October 16, 2015

T-15 Days and Counting

Been a busy place here, but the large dolly arrived this evening.

Many thanks to my friend Beth for delivering and Linda for loanin. As you can see there are some boxes there. Just wait, I have more.

The small file box I used on Mondays for Next Steps. It carries information to help me help others. Oh wait, there's still more.

This is a second tower I have in the living room. There is a third, but due to the fact there are Christmas presents in that stack I am not able to take it at this time. Just know packing is in full swing. Baking pans get packed tomorrow.  Once I bake a loaf of bread in my crockpot, both it and the mixer are being washed and packed. Getting to the empty boxes is proving to be the hardest thing I have to do. But, I'll get there. 

TTFN


Tuesday, October 6, 2015

T-25 Days and Counting

The sun was shining today. I could get used to it again. I was out and about. The house weathered the storm just fine. It was pretty neat to see the front yard markers.

The seller (also the other realtor) sent me samples today to choose the flooring for my three bedrooms. I picked one of the four choices. I can hardly wait to see it down. Soon.

I want to measure the bedroom windows for shades and curtains. I also need to measure the dining room and kitchen windows for the same. I am not a fan of blinds.  Living room curtains I already have and they will look nice.

Next will be the security system. Things are moving right along. The bank checking with my apartment manager to see what kind of tenant I am and whether I pay my rent on time. No issues there.

So at this point, I've been approved. The home inspection has been done and the seller agreed to fix the things that were wrong. The land survey is done. The floors are being put down. I have the home owners insurance and  new car insurance. I've been repacking. I have more to do. To destress I've been reading or crocheting. So, I'm getting things done, mailed out, or put in a box for Christmas.

Tomorrow I'm taking out the trash and repacking some more. I'm finishing a birthday gift today. Then I have a couple more items to get done. I'm labeling boxes so I know where they go. They will be easier to sort if I can put them in the right rooms to begin with.

To say I'm getting excited is an understatement. I'm getting excited. I'm ready to be settled. The upheaval is making me nuts. And in my mind I'm picking color schemes as I know I need color.

TTFN

Saturday, October 3, 2015

T-28 Days and Counting

Okay, I've had enough. Mother Nature can stop with the temper tantrum. This rain is for the ducks and even they don't want it. I was out and about a bit today between breaks in the rain. Take a look.

This one was about noon. if you look closely you will see water at the base of the tree. The railing is along the walkway where my upstairs neighbor lives. I was standing on my porch. The rest were taken about 4:30pm when I ventured out to get my mail.



The top photo is the lake in front of my car. The water had not reached the parking lot at that point. The middle one is looking toward the driveway and swimming pool form the management building. And the last one is west of me. I was standing near where the sidewalk separates from my building and the next. The lake in the distance is normally a dog run and there is a nice bench there for folks to sit on. Occasionally we get a couple of geese and some folks feed them bread crumbs.

As of midnight we had an alert there would be flash flooding in the area between midnight and 6am. Northwestern SC, and areas of NC are supposed to get tornadoes. People who have built on the side of the mountain were told Friday to abandon their homes and find safety. They fear mud slides with the amount of rain we've had and continue to get.


For those who didn't get the earlier memo, this is the latest in fashion footwear in South Carolina for the next few weeks.

TTFN

Friday, October 2, 2015

T-29 Days and Counting

Well, maybe I should have considered a boat instead of a house.

This is pretty much all I have seen since Wednesday afternoon. We get little breaks when there is nothing but mist, but for the most part, we are getting torrential rain. It is my understanding we will get three months rain over the weekend. Flooding is going to be a serious issue. I am staying put.


I suspect if I were  to venture out tomorrow or Sunday, I'd see many signs like this on roads which are impassable. They are telling people if you don't need to go out, don't. I am listening. I'm not going to put myself in harms way. If I need something from the grocery store, I can walk. It is only 1/4 mile each  way and 1/4 mile back into the apartment complex each way. So, a mile round trip. No big deal. The thing which would prevent me from walking is this rain is so heavy I'd be soaked to the skin within a minute or two. Not my idea of fun.

Just packing and crocheting.

TTFN

Thursday, October 1, 2015

T-30 days and Counting

I'm really glad my new house is on a hill. They issued flood warnings early this afternoon. And the Governor has now declared a state of emergency due to flooding. I am not particularly worried. I have food. I have no where I have to go before Monday, although I'd like to get to church on Sunday.

I have plenty to keep me busy for a few days. Rest assured there is still packing to do. I have some items I need to get to the post office and get shipped. But, if need be they will wait. Mail I can put in the outgoing box here at the apartment complex.

Power washing got done before the rain set in. They neglected to tell me it would shoot mud and yuck under my door. Not impressed with it at all. Something which could have been prevented if there were storm doors.

I have an offer of shelter if Hurricane Joaquin should change direction and head this way. I am praying it will not as one access off the island will be closed by morning if it isn't already. I am hunkered down for the duration. Might have to reopen the DVD's and watch a few again. Or might see what I can stream on the computer.

And why am I writing this at 1 am? I seem to be having an issue with my days and nights. It generally corrects itself on its own, so I'm not going to over think it. For now I just go with the flow.
Soon my mind will shut down on its own and I will sleep deeply. In the meantime, I am making a list of what to pack tomorrow.

I'm baking bread tomorrow so, the mixer stays out as does the crockpot. But I have some spices and other items I won't be using before the move which can be packed. I have items in the bathroom which can be packed as I have to empty the cabinet in there so it can be moved when we move. It will not be completely emptied until the day before the move as some things I do need a place to store them. Office supplies can find their way back into boxes. I'll keep out only what I actually need. Craft supplies can be packed. See, I have plenty to do.

So, let it rain. I will survive.

TTFN

October Already

 I'm not sure where the time has flown. June was an exiting month. July was a mess. I had a change of medication which caused me to gain...