Life on the Move

Several pieces of large furniture left our house today. It’s okay. We’re moving. We have to be out by June 24th, the closing date of the sale of our house. The rooms are starting to look different. We are making progress! The two sofa sleepers we own left today, as did half of the “dog’s couch.” We only have one piece of furniture the dog is allowed to be on and she knows it. Half of it left today, but half was kept for her security and comfort. It’ll be one of the last pieces to go.

Today, I did some weird stuff. I went through a stack of recipes I had saved and put the ones I still wanted in my recipe box. I opened one of the three cedar chests I have. Inside, I found the three dolls my mom made when our boys were young. These will be kept. The memory foam mattress that was kept on top of them will be tossed. This opens a large wooden box, made of solid cherry and maple wood, to store things I want to keep.

Weird Stuff Tells Who I Am

Also, inside the box was a plaque with a monarch painted on the front. I forgot I had this piece of art. It will be coming to the lake with us and I’ll display it there. I placed it in a box that is becoming weirder by the day. In it is a stack of jewelry-making books, the last book I read that I really liked, a book on learning to play the ukelele, and a reference book on depression glass. It is a weird box of stuff. But, the common theme is that they all have something to do with who I am.

Jewelry Books

Although 99% of my jewelry creations come from an idea of my own, it doesn’t mean I don’t like books on the process of jewelry making or to use as a prompt for an idea. Some of these books I put on eBay. Others I will keep. The nice part about making jewelry is that it evolves.

Depression Glass Reference Book

I have a large tote full of depression glass teacups and saucers. They are in a variety of patterns and colors. I collected them in the past (distant past) due to an influence from my mom who also collected depression glass – her collection is sugar bowls and creamers. Although I like these, I’ve never, ever used them. I had an idea to do a tea party with some friends and use them but the idea passed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, I just want to get rid of them. I have to get them out to look at them. The book might help me price them, but it is outdated. I mainly saved it for the pattern name and year it was produced. This is very pretty glassware but seen as how I’ve owned it for over 20 years, and I’ve never used it, it’s time to let it go. I’ll let you know in a future post what I do with it.

And then, when I progressed to my closet later in the day, I found three years of newspapers that I did with Writers’ Circle students. This will be the topic of my post tomorrow. So, stay tuned!

Moving is stressful. There is no doubt about it. But, I’m beginning to think it’s like childbirth. I don’t remember much of our previous moves and probably won’t remember this one, years from now. We moved from a 1912 Federal Period house that we completely gutted and renovated to Wisconsin in 1999. Our first house here was in a brand new development and sold by the realtor who lived in it. I loved that house because it was more “me.” It was a traditional two-story with an open foyer and three levels of living. But, when we were done having kids, we wanted more land than our .66 acre gave us in our first Wisconsin house. We looked and looked, finding our current house in 2007 on the street where our boys went to school. It was built in 2006 and was being sold with the 3.25 acres it sat on. The minute we walked in, I knew I wanted to live in this house. The view of the coulee out the living room window was stunning and it captured my heart. During the 16 years we’ve lived here, we built our timber frame cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It was a slow and steady build. We now have a house to go to while we decide on what to do with our 15-acre lot in a nearby town. Through it all, things have gone smoothly. The seamless progression tells me that we are doing the right thing.

There is no doubt I’ll miss this house. But, we are ready to make this move. And, so, we are.