June 15, Half the Month s Gone

Leaving on our next Alfa Adventure in 55 days!

Craig has really picked up the pace since we returned from our Grand Canyon trip.  He said he hoped to have the house listed by the end of June.  That won't happen, but the end of July just might be possible.  We have several more "two week or more" projects to get thru, but most of the little things are getting done. Things like removing the big dish satellite from the front yard.

I hired someone to do it!  Craig wanted to, but he can't do everything.

As I compose this post, Craig and our handyman, Mick, are installing a new vanity in one of the bathrooms.  Still to come are the mirrors, medicine cabinets  and details like towel bars and new baseboards.  If all goes well we will have three complete bathrooms by the end of the month.  Well, almost complete, Craig had to special order some woodwork for around the doors and it might not be here for a few weeks.

I, on the other hand, have not been doing very much. There really isn't much I can do without Craig's help. It is a waste of my time to clean since new clouds of construction dust seem to settle over the floors every day or so.  I refuse to get serious about it until the last really dirty job is done.  I would like to be washing windows, but we still need to sand three sets of stairs and two deck surfaces.  That will cover the windows with sawdust for sure! Best to wait until the deck is done.

Many drawers and closets are close to being emptied, but that doesn't mean their contents are gone.  Much is piled up in the garage waiting for either a flea market day or donation. There are also lots of piles of stuff around the house.  If I take it out of a closet, it doesn't go back in!  

I really need Craig to work with me in getting rid of things.  The stuff is both of ours and many things might still be needed before we are out of here.  Last week I went through the garbage cans, or bags of junk in the garage, three times to retrieve something I had tossed. 

But I find it very difficult to deal with the disorder. There are little collections of tools here and there waiting to be used to finish this or that.

I'm not a very good housekeeper to begin with, but I find having the additional mess everywhere very stressful.

Every room seems to look like this.  Stuff everywhere!

Oh well, this too shall pass.  We will get there. It is our time!

If you are a full timer, who got rid of all your stuff and sold your home, what stage of the process did you find the most stressful?

How did you deal with it?