Sunday Evening Reflections......

Looking back on the last two weeks makes my head spin.......

As I wrote in my last post, the Columbia house closed and I was busy unpacking and making my new location feel like home.  Jenn and I were making pretty good progress....in fact great progress......

And then we heard the words......HURRICANE and possible EVACUATION.......really ???

We knew for a few days it was a possibility.....we discussed it.....I lost sleep over it.......and I hoped it would just blow out to sea.

Meanwhile we were also doing daily commutes to Columbia/Lexington (don't ask why......it was the right decision) and will most likely go on for a while longer.

Back to the potential hurricane.......

It makes you think about what is important......what is of value to you......and helped me get through some clutter.

Packing clothes was the easy part........act like you are going on vacation.

We also learned to eat out of the fridge and freezer in case we were without power for a few days ......at least we would not have lost everything in them (how do you spell generator???)

Then there is the practical side......get some cash from the ATM, make sure you have water, batteries, medications and non-perishable food (how do you spell peanut butter???).

You take everything inside from outside your house..... welcome mats, decorative flags, plants, rocking chairs and on and on.....

Next its the important documents....birth certificates, passports, social security cards, banking info, credit cards, debit cards, check books......I kept them all in a big green plastic tub (no not a bin but a TUB....actually it was two tubs).  It weighed more than I care to admit. It was a collection of docs from over the last 35 years.  It had been weeded through before but never with the thoroughness it was this time.  There was no reason to save EVERY vet bill for a dog I have owned for 11 years, auto insurance renewals (why keep them....I only needed the one for the most recent coverage).  Did I really need 3 copies of the program from Jenn's High School, College and Graduate School graduations?  I kept one from each occasion. I don't think I still need a homeowners insurance policy from a house I sold in 1998.... do you?

There were some things I did not pitch.....birthday cards from my Mom, some notes Jenn had written me at various points in her life, I had my parents Marriage License, my Dad's birth certificate, his induction papers (obviously Mom had sent me a packet of docs at some point).  There was also a letter form Mom about how she wanted things handled after she passed......the first line said "I want to be cremated"....whew.....thank goodness she hadn't wanted this handled another way......too late now.

By the time I was done, I had more than one trash bag full of items to shred.  Jenn has spent a great deal of time patiently putting a page or two at a time in the shredder.The shredder would get hot and stop working. Then as if it had a mind of it's own start running again (don't worry I am on the hunt for a new shredder).

Well we now have all the docs that survived the cut in one green tub.  And it would not take a crew of four to lift up. It is organized and I have promised myself I will NOT let it get so messy again......

So other than the important papers, what did I want to take in case my house no longer existed after the storm......2 Christmas angels my Mom made me on her last visit to SC a year before she passed, a pillow made from some material found in Mom's apartment when it was being cleaned out, the wind chimes containing some of Mom's ashes and the painting of the courthouse where my Dad tried cases for many years (it has hung in every place I have lived since Mom gave it to me years ago after Dad died). These are things that could not be replaced.  I knew if I lost all my photos chances are one of my siblings would probably have another copy.

The fortunate news was we were 10 miles outside the mandatory evacuation area.  We stayed put.  I will admit a few times I wondered if we had made the right decision. There were a lot of flooded roads and we lost power (but not for a long period of time). I did heard some loud noises during the night and woke up to find some rather large branches had hit the roof.  Overall we were very, very fortunate.

It has been several days now any everything is back in place.  Jenn took care of a lot of that while I worked on Monday (USC was closed so she had the day off).

As I sit on my porch this evening enjoying an adult beverage (a low calorie one ...don't worry).....I think of how the week could have turned out and feel very grateful!!!!

The daily routine of life although in a new location is happening.  Finally, I am starting to feel in control of my life again......

I am trying to ignore all the weather reports today starting with the words.....Hurricane Maria and the spaghetti potential paths of the storm.......I can worry about that in a few days or a week.......

For tonight I am just going to enjoy the sunset and the tranquility that surrounds me.

See you next week.......

 PS To my WW buddies....I miss you so much....the meetings are not the same without you.  Well, I guess I will grow on the new group.....eventually.....

The Kitchen Smells Like Home......

The last few weeks have been slightly crazy.......

We packed the house, moved things to storage and started to unpack.  We have made address changes, driving longs distances on a daily basis, rise early and fall asleep exhausted.

We closed on the Columbia house last week.  Wednesday night, Jenn locked the door of 759 Fountain Lake Road for a last time.  The closing on Thursday ended a 17 year run at the place I have lived for the longest part of my life.  I didn't have the same feeling of sadness I felt when I moved from Pearl River, NY to SC.

It was time to move on......

Now, it is the unpacking and figuring out where everything goes.  Finding out which box the strainer is in......finding out I have way too many rolls of toilet paper, boxes of pasta, and chic peas......I have pitched things I didn't pitch while packing in the first place.

I wake up and am not really sure where I am.

I have had to become much more organized.....laying out my clothes at night, make lunch for the next day in the evening, I shower at night and everything I need is left by the back door ready for the early morning trip.

I got lost trying to find Lowes (even with google maps) just to purchase a doormat and a Swiffer.

Several things were hard about selling the Columbia house.....the packing, the constant cleaning, keeping the house ready to view at a moments notice and the worked required of the new owners. The poor dog went on more rides while people were looking at the house than I care to think about or ever want to do again. It was also hard to not cook like we normally do.  I had to worry that someone might show up and not like the smell of cabbage, brussels sprouts or something in the crock pot.

I will continue to search for items .......items that I knew where they were like the back of my hand.....I am sure at some point they will be found....or replaced.

I am glad I have a membership with AAA due to the miles I am racking up. .....too many for my poor old Escape.  I make sign of the cross each time I get in the car and pray for a safe journey......... and that we don't breakdown either way.

Meanwhile, as a new chapter of my life is underway......it will take a while to feel at home and end the searching and thinking "I know I saw that yesterday somewhere"......I will get through the three containers of bread crumbs, mail will stop having the yellow forwarding label on it and I will not be making weekly trips to the landfill or Good Will (even my Christmas tree didn't make the cut to stay....we had a cathedral ceilings before.....not any more)......the microwave doesn't turn as it heats things up which leads to several attempts to heat something up......nothing bad just changes.

Today......we made sauce.  The kitchen smells like Sunday.  The kitchen smells of home cooking.The kitchen smells like home.

I am hoping Hurricane Irma turns out to sea especially after seeing what has gone on in Texas this past week.  I have started formulating a game plan if needed.  It would include moving all those boxes still not in the house into my kitchen.  We will just have to wait and see how it plays out.......

See you next week........