Paul Had A Lot Of "Stuff" To Move!
It started with Paul on May the 10th, the house was ours! It took us until July 24th to get everything moved!
The day started like typical Mondays, Mary headed for work, and I worked around my house. As soon as I sat down, the phone started ringing. It was various people tell me about the status of our home.
By noon it looks like the escrow would go through, so I had to panic and make sure I turned on the electric gas water cable. I did not get off the phone until roughly 4 PM, at which time I got a call from Sydney, our Realtor, and she said escrow is closed checking to dinner but let's meet at the house and exchange keys.
I called Mary, who is just leaving work, and said, let's meet at your place, and we'll go together to the new house. When we got there, Sydney was waiting, and we went and looked around, and everything looked beautiful, but now we have six months two years of work ahead of us to turn it into a home.
Sydney said she would take us out to dinner any place we wanted to go, so we decided Rockwell's was just around the corner, and it turned out to be perfect. We had steak, and we killed off a bottle of Cakebread wine; life is good.
It Was Fun!
Day By Day (Almost)!
May 11th - Poof; No Cable TV/Internet - A call to Zack! It was a no go! There was zero signal!
May 12th - The Battle Begins! - We change the locks and Spectrum says they have to dig up our new front yard! The flippers just cut the cable somewhere in the front yard. Plus side is we have new cable from the main feed!
May 13th - The Good Guys Finally Are Winning - Spectrum comes and digs up the front yard! Joe and Zack comes over and we move things around in the garage!
There goes the new yard!
Moving lockers in the garage!
The Tremendous Trio takes a rest
May 14th - I Hurry Up And Waits! - The garage floor gets an epoxy coating!
They did a good job!
May 15th - Off And Running - The movers will be there Wednesday morning and begin packing everything! It's happening. It's hard to do after being there for almost half my life, but it is the right thing to do, and I am sure Sue would be happy for us.
May 16th - T-4 And Counting - I shall call the new home Casa Valencia. This morning's mission was to connect up the electronics. I brought in the security cameras and the Alexa's and sprinkled them liberally throughout the house.
May 17th - T-3 And Counting - It is a little hard to believe it is happening, but it is for the best and will kick-start the rest of my life on this planet. That is a good thing! I now appreciate what my Mom and dad went through when they moved from Comey Avenue to Wade Street after twenty-eight years!
May 18th - T-2 And Sill Counting; Pre-Packing Day! - Today we pre-packed and label everything so that the professional packers can come in and package things for the move. We asked for three people to pack as I do have a lot of "stuff." Fortunately, after losing my wife, I went through every closet last year and gave away boxes and boxes of items to the Salvation Army, so it is not too bad.
May 19th - T-1 And Still Counting! - We packed today. Mary and I were up at 5:00 AM and got ready to head for Los Alamitos to meet up with Zachary at 7:00 AM and the packers between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM. We did such a good job I believe the three people will be done packing soon after lunch.
The master bedroom will be a breeze, the biggest job will be the kitchen and everything is in one single place. I thought to myself the packers would be done by 1:00 PM.
Was I wrong or what. The guys showed up at 8:00 AM and worked hard ALL DAY not leaving until almost 6:00 PM and still had the office, bar, and garage to do. Tomorrow they are sending five guys to "get her done".
May 20th - T-0 And Here I Go!! - I never thought this day would come figuring I would leave this world in the Los Alamitos home but alas, here I am on my way to a new chapter in my life, and I am doing it with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.
Empty... It's really happening!
Here everything comes!
I remembered a quote from Walt Disney: "
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Walt Disney.
Off to Los Alamitos and this time alone; Mary was pooped out, and she had to meet Luisa at 11:00 AM, so it did not make sense to drive to Los Alamitos and stay 90 minutes and return so she opted to stay home and so some work around the house while Bob and I watch the packers/movers.
We have amazing friends!!!!!
May 21st - A New Chapter Begins - Today was Friday, which means Dr. Mary must go to the office and assist people with their vision issues. I drove down the hill and met up with Bob Z and my amazing son Joe. These two have saved my bacon, and I must through Zack into that mix also!
May 23rd Sunday Morning Bright And Early!! - I awoke at 5:00 AM and decided to go to Casa Valencia to wait for the arrival of my good friend Bob! I moved and unpacked many boxes before Bob arrived. We had a cup of coffee and then headed to Los Alamitos in my van so I could bring the Lexus home for a visit. We loaded the van to the hilt with stuff that the movers forgot. We worked at the house for a good hour.
Bob was amazing!
It was a forest of boxes in every room!
May 24th - Our Tankless Water Heater Gets Installed! I worked all day and communicated with the Escrow officer.
May 26th - Bob Saves The Day So We Can Play (And Celebrate) - It was Mary's birthday so we went to Disneyland while Bob Z watched the fort!
May 27th - Thursday; Another Busy Day! - We were up and headed to Casa Valencia early so we could get work done before having to leave for "Girls Night Out." We are down to four boxes in the kitchen/den, a magnificent effort on behalf of Dr. Mary. She worked hard yesterday while I was running around the city!
May 28th - Today We Emptied The Last Of The Kitchen Boxes! - We got a new soft-water machine installed which will keep the new water-heater working for years to come!
May 29th - Amazing Progress Today Thanks To Joe And Carrie! - Joe and Carrie showed up at 8:00 Am and went to work. OMG, they hung up cabinets and moved things around. The garage is almost (I say ALMOST) ready to receive a car!
May 30th - From Sunup To Sundown We Worked - We had a wild goose chase today! We thought we had an agreement with the buyers of Kensington that we could remove the glass that Sue had designed and put in. After we removed the glass (with an offer to replace it with anything they wanted), the buyer (their agent) reneged on the deal, and we had to go back and reinstall it. I hope the window breaks into a million pieces. That took about six hours of the day. Joe was a lifesaver in this ordeal.
May 31th - Housework Is Never Done - More work. We were up at 5:00 AM and headed to the house at 6:00 AM to work all day. I asked Mary how she likes cleaning, and she replied, "I do clean up a little if company is coming; I'll wipe the lipstick off the milk container."
Mary fixes breakfast at Casa Valencia. Turkey bacon and cheese omelets, yummy!!!
Our first prepared meal in the new home!
June 2nd - OMG; We Stayed Home! - Needless to say, we kept busy all afternoon while the plumber pondered our dilemma. It turns out the guy from 911 Plumbing left us with a gas leak, did not hook up the circulating pump, forgot to set the dip switches (that controls the computer), and put in a gas line that was not needed. The plumber worked for nearly four hours fixing everything
Mary does some gardening!
June 5th - Joe And Carri Give Us Light! - While awaiting the trash guys, I began replacing the fluorescent lights with the newest eight-foot-long LEDs. Removing the ballast was pretty easy, but rewiring was a challenge due to the lighting in the garage. When Joe arrived, he and Carri did the other two high lights in the garage. Let there be light!
June 9th - It's Coming Together - We headed to Casa Valencia about 7:30 AM so we could meet the plumber. We found out that our outside spigot was "soft water," meaning if we continue watering them, they could die. I was going to re plumb the situation, but I was smart and asked the local plumber. $2,000, and he worked all day, 7:30 AM until 6:00 PM, and all is well. So we not only have soft water, but we also have 130-degree water on demand anywhere in the house!
The "He Shed" is loaded!
June 12th - One Busy Saturday!!! - We worked like dogs this morning, getting up at 6:30 AM and heading to Casa Valencia. Then I remembered something about being first. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
The pool gets its first visitor!
It was 94 degrees!
June 13th - We Are Entertaining - We were up bright and early; I even had to wake up the roosters! Today we put the finishing touches on the small stuff like toilet paper holders, towel racks, hanger-hooks on the back of doors, and some pictures where we know what we want.
We worked hard and it was so nice that Joe brought over the tabletop for the workbench yesterday. I had room to work!
We called Zack as he was planning to come over. Well, he (Lilly) had two softball games so we would see him later on. About noon, he called and said the second game was canceled so they are on their way. Yeah! We said to be prepared to swim, the pool is warm! I love the large door into the backyard!
The Lind's go swimming!
Grandson Zachary and family!
July 14th - More Trucks Delivery Phase Two! - We got the exercise equipment and the gazebo.
June 17th - Even During A Move, Life Must Go On! - Mary opened and organized the last of the packing boxes. The only boxes remaining are the books and my photo albums, which I intend to cull down to just a few. It's funny to see those old pictures now as they are fuzzy and were taken 30 years ago before I acquired some knowledge on how to take pictures.
We declared victory about 6:00 PM and returned to Mary's place. On the way out through the garage, I noticed that my Craftsmen storage cabinets had arrived, so Joe and I will hanging them this weekend.
June 18th - Friday Was Amazing; I Have A Shop; Thanks To Joe! - Then, the phone rang, mid-bite, I may add. Recognizing the ring, I answered it, and it was, as expected, my son Joe. "Hey, Dad, where are you right now" spoke the voice on the phone. I replied, "Holding my own against a gigantic taco!". Well, I found out that Joe was at our house with tools and materials in hand; I did not know it was "Shop Day."
OMG, I have a shop finally!
Thanks to my terrific Son, Joe!
