Selling Young Manor

Have you seen the TV program titled "Selling Spelling Manor" about Candy Spelling selling her home and boxing up all her possessions to put in storage until she can figure out what to do with them?  Thanks to Judy, I watched it! It made me shudder. 56,000 square feet. Wow! When it sold, she had 30 days to get moved. And I think I have problems!!

Here is a link to see what the mansion looks like:
http://www.frontdoor.com/buy/celebrity-home-spotlight-candy-spelling/pictures/pg15

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the task of downsizing, and I cannot imagine having the energy or determination that Candy Spelling had in order to box up her things and decide what to give to charity, what to sell, and what to put in storage. Watch this HGTV special and you will see that she number/letter coded all the boxes and can tell you which box contains what treasure! Just shoot me now! I am so convinced that bigger is NOT better. I wouldn't want her doll collection, nutcracker collection beanie baby collection, or myriad other collections. And yet, when I look around here at all that we need to dispose of, I hyperventilate!! How can I give up our stuff? Stuff that I have spent time and money accumulating?

Today was a big day. Our beloved pool table was dismantled and trucked to the new owner's home. I hope they enjoy it as much as we have. We now have a big empty space in the family room. Bit by bit we are giving things to our kids, selling things, donating other things to Goodwill and setting much aside for a huge garage sale which we will have in a couple of months. Hopefully we will be moved into our new home by then and be able to make sure the things we want to keep will fit. Then, the overflow will go.

Goodbye! We sure had some fun times together!!

We have begun taking pictures off the walls and filling in the nail holes. We do want to leave this home as clean and groomed as we can make it for the new owners. So that is where we are at with this house.

The new house is another matter! The remodeling is well underway and the new cabinets are scheduled to arrive on May 11th. Next week I hope to get the rest of the painting done in preparation. I still need to select the flooring and have a few more light fixtures and plumbing fixtures to purchase. Decisions, decisions, decisions! Lots of internet shopping, driving to Lowes and Home Depot. Appliances to choose. I've been through this before! This should be the very last time we will have to do a big remodel.

I really don't like this business of having 2 homes to take care of. I have divided loyalty!! We love where we live now, and yet we are eager to get moved to the new place. Downsizing is a good thing. I'm very glad that we are doing this now, when we are still young enough to "get the job done." So many people put their heads in the sand and don't deal with the task of making a move soon enough. I don't want to put my children in the position of coming over to mow the lawn, repair the deck or any of a number of things that homes require as the years go by. Or make them feel like they have to help their decrepit (you'd think it should have a "d" on the end instead of a "t"...go figure!)  old parents pack things up and get them moved. (Although they may want to help and we wouldn't discourage them!)  I didn't have kids so they can take care of me in my old age. I had kids because I want long term relationships with them, their spouses and the grandkids!

Oh, one more thing.....even though it is a sad day seeing our pool table leave, there are 2 pool tables in the community center where we will be living! All is NOT lost!! Besides, Dave and I will have more time to play golf when we rid ourselves of all the yard work! Yahoo!!

Junk or Treasure?

While trying to sort though years of accumulated "stuff" I found these old dolls. The walking doll was mine when I was a child in the 50's. I remember her well! My mom sewed the clothes she is wearing. Not sure what happened to her eyes however. Certainly being stored for 50 years couldn't have caused them to give out. Hmmm, then again maybe she is just aging like me! The other dolls belonged to my mom and her two sisters and are 1920's vintage. The doll bodies have cracked with age and the clothing surely has seen better days! So, what to do with them? I need to find a new home for them since we are drastically downsizing. I could just give them to the Goodwill, but it seems a shame to go that route. I have several items besides these dolls that might have value to someone but I won't have room to keep them any longer. Junk or treasure? That is the question.

It is proving to be a painful process to sort through my craft/sewing room and make decisions about what to keep and what to give away or try to sell. I happen to like all my stuff and if I get into a crafty mood I just know I will regret not having some things that I may need in the future. Then again, how much crafting and even sewing will I be doing during this next chapter of my life? I'm hoping when this remodeling/moving process comes to an end I will be able to relax a bit and be creative again. But, I don't have room for everything, so decisions are being made. I sold my old Bernette serger yesterday. I have hung on to it all these years as a back-up serger but although the motor and workings were fine, there were adjustments needed to make it stitch correctly. I can't believe how many calls and emails I received from ladies wanting to buy it and felt confident they could fix it! Just goes to show that there is someone for everything.

The kitchen will be my other difficult area to sort through. Our new kitchen will be much smaller with way less cabinet space. I love all my kitchen gadgets and cooking aids. I still want to bake bread in my bread machine and make cookies with my 30+ year old Kitchen Aid mixer. They are big and bulky and with all my other appliances and paraphernalia, where will I store them? More anxiety!

Then there is the garage....our new home has a storage shed, but no garage. WHAT?????? How can this possibly work for us? I have ordered an additional shed so that should handle Christmas decorations, family memorabilia, excess golf equipment, etc. etc. etc.

The stresses and strains of moving are a reality and I can't tell you how glad I will be when this process is over and we are settled into our new home and develop new routines.

Family Portraits

So....I thought it would be a good idea for our family to go get some professional photos taken since we've never actually had our pictures taken together since the grandkids were born. What a challenge! Here are some photos of the day. As you can see, Hailey did not want her picture taken, Charlotte had her moments and Annika was into making goofy faces! Since I gave each grandchild a knit (by me!) article of clothing, I thought it would be a good idea to get a photo of them in their finery, hence the photos of all four grandkids with me. Phew. At least that is over with!!

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