Many Little Adventures

I'm in Richmond now. I'm sitting at my desk at my bedroom's front window. The cats have been transported and are contained within the bedroom.

Ma Maisonette Bijoux, for a great deal of money, has been transformed. It looks like a model house or a furnitureless Marriott room. It was professionally painted inside. The outside was fine and just needed a little bit of TLC on the landscaping. I also had new floors put in throughout the house. I also had the kitchen replaced/refaced. I've seen pictures and my real estate agent raves that it's beautiful. The biggest challenge was cleaning up the cat stink. My realtor grumped about that quite a lot, afraid and rightly so that it would ruin any chance of sale.

Within a week of being on the market, we received 13 offers. Some were ludicrously low, almost insultingly so considering the amount of money that had been spent to get it up to snuff. The best offer, the one that was accepted, was for $10K over the asking price. Luckily, it appraised for that price too. The inspection was yesterday and turned up some problems, as to be expected of any house that hasn't had major work done on it in 20 years.

I hired an organizer to help me sort through the house. Because I didn't have any friends in Jersey to help me with the move (besides, who in their 60s expects friends to help them move? That stuff gets left behind when you move out of your last college apartment, or it should.), Ellen the Organizer and I went through books, kitchen cabinets, drawers, every place in the house. She came out twice a week and at the end, was with me when the junk haulers came to take away the junk and when the movers came to move me out.

All during the decluttering/shedding process, I reflected on how much money I had spent on things that had very little use or a short lifespan. Yes, I did get rid of books. I got rid of even more after there was a small flood in the basement when the laundry sink overflowed. That only hurt a little and I'm proud to say that I didn't go back through any of the bags of trashed books to salvage anything.

I made a lot of trips back and forth from Richmond to Jersey. I drove most of them but I also took the train a couple of times. I became familiar with Uber. On my last night in town, I stayed at a Fairfield Inn and slept like the dead.

Sophie and Toby were easy to catch. They each wandered into an open carrier and decided to take a nap, which is when I quietly closed the carrier door. I drove them down to Richmond the next day and Toby occasionally caterwauled his captivity. For Peach and Mia, my exterior exterminator agreed to come and catch them. This was done on separate occasions, which was a stupid move on my part, but I was focused solely on the move. I should have had him catch them both at once (they were secured in my bedroom) and taken them to the vet where Mia could finally be spayed - only I forgot about it, I was in such a rush to get her down here. A numbskull moment I am still bemoaning.

But we are here now and mostly settled. I want to get my room painted a nice cheery yellow. I have a new mattress for my twin bed and the finest linens from Tar-zhay to grace it.

Two weeks ago, I went on a very long train ride from Richmond to LaCrosse Wisconsin to visit Emma, who is now on hospice care, and spent last week recuperating.

Now I have no excuse not to look for a job. I have a Virginia area code phone number and spiffy new phone. My resume has been updated and now needs to go out on Dice, indeed, and Monster.com.

I'm learning Kim's ways and we have already settled into a lovely routine of having breakfast together on Sunday mornings.

I have been Ma'amed to death and called "Miss Becs" whenever anyone learns my name. Still, I like it. I do live in fear, though, of losing my accent and gaining a Southern one.

The best part of all though is that a breakfast of biscuits and gravy is only two miles and three dollars away. And that sounds like something close to Heaven.