T-minus 10 and Counting!

Just a quick update to let you all know that I’m still alive and kicking!  With so much house activity consuming my days, I’ve not had time to write many blog posts…but hopefully, those lazy carefree days are coming soon…very soon!

In just 10 days, Millie and I will be pulling the Winnie out of the driveway for the last time and leaving our house to the fabulous couple who will be renting it over the winter.  They were over on Saturday measuring rooms trying to decide how they’d downsize their house’s furnishings into this one, while I was out in the driveway trying to figure out how I’d get a 2-car garage filled with stuff into my 24’ Winnebago!  “Downsizing” is all relative it would appear!

It’s not all been excitement and CandyLand, though.  I finally had a bawling emotional melt-down about a week ago after what felt like being haggled down to a pulp by ruthless Craigslist bargain-hunters on some of my most-cherished possessions.  In reality, they were just buying items for the going rate, and I still had way too many emotions pent up needing to “let go.”

All the Craigslist sales up to this point had been easy and fun—looky here!  Cash for unused, uncared about stuff!  Yippee!!!   Now, I was down to the really hard stuff such as grandmother’s most-prized dining room set and bedroom set from the 1930’s.  

3 Great “Secret” Deals Uncovered

Now that I’m a happy, penny-pinching early retiree, I’ve got nothing better to do all day than search for great deals that will cost as few pennies as possible!  (when I’m not working away to prepare the house to sell and start full-time RVing, of course!).

In the past few months, I’ve discovered quite a few good deals.  Most have been very obvious and easy to obtain, but a few have not been.  In fact, they’ve literally seemed buried deep within their popular corporate websites, needing some sort of secret handshake or top-secret NSA backdoor security clearance to unlock!

Well, I’m here to reveal 3 of these favorite “secret” deals for you now.  If you don’t see a new blog post from me within a couple of weeks….Putin may have put me on a plane to Siberia!

My Craigslist Angel (and a few more)

So far, my experiences with selling nearly all of my worldly possessions on Craigslist have been better than expected.  In the past few weeks, I’ve sold 16 items for a net total just of over $3,000 in cash!  Now, mind you, I’m not thinking about how much I actually paid for all these items new—much too depressing to go there!   What I’ve not anticipated, though, is how interesting and varied each and every buyer has been.  

My very first sales transaction is this Thule bike rack, sold (after just one day!) to a guy named Lou with a long, unpronounceable last name who is driving out from the city to get it.

 

My mind races with thoughts of all those well-worn Craigslist horror stories—He could be a mad rapist!  A burglar! A serial killer!!! 

New Homes and New Beginnings

It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon…err Chicago, my hometown.  Our family continues to focus on our various housing moves, but activity is also progressing on the “post-career” front as well.

My stepsister, Holley, and her husband Mike, invited the family to Easter dinner to celebrate moving into their new home (my mom’s old townhouse).  They spent the entire winter doing a major remodel and the house looks absolutely fabulous!   Of course, dinner was delicious as well!

 

Now, they are focusing efforts on their old condo to get it ready to be sold this summer.  The work seems to never end, but considering what things looked like a year ago, these two have been absolute dynamos!

Not to be outdone on the dynamo front, my other stepsister, Carol, will finally be graduating from Seminary later this month after over 10 years of continuous late-night and weekend study while holding down a full-time job.  Part of her final degree requirements included having some a few sermons videotaped and uploaded to the University, so I was able to pitch in and help her out with some of those technical hurdles.

With that now done, the family is looking forward to a “road trip” at the end of the month to attend her graduation.  If my two stepsisters are true to form, it should be quite a fun and whacky weekend!

Last week, I had a bit of a “graduation” myself.  While some of us had completed our Illinois Master Naturalist internship hours late last year, we didn’t officially graduate until our group reconvened last week.  A half dozen of us received our diplomas and our engraved University of Illinois Extension name badges to join the ranks of fellow Certified Master Naturalists!

 
Now work begins to keep that certification maintained!  Each year, we commit to volunteer service as well as attending continuing education related to the natural sciences.  I’ll be attending a couple of education events next week at the Morton Arboretum to fulfill this year’s CEUs, and am also starting the research and prep work on my first naturalist presentation to a local library audience this July.  Really looking forward to these events!

Meanwhile, on my home front, I’m happy to report that my ongoing “As the Squirrel Turns” soap opera, has now come to (what will now hopefully be) a final end!  After the trap was reset properly last week, Squirrel # 2 was caught and I thought for sure that my unwanted houseguest was finally captured.  But while that squirrel was still in its cage, I sat in the living room and soon began hearing some further periodic “rustling” in the attic.   Drats! We caught the wrong squirrel! 

So, Squirrel # 2 got a one-way bus ticket to a new home of trees at the nearby nature area, and the empty trap was re-baited with peanuts and returned to my roof.   Finally, last Friday morning, my houseguest (Squirrel # 3) decided to come out for some breakfast and a stroll along the roof where he quickly found his peanuts and his one-way bus ticket to a new home!  To be sure that the attic was now finally clear, my wildlife trapper put another trap on the roof just in case any further critters should come out.  

Fortunately, all has been quiet in the attic since Friday (and the trapper confirmed that my houseguest had indeed been a male, and not a female up there having babies!).  Unfortunately, the trap caught one more “innocent bystander” squirrel (Squirrel # 4) a few hours later, who was soon transferred to their new digs at the nature area to join all the other squirrelly pals!   Since Saturday, though, there have been no further squirrels captured, and no further sounds in the attic, so we’re now thinking the war has been won and we can move on to the permanent closure of my “squirrel hotel” once and for all!

I’m now able to focus uninterrupted on clearing out the inside of the house of all its contents.  It continues to be both a physical and emotional daily struggle to keep things relatively organized and sorted as the Craigslist, eBay, and local sales begin to take shape.  To boost my motivation, I opened the mail the other day to find this year’s property tax bill has now jumped 15% to over $7000/yr!   Oh, how I will miss these joys of homeownership!!! 

 

 

Check out 300 of our most-favorite things!

Z = Zipped Up (& Unzipped!)

Well, my second year of participating in the A-to-Z Challenge has come to an end.  This month sure flew by and felt a lot easier to do the daily posts than last year!  I hope you all have enjoyed reading the posts and viewing the pics as much as I did creating them.  Although I doubt I’ll ever get up to doing daily posts all year long, I will try to keep posting as frequently as possible!

I sure wish my squirrel situation was as nicely “zipped up” as the A-to-Z posts!  When the squirrel was captured successfully last week, a black plastic trash bag was put up in the soffit hole and another trap set just in case there might be another “family member” roaming about.

Over the weekend, I kept hearing brief, faint noises in the attic a couple times a day, but I thought I might just be imagining things or else it was just noise from the winds and rains.

Well, yesterday, that all changed!  In the morning, I was now certainly hearing a critter up there again.  When I stopped hearing it in the afternoon, I went out to find the black trash bag now on the ground (with about 20 holes in it from where the squirrel tore through the bag!).  I quickly went around to check the trap and was discouraged to see that the trap door had shut with food still left inside…but no squirrel!

So the unwanted houseguest saga continues!  I got a tall pole and was able to push a new trashbag up into the hole again, and have called my squirrel-catcher man to come try a different trap.  Stay tuned for “As the Squirrel Turns”!

 

 

W = Wait Has Ended!

Well, I was going to blog about a different “W” topic today, but breaking news just occurred here a short while ago… my furry houseguest left her penthouse apartment (my attic) this morning and is now occupying her new SUV (Squirrel Utility Vehicle)!

Our new friend Kevin from Windy City Wildlife is on his way over now to take her on an “all expenses paid” roadtrip to her new home!   So long, little friend.  Now, get back to the woods where you belong!

 

 

 

V = Vatching and Vaiting!!!

Ok, so my “V” topic is a bit of a stretch here, but I’ve already got a good “W” post coming up for tomorrow, so bear with me as I “shoehorn” this one into “V”!!!

I got on the phone today to search for professionals to come help evict my unwelcome houseguest.  The guys at Windy City Wildlife answered immediately and dispatched Kevin out to set a trap for our furry little friend.  Mmm, some yummy peanut butter snacks in here that Kevin said squirrels just love!

So now I am to watch and wait (err, “vatch and vait”) for the little thing to wander out from the attic and into the trap to eat her delicious peanut butter buffet!   Then Kevin will come back to take the little pest away and attend to patching up the hole in the roof soffit.

He said business is pretty busy this time of year with all sorts of mama critters preparing to have their babies, so fingers crossed that she gets caught before giving birth to a whole brood in my attic!

 

 

U = Unwelcome Houseguest!

Well, it seems that when one vacates their house and goes to Mexico for the Winter, word gets out around the neighborhood that free room and board are available here!  I discovered an unwelcome houseguest the second night I returned when I heard scratching and running around in the closed off roof space behind my bedroom closets.  That night, I just got up, yelled loudly, banged on the closet wall, and that seemed to have scared the livin’ bejeezus out of our guest who promptly ran off into the night.

All seemed to be quiet until last week when a cold front came through and my guest returned for another night of free lodging.  I went out the next day to see if I could figure out where the critter was entering and exiting and found the problem spot:

Yesterday, when I heard the critter running outside on top of the roof, I ran out to look at this spot and finally got to meet my houseguest face-to-face—a squirrel! 

So today, I decided to finally get my supplies together and get up there to “close the door” once and for all.  I donned my hiking boots, gloves, and kneepads and got my tall ladder out of the garage.  I made my way up until my feet were level with the first floor rain gutters, but with the roof so steeply pitched, I could not figure out any safe way to climb the roof further unless I had special spiked roofers gear.  No thanks!  I decided to back down the ladder and leave this job to the professionals!

In the meantime, my guest is still happily coming and going no longer seeming to be scared of me in the slightest…she likely had a real good chuckle today watching me try to evict her!… arghhhh!  

I am going to so miss these joys of home ownership!

 

R = Rescue from the Restless Recliner

As I drove back to Chicago from my Winter of living in the Winnie, I plotted out what I intended to do once I arrived back to my house:

1. Go through 4 months worth of mail.
2. Get my taxes filed as well as tax returns for my mom’s estate.
3.. Finish getting the house ready to be put up for sale.  

I figured a month should be sufficient time to get that list accomplished, since I’d already done a lot of the major house prep work during the past 2 years.

After my first week in Chicago, I was feeling pretty good—both items # 1 and 2 were checked off and I had successfully met Uncle Sam’s April tax deadline!

But the past two weeks were an entirely different story.  It suddenly hit me on one of Chicago’s gloomy, gray days that for the first time in my whole life I no longer had any hard-set deadlines to meet, nor any firm dates to arrive at my next destination, or even a clue where that next destination might be! 

In a word, the last two weeks have been mildly terrifying! 

I began sinking further and further into the comfort and familiarity of this tan recliner…absolutely paralyzed by this new untethered, unstructured life ahead of me.

Oh sure, I was keeping myself busy with catching up on some website reading, buying a few new items for the RV, and ticking off as many non-essential computer projects as I could think of.  But exactly zero-zilch-nothing-nada got accomplished related to getting the house ready for sale or making any progress in the direction of my dreams. 

What the heck?  Time’s a wasting! The Springtime real estate market won’t be hot for long!

Every night I’d get myself pumped up to start on the house the next day, but by morning, I was beating a well-worn path right back to that recliner to suck up yet another precious day with nothing to show for it.  My internal FUD voice began yelling louder and louder.  You probably have one of those nagging FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt) voices too?

FUD:  “What the heck are you doing here, Lynne?”
Me: “Just looking up a few things online.  I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
FUD: “You’ve been getter rather comfy in that recliner.  So, tell me again, why are you wanting to get rid of it?”
Me: “Because I want to be a full-time RVer”
FUD:  “Yeah, well, if you really wanted to do that don’t you think you’d be upstairs sorting through closets right from dawn until dark?   Take a look around the neighborhood—do you see any other person getting rid of practically all of their possessions?  No, because they’re all responsible adults out working at their full-time jobs, that’s why!”
Me: “Shut up, you stupid FUD voice!”
FUD: “Don’t you think you’ve already screwed up your life quite enough by quitting that well-paying corporate job and alienating many of your oldest friends with your irrational behavior?  Have you now gone absolutely friggin’ insane to also want to sell your house and everything in it?” …
”Are you doing all this just because you haven’t met a nice young man to get married to yet?”
Me: “Grandma, is that you?  I’m trying to have a conversation with FUD here!”
FUD: “So, just what is it that you’re trying so hard to run away from?”"

Well, old FUD seemed to halt me right in my tracks with that last one.  

Some warmer weather arrived to Chicago this past week, and signs of Spring were finally starting to make their way to our suburban neighborhood —husbands out reviving their lawn mowers from winter slumber, wives out preparing their gardens for new colorful plants, and kids out playing and riding their new bicycles around the cul-de-sac.

What was wrong with me for not being out there doing those same things? and maybe networking with the neighbors to find a new full-time job while I was at it!!!

It’s interesting that in my whole winter in Mexico, I never once had any of these thoughts or fears.  Maybe because I was always surrounded by fellow RVing full-timers and snowbirds who were already living lives prioritized by their passions rather than conventionality?  Whatever it was, I seemed to feel infinitely more comfortable with them than my neighbors here in Chicago.

Today has been another gray day here in Chicago, but on this day…finally…the recliner has sat empty for most of day while I’ve started tackling the job of clearing out an upstairs closet.   Coincidence that this renewed vigor is beginning the day after Easter, our annual celebration of rebirth and eternal salvation?  Perhaps.

But I also got a little help from my “new life” friends and inspirational bloggers, who made me realize some powerful new things about my current journey.

Full-timer friend, Suzanne, said that during this stage of her extrication from normal suburban life, she’d constantly ask herself questions as if going to a daily ophthalmologist’s exam—“Which of these looks better? A or B? A…or…B?”

Do I want to A) stay in this house?  Or B) travel around full-time in an RV?   Would I like to A) go find another full-time job to pay for this house?  Or B) see if one of my passions eventually leads to some modest income to sustain my travels further?

No question!  I want option B!

I read a great post today from David Cain at Raptitude.com (the Frightening Thing You Learn When You Quit the 9-to-5).  His experience, and those of his commenters, confirmed that what I’m going through right now is pretty normal for such a life-changing move.  

And, so, it’s finally hit me that this new phase of my life is not about "running away" from a status quo “responsible adult” life, it's about running towards a fully self-directed passion-driven life!

Suzanne’s final words of wisdom told me to envision it being next January and to imagine me still sitting here paralyzed by the recliner.  Whoa! Talk about an indelible motivator!  I’d rather walk across Antarctica in my bare feet than sit in this house one more winter!!!  So, yep, that visual got me off my butt today and finally moving forward towards my goal again!

I’m finally facing the truth of this new direction in my life—a passion-driven life is just plain scarier and less-predictable than the suburban corporate-drone life I’ve had for the past 30 years.  When I make mistakes and failures, or leave tasks unfinished in the future, I’ll no longer have anyone else to blame for that…except myself!  

On the flipside, though, when I succeed, it will surely be more satisfying than ever before.  This quote from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” sums it up nicely:

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

If any readers in the Chicago area are interested in a gently used tan recliner…it’s now for sale!

 

 

Q = Queen of the Roost

Hear Ye!  Hear Ye! 

The Queen has returned to her Throne!!!

Long Live the Queen!

…and pity the poor jester trying to figure out how the queen’s sofa will ever fit into the Winnebago!

 

 

Home Remodeling Done!

Yeah! No more workmen in my house!

 It's been a busy few months at home here in Chicago.  I decided to finally undertake the big home remodeling project I'd been wanting to do for the past couple of years.  I've lived in this house for 10 years and have never liked the kitchen cabinets & countertop (or floors throughout the 1st floor for that matter).    But I didn't want to spend a fortune on a remodel, though, as I do plan to sell the house in the next year or so to transition to something that will allow me to semi-retire and be more nomadic.

But, of course, once you start planning to remodel one thing, more and more things just seem logical to add to the list!  Soon, my simple kitchen cabinet/counter remodel now included new appliances, new washer/dryer, a remodeled 1/2 bathroom, a new patio door, as well as new flooring and paint throughout the entire 1st floor!

In July, when a freak storm rolled through Chicago and blew down some tree limbs and fence panels, I added some outdoor "remodeling" to the list to repair the storm damage and install some new sod in a number of bare spots in the backyard.

The first month was spent pretty much just shopping and deciding all the colors and details.  By the end of July, I placed my cabinet order with Lowe's and took off for a vacation to Wisconsin and Michigan.

When I arrived back home in late August, the remodel went into high gear with Lowe's "Express" kitchen install.  Chicago is a test market for their new approach-- cabinets are shipped to a warehouse (rather than the client's house), inspected for any defects/missing parts, and then assembled onto wall mock-ups resembling the customer's kitchen.  Once everything fits together just right, the cabinets are partially disassembled and then delivered to the customer on the day of the old kitchen's demolition.  So, rather than a traditional 2-6 week remodel, Lowe's can do it in less than 5 days.  In my case, it only took 2 days!

Here was the dated 1990's "Before" Kitchen:

Mid-way through:

And, the final result!

 

New pull-out pantry shelves-- yeah!

Old kitchenette enjoying new floors and paint!

Lowe's installed the new sink and faucet, and a few weeks later,
I installed the tile backsplash myself!

Even a great new LG washer & dryer set
to replace the previous 20-yr-old energy inefficient relics

Now, I suppose I should back up a little and explain some further details--

The new appliances arrived a few weeks ahead of time (before finalizing the cabinet order to ensure the new taller/deeper cabinets would fit properly around the new fridge)

When the 2 day Kitchen install was done, I had a functioning kitchen with the new cabinets, countertop, sink and faucet in place, but still had old lighting, floors, and paint (and no tile backsplash yet either).  I also still needed to get the patio door replaced and get the outside projects scheduled.

So, a couple more months of coordinating all the work crews in and out for those jobs!  Whew!

New floors going in (new patio door already installed!)

Entire 1st floor got painted...and I got serenaded by the men singing along with their Mexican radio (they were actually fun guys, and did a great job!)

New powder room vanity, lights, mirror, and fixtures--
installed myself!!!

Millie was not too thrilled with me replacing her wall-to-wall carpet with new slick wood floors, but she very much liked getting the new sod in the backyard!

Now that the 1st floor is finished, I'll be spending the winter starting to work on the 2nd floor (mainly cleaning out closets & downsizing "stuff").

Travels will be limited for the foreseeable future as I'm currently helping a family member with serious health issues, so expect future posts from me to be non-travel related for awhile.  But, I'll very much enjoy (and rely on) reading your travel blogs and "armchair traveling" to lots of warm and sunny snowbird destinations this winter!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!