Leader of the Pack

We're moving to a new house in Livermore in a month or so.  Being the OCD types that Ed and I are, we started packing a couple of weeks ago so now our current home is filled with boxes.  Very carefully labeled boxes, to be sure.  But boxes none the less.  And there is a distinct echo in the living room with so much empty space.

Ed moved to this house in 1999 and I joined him in 2000.  We merged two households which lead to the immediate construction of a 6x14 shed in one of the side yards.  It's full.  As is the garage and three other sheds we've managed to acquire.  My kids constantly deride us for having so many sheds, but we will be getting rid of a few of them.  Promise.

So part of this packing process has also been a weeding process.  We don't need two of everything.  Many of the items we have we don't even need one of!  Yesterday in packing some of the upper shelves in the kitchen (the ones that I can't reach so I have no idea what is up there) we discovered all kinds of really nice stuff that I had no idea we had.  Most of which we've never used.  So it was added to the "garage sale" box that we started in December.  Basically this is all the stuff we have that is still in good condition, but we don't want to pack and move it.  For instance we have this lovely soup tureen.  Don't know why.  I vaguely remember thinking that I had to have one and someone gave it to me as a gift.  Never used!  So now it lives in my daughter's home and her husband (who loves to cook) will use it quite a bit, I'm sure.  They also took the set of bowls in the second photo - Ed added his hand to give them "perspective" on the size of the bowls.  Don't ask.

We have started a traveling "garage sale" show with our kids.  Send photos of specific items, take boxes of stuff to their homes for them to go through or to a central location for them to come by and peek.  Managed to get rid of a lot of items this way and the rest goes to charity.

The sound of tape and the smell of boxes is starting to make me anxious.  I know from moves past that you always feel like you have a handle on it during the first phase of packing.  Then the proverbial shit hits the fan and you enter panic and "no more packing!!" mode.

That should happen about mid-February...........

I Kinda Miss It!

I'm thinking about starting up this blog again.  Over the past couple of days I have compiled all the blog posts into four digital books and in doing so I realized that I miss writing!  Damn Facebook - ever since all of us bloggers joined Facebook, the blogs have died a slow death.  Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook.  It allows me to stay in contact with so many friends and family that I normally wouldn't have a lot of contact with.

When I started this blog back in 2007, it was a way for me to tell some family stories.  Things I want my kids to know.  And my grandkids.  They missed so much not knowing the old Italian relatives.  We had such wonderful family times when I was growing up and I want my kids to somehow share in that rich experience.  Recently I decided that I would write down some of those stories and just keep them in a folder.  But then I couldn't remember what I had already written down in the blog which is why I had it printed.  Then I thought - why not just blog again!  As you can see I've been having a lot of thoughts lately.

So, two years later, I'll try again.  An update?  Well, we haven't had any weddings or new babies in the past two years.  Ed's Aunt Stella passed away two months shy of her 100th birthday.  That's the only family member we lost since 2011.  Biggest news is the changes in our business and our home.

After over 30 years Ed is no longer with Century 21!  We are now an independent Real Estate and Property Management company.  It's been an interesting and busy transition, but a wonderful one.  Moved our office to Livermore, CA (about 35 minutes from our current location) and, after a couple of months, are finally feeling settled.

Plus, we'll be moving to another home, also in Livermore, around the end of February.  With two sons in Livermore, Ed's daughter in Tracy, his other son in Modesto, and my daughter planning a Livermore move in the next year or so - it seemed like a natural progression for us.  Plus the nights are warmer in the summer and you can actually have dinner outside!  

The next couple of months will be very busy - in an exciting way.  It will be fun to chronicle things as they progress.

Yup, I'm starting this back up - just decided!  Hope someone actually reads it - but, if not, I can always print it and save it for the kids.