The Change of Life

No... this isn't a post about menopause. Calm down!

The business of moving is a pain in the butt. Thankfully, I have been taking my time in moving my things to storage, and making tough decisions about my "things." Letting some things go to Goodwill is easy. The kitchen strainer from 1965 that was a reject from my grandmothers kitchen is an easy thing to part with, whereas the bridesmaid dress from my friends 1994 wedding was tougher.

I'm not sure why parting with the dress was so hard. The lovely navy blue silk dress no longer fits (too big!) and after having worn it to her wedding and Janie's wedding and a number of parties the dress saw a number of outings that most bridesmaid dresses don't. The peach taffeta number with ruffles and bow from the 1989 wedding saw one day of action. We looked cute, but PEACH? no thank you. Maybe donating the navy dress was tough because at the time it was purchased I was too big for the dresses in the store and had to have it custom made. It was a specially horrifying experience, but it was also a costly one. My friend, the gracious bride covered the cost difference between what the store bought dress would have been and the cost of a custom dress. Still, neither of us were rolling in money. At the time we were angling to earn our age - meaning if we were 25 then we would have made $25,000 a year. My income that year would have allowed me to drive, but not vote. So, while I spent more on those cute red shoes in my closet, the dress still feels like it was an investment.

There is one last item hanging in the closet at the condo. It is also a bridesmaid dress. And, I honestly and truly thought it was beautiful! (I'm not just saying that because the bride related to that dress reads this periodically - I really did love it.) The problem with that dress is that it was also an investment - although at the time it was purchased I was close to retirement so it was less impactful. And... the dress is HUGE. Other than the wedding dress that is hanging in secured storage at the dressmakers, this dress was the most expensive clothing item I have ever purchased. There is no altering that will make it wearable, although I'm tempted to take it to the dressmaker and ask if it can be made into something - i.e. a smaller TP sized skirt. But, with no fancy parties in my immediate future (other than the wedding ) investing MORE into the dress seems like a bad idea. So for now, the way way to big dress hangs. J says I should part with it, but it just isn't that easy.

A friend who is moving back to Seattle and starting a new job on Monday has asked to stay at my empty condo for a month, so we were over there last night making it somewhat presentable. Everything is packed up out of the bathrooms and bedroom. The kitchen is 95% done. There is random food in the pantry and the freezer still has remnants of dinners not cooked. I'm hopeful that my new renter will eat the place clean. She's a 100 lb featherweight, so I doubt she'll eat anything, but I can always hope.

I still have some work to do at the condo. I have to roll up and remove the Pottery Barn rugs and remove the love seat to make the living room more "roomy." We'll be inviting cousin Anton (who is young and strong) to come over for furniture movement and dinner on a weekend to wrap things up. How exciting to have 20 year olds in the family again!

I feel fortunate that I'm selling when I want to, not when I have to. I do want you to send a shout out to whatever benevolent being(s) that you trust in that someone falls in love with my little home and wants to move in permanently. It would be a relief to go into unemployment without a mortgage payment.

Oh my... the fact that I'm underemployed right now is so very apparent. talk talk talk talk