Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
I’ve always tied physical objects to memories of people and pleasant events. So, the end result is that I collect “stuff.” Lots of “stuff.” Odd small “stuff” like pamphlets, letters, and greeting cards. Then, there’s bigger “stuff” like books, small furnishings, and collectibles.
With my collecting “stuff” quirk, which can easily border on obsessive, moving is hard. One of the things I’m having to do in this latest and last move I plan on making, is letting go.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on this humble website. This is by reason that, once again, Winnie and I are in-process of moving to a new home. This time, we’re making a bigger move than just across town.
This is a move to a new state and is part of shifting into my retirement phase of life. The entire process is giving us another dose of the moving time blues.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Our moving had a number of challenges, but one challenge we didn’t expect was having our electrical service cut off. But we did, at absolutely the wrong time. Not that there’s ever a good time to lose electrical service.
Last night we took the final step of moving. We closed out the lease on our apartment and turned in the keys. What a great feeling it was!
We’re still moving stuff into our new house, but now we’re actually living there. Last Friday we had the cable guy hook up our television and Internet service. We moved our venerable futon bed, set it up in the downstairs bedroom, and that was it.
Time to move in!
Winnie and I have been spending the past week cleaning, fixing, and repainting our new house. You’d think that after a year’s worth of rebuilding our Mississippi house, a little painting would be simple.
But I must say, the painting and relatively minor repairs we’re doing feels like “Deja Vou all over again.”
We took a big step towards settling down in Virginia. Wednesday morning, Feb 28, 2007, we closed on the purchase of a house here in Dale City.
For me, the closing was a typical event of crossed signals, missed connections and general confusion. For our realtor and the other professionals it was an embarrassment of chaos. So I’d have to guess they’re just not used to doing business the “Charest way.”
It’s been an interesting week here in beautiful northern Virginia. We had a snow day, delay in closing on buying our house, and a possible closing date on the house we’re trying to sell down in Mississippi. Valentine’s Day came and went and Chinese New Year, the year of the Pig, is fast approaching.
We’re resettled in northern Virginia now and comfortably settled into my new job. After three months of moving and resettling, I’m finally back in a position to update this website.
The final weeks leaving Mississippi were chaotic, exhausting, and overall not something I’m in a hurry to repeat. It’s been 13 years since I last moved, and all prior moves were with (because of) the kind assistance of the US Navy. So this cross-country move was something “different.”
Ron Charest announces his multi-page story about moving from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to northern Virginia has been published. Linked to full-length article.