Category: Michael D
Countdown to a Move
So, we are doing the things that you do before you move. Set up new utilities in Virginia. Sort, filter, pack up the office. We have a contract on our home here in Kentucky. We feel lucky. If the inspection is good, our house would have been on the market 48 days. I know people who still have their homes in other cities on the market and are now counting into a new year wondering if the house will sell. I don’t know how you make two mortgage payments or even a mortgage and rent these days. If all the paperwork goes through we will have one ‘double’ month before we close in Virginia. The house in Virginia is great. Again, we feel lucky to have found it and are able to get a mortgage for it.
Packing up provides laughter, good tears, and the opportunity to sort and filter what goes from this place to the next. In my life I have moved eight times, not including different jobs during the summers in college. And, during all those moves I can count 21 different apartments, town houses, or houses that have been home. Some stuff is given away, some sold, some just thrown out each time. It is part of the process. My parents tell me that there are a couple boxes of my stuff in their barn in Texas, and wonder if I will or my sister for that matter ever claim same. As we countdown to a move we are, I am taking the time to sort, filter, laugh, and weap a little. It is cleansing.
My Companion’s Birthday
Lisa and I are different about our birthdays. She has adjusted to my need for silence and space on my birthday, and I’m trying to get better at making it a more special day for her. We typically go to our place, Jonathan’s at Gratz Park, for dinner. But with Lisa’s gall bladder issues we are waiting until after her surgery to enjoy a meal and fine wine. The past few years my best gift has been my time and attention. We don’t always live Ferris Bueller’s advise, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t slow down you could miss it.” I went home a little early this afternoon and turned my cell phone off.
I wish I could play an instrument, but alas my talent is pressing play. Do you remember what was once called a ‘mix tape’. Tonight we are listening to music:
To Young to Feel this Old – Garth Brooks
Waltz Across Texas – Ernest Tubbs
Crazy for You – Madonna
I’ve Been Waiting for a Girl Like You – Foreigner
Stuck on You – Lionel Richie
More Than a Woman – Bee Gees
Silver Wings – Merle Haggard
Hopelessly Devoted to You – Olivia Newton-John
Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman – Bryan Adams
Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You – Brooks and Dunn
Feels Like Home – Bonnie Raitt
Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About – Bonnie Raitt
Love Established – Amanda Wagoner
Italian Love Songs – Luciano Pavaroti
Crazy – Patsy Cline
A Groovy Kind of Love – Phil Collins
I Got You Babe – Sonny and Cher
Forever and Ever, Amen – Randy Travis
It is the best gift I have.