How do you put a value on you "life"?

Well the movers came today (are here actually) and are packing the surface shipment.

I have to say that this week has been kind of hard. Whittling down your personal possessions and seeing values put on everything. I imagine that things are going to feel real strange when the storage shipment leaves tomorrow.

I have never had to put a value on "things" like this, so that part was a bit odd.

This is feeling a bit surreal in the whole experience.

Time Flies when you are STRESSED!

Wow, I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that I was finishing my last day at work and preparing for this crazy adventure. Now we are down to 7 days until we leave. That means that in 3 days the movers come... yikes!

On Christmas, Doug and I spent the greater part of the day sorting and deciding what was going to the local thrift store. I wasn't really all that surprised by how much we had to give away. When they came yesterday to do a pick up, we completely filled the truck. The sad thing is... we need to get rid of more stuff.

Doug and I have made a promise to each other to try to stay clutter free. I know it is going to be a challenge, but I think we can do it.

We listed the house yesterday with our realtor Marcus. I hope he does a good job for us. I believe he will. The pressure is on for him since his mom is one of Doug's tech leads and a very good friend of ours.

Marcus was saying he actually has 2 couples that he wants to show the house to on Monday. I guess both are very interested.

This has been a great house. We are only the 3rd family to live in it. It was the builders house and his kids grew up in it, then his son bought the house and his kids partially grew up in it. Our son spent most of his life here. The neighborhood is great. There is a very nice balance of neighbors, both LDS and not. Everyone seems to get along well. The kids play well together and the neighborhood is clean and safe. We have great schools in the area, and are close to shopping.

In a way I will be sad to see our house sell. But, in another way I am exited. This is the beginning on a new adventure for us.

Well, I had better go get busy with cleaning an "stuff". There is so much to do still.

The last couple of days have been interesting to say the least...

I have been cleaning out the basement and, well some of the stuff is just weird what I have found in boxes. Things that I thought at the time I saved them were important.

Being a pack-rat, I know why I saved them, but it is sure making it hard to de-clutter. All of the stuff is good stuff.

This move and forced de-cluttering is making me reevaluate my choices on what is important to me.

I am continually asking myself, do I really need it. Could I buy something that will be more efficient for this, do I really want to store this and (if it is a technology type item) will better technology be out there in a couple years? Most of the time I am answering "no I don't really want to store it" and "yes, something better will be out there in 2 years".

On the other hand, it is difficult to part with some things. That is where I am finding favorite websites are coming into play. Freecycle and Craigslist are becoming increasingly valuable in this purging process.

Craigslist is a place you can post stuff you have for sale and trade, barter... give away... whatever. Freecycle is a place you can post free stuff you have to give away. Both of them are awesome. I have been able to get rid of so much. And I know that the stuff will be appreciated in their new homes.

Untill later... Lori

Wholie Cashmolie...

I knew that airline tickets to Dubai (we are flying in to Dubai since it is "cheaper") were expensive... but I just saw the cost of the tickets for January 3rd. Now keep in mind that these have to be round trip since we don't have the visas yet... The company is working on them still. Almost 10,000. for round trip tickets. Yikes!!!

This just boggles my mind. I do realize that this is on the other side of the world, but 10K? Woah!

It is starting to sink in that I have very little time left to get things done.

I still have so much to do and so little time left to do it in. I must be ready to leave on the 3rd regardless if everything is done. The pressure is on and it seems that the more I do, the more I find that needs done.

I know it will all work out in the end.

Ugh!!! I keep walking in circles...

Part of it has to be the fact that I am ADHD, but I am going nuts...

I can't seem to focus on just one thing. I work on one room for a while, then move to another to take something there, and find myself working there for a while. This is driving me nuts.

I keep finding stuff to get rid of and I am starting to get in a bad mood because of it. Not the giving away part... the part where I still can't believe how much crap we have. I mean... we are not the typical pack rats... we are major pack rats. That is what is frustrating me.

Well, I need to gather some things up for a friend for tomorrow. We will see how distracted I can get with this simple task.

Well it is starting to sink in...

The guy from the moving company was here today. It is starting to sink in about moving now...

I still have tons of stuff to get rid of. Thank goodness for freecycle and craigs list. I am posting like crazy on there. I don't know how many boxes of garage sale reject stuff I have gotten rid of.

And then there is the garbage lol... I felt sorry for the garbage men today. I had over 20 bags for them to take. And have already started on a pile for next week.

Well, things wont sort themselves (it would be nice if they did lol) so I had better get back to work.

Did Ya ever feel like you were at a stand still?

Ugh... I feel like I am at a standstill... I know I am making progress n cleaning and donating things, however when I look at how much more I have to go... I still feel overwhelmed. I know I am making progress since I have 9 (yes nine) garbage bags and 2 full garbage cans ready to go to the trash on Tuesday.

I just have so much more to do. I pretty much have one storage closet in the basement done... I just have boxes to move out to the trash. I have 1 more storage closet to go, then there is all of the junk in the basement. I can see that I am making headway on that since I can now see the floor in several places and the boxes are not as high any more.

I think once I get that level done, I will feel better about the possibility of getting done by Christmas.

The moving company is coming on Tuesday to do a walk through. I guess at that time they will see what needs to be packed and shipped and what needs to be stored.

I am not anticipating taking a lot of things. Since our apartment there will be furnished, Most things we take are going to be ones we can't live without. Of course we will take personal items and stuff, but there is a lot I am not taking.

Well I am off to sort stuff some more. I am finding little breaks seem to help a lot.

Actually I think I am going to try to fix the vacuum... the rotator thingey seems to be stuck.

Well that was weird...

Yesterday was my last day at work and it was a very strange feeling. Saying goodbye to everyone and all of the customers who I have seen on a daily basis for almost a year was a very strange feeling.

I am going to miss them all...

Another weird thing was on Saturday I picke out furniture for our apartment in UAE on the internet...

Doug was able to email me pictures and a list of what we can have. I then took the list and matched what I like. It was a bit difficult since the pictures were sooooooo small.

For some reason I was thinking things would be ultra modern and real streamlined... almost minimalistic. However the sofas and tables ended up being a lot more traditional.

Doug said he got to go look at the apartment at lunch (his) today ( our middle of night). He said it is really nice.

The view is of another building, and we don't have any out door space (rats), but we have marble floors, and the layout is very nice. This is a poor picture, but it gives you an idea of the layout. Since it is blurry... along the top is Living room/ dining room space (26.7 x 12.6), kitchen (17.1 x 7.3), Bedroom 1 (16.1 x 11), bedroom 2 (15.4 x 11.9). The bathroom is directly opposite the bedroom 1, (now moving left) entry, laundry, utility room (10 x 12.1) and bathroom with just a shower. I think typically the utility room and shower would be for a maids quarters... hmmm (probably not, well maybe once a week). However I think we are going to use it for an office space.

Stay tuned for more on this wild adventure.