And The Moving Goes On.....

Another week has gone by and a glance at my countdown shows that as I write I have less than 48 days to complete this move. Wow! That is getting a little scary.

This week, I was able to set up accounts for gas, water, and lights and as of Tuesday everything will be in my name and I will be paying for the services. The wonderful news is that I did not have to pay a deposit for my electricity. I am so very thankful for that. I also met with the landlord, went over some things about the house, got the keys and paid the first month of rent. Then I was able to measure the windows for blinds and curtains. And, I looked again at how my furniture will fit. I have now taken four small loads of things to church and left everything in the office until I get the windows covered at the new house. I have another small load ready to go tomorrow.

Now, on Monday, I will get my retirement check so I will be doing the regular errands. On Tuesday, I hope to take my van to the dealership....it is making a funny noise I want them to check. On Wednesday, another load goes to Raymondville and I plan to buy the blinds and any curtain rods or brackets that I will need. Then one of the men from church is going to put up the blinds and curtain rods. I want to start playing Christian music and praying for protection and blessing in the house and for everyone who comes to visit. I will take another load plus Opie on Friday morning and hopefully, I can clean out the church office and set up for the Ladies Christmas Celebration that we will be having that night. On Friday night, Opie and I will be sleeping on an inflatable mattress in the new house for the first time. In the morning, we will go back to Reynosa, feed Chiquita and the cats, load up the van.....and go back to Raymondville to spend the night.

Well, those are the plans right now. I am so thankful for those who are praying for me during this rather stress-filled time. .....and the move continues...........

Another week passes....closer to my move

Well, another week has indeed passed. Mostly, I have been packing, boxes and bags and plastic tubs. They now decorate my living room, waiting for their trip to our new house. Then, there is the list-making! I have so many lists and so many items/things to do......but not one of them has been crossed out this week. I guess I am kind of in a holding pattern. I have all the information for connecting the utilities.....and will start working on that next week. Also, I will be signing the lease and getting the keys on Friday or Saturday of next week. Hopefully, things will start to speed up in another week or so.....especially since my countdown shows that the days are passing!!!! And, I keep on moving on........................

A Last Rose in Reynosa

Well, this morning, I trimmed bouganvillias and rosebushes.....I couldn't finish because there are still some rosebuds and I want to give them a chance to open and decorate my yard. I took a couple of pictures, realizing that this is the last time I will do the fall trimming here. I will have to leave behind my rosebushes. And, it makes me sad.

I will be leaving behind a lot.....really special friends, freshly made tortillas just down the block, a church that I spent lots of time attending, ministering in, and decorating. I will leave behind the real Pollo Loco restaurant,La Naranja--my friend Sara's restaurant, garbagemen who still use carts and horses, all the sounds of street venders, the extra slow, complicated way of doing things. I leave behind three lane highways that become five lane highways during rush hour. We (Opie and I) leave behind Maxie's husband and Opie's father, Carolino and his sister Carola. And, we leave behind two little graves...one for Chula and one for Maxie.

Tomorrow or the next day, I will consider all that I am taking with me and I will feel richer, blessed, and happy. But, for today, I am shedding some tears as I think about what will be left behind.

And, yes, I am moving on.......and it is okay.

Moving On Update

Just look at my countdown and you will see that I am approaching "two months" till I am moved to Raymondville. That is both encouraging and frightening....encouraging because a long drawn out moving process is tiring and frightening because there is so much to do. Right now, I have open boxes all over the house and I am organizing and packing in pieces while carrying on somewhat normal life here. Then, I have notebooks started....one has addresses that I will have to change and the other has measurements so I can see how things will (or will NOT) fit in the new house and lists of things that I will need to DO and BUY! NOTHING has been checked off BUT LOTS of things are being ADDED almost daily. I now know the mailing address of the house, that it is going to have a white hood for the stove (meaning that I need to buy a white stove which is fine since my refrigerator is white), and that I will need a shower curtain for the bathroom. I know that my living room curtains are too small for the new living room windows and that each bedroom has two windows. There is also a patio door which will need a curtain, two small windows in the laundry room, and one small window in the kitchen. I think I have decided to cover the one window in what will be my office/craft room with my entertainment center so it will only need blinds. It is the room that has patio doors so there will be windows or a way to have light in the room. Well, that is what I am thinking now. I am pretty sure that all my furniture will fit in the house....but I still need to get measurements to be sure. I learned that cats only need a current rabies shot in order to cross the international bridge....so I have to start updating their shots. Even though there is a terrible mess here (and Christmas decorating is probably not going to happen this year!), I am excited about my move. So that is where I am now.....and I am moving on.............

COUNTDOWNS!!!!!!!!!

My friend Tracie has a countdown to Christmas on her blog. Well, I am going to let her keep track of that for us.

I will do the countdown to my move: RIGHT NOW THERE ARE THREE MONTHS TILL I PLAN TO BE COMPLETELY MOVED!...November, December, and January!

THREE MONTHS TILL I LIVE IN RAYMONDVILLE, TEXAS!!!!!

Moving On!

Well, last time I tried to post, the lights went out and only the first paragraph of my post "made it." However, it is kind of prophetic since I talked about getting caught up and then moving on!

As for getting caught up, I had a wonderful time in Illinois. I shopped at all the stores I wanted to, ate at my favorite Rockford restaurants, walked on the Sinissippi Bike Path with Opie and my brother David, spent lots of time just talking with Mom and Dad, went to the Edwards Apple Orchard three times, had time with my brother Jon, sister in law Gwen, nephew Allen and his wife Anne when they came to Rockford for a weekend, had a family dinner at Rick and Jan's, had some time with Ben, Eric, and Lissa (Jan's three), had lunch with my Aunt Shirley,took a trip to northern Wisconsin to see my Aunt Myrtle, cousins Arvid and Gailon & Peggy, my Uncle Arnold and Aunt Gladys and cousin Grant, stopped at Norske Nook (wonderful food!) twice and MORE!!! It was a great time!!!

Soon after I got home, I learned about the remodeling on a house in Raymondville which will be ready to rent on Dec. 1st. SO I have decided to move. It will be hard to leave Reynosa as I have lived here for over 13 years and have some very strong ties here. However, it is important for me to be near the church I pastor and Raymondville is only 10 miles from the church. Also, I am not getting younger so it is a reasonable time to come back to the States, especially since I "retired" from my involvement in the church in Reynosa last December. In addition, this house meets my needs and some of my wants.....it is fenced, I can have my cats and dogs, it is big enough, the rent amount is about right, etc. I will start the process by packing here in Reynosa, having yard sales and celebrating Thanksgiving in Reynosa in November. In December I will bring van-loads of stuff to the "new" house, get lights, gas, and water turned on, get blinds and curtain rods put up....and celebrate Christmas. In January, I will get the large pieces of furniture moved and bring the cats and Chiquita the guard dog to Raymondville as well as finishing up packing, moving boxes to Raymondville, and cleaning the "old" house. In February, I will get my landline phone and my internet service in Raymondville and buy a new stove....an electric one since the one I have is gas. I also have to put up more secure fencing for Chiquita and pay off my computer which is a package deal with my phone, internet service and the computer here in Reynosa. SO the next blogs will probably be chronicles of the holidays and my move!!!!

So, yes, I am MOVING ON..........

Catch up

Well, I have neglected my blog for too long.....everytime I start to write something, I see all the pictures of Maxie and I get sad all over again. So, it is time to move on and catch up!