tentative timeline

December

•  get rid of stuff
• decide how to sell
• Dec 28-Jan 12 scout out SF real estate market, rental vs sales

Jan 13-30:

• finish clearing stuff out
• store stuff for R. with L.
• store stuff to ship once I get an unfurnished place in SF
• list and show place

Drive out to SF with cat in Spring.

It took six months to list, clean, clear out stuff, give everything away, find a place to rent in Berkeley, sell, and leave Minnesota. The cat and I drove for four days, with just a few things in the trunk. I sent myself 9 boxes, using Amtrak. June 2, I arrived in Berkeley, and spent the next little while getting set up.

The cat made it until September and then I had to say goodbye to him. He was 17 and diabetic, but it was hard.

I am back.

Last winter in Minnesota

It just hit me that this will be my last winter in Minnesota!
I will savor the last time I get to

-shovel snow. If I'm lucky, I'll even get to use the snow-blower!

-wave at my neighbors as we shovel snow;

-chip ice off the sidewalk on that one spot where my neighbors' roof melt pools and freezes in front of our building;

-scrape ice off the windshield of my car with one of three different ice-scraping tools I have in my trunk;

-check obsessively to make sure I don't get towed during the snow emergency parking dance;

-model my stylish full-length down coat/Sorel boots/hat with earflaps/ double rag-wool mittens/face mask while enjoying the sensation of wearing silk long underwear;

-say something like, "well, I remember the big blizzards of '92!" or "but this is an unusually warm winter!"

-help someone jump start a car (mine or theirs) "red to red, black to black";

-brake my car and slide gently into a spin on the freeway while practicing turning INTO the spin;

-watch thousands of crows fly the crow highway on their way to roost in Loring Park or at that spot over by I-35, as the sun goes down at 4:15.

-listen to my boots make that crunching noise when the snow it is really cold and the snow is dry;

-feel my breath freeze on my nose-hairs;

-dig my car out of snow drifts, and then practice my well-honed skills of rocking it out of the ice ruts without burning out the clutch.

je déménage

I have decided to move out of this place because I hate my new neighbors (for their noise and disrespect) and I hate my old neighbor (because her first instinct is always to be mean). Too much psychic garbage. J'en ai vraiment ras-le-bol.

First step: an announcement of intentions.  I told mom, Loren and Blas. Yay, me!

Next step: clear out all the the stuff. There is SO MUCH STUFF. If I just do some every day, that will be good. Every time I get mad at the neighbors,  can pack up a bag or a box and slam my way up and down the stairs, ha ha.

I sold almost all my DVDs for about $100 at Half-Price Books. I saved the ones that I know Rosemary might want (about a box full). Several more bags of books are packed and in the trunk of the car so I can go back tomorrow. The main goal is just to get them out of the house, but if I can make enough money to pay for cat care over the holiday, that will be good.

I also took vases and stuff off the top shelf of the kitchen dish cupboard. So tedious to have to wrap them, but I could also take them out to the back yard and smash them to bits with a hammer.

I put the fake tree and a garland out, and someone took them. Now there is a chair, two TV tray tables and a hideous Xmas ornament ball. Let's see how long before they are gone, too [ETA: the Xmas ball and tray tables were gone by morning. Next, the chair!] It isn't supposed to rain or even be cold in the next few days, at least until Tuesday.

What will I do?

1. rent my place to a visiting scholar and have VSM manage it for me 
2. empty it out and get it ready to sell.
3. look for a place to rent in the Bay Area. 
4. go to Mexico for a few months
5. find some house-sitting gigs.

En route!

je dégage

I unfollowed everyone except R on Twitter, and deleted the icons from my browser and phone. I need to stay away because my interactions with it were becoming morbid and enfermiza. Ya basta.

Until I can be in a situation where I can count on sleeping well and not being angry and anxious about it all the time, I will cut myself off from the ugly new. I can seek it out if I need to, but I must make that difficult.