How Time Flies

It has been over a month since I wrote that my Northern home had sold. I had about 2 1/2 weeks to empty the house and ready it for the closing. First let me say that I could not have accomplished this task without my wife, Carol, daughter, Jill and niece Janine. I had not worked that hard for years. There were 9 rooms full of 43 years of living and collecting. The furniture was the easy part. All we had to do was label everything as to first stop and second stop. I had collected about 1500 assorted toys and maybe 40 or so pieces of collectible display glass. My wife had collected signed pottery and hand painted Santa Clause figures. Some were hand painted others not. Cats Meow buildings, etc. There were three cast bronze wind chimes hanging on the outside of the house. Each child got one. I have an F150 with the standard bed. I filled that bed three times and delivered to Salvation Army. My niece took a number of collectibles and is going to try E-Bay. We'll split the money. My long time neighbor had us over for a small dinner party and another neighbor took us out to dinner. I have great neighbors in Rhode Island and great neighbors in Florida.

Along the way we met the prospective owners. They are a great young couple who Carol and I immediately liked. They both love the house. I felt so much better that they are so happy and love the house and plan on raising a family there.

The closing went well as planned on Friday June 24Th. Carol and I were exhausted. We had checked into a local hotel and waited until Sunday to leave for Florida. We had decided to stop three nights on the road rather than our normal two nights.

We did take the opportunity to stop and visit Carol's sister, Pat, in New Jersey. They had not seen each other in 25 years. Pat's two daughters and a grandson also were there. It was a nice visit that will be repeated.

I enjoyed the leisure drive afforded me by the extra day on the road. We did stay in the Savannah area and had a nice dinner with my Navy buddy from years ago. I am fortunate to have made such great friends so long ago and that we still stay in touch.

When we bought the Florida home, we said that someday we would rip out the carpets and replace with laminate or tile. Well that time has come. We (Carol) settled on tile and we picked out a beautiful porcelain tile made in Italy. We also decided to replace the existing tile. There will be a lot of dust, dirt as the thin set under the tile is ground off the cement slab. Also the tile needs time to set and then the grout. So we have to be out for two weeks. The contractor wanted us to deal with breakable non- replaceable collectibles. Once again we have packed and moved more stuff as we approach out move out date. I tried for a condo rental in the area, but they are all booked or do not allow pets. So next Monday we will become gypsies. We will begin in Mississippi at another Navy pals home for a few days. Then, it depends on where the wind blows.