Cleanup status

So far today we cleared out our dresser drawers and linen closet.  I was amazed that M pretty  much wanted to throw (or give) almost everything away; I was afraid he had a great attachment to his shirts!!!  We basically went from 4 dressers to 2, but we know there will need to be at least one more clothing downsize as we'll probably only have one 4 drawer dresser in the RV.

Got rid of a lot of towels and sheets; only kept 2 sets of queen size for our current bed (hopefully RV will have a queen sized bed).

Feeling very good.  So far not having any attachment to possession issues.

Moving very FAST!

I can only pray that the sale of the house goes as quickly as everything else is going right now.  It's scary, exciting, and somewhat nerve wracking having moved from taking little baby steps for the past 3 years, to taking a giant leap and trying to get EVERYTHING done over the course of the next 2 weeks or so.

The contractors are literally pulling the rug up from under us.  We had wanted to completely clean out each room before they started working, but they are basically just moving everything out of their way to do the work.  So almost every closet and drawer and piece of furniture has been moved to different rooms.  The place is utter chaos and will only get worse over the next few days.  But that's all right... because once the work is done, we can do a better cleanup.  Things will either be packed for the RV (probably not more than 3-4 boxes), put on the side to donate, sell (only if its worth more than $50) or put in the dumpster that's now in the driveway.  The real cleaning out is happening right now!!!

Also, something else I hadn't anticipated would happen so quickly was finding a new home for the cats.  My cousin will take 2 and my sister in law may know someone who can take the third.  Worst case we will bring Nutmeg (who is 14) to the RV with us, but that is a total last resort.  As much as we love him, he has never traveled before, he is old, and I think it may be too traumatic for him.  Not to mention I don't want the litter box in the middle of the space nor do I want to keep the shower door open at all times.  Just not enough space for him there.  Not that we couldn't figure out a way if we really wanted to, but we don't.

We were also very fortunate that a relative loaned us a few dollars towards the repairs, so we may be able to get a fairly decent price after all.  Since we don't have good furniture to show, the plan is to have the rooms completely empty.  I kind of like that as well - I find furnishings too distracting.  When looking at homes, my eye tends towards judging the furniture and decor rather than trying to picture how my stuff would look there.  Much easier to imagine if there's nothing in there.

Accomplished so far:
-floors and painting replaced in the entire house except 1 bedroom (which will be done tomorrow)
- kitchen floor and counters replaced, new stove coming next week
- bathroom fixtures replaced

Still need to do:
- repaint house except bedrooms and kitchen
- replace garage and front doors

At this rate, all may be done by the end of next week and we may even be able to list the house by mid-January!

Major milestone day!!!

Nothing that I haven't already reported on, but it occurred to me as I exited  my corporate office for the last time today, that I am truly starting the Next Chapter of my life today.

Contractors are here and working very fast.  One more room is finished (bedroom) and the kitchen will be worked on tomorrow.  At this pace, the house may be ready to list in about 2 weeks.

Moving right along

The realtor took one look at our furnishings and agreed that we really need to get rid of anything we're not currently using.  It will make the rooms look much larger and folks won't get distracted by such ugly stuff.

Dumpster is coming at the end of the week.  Where we've been taking slow, baby steps for the past 3 years, suddenly we're forced to take a giant leap and move ahead very quickly.

Anticipating a LOT of stress and tension between me and M over all the things we need to throw or give away.  The only items we'll put in storage are a few boxes of "maybe" stuff.  We'll only pack the very bare minimum for the coach, but since we won't know how large (or small) it will be, there may be a chance we'll have more storage space than originally planned.  And by additional stuff, I mean maybe a few extra pairs of jeans or sweaters, 2 suits instead of just 1, my Passover pots & pans.  Stuff like that.  M will have the most problem deciding about all his tools and computer components!

Ready to move on

Well, the job opportunity for M did indeed fall through.  We only have enough $ in the bank for 2-3 months to pay bills, so we MUST sell the house REAL FAST.  Meeting with realtor next week.

Nothing holding us back now.  Once we sell, we can determine what kind of rig to get based on how much $ is left over. Certainly won't be the condo on wheels we were dreaming of (the DRV Mobile Suites with separate room for the office in the back), but hopefully it can be something decent.

We've wanted this day to come for the past 3 years.  Maybe it took a traumatic event like this to push us towards it.  Still feeling very scared, but I really should start getting excited.

What a weird roller coaster ride!

My last post mentioned that although I was about to lose my job, M was being offered a job which would make up for the lost salary; pending a successful background check.

Yesterday we learned that due to a ridiculous, absurd semantical problem (his job description not matching his job title), they denied his application.  This put us in a very scary predicament -- that both of us would, in effect, be unemployed.  The only option was to sell the house as quickly as possible.  The amount we have set aside for fixing it up could pay the mortgage for about 2 more months, so we would need to sell "as is" to avoid foreclosure.  And then, where would we live?  Who would rent an apartment to 2 unemployed people with a poor credit rating?

After losing a night of sleep, I was able to think of a Plan B, which is to sell the house with the hopes of getting at least $20-30K out of it, and use that to buy an old, used RV.  Between M's pension and my unemployment, it would be enough to survive on the road, while building my business.  Ok, it wouldn't be the condo on wheels we want; rather it would be a rusted tin box, but at least it would provide shelter and a place to live until we could build ourselves back up.  I even found a craft that has good potential to sell well at street fairs.

Today, M got word that the HR manager was livid at the way things were handled and was able to convince the background check company to give him a second chance.  They sent him a new application and he is starting the process over, this time making the corrections they found (making sure his job title matched).

So who is to say what path we will end up taking?  Will we start our new chapter sooner than planned (no job), or later than planned (job)?  Stay posted for the continuation of this saga.....

All for the good, right?

This is surely divine intervention!

I got the official notice from my job - it is not going 1/2 time, but rather I am being completely terminated as of the end of the year.  Personally, I feel a great sense of relief that I don't have to put up with this very difficult person anymore, and feeling very excited about the prospect of going full steam ahead with building my business.

What is really excellent news is that M has been offered a full time, permanent job which will pay what I was making and what he was making from his freelance work, which means that God is providing for us on the financial front.  I can take my business to the next level without having to worry about how to pay bills.

The only real drawback I can see right now is that this job is relatively static, within the State of NJ (with occasional work in NY).  It does not lend itself to travel, which means we may need to push our dream of full timing back a few years.  But I believe things happen for a reason and when the time is right, we will know.  This also gives us a little time to sock more money into savings so we can buy the rig and truck we really want.

Still on track to sell the house and ONE MORE PROJECT has been accomplished - one of the upstairs bedroom is now cleaned out, floor replaced and painted!!

Another obstacle or a blessing in disguise?

I learned (unofficially, by snooping, but I will be informed formally in a few weeks) that my current full time job of 8 years is being cut back to part time.  I will lose 50% of my hours and pay, and the boss will suggest I work from home instead of the office.

Obstacle because whatever $$ I have saved up to fix the house to put on the market may need to be used towards paying bills if I can't come up with supplemental income.

Blessing because I started a business a few years ago which I have really not pursued because of time constraints (www.AZAdminSolutions.com).  My best case scenario when we sold and bought the RV was that I would not really quit my job but offer my services as a client to my boss.  By cutting my hours back, it (1) gives me the time I need to move full steam ahead with my business and (2) prove that I can do the work from anywhere there's an internet connection.

I guess time will tell.....

Another baby step finished!

Kitchen cabinets look shiny and new!  Downstairs large room is now an official bedroom with a closet (we just need to add the hardware inside).

We have the money set aside for the upstairs bedrooms now; it's now a matter of finding the time to clean out the rooms so the contractor can easily work around the furniture.  I wish I wasn't so darn tired when I get home from work.  In theory, we can get this done much faster if I did this after coming home, making and cleaning up after dinner and before bed.  For now, we've been leaving all the work for a Sunday (observe the Sabbath on Saturday, so can't work then).

Motivate... motivate... motivate....

Another step forward!

Contractor comes tomorrow and will be doing a bunch of work.  We have the money now to put the flooring down in the bedrooms - it's proving to be a bigger challenge cleaning out the rooms!!!  But there's still plenty of work for him to do.

We're trying really, really hard to make it a goal to put the house on the market by this spring.  I know, we've been saying that since we started the blog 3 years ago.. but it's still the PLAN, not the DREAM! 

A little movement

More baby steps, but moving forward.

The money was stashed away into a savings account where I will not be using it for anything other than the contractor.  I have already commissioned him to start work in late Oct./early Nov. as I am waiting for my son to return home so he can help clean out and move a lot of stuff in the upstairs bedrooms.  Next projects will be the floors and painting of the upstairs bedrooms.

Today we worked in the garage (yet again!!!).  My office is closed the week between Xmas and New Year's, so once again we will rent a dumpster; this year with the goal of throwing as much as possible away (and selling or giving away everything else).  Surprisingly, Mitch was even willing to get rid of stuff I predicted he would insist on keeping! Perhaps he's also starting to see the dream getting closer!

Ready for next project?

Dare I be hopeful???  A large pay check which we've been waiting for has finally caught up with us, so we have some funds to undertake another major project (either installing the flooring and painting in the 3 remaining bedrooms or renovating the kitchen).

Will the car break down  or there be another medical emergency before the contractor is hired??

Keeping fingers, toes and all remaining limbs and organs crossed!

Bummer - yet another setback

Another financial setback.  Just needed an emergency appendectomy.  Already I've been billed about $2500 just for the blood work, CT Scan & Xray and doctor to read the results.  I've yet to be billed for the hospital stay, surgeon and anesthesiologist.  Figure that'll be another $5K at least.  So whatever funds dribble through towards the house need to go towards yet more medical bills.

I know... be grateful they diagnosed it on time and that I'm alive and recovering.  but still... This is so damn aggravating!

Good news for a change

A signficant amount of the work we've been planning on since January has BEEN COMPLETED!!!  There's new flooring in the downstairs rooms, fresh paint, and even the steps were resanded and stained.

Unfortunately, I am still looking at the glass half empty -- I'm seeing all the things that still need to get done rather than how far we've come.  It's been about 3 years since we made this plan :(  But I suppose this work really does put us much further along in the process.

If only we'd win the lottery....

Made appointment (and a huge AARGH)

Ok, stuff cleared out today** and I made an appt with the contractor to start one day  next week.  Let's see how that plays out!

** almost all - despite a months' worth of talking and discussion and showing M specifically what was being removed to the recycle center, and after all these discussions resulting in debates and arguments and finally compromises, he took some of the stuff and put the rest IN THE GARAGE!!!!   He insists he's not a hoarder.   His excuse is that he'd rather see someone get some use out of it rather than it being destroyed.  We're talking about 20 year old printers that we stopped using because the ink clogged or the drum or laser needed replacing!!!  At least that's all he confessed to -- I'm sure there are lots of 30  year old broken components that he smuggled away as well.

Ok, bright side -- at least it's out of the rooms that the contractor needs access to work in.  I think when we're ready to clean out the garage, I'll figure out a way to get him out of town for the weekend and then get a junk hauler to come in!

Another attempt!

M is taking the morning off of work tomorrow and hired a friend to help him with the heavy lifting of the all the stuff to be taken out of the downstairs room and over to the recycle center.  We can then spend Sunday removing or rearranging the furniture and taking up as much carpet as possible.  Perhaps the work can then start next week?

Meanwhile, we have about $6K of receivables (work billed but not paid), so hopefully once that starts coming in, we can plan to start work on the upstairs.  We shall see!  In light of the way this has been going, I shouldn't jump ahead of myself!

Ok, what's going on???

I called the recycle company to confirm that we're still on for tomorrow (the 4th reschedule date) and learned that they had a meeting just today and determined that they can no longer pick up from residences in NJ since they are a PA company (I wonder if they were ever planning to tell me this, or would I have taken yet another day off of work waiting for them?)  They said they can only pick up if it was arranged and brought over to a place within my town or county.

So I am basically back to square one - figuring out how to get all this stuff out of my house, into a truck and brought over to the recycle center in my town which is only open on Wednesday mornings!

Somehow, I think there's a message here I'm supposed to be receiving.  I do hope it's not that I should give up trying to fix up the house to put on the market to sell to get cash for the RV.

Postponed yet again!

Well, the recyclers were scheduled for Feb. 4th but apparently they got very busy and ran overtime at a previous stop (a school).  Since they were an hour and a half away and it was almost 4:00, they decided they'd postpone.  Now I'm scheduled for next Wednesday - Feb. 13th!  I guess it's true that you get what you pay for.  As much as I want to complain about the big inconvenience in that I can't get the repair work started until the junk is removed, my only other options is to load it all into a huge truck (which I'd need to rent and would need to hire someone strong to help lift all the stuff) and bring it to the local recycling center, or pay a company to remove it (the lowest quote I got was a bit over $500).  So, for FREE, I guess I just have to grin and bear it.

Meanwhile, starting to believe the Next Chapter will NOT take place in 2013 either.  House may not be market ready this year at this rate.  Sigh.

Update to work

I was certain the recycling company rescheduled for February 1st, but when I called to confirm, they said it was the 4th.  I suppose I could have misheard.  So, hopefully, we're on for tomorrow to pick up all the junk from the downstairs rooms.

Meanwhile, the contractor is busy and can't schedule us to start until the following Monday.  That's ok; gives us a little more time to pick up more carpet and move what we're keeping into the garage temporarily.

On the RV front: we did make a final decision as to the rig (or should I say "home"?) we want.  Of course, it depends on how much we can sell the house for, but for  now we have our sights on a custom built DRV Mobile Suites, 43' unit, using the Atlanta floorplan as a base, changing out one sofa for 2 recyliners or theater seating, having a peninsula counter rather than an island, and changing out the rear bunk area with the Phoenix office.  Still have to do much research in finding a good but cheap used truck to pull it with.

Did I really expect it to happen?

Even something as simple as a company coming to pick up junk managed to delay everything by a week!  Why?  Because they didn't show up on Friday like they were supposed to, and as such, the contractor couldn't start the work on Monday because there's too much stuff in the way.  They are now scheduled to come this Friday (Feb. 1st) so the work might begin that following Monday.

Do the obstacles ever end???

Took another big step!

We just put down a 1/3 deposit for work on the downstairs.  All recycleable junk and giveaway items will be removed on Friday and Saturday and the work starts on Monday.  By the end of next week (Jan 31, 2013), our downstairs landing, den, bedroom and bathroom will be freshly painted (with holes patched and smoothed), and new floors put down. 

I am trying to look at this as the glass half full - that we're making progress and this is a big step.  If it's half empty, then I have to look at the many other projects upstairs and outside that still need to be done before we can put the place on the market.  And since we're cleaning out the savings account with this work, it could be months before we can tackle the next project.

I know.. steady and slow wins the race.  But I really want to start the next chapter NOW!!!!

I think I toyed with the Universe

Well, none of those folks showed up.  The first person was sick and when I followed up 2 weeks later, she hasn't responded.  The others just fell off the face of the earth as well.

For those who may not be as faith-driven as I am, this may sound like a load of (fill in the word you'd like), but I'm beginning to believe that I tested fate when I questioned whether the Universe was toying with me.  I should have believed that my prayers were being answered and I should not have verbalized any question or doubt.  All along, I have believed that when the time is right things will happen.  I did believe that these people responding to my ad were meant to happen, and I wonder if I hadn't expressed a doubt, if it would have worked.

I can only pray that I will be forgiven for my doubts and be given another chance very, very soon!

Meanwhile, I found a company that will pick up not only my junk scrap metal but all my recycleables as well.  Ok, I won't get paid anything for it, but at least I don't have to pay someone else to remove it, nor do I have to take time off of work to get to the recycle center or worry about making several trips to Staples or some other office supply place that accepts recycleable computers and parts.  This is the next step to the cleaning process.  Once all this stuff is cleared out, I can then have the new floors installed downstairs and the rooms painted.  Goal by the end of February.

Making great progress

(NOTE: this post should be before the Universe one.  For some reason it didn't get published when I wrote it; it was in my draft folder).

Having 2 weeks off for vacation, I'm in "operation clean up" mode again.  With M not being home to watch all the things I'm putting into garbage bags (or into the give away or recycle piles), it's amazing how productive I am!  I admit that many things I've touched brought back memories (like all the supplies I used in my balloon decorating / event planning business), but on the very top of my mind is "will this fit in the RV?" and "will I ever use this again?"  Of course, the answer  is no, so out it goes.

M has been working extremely long hours the past few weeks.  Unfortunately, those contractors are on 30 day net pay, so we won't see the $ until Jan or Feb, but  the plan is that once the downstairs rooms are cleaned out, I can have the downstairs completely renovated.  Then again, man plans and God laughs.  But that's the plan of action anyway.

Is the Universe playing games with me again?

Well, the clean up project went pretty well.  I have a charity truck coming to pick up donations on Jan. 26th and hope to get all the electronic junk to the recycle center before then.  I was hoping to have the contractor come by the end of the month but no later than the end of Feb. to complete the downstairs (new floors and painting) but.... M went and totalled the car (thank Goodness he wasn't hurt and I wasn't with him.  He was side swiped (by a driving instructor!!) and the passenger door was totally smashed in.  Insurance co. deemed it totalled.  The $ we're getting back, since it was a 2000 with 200K miles, isn't worth very much, so we had to dig into the house money to replace the vehicle.

But that's not the reason for my title question.  The goal is to fix up the little repairs and cosmetic stuff and put the house on the market.  However, just for the fun of it, I put a For Sale By Owner note on Craigslist, basically saying that I would love to retire sooner and will dramatically reduce the selling price for someone else to putter.  And absolutely no investors or realtors need reply.  Well... I actually got 2 very serious families who want to come over this week to take a look, despite my giving them a full disclosure of all the work that needs to be done.  Honestly, I really didn't expect any serious inquiries.

So, is the Universe toying with me -- putting these folks in my path only to squash my hopes?  Or is this our prayers being answered?  I guess we'll know in a few days.