The Plan

If we were to move, it would be so hard. There is tons that has to be done, and, well, only us to do it. You can't just plop a house on the market, at least not where we live.  You have to prepare it and stage it.  It is supposed to gleam and glisten and sparkle.  For heavens sake, it must not look lived in!

For 35 years, the woodpeckers and squirrels have had their way with the back deck, and so we did get that re-built last summer. Check.  And we got the erosion channel on the front slope seen to. Check. What could possibly be left?  *Sigh*

If we were to move, what would we do about the downstairs bookcases, the ones with those runners mounted directly into the wall. Do they have to come down? If they do, the room will have to be patched and painted. All the articles say the front door should be painted, too, but what else? And how many pictures can you leave up on one wall when you show a place, anyway, 'cause I'm pretty sure we have too many. If we take them down, well, then that wall will have to be painted. Do we have to paint the entire house?

If we were to move, we wouldn't want all this furniture. Is it worth the hassle of selling it, or does it all just get donated? Can I deal with the annoyance of a garage sale?

If we move, can my husband and I possibly agree on what to keep and what to get rid of? He really wants to downsize, but if I hold up any single item and ask should we get rid of this, he doesn't want to let it go. Not one thing

If we move, we won't have to spend so much time traveling to our grandchildren.  We could help our daughter and son-in-law with child care emergencies; they could wipe the drool off our ever-aging chins. We could catch some of the grandchildren's activities before they grow all the way up. (Suzie's already in middle school!) They could join us for movies and parade-viewing and afternoon tea. We could enjoy our son-in-law's cooking.

If we move, we'll have to interview agents, and keep the house and yard immaculate. We will have to, you know, actually organize the endeavor. We will doubtless have arguments, er, I mean discussions. And it's been 23 years. I think we have roots we don't even know about that will hurt when they are pulled.

If we move, what would be the Master Plan?  Yeah, right. We never have a Master Plan; we never even have a Minor Plan. To have a plan takes making Big Decisions. I am not one for Big Decisions; I prefer to get positioned and let them make themselves. Steve is quite willing to make Big Decisions provided he can re-make them at any given time. No, there is no Master Plan. However, we do have the kind of plan that works for us, the Wishy-Washy Plan.

The plan is to jump around and do everything we need to do to sell this house, but, aha!  here's the genius, but not buy a new place. We'd rent. We'd rent and give ourselves a year to discover, explore, try it out. If it works, hooray!, we'll buy a home in the neighborhood. If not, OMG, what will we do? Who knows? We'll come up with a new plan.

Meanwhile, if we were to move, would I need every scrap of quilting fabric I own. Yes! Yes, I would! Steve would have to get rid of some golf stuff instead. That is, if we were to move.