And now on with life...

Well… now it’s back to the mundane.

I really need to sell my house.  I have approximately five years to get ready for a move and while that sounds like a long time, it really isn’t; I have to do it all myself and there is a lot to do. 

In my effort to downsize I am hoping to have a series of garage sales to get rid of the tons of stuff I never use, don’t need and must ultimately get rid of.  Whatever is left over will go to the Salvation Army.  I have a four bedroom house with a study and two-car garage.  I have tons of stuff to unload including all of Andrea’s clothes, jewelry, knick-knacks, etc.  We (I still think of myself as “we”) have thirteen Persian rugs and dozens of paintings and I don’t even know how we acquired half of them.  I don’t need four televisions or the pasta maker that I haven’t used in eight years.  You get the picture.

I also need to make a few repairs around the house.  The front porch light quit working and I have to finish the bamboo floor I installed in the second floor bedroom along with a dozen or so miscellaneous tasks.  Fortunately I have a few days’ vacation time in April, a week in May and a few days in June.  If I can make good use of my weekends and this time off, maybe I can set a date to put the house on the market.

I realize this is a lousy market, but I have picked out a condo complex right on Tampa Bay that has a number of foreclosures and short sales listed, so what I don’t make in the sale of this property, I will make up in a lower purchase price on the condo – in theory.  This would be much easier if it were just me, but if I end up living in an apartment for a few months between properties it will be more complicated because of the cats.  Anyway, I will see a realtor this weekend to get an idea of what I can get and what needs to be done.  I have bought and sold several properties in the past without a realtor, but I still should probably test the waters before making plans.