The Missouri Winter I Wasn’t Supposed to See
So…no activity on the house, other than a couple of lookers, no offers. I can’t say I’m surprised, especially since putting it on the market was not part of my original plan. I’ve been working with my mortgage company on a “cash-for-keys” deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, but apparently that is going to take forever. So I wait. Haven’t I been waiting forever?
Let me remind everyone that my moving plan includes taking with me only what will fit into my little Ford Escort. It’s all about mobility, after all, in case I change my mind after arriving at my destination. (I guess that plan would have borne fruit had I made it to Detroit. Or, perhaps not. Irrelevant, but certainly worth reminding myself.)
So, I sold my massive, circa-2002 television, with the idea that I could stream programming from the internet, or maybe even give it up completely, considering I wouldn’t be here long enough to miss it. Turns out my internet connection sucks, even though it costs me nearly $70.00 a month. So I considered changing my internet provider, but since I am unable to make a long term commitment, I simply decided to buy a new TV, a little 19-inch flat screen that I can barely see from across the room and which sounds very much like a transistor radio. So then I bought a home theater system which, it turns out, would only work with my computer or a DVD player. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it to work with the TV, so I returned it. That’s okay…it won’t be long now, I said. The TV sucks, but it gets the job done: it distracts me, when I need distracting, which is often.
Back in the days of packing, painting and getting ready for the moving sale (and the moving itself), as well as being caught up in a daily, hours-long, time-warped communication pattern with Michael, my weekend cooking habits – and thus my daily, healthy, pre-planned eating plan – became null and void. Complicated food was nowhere on my radar or my agenda, so convenience food (the healthiest I could purchase) became my daily menu, if there was a menu at all. And of course, Michael had cookware at his house, so onto the sale block all of mine went. Gone, all my favorite gadgets, all my Pyrex bakeware (I really want some of my homemade zucchini lasagna, right now!), small appliances, storage dishes, pots, pans and dishes. I held back the basic necessities: pizza pan and pizza cutter, a couple pieces of Tupperware and some silverware. Everything sold, except any of the silverware; I have enough silverware to feed a large army, but I have virtually nothing in which to cook, although I did hang on to one slow cooker, no lid. But I was able to improvise and now can make a season’s worth of chili and soup for the winter I wasn’t going to see. Except, I sold my freezer, so storage space is at a premium.
Oh, and no one bought my gas BBQ grill (which I was selling for $25.00, complete with a full propane tank). I’ve had several cookouts during the unseasonably mild winter, during which I’ve also been able to use my re-claimed firepit. The people who bought the firepit had to unexpectedly move out of state, leaving said firepit behind, along with Squirkle, the cat they had adopted. So, now I can cook out, next to the firepit, while the cat sleeps on my lap.
I was smart enough to NOT sell my space heater, but I did wear out my last pair of crocheted slippers. I finally broke down and called my mom to ask her to send me some more. Normally, they would have been included in my Christmas package, but no Christmas packages were allowed this year, no excess baggage. And who knew I’d need slippers? Maybe I would have, in Detroit, but Michael had heat. I do not.
I have been living out of – and “shopping” from – packed boxes. So, in essence, I’ve been unpacking. That’s not what I had planned, but it’s necessary. I also had not planned on needing my (sold) snow shovel. Did you see the weather news this past few days? Twelve inches of snow here, from which I dug out with a garden spade. Scott helped with that a lot. And he slipped and slid his way, on foot, to the grocery store, and back, one mile away, to buy me milk.
Oh, and he bought me a ring for Valentine’s Day.
I AM NOT CHANGING MY MIND.