This will be our last blog post from Denver. Crazy! We’ve been busy getting ready to leave. Busy is an understatement. As I’ve said before, we don’t have a plan. Okay…that’s not true. We plan to walk out the door of our empty house on January 25th and fly to LA. How we are going to get there is impossible to explain. We are just doing it. We are doing about 5 things at at the same time all while planning the next 5. It is equally exhilarating and exhausting.

What exactly have we been doing? For starters, we sold my car. That was easy and quick. We had to get a rental car to get around until we leave. It’s electric blue. I won’t miss it. Another thing we’ve been doing is trying to find renters for our house. We have a couple of showings every week which is super inconvenient seeing that we are trying to pack up the whole house. The house is listed with a property manager and they will take care of everything while we are gone. The house will be empty and we hope they can find us some renters.

The goodbyes. Kids are spending time with friends during this final weekend. All 3 kids are sad about missing friends. I feel lucky they have good friends to miss. Luke’s class all signed a Colorado pillowcase for him. It was such a thoughtful gift and I know he appreciated it.  I’m reading a book about Australia to Mae’s class on Tuesday. She’ll bring cupcakes to celebrate her last day and Luke will bring pumpkin muffins. They are both bringing early Valentine’s to their classmates. Elle and her crew will take one last trip to the Town Center after school Tuesday. Her friends are very sad she’s leaving. They’ve begged me to come to the airport to say goodbye. I,too,have tried to spend time with friends these last few days. It’s been a nice break from the house. Lots of hugs going around. The kindergartens are the best. They never know when it’s Mae’s last day, so they hug her so much. So often. My kids are feeling lots of love in Denver this week.

Appointments took up most of last week. So many. So boring. 

The house! I can’t believe we will have an empty house in just 3 days. Every drawer and closet and picture on the wall…getting all packed up  The basement was a bear. I found everything I’ve ever owned, every lost item (Elle’s Kindle!!) and things I’ve never even seen before. The basement has been harboring a whole lot of memories and mostly junk. Bags and bags and bags to Goodwill. Sold some stuff. Lots of trash. We have a storage unit and Wes brings carloads over daily. I’ve cleaned out everyone’s closets and sorted so many clothes (donate, pack, or storage.) We owned way too many clothes and wore less than 50% of what was in the closets.  We will do the kitchen and big furniture last. Phew. 

At some point, I’ll start packing suitcases. Not ready yet. But soon. I’ve been thinking and shopping, but not ready to break out the suitcases yet. I really don’t know what to bring.

California: We will be there for 5 nights. We will see my cousin, our former nanny, and Mickey Mouse. And hopefully sleep a little. Have I mentioned we are exhausted?

This past week we got hit with some sicknesses. Booooo! Fingers crossed we get healthy for the big trip. It has made things a little more challenging. Thankfully the Marshalls can handle hard stuff. 

So that’s what is happening here. Lots of emotions, caffeine and advil. I’m turning to a very inspirational fish for some wisdom these last few days. Just Keep Swimming….