Dates are getting scheduled, things are moving and the big rush begins.....

This morning started out with the normal amount of, I really should get moving.... but after I do.....

That was until I heard from the moving company.  I have a tentative "loading" date.  It can be two days on either side, but the date I am now aiming for is having the moving truck here, loading everything that I am going to take to Alaska is September 6th.  That is a tad over 6 weeks from today.  And everything will be done or not done and I will be watching people pack the items I am taking and then loading them on a truck and pulling out of my driveway after 40 years in this house.

I really had thought I would end up being here until I died.  And I really thought I would be here until I was no longer in control of what I can do and my poor children would be tasked with doing what I am doing now... going through mountains and mountains of years and years of accumulated stuff.  And I am struggling, trying to let some of it go.  And yet I am also letting go of more than I expected to let go.  I have six weeks to do the final purge.

So, today I started working on my Happy Room.  For those who do not know, I have a 12 needle, single head embroidery machine and it is a Happy Embroidery Machine.  I had a small, home based business from 2007 until my husband passed away in 2011.  Happy will be making the trip to Alaska as my daughter-in-law has shirts that she wants me to embroider.  (I had thought I would have to leave Happy behind as many of the houses that we looked at did not have room for Happy to be live.)  The new house has a nice, large room that was being used as the Master Bedroom, but I think I am going to set my bedroom up in the family room and have the huge Master Bedroom become a craft, sewing, quilting and embroidery room.  That way I can have one really messy room that we creative folks thrive in... at least I do.... and the rest of the house can remain more clutter free since I will be sharing the space with my son and daughter-in-law from time to time.

I have not done much embroidery over the last couple of years, so the room had become neglected and a place for orphan stuff to land.  I need to clear the room out so I can get to Happy, take him apart into the original pieces that he came with and put him back into the original box that he came in.  When we got Happy, it was highly recommended that we save the box, and so we did.  

My niece and nephew, Nancy and Jeff Wallace are coming up this Sunday to visit, bring lunch and wish me well on my adventure.  They are my late husband's side of the family and Nancy and Jeff have always made sure that I was included in holiday activities and have helped out when I needed assistance.  So they are bringing lunch and have offered to help me with anything I might need.  So, I am thinking that if I have Happy cleaned, torn apart and ready for the boxing up, that the three of us MIGHT be able to do that.  If it is beyond our combined strength. then we may wrap my Grandmother's china up and get it into boxes. Her china is in small boxes in the attic, lightly wrapped in old, old newspapers.  They needs to be packed better to survive the trip to Alaska.  This is the china that I remember seeing at holiday dinners when we went to Illinois to spend Thanksgiving.  The new kitchen may have a place where I can have the china available to be used again.

So here are some pictures that I took of almost "before".  I dove into the sorting and purging and then remembered to get the "before" pictures.  So some purging has already been done.

Looking toward the door to the room... before

Looking at the closet in the room where hoops were hung and thread and blanks stored... before

Storage shelves between Happy and the Window.. started but not finished...

Looking from the door at the desk area and hooping table... before

Looking on the left side of the Happy Stand on the floor... before

Looking under the Happy Stand... before

I worked off and on all day.  I had one big contractor bag that I can usually fill with trash and still lift.  Not today.  I had lots of old catalogs and old stationary and envelopes that was going into the trash.  So I had to grab a second bag and reduce the amount in the contractor bag so I could get it out into the trash.

Here are some pictures that shows some progress has been made.

Standing at the door, looking at the left side of the Happy Stand.  The stuff was piled up to the hat hooping frame.

This is the closet.  You can see the  thread on the shelves.  It was hidden at the beginning of the day...

The left side of the Happy stand.  No thread and bobbins on the surface... just lots of dust.

The right hand side of the stand.  Just some spray adhesive that will make the trip.  Please note that the machine's name is really HAPPY.  I did not make that up.

The storage units beside a Happy.  The wire baskets are off in a storage area for things to be moved.  The black stand will move tomorrow.

Under the Happy stand.  Still some hoops and stuff to sort out, but you can see the stabilizer storage under the stand...

So, trash is out waiting for my poor trash men.  I am sure that they are wondering what in the world I am doing.  I am filling the trash can to it's fullest, week after week after week and it is heavy stuff.  They will be happy to see me gone!!!

And now it is time for me to get some rest for more work tomorrow.