I think we would all agree that moving is hell. Even with movers, you must go through all your things and decide what to ditch and what to keep. This move happened on short notice, and we didn’t have a lot of time to get it together. You never realize how much crap you have until you go to move it all.
We were fortunate that we found takers for all the over-sized things that were a tough sell, some at the last minute. Large architectural flat files and a seven-foot-tall harp case were two of them. (Mr. Roberts, harp purchaser, and Craig’s List to the rescue!) There is a big Good Will store in Stapleton, and I must have made 25-30 trips over there with carloads of stuff. Still, there was too much to do, and we weren’t ready when the movers came. The goal was to rid ourselves of 80 percent of our belongings. I think we might have hit about 60 percent. Oh, and the apartment to which we moved is up three flights of stairs. And it was about 95 degrees that entire week. Ugh.
We had a new understanding of the word exhaustion by the end of it. My calves were screaming for mercy from lugging boxes up the stairs. The closing went well, but we signed the place over at 10am and still had things in the house to move! Ack! By law, in Colorado, the buyers take possession when the sellers sign it over. The fact that we weren’t out by the time we signed was unacceptable. The buyers were understandably annoyed, but what could we do? At that point: apologize profusely and get ‘er done! We both had to work that day as well. The timing was abysmal. So, at 8:30pm, we went back over to finish up. After a few more trips back and forth, we were finally out by 10pm. We left the new owners a bottle of bubbly and some restaurant coupons and hoped they would be ok with it. Happily, they were.
Our goal is to leave for Portugal by September. We now have about two months to relieve ourselves of a lot more stuff and ship over the rest. Holy mother of F: why do we need so much stuff?! We don’t, that’s the thing. The purge continues, but now we have a new neighborhood and time to breathe, at least.
The next step will be to go over and find a place to live. The plan is to do so at the end of August and then apply for our visa. That’s the catch 22: can’t apply for a visa without an address, can’t really get an address without going over. Why can’t anything be simple?! Those online con artists have ruined it for the rest of us! Apparently, there are plenty of Eastern Euro scumbags taking your money for an apartment and running with it, so internet renters beware!
Now it’s near 100 degrees in Denver for the next three months, and where can I go RIGHT NOW to escape this heat? This is why I wanted to be gone by June. The sweltering continues! I must remember that it could be worse. We could be in L.A. (120 degrees last week), Arid-zona, Palm Springs, or Las Vegas. All versions of Hell on earth right now. Which level would you like?!
In the meantime, cool off with a cocktail! Or three…
theroadtoportugal.com 