Good hell. You guys and this move are like some cosmic anomaly.
Ashley Johnson
My friend Ashley isn’t wrong. Call it fate, or karma, or extremely good luck, but for whatever reason, everything has been going pretty smoothly with this move so far. I’d knock on wood, but it’s all been boxed up.
Case in point: we sold our house without ever listing it. Hell, we never even signed a contract with our agent.
Here’s how it all went down:
A coworker of Tara’s just happened to be house hunting with her boyfriend, who recently moved here from Louisiana. She’d been to our house before and loved it, so she asked if they could swing by last Monday and take a gander. We had no problem with that, figuring it was a long shot that they’d actually be interested in buying the place.
When they started talking numbers and asked to come by again for a more detailed look, we realized it wasn’t such a long shot after all.
They asked us what price we would accept to keep the house off the market and let them have first crack at it. Numbers were bandied about and we came to a consensus Thursday morning. It’s pretty close to our asking price, and because none of the agents did any work, ours will be handling the entire transaction for a mere $1,000 — which is a huge plus for us, not having to pay commission.
Friday afternoon, we signed all the paperwork. Just like that, it’s done…with nary a “For Sale” sign gracing the front yard. My head is still spinning.
“You’re a master manifester,” my sister-in-law, Esther, said a few months ago, when we first floated the idea of a move to Madison during a phone call. “If anybody can make it happen, you can.”
I don’t think manifester is technically a word, but she’s not wrong. Manifestation means to create something or turn an idea into reality. In psychology, it means using our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to bring something to our physical reality. I have an excellent track record of manifesting what I want and turning it into reality through sheer force of will. I’ve done it with jobs, cars, houses, a writing career. Even a wife, ha. I’ve always been an extremely optimistic person by nature (to the point where it sometimes annoys others). I’m not a glass-is-half-full guy; I’m a glass-is-so-full-it’s-spilling-over-but-that’s-okay-we’ve-got-plenty-of-paper-towels fella. I don’t care. There’s a lot to be said for the power of positive thinking, and the moves I’ve made in life are a shining example of that.
It’s why I knew, once we committed to this crazy scheme, that it was happening.
Things are moving at absolute breakneck speed now. We are downsizing as much as possible to accommodate the U-Haul truck, small apartment, and storage unit we’ll be relying on, so I listed a bunch of furniture on Facebook Marketplace on Friday. Sold our sectional right away. The recliner went on Saturday. Today, somebody bought the dining room table. We are also planning a big garage sale next weekend. All of this translates into cash, which naturally is welcome as we make this leap into the unknown.
All weekend (and every evening last week) was spent packing. By Sunday evening, we are about 80% finished. What’s left are stragglers and things we’ll still need this week; clothes, a few pots and pans, miscellaneous condiments and seasonings. And things that by necessity have to wait until the last minute: mattresses, toiletries, beer, a/k/a the essentials.
I still have tropical fish in my aquarium, but a guy’s supposed to come by this evening to take them off my hands. Hats off to my algae eater, who has been happily swimming around in there since 11/16/19. I cleared out all the aquarium decor yesterday, and a few minutes later, Tara said, “The algae eater is missing.” Turns out he was stuck up inside one of the rocks, and had been sitting out in the direct sun in the backyard, out of water, for a good five minutes. Yet he was just fine after I rescued him, acting like he hadn’t almost air-drowned.
I’m going to miss that guy.
And a shout out to Sydney, too. Four years ago, as we were preparing to leave Vancouver, WA for Rapid City, she basically freaked out over the move. Went on a hunger strike, got sick, and we racked up over $1,000 in vet bills trying to figure out what was wrong. At our lowest point, we actually feared we might have to put her down! In the end, it turns out nothing was wrong other than the disruption to her routine. Cats, I tell ya! This time, she’s acting very nonchalant over the whole thing. Could be because she’s asleep 22 hours of the day.
So, this is it! One last week of work for both of us. I’m sure it’s going to fly by. Then we get the U-Haul next Monday and hit the road the following day.
That’s only nine days away!!
Mark My Words 
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