Living the dream --- The Extrication Plan

I use Microsoft Excel for alot of things, but I must admit my all time favorite spreadsheet has come to be the one which contains what we call "Our Extrication Plan". This is the list of all the things we have to do- prioritized- to get our house sold for this move to Venice.

In order to get the house sold we have some cosmetic tasks like finally installing the quarter round molding in the sun room and kitchen ( we just finished in the living room and dining room) and painting trim, up to some not so cosmetic items such as getting a new furnace installed. Those fix up the house items are a piece of the extrication plan.

Somewhere in between those comes getting rid of a houseful of miscellanous possessions. When we moved into the house here neither Mike nor I had very much. We'd both come out of our divorces with very little to speak of. As we renovated the house, we acquired stuff. Oh boy is there stuff!!! I have quite a few sets of funky wine and champagne glasses now, and rooms full of books, and decorative pillows, and stuff with monkeys on/in them ( don't ask), even a real Shriner's fez. That's just the short list. Getting rid of possessions is a big portion of the extrication plan.

We must get rid of all this stuff. We won't be in a large single family with 2 car garage anymore, we'll be in a furnished apartment. We tried one yard sale already. It took us several evenings to collect up stuff to put out for sale and mark it all, we spent a saturday actually having the sale. What we were able to get out there was just the tip of the ice berg. The thought of more yard sales is not very appealing.

Alot of stuff is going to trash, alot more stuff is going to good will. At the end when we've "extricated" ourself from all but the essentials and larger pieces of furniture, we're leaning towards an estate or moving sale. Fire sale maybe!

Not a day goes by that we aren't putting something in a box for good will, or calling someone to ask if they would like to find a home for some thing or other. It's all in the name of "Extrication".

And -- besides getting ourselves over to Venice, there's an extra benefit to this---someday my kids won't have to plow through all this stuff to get rid of it. I'm doing it for them now.