Hubs and I are in the middle of a major move. He is retiring from his job of thirty years and I just recently quit my job in order to help make the transition. We are moving from the nearest bigger city to his hometown of about 2,000 people. It is a quaint town where half of his siblings still live. We are looking forward to it. His last day of work will be August 31; however, I may be moving sooner, depending on if I find a job and need to start sooner than that.

This is not our first major move. In our first ten years together, we moved out of state once, back in, and then from one large city to another and back again, then back here to our current city where we first met. In between that, we made small moves due to moving from an apartment to a family-size home, upgrading neighborhoods, or going from renting to owning a home. This will be the third time we have sold a home.

The first two times we sold a home hubs moved first, living in an apartment until we bought our newest home. He wasn’t with me for of all the packing, cleaning, decluttering, or staging. Our son, who was a pre-teen both times, was my little helper. He was a champ, too. He helped clean windows, mow the lawn, sweep and mop, dust, and clean bathrooms. I couldn’t ask for a better helper, especially since it wasn’t his favorite thing to do. Today, his wife still can’t believe he used to do his own laundry. I chuckle at that every time.

This week our son will be coming to help with prepping this house for sale. He will help replace window trim, paint, power wash, and complete minor fix-it projects in readiness for our photo shoot in less than two weeks. My daughter-in-love has agreed to come help me gut the under-the-stairs closet and, hopefully, anything else I might need help with. With hubs still working, most of the prep work falls on my shoulders, so our kids chipping in to help is priceless.

The best part about all of this is hubs and I always develop a plan, even if we don’t write it down. We talk out our ideas of how things will work, and we adjust our thinking if we need to. Hearing our other half voice certain ideas or concerns can help to smooth out what might not have worked out so well otherwise. Sometimes, when we are not in agreement, we walk away and think before coming back together to speak calmly about our readjusted plan.

The next two months will be our biggest challenge. If we can get through getting this house ready for the photo shoot, on the market, and sold, we will be half way to our goal. The second half will be packing up what is still left here and beginning to live in our new temporary living arrangements while our new home is being built. We can hardly wait. The anticipation of country life…retirement life…is what is keeping us going.

How are we doing? We’re tired. We’re exhausted. We’re short on patience. We’re short on time. Granted, it is our own timeline which we are on. I am hoping our son’s help will get us to where we need to be and ready for the next phase of our transition. The best part is our son is such a joy to have around during this stressful time. His humor keeps us on our toes. And when he brings the grandkids, well, that’s just the icing on the cake.

Thankfully, hubs and I love each other and have learned that our health is what matters most. We try to get our rest. And we make sure to eat right. Now, fitness is a struggle. But going up and down stairs, packing boxes, and lifting and reaching, is helping. Being married for almost thirty-three years, we allow one another to rest when we need to, ask for help or favors of each other, and hold our tongues until we can hear one another out in love.

By this time next month, this house should be on the market. Hopefully, we will have had a few showings by then. It will be interesting to see if we made our goal of getting it painted, and everything else completed, for the photo shoot at the end of this month. I, personally, will be happy when I can sleep in at least once without setting an alarm. When there are no more boxes to pack. When there are no more spots to shine. And when hubs and I can sit on the back porch, hand in hand, with only the sounds of nature.

Weekly blogs on marriage are usually posted on the second Sunday of each month. I’m a little late this month. Life has been quite hectic lately.

Next scheduled topic will be on social media on the fourth Sunday of this month.

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