This move is going to take months!

 

I work at least four hours every day, five to seven days a week, going through my belongings to decide how to part with 99.99% of it. I want to take fewer than six suitcases when I go, so I’ve been cleaning out every crevice and orifice in my home — from the bathroom to the den to my bedroom — putting each item into either FREE, GARAGE SALE, or DONATE boxes (multiple boxes of each type.)

 

 

Example of FREE and GARAGE SALE items

(in addition to all that is taking up room in my side of the garage right now!)

greeting cards galore with envelopes, Mark Twain goodies, exercise stretch band, 3 ring binders,

several unused or used once electronics, digital cameras, gum, office supplies, photo paper

and far too many additional items to list here…

The DONATE corner (already have takers for these!)

 

These progressive/DEM ACTION FIGURES cost $20 each. Make offer for whole bunch, or individually.

(Alas, Bernie is unboxed and I can’t find the box — yet! I haven’t given up hope of finding it, but no guarantees!)

My 55-gallon aquarium with all fish and accessories — MAKE AN OFFER!

 

I’ve been shredding documents with outdated info on them (medical reports, SS statements, etc.) and reams of advertising I had printed back when I was networking. I’ll be burning my original printout manuscript of DeForest Kelley A Harvest of Memories My Life and Times with a Remarkable Gentleman Actor. (The newer version, DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal, is longer and better, in my opinion,and it has images in it); the printouts of my blogspot posts from AlmostFamousByDesFault  because that stuff is online in perpetuity, and other things I printed out and won’t be needing again, because I will be officially retired when I get to CR (except for one existing client) and won’t need any of it!  I will invest my time there writing books, exploring nature and not stressing over money ever again.  Hallelujah!

 

My immigration attorney says I didn’t need to get fingerprinted here. I just needed an FBI background check and to have it apostiled, but I didn’t see any way to get around having the fingerprints taken, so I paid $50 for that. I just need to get the State Department to apostile the FBI report so it’s certified. (I mailed out that request last week.)

 

And Social Security has to send me an apostiled letter stating my pension income; Costa Rica won’t accept the online document SS sent me. I have to get an official letter in writing. So, I have sent an email in to the SSA to get that done as of today…

 

But it isn’t exhausting.  It’s exhilarating!  I know this stuff will go to appreciative new homes and people, so it feels really good.

 

It will feel less good to burn my hundreds of journals if nobody in my family wants them, but I can’t take them with me, that’s for sure, and I can’t afford to have them digitized. It would cost a fortune! Nor do I have the time to digitize them myself. I’d lose my mind having to do something that repetitive for probably two weeks straight.  But if I get everything squared away well before I go, I may give digitizing them myself a go… that way I can pick and choose what to keep and what to burn!  I’ve grown up a lot and probably a lot of what I’d find in them would embarrass me, so that’s the best option IF I HAVE TIME and sufficient inclination to do that.

 

THIS move is like none I’ve ever undertaken before. Downsizing this drastically is weird!