End of Week 3 In Maine

Spent today working with Shawn Kane who is building his dream timber frame house. We enjoyed a great day of building and conversation. The weather was mid-70's with the sun breaking out in the PM. Perfect weather for working outside :-)

Tomorrow Cheryl and I will begin packing up our stuff in the carriage house in preparation for moving into main house. Our host Tiffany will likewise be moving into the carriage house. We were just getting nicely settled in the carriage house too! Flexibility and negotiating unknown territory in human relations seems to be the order of the day (or month). If we had trouble with flexibility before this adventure we should have less by the time we are done!

We shampooed the trailer carpet a couple days ago. I seems to smell better in there but it's not really where it should be yet. We're going to put an odor absorber in there and see if that helps. We're also bringing in an RV repair tech to assess the trailer's condition. This will help us to know what all needs fixing and whether the investment is worthwhile.

I went to a blues jam session in Augusta last night with a new guitar player friend and had a blast. Some great players were there and I got to play for about an hour in a pickup group. I also auditioned with a jump blues band this week. I think they are interested in having me play but I'm not sure if I will fit with them. Might be a little too high brow for my tastes. Time will tell I guess as is true with our lives in general.

Life With Horses

Cheryl and I, one bird and the dog are now living in Casco, ME on Carousel Horse Farm. We have a 12ft. x 30ft. room which was the carriage house. We're sharing the kitchen and bathroom with Tiffany, the owner and operator of the farm. Her business is providing trail rides and horse brokering. We've been living here for a week and are really enjoying getting to know Tiffany and this place.

Some of you may remember we were moving into a travel trailer located not far from here. That situation fell through and became fiasco. A story for another time!

Over & Out From Nunica

Most of house is now loaded into a 53' moving truck! It's pretty hot and humid but everybody is holding up well. Jake Lee and friend Matt are helping load along with a 4 man professional crew. The moving truck driver is actually from Levant, ME so we got a chance to talk with him about life in Maine. He is originally from California or "from away" as they say in Maine. We have a great crew of guys l

The End is the Beginning

After 2 weeks straight of 12 hours days sorting, selling, donating, boxing, marking and arguing, we are nearly ready for the moving van. This move is complicated by the fact that our destination is not nearly big enough to contain all our remaining stuff. So we had to make hard choices and send most of the stuff to storage.

To make this process efficient, we colored coded each item or box to indicate which destination. So when we reach Maine, it should be straightforward to unload the proper color at each location. Of course anyone who has ever moved knows the experience is rarely straightforward. But my wife Cheryl is a master logistics person so I'm confident things will work as well as possible!

Too Much Stuff!!

Wake up, eat, walk dog, pack, pack, pack, pack & pack some more! Actually we break up the monotony by getting rid of some of the stuff too. We took a big load to Cheryl's (my wife) cousin's yard sale today.

In the process of getting the load ready this morning, I found the van had a nearly flat front tire. When I tried to get the spare down from under the van, I discovered the bolt holding it was so corroded I couldn't get it loose. So I got out the socket set and rust penetrant. But the socket set didn't go that big! So off to the auto parts store for the right socket. Eventually I got the bolt loose and replaced the bad tire. Oh yea, the spare air pressure also was way low since it hadn't been used in a long time. Good thing all this happened now rather than on the trip to Maine!

The Day After

July 19, 2008

Today is Kirk's first of no paycheck. His last day working at Access Business Group/Amway was yesterday. His friends gave him a wonderful retirement party which included many kind words about his 17 year tenure with the company. It is certainly true you don't really know how many friends you have in this world.

It's kind of disorienting severing a relationship with an employer, especially when you've been there awhile. Kirk had a warm-up experience 1 1/2 years ago when he took a 6 month leave to go to guitar building school. It's kind of a free-floating experience - good and not so good. But it's definitely what I've been aiming toward for some time.

The family is now hunkering down for serious $ saving. We've been busy cutting costs for the last several years as our goal became clearer. During the guitar school time, cost savings were a necessity rather than just a learning experience. Now we are committed to getting really serious about saving money.

We've been busy the last few weeks ruthlessly going through our stuff and selling or giving it away. We are moving into a travel trailer for 2 months followed by a house sitting situation that lasts until next May. Since we will have to store virtually everything, we are paring down to the minimum.

For those we haven't told, we are moving to Poland, Maine. It's about an hour northwest of Portland. It's a pretty rural area, referred to as the "Lakes Region". Cheryl will share more about the adventure later.