I'm back at the beach and pretty organized

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

I woke up at 6 this morning, jumped out of bed, put Katie in the car and drove to the RV storage lot. We traded the car for The Palms, stopped and filled the tank and drove back to the condo.  I put most of what was left into bags and boxes, got a bunch of my food from the cupboard and fridge, loaded them on the floor of The Palms, and we drove to the beach.  We got here around 8:30 and there weren't a lot of parking places left on the street by the ocean, but we snagged one.

It's just beautiful here today.  I'm so sorry  for all of you who are braving terrible weather, I wish you could have a week of days like today at the beach in Carlsbad, North San Diego County.

I've worked all day!!!  I put things away, rearranged them, changed them again, and then put them in a new place.  Lots of you have gone through that, I'm sure.  I put the food I brought in the little refrigerator and freezer, and was really surprised that it all fit, and I still have room left over.  I didn't bring a lot, but pretty much what I'll need for a few days.

I think I'm here to stay.  I brought the twin size inflatable mattress, too, and the bedding for it.  That's the last thing I did, was make up the bed. I have a nice mattress cover that was from my queen mattress, and I put it around the twin, pulled on the fitted twin sheet, and threw my  down comforter/duvet on top.  It's going to be very snugly tonight! 

I'm pretty organized.  All my clothes fit, but I have a few coats at the condo still.  I guess they will fit, but they'll squish the other clothes, so I'll probably be thinning out the clothes in the next few months.   Or not.

The Palms is beginning to feel like home.  : )

I have everything packed away now for traveling back to our night time parking lot in Lake San Marcos.  I feel safe there, it's where we parked last time during the Estate Sale.

I have my fridge and washer/dryer on Craigs List, and have had some calls.  Two people who wanted to see the washer, one last night and one other who called today, flaked out on me. Luckily I called the woman from today, so I didn't leave my good parking spot here to go meet her.  I have two people interested in the fridge tomorrow, I told them both to call me an hour before our meeting time (7:00) so I know they will be there, otherwise I won't be there.  I can't believe people make an appointment for a specific time and don't show. Don't call, and don't answer their phone.

Katie and I took two long walks along the sea wall - once early afternoon when I finally stopped for a break.  It felt so good to walk with her by the ocean.  Then later when the sun was setting we took off in the other direction for another long walk.  This is the first time Katie has walked in sand, but it didn't seem to phase her.  She is a good little girl and goes potty in the sand around the palm trees that are in the sidewalk.  That's all there is for her, except for the concrete, because she isn't allowed on the beach.  But she seemed to know that was the spot she should use.

It's 8:30 now, and I'm wearing down, so I'm going to close things down and drive to our night camp.  My camera battery died, so I'll charge it tomorrow and upload a few pictures from today.

Three more days of work!

From Me and Katie, have a great rest of the evening, everyone!  : )

A new plan - I may be on the road soon

Five more days of work.  

I've given all my work away, e-mailed my forms and flyers, charts and spreadsheets, templates and contact list, my information file, everything.  Thinned out my Outlook folders, went through my desk drawer files, it's pretty much done.  Tom wanted my jobs given away early to the other two employees so I'd be there if they had any questions, but I doubt they will.  Our Office Manger has been there for nine years, and our bookkeeper for six years.  They pretty much know what's up.

For the rest of this week and next week I'm going to learn how to do and practice the research job that Tom needs help with when I'm retired.  We had a meeting yesterday about it, and I have a lot of information to play around with and see what I come up with.  It's something I can do as I want after I leave, I can put in a lot of time, or a little time.  The more time I put in, the more money I can earn, so it's up to me. 

I have the new cargo door and the decals we need to repair The Palms.  Next Tuesday I'm going to drive The Palms to work, and Tom's auto shop guys are going to do the repairs.  He will drive me home, and then on Wednesday he'll help me get both vehicles to the RV park after work, and I will have both The Palms and my car available to me at the RV park. 

I'm driving back to Vacaville to visit my daughter's family over the 4th of July and stay with the grandkids during the week while Kristy and Matt are at work.  They have different schedules, Kristy's is according to her patient appointments and Matt is with the Home Depot and has varying schedules, so I'll have time to spend with them, too.  This might be the last time in a while I'll be in their area to visit.

I'm thinking that I won't be on any special time schedule, and if I drive up in my car as I originally planned, it's going to cost me $125 in gas to get there.  And I will be paying for my Santee Lakes campsite for the week I'll be in Vacaville since I have a monthly rate and don't want to lose the campsite. Then I have to drive all the way back - another $125.  A total of $416.   If it costs me $265 to get there in The Palms (assuming an average of $4.25/gal of gas, less if it keeps going down) I think I'll be ahead of the game to do that and then just keep going north after our visit.

I'd have anywhere from 1 to 4 days to drive there, and wouldn't have to hurry.  If I stay in rest stops or Walmarts at night, I'd save some money.  Then Katie and I can sleep in The Palms at Kristy's and have all our things with us.   

Why not just bite the bullet, check out of Santee Lakes on July 1, and drive The Palms to Vacaville and get started on my "road trip?"  I'd have a month to figure out the motor home systems, get her all set up and comfortable for us. 

I'd like to drive to Placerville and see my old girlfriends, and have a visit.  I could keep traveling north and go through Oregon and Washington, two states I'd love to spend some time in. It will be summer and warm, a good time to be traveling north, and not the best time to be in Arizona, another state I want to see (and think about having solar panels installed while I'm there).  The more I think about it, the more sense that makes. I could make my way back down through Montana, Idaho, Nevada and end up in Arizona as the weather is cooling down. When I get there, I want to stay for a while in one of the free desert camping spots that I've read about where everyone congregates, and then travel around a little and see more of the state.

I'll have to think about selling my car sooner if I do that.  Probably through Carfax - I've done that before and felt they offered me a fair amount.  

I think it's a good plan, and it doesn't make sense to pay six months to camp at a campground and just sit there if I'm not working.  It made sense before I was laid off, but not now.   I feel like I'm easing into this, and the changes to my original plans are coming slowly and making it easier for me.  Whew!

Okay then.  It's our new plan... I called the RV park this morning and cancelled the last five months of my reservation and they put my deposit for those months on to the June rent, so I'm all set.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone!  : )

My cactus is in bloom!

I have a big cactus, a prickly pear, on the side of my condo under my bedroom window.  I seldom see it, because it's hidden out of the way, and I forget it's there.  I think this year is the first time I've seen it in bloom, so I had to take some photos to remember it. 

 Single Flower

 This one has 10 flowers on it!

Prickly Pear Cactus

I like the way it has different colored flowers on the same pad.  Some of the petals have faded, or maybe it was the rain.  Still really pretty and fresh looking, though.

I Googled Prickly Pear Cactus to see if that's the one I have, and it is.  It says it's the Texas State Plant.

"The prickly pear cactus was designated the official plant symbol of Texas in 1995. Found in the deserts of the American southwest, the fruits of most prickly pear cacti are edible, and have been a source of food to native Americans for thousands of years. Cacti in general (and the fruits in particular) are still staple foods for some residents of Mexico and Latin America and the prickly pear cactus is raised commercially. The fruit is sold under the name 'Tuna'; the branches or pads are eaten as a vegetable, called 'nopalito' or 'nopales.' "

I guess the little round parts that the blooms are on must be the fruit part.  Our HOA's gardener, Jacinto, cuts off the end pieces of mine and another prickly pear across the lawn and brings them home for his wife to cook.  I had never heard of cooking cactus until he told me about it. 

I also have some pretty snapdragons blooming now.  And bird of paradise, lavender, lantana, poinsettia, and others.  We always have lots of flowers around here. During my estate sale people asked if they could buy my iris bulbs, some of which were in bloom.  They are beautiful when they all bloom at once, but they are in the ground, and I thought they should stay for the new owner. 

 Snapdragon in the front garden

My son, Tom, loaned me a folding table, and it's sooooo much easier to use my laptop at the table.  And that's about it for today.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone! : )

Just another day in an empty house...but I have Internet!

Nothing going on today.  I had big plans of getting The Palms and bringing her over to the beach for the weekend, and stealth camping at night.  But Friday got busy, Saturday I slept in too late, and today I'm too lazy.  That pretty much took care of the 3-day weekend!

I have another week in the condo before I move to The Palms.

A follower asked how Katie is doing with all this.  It's hard to tell. She's been sleeping at work, in the car, and on the floor in the dining room or guest bedroom since all this started. At least she is still at home, and has her back yard.  I think she's kind of unsure, but as long as she's with me, she's okay.  And usually the rest of the time she is sleeping.  We both seem to be sleeping a lot lately.  I think the stress is tiring us out, although I don't feel stressed. I'm not depressed, but I'm sure sleeping a lot.  That will change when I'm in The Palms and more comfortable, I hope, and have everything I need to be busy again.  : )

I went to Verizon yesterday to swap out my battery in my 4G, I think that was the problem.  So far it's working pretty well.  So now I'm going to try to watch a little TV.  I still have a bunch of  TV shows to catch up on.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday evening, everyone! : )

Got some new stuff today...

I got an e-mail from my daughter, Kristy, today - something she read about short sales.  So I wrote back and when I was done, I said "I feel like I've just written my blog! : ) I think I may do a copy/paste, and it WILL be my blog."  And, so, here is my blog for today, straight from my e-mail to Kristy (with photos added, of course, and a little editing): 

I just ordered a set of Magma nesting pots and pans on line. (Thank you, commenters!) I couldn't find them anywhere in person, but they are highly recommended, and they all fit into the one largest pot. Camping World has the 7-piece set for around $150 on line, and I got a 10-piece for $161 including shipping, right about what the Camping World set would cost with tax, but I got two more pots.  

I sold all my old pots and right now I have one frying pan here, and the frying pan you guys (Kristy and her family) got me in the RV. I need a pot, but I'm too cheap to buy one for 25 dollars at the store. So I got a ridiculously expensive set instead. Go figure. (But I think I'll love them and they don't take up very much space. And I like to cook.)

Magma 10-piece nesting cookware

I got a blow up bed and sheets today at Costco. It was a Coleman brand, queen, which is what my bed in the RV is - I brought it right down and laid it up there, inflated it, and it hung over the edge a few inches. And it was too tall, leaving me less headroom. So I deflated it and brought it back.

This was really nice, just a few inches too wide.  Too bad :(

I looked all over for a "full" blowup, which is what I'd really like, but I couldn't find one, so I got a twin size at Walmart, and they also had sheets to go with it, that have elastic that goes around the mattress so it won't come off. I'm washing the sheets now, and I'm going to use them here until I move to the RV. I'm getting a little tired of sleeping on the floor. I think that size will work. I hope so. You need a mattress or something to tuck the sheets into that lies on top of the padded mattress that's there now, so the sheets don't show. (I've got the bed put together, so we'll see.  I hope it works tonight.)  I did see Coleman inflatable mattresses on line, and they have two that might work, too. One is a "full" and one is for an SUV. Both are inexpensive.

I got a free chair from the San Diego Blood Bank - when you donate blood you get points, and I was saving mine up for a jacket, but my doctor said I shouldn't donate so often. My iron is actually on the low side now, so I cashed them in for the chair and a $5 gift card from Coldstone. I haven't gotten that yet. I needed a chair, so that was perfect.

Free Chair, well, kinda free  :)

It's actually a full size chair, just looks small in this photo.

Speaking of small chairs, my Realtors want to hire me to coordinate their deals. And they have a friend who is looking for a coordinator, too. I think if I wanted to work a lot, I could get a job doing that. They said I could work for them from the RV, anywhere I was.  I have a real estate license and have worked as a loan coordinator and sold real estate.  Hmmmmm.  I'll have to think about it and see how I do financially once I'm not working anymore.  I think I'd rather not be that busy, though.

I mailed off my Short Sale documents on Thursday, so now I just wait. They have up to 30 days to respond. My Realtors think it will go, but we won't know for sure until we hear back. He said if they price the condo right, it should sell pretty fast. It will all be done in three to four months if everything goes okay.

I got the final payment from my Estate Sale, and I received just under $4,000.  My furniture was around 11 years old except my bedroom set, which was much older, and I really didn't have much.  It looked fine but was not in perfect condition, and it all went in 3 days, so I was really happy.  I was hoping for at least $2,000 and would have considered $3,000 a good thing, so I was very happy with what I got.  The total sale was just over $6,000 and I got 65 per cent of that. 

Seven more days of work!

From Me and Katie, have a good weekend, everyone! : )