outa here

I'm writing this ahead of time (Monday night) and setting it to publish itself automatically since we'll pack up the computer Tuesday morning. If something goes wrong and we don't get out of here Wednesday morning as planned, I'll find a way to update here.

But here's to thinking positive and saying, on Wednesday morning, September 30th:

Goodbye, Maine!

Get ready, Utah, because here we come!

think we're ready

The movers called yesterday: they'll be here between 8-10 a.m. We finished packing everything last night - 145 boxes, 30 artworks, furniture, garage/basement stuff - and I can't believe there is this much stuff in such a teeny house. The movers will not like the fact that, since we packed ourselves, there's all these little boxes, but I think they will appreciate that we're not taking any appliances and what little furniture we do have is so old that it's nearly balsa-wood weight.

My back is killing me, my feet are sore too. I think a 2,500 mile sit-down sounds de-lovely right now.

tunes to drive west by

Of course we have to have a Road Trip Soundtrack! Here it is (in no particular order because my iPod keeps shuffling it around) - see if you can pick up on the theme:

Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss
While You See A Chance - Steve Winwood
Holiday - Madonna
Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters
Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin
Runnin' With The Devil - Van Halen
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
I Own The Road - Don Campbell
America - Yes
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out - Cat Stevens
I Will Survive - Cake
Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
I'm So Bored with the U.S.A. - The Clash
Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers Band
Million Miles Away - The Plimsouls
You're My Home - Billy Joel
Never Going Back Again - Fleetwood Mac
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
In a Big Country - Big Country
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
Changes - Yes
Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles
Drive My Car - The Beatles
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
Dirty Blvd - Lou Reed
No Sleep Till Brooklyn - The Beastie Boys
Truckin' - Grateful Dead
If I Don't Be There By Morning - Eric Clapton
Over The Hills And Far Away - Led Zeppelin
Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
Keep On The Sunny Side - The Whites
Anticipation - Carly Simon
Ready to Run - Dixie Chicks
Shiny Happy People - R.E.M. (featuring Kate Pearson)
Blue Sky - The Allman Brothers Band
Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
Welcome To Paradise - Green Day
Breakfast In America - Supertramp
Close To The Borderline - Billy Joel
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) - Billy Joel
Walk This Way - Aerosmith
King's Highway - Tom Petty
Kings of the Wild Frontier - Adam and the Ants
Livin' On The Edge - Aerosmith
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Move To The City - Guns N' Roses
Wide Open Road - Johnny Cash
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Face The Change - INXS
No Place Like Home - 4 Non Blondes
Gotta Get Away - The Offspring
Going Mobile - The Who
Jamming - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Here and Now - Letters to Cleo
This Town - The Go-Go's
The Best Is Yet To Come - Frank Sinatra
I Feel The Earth Move - Carole King
Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin
Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
Movin' On - Bad Company
Road To Nowhere - Talking Heads
Let's Go Crazy - Prince
Under the Milky Way - The Church
Couldn't Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McClintock
Crossroads - Cream
Take The Long Way Home - Supertramp
Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
All That I Know - Collective Soul
Runnin Down A Dream - Tom Petty
Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Blue Highway - Billy Idol
Young Americans - David Bowie
You Wild Colorado - Johnny Cash
Ramble On - Led Zeppelin
You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
She's Leaving Home - The Beatles

foliage

I think I've mentioned that it's taken a really long time for our moving west dream to come true (hasn't quite happened yet/don't jinx it) due to our house being on the market for over a year before finally going under contract. Here's a picture of the For Sale sign out front. Not only has the sign been there long enough for a little maple tree seedling to grow on top of the signpost, but the teeny leaves have just started to change color with the season. Also note the cobwebs.

free

Where I live there are a lot of yard sales on the weekends. But I think there's an even better way to get rid of usable but unwanted stuff without the hassle of a yard sale: putting stuff out on a busy road with a sign that says "FREE." Everyone wants something for nothing.

The first time I did it, H was appalled, embarassed, like I'd put a rusted-out pickup on blocks in the front yard or made a planter out of a 'sploded truck tire. But I'd just traded in my 1992 front wheel drive car for a 2002 AWD car, and I had no more use for my four studded snowtires anymore (and I was darned if I was going to pay the dump to take them). So I rolled them out to the main road on the end of my street and put up a big cardboard sign that said, "FREE, as-is, good for one more season." And within two hours they were gone.

Since then H has come around and we have also used this technique to get rid of two wheelbarrows, two garbage cans, three lamps of various age (and dubious wiring), a slightly warped coffeetable, a birdbath pedestal, a whole bunch of plant pots and gardening sundries and, most recently, our nine year old gas grill. The grill went just this morning: out on Route 26 at 7:30 a.m., and gone by 9:00 a.m. Never, repeat never, underestimate the power of free.

list - to do before departure

Finish packing, see family, take crazy dog to groomer, get haircut, doctor's appointments, oil change, close bank account, see friends, one last run to Goodwill, AAA for road-trip books, call two more SLC apartment complexes for appointments, call SLC job placement agency to set up interview, grocery store for road-trip supplies (diet Coke, dog food, Wheat Thins), back up computer hard drive, finalize road-trip playlist and update iPod, put Netflix account on hold, scrounge more boxes, offer up gas grill on the main road with "free" sign, clean house.

Repeat to self: it will all get done.

in the interim

I'm pretty stressed about packing - although H assures me everything will be done on time - so I won't be posting much before the Move; and it'll take us a little while to find an apartment and hook back up to the internet once we get to SLC, so please bear with us. (There will be plenty of time for posting once we're settled, however, since I don't have a job yet.)

So to keep you entertained, here are links to posts I wrote about Utah on my other blog, Friend Mouse Speaks:

Our first vacation there in October 2007; an exploration of SLC-area brewpubs; more Utah brewpubs; and a review of Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. There's also a list of things I will and won't miss about Maine which isn't strictly speaking about Utah, but as the reason I will/won't be missing them is because I'm moving to Utah, is sort of related.

There are also some links over there on the left to Utah-specific sites, things that I find interesting and/or worth exploring. I'll definitely be adding to those in the months to come.

in the beginning

It's been a long road, but it looks as though H and I may actually be moving to Salt Lake City. This is the timeline he constructed for me:

July 2007 - his trip to Colorado - I was open to the idea of the move
October 2007 - our trip to Utah - I liked the idea
June 2008 - we made the plan - pretty sure I loved the idea
July 2008 - another trip to Utah - definitely loved the idea
August 2008 - we listed the house - excited about the move
November 2008 - Thanksgiving - sad we hadn't moved
December 2008 - pre-Christmas ice storm - frustrated we hadn't moved
January 2009 - another major snow storm - depressed we hadn't moved
March 2009 - the weather finally broke - hopeful we'd eventually move
April 2009 - when I pay $31 to license the dog - over the edge

I should maybe explain that "over the edge" thing. It cost me $31 (instead of $7) to license the crazy dog because we were in the "second tier" of forgetting to license her and the town no longer sends reminder postcards because of budgetary cutbacks. So, they raised our taxes and cut services, and I had Just Had It at that point. (Luckily I remembered in the second tier and not the third, which would have run me closer to $100.)

Anyway, finally, at the beginning of August 2009, after 77+ showings and a year on the market, our house went under contract. And now the closing is in one week and as soon as that's over, we're heading west.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Coming soon!