So naive

So, back in January, I actually felt like I had a good handle on everything and was ready to move.  I found out today just how naive I am.  I started with the goal of cleaning, sorting, and packing the dining room and living room.  Well, not really packing as the moving company has to pack most everything, but I need to get rid of everything that I don't want.  I started at about 9 this morning and now, at 1:45, I am tired, frustrating and we have no place to eat dinner.  The above picture is how my dining room looks right now.  My living room hasn't changed.  Unfortunately, the large couch has been covered with stuff for two weeks and looks like it will be covered for at least another day. 

I seriously can't understand how we have gathered so much crap.  (Really no other word that fits other than crap.) We've lived in our house for 8 years, but I do clean and keep things fairly organized and everything has a place.  I am just really starting to understand how many little things that I have kept that we just don't need: little bottles of bubbles, bouncy balls, various screws and nails, random note cards, leftover birthday invitations, etc.  I feel a margarita night coming on.

 Since we found out the news, I've been trying to get ahold of my parents to share the news.  My dad was out of town and my mom apparently doesn't know how to check the voicemail.  I finally got ahold of her last night and shared the news.  My mom seems pretty upset that it is finally happening, which I understand.  I love my family and friends and I will miss them. 

So I thought I would share some other things that I will miss (and not miss).  Maybe I'll do one a day for the next several days.  It goes without saying that first and foremost I will miss my family and friends.  I will also miss our new deck.  When we first moved into our house 8 years ago, our deck was shady.  While it is under the cover of trees, that's not the shady to which I am referring.  The deck was on very tall, too small, rotten supports and actually had holes in the surface of it.  It would sway if people walked on it or if the wind blew too hard.  It's hard to believe that it didn't fall down on its own.  We finally replaced it two years ago and I love our new deck.  It is an extension of our house.  The kids and I spend a lot of time on it and I can't complain about the view.   

 I love this view. 

Now, what I won't miss is the fact that we live on a corner lot.  A "U" shaped lot with about 600 feet of road frontage.  Completely too expensive to ever fence in.  The speed limit is only 25 mph, but other than myself, I don't think anyone ever goes that slow.  We live at the corner of two dead end roads, but yet the amount of traffic is astounding.  Of course, we have a few boat clubs, a restaurant, and a school on one of the roads and a yacht club on the other.  At one point, we asked the county for a three way stop.  Currently, the road on the left has to stop and the road on the right has to stop for left turns.  The incoming road doesn't stop at all.  Probably 70% of the traffic comes in and then goes to the road on the right.  We were hoping for a three way stop to slow down the traffic.  The county did a traffic study.  Their conclusions:  The average speed at this intersection was 39 mph, but putting in a three way stop would slow down traffic too much, namely the buses headed to the school.  I won't miss this intersection.