Downsizing

When we bought the condo on the Lake Travis North Shore, the plan was to use it as a weekend getaway. We talked about eventually moving there when I retired. My retirement was very much a figment of my imagination at that time. I didn't plan to retire. I didn't want to retire, I enjoyed my job and it was very rewarding in every sense of the word, even if it did require me to put in a whole lot of hours, sixty hours a week was normal.

I couldn't retire because I was the sole earner in our home. When my mother in law, who was living with us, started to lose her eyesight, my husband quit his job to stay home and take care of her. He drove her wherever she needed to go, and that was a lot of driving. She had multiple doctors for a start; dentist, nails, hair, shopping and more. We had bought a large house when she moved in with us, in order to satisfy her need to have a full master suite on the ground floor, it was expensive to renovate and maintain. I covered all of this in a number of different posts, so just repeating myself briefly for some background.

The Universe knows best and in quick succession, my mother in law moved out (see here for details), COVID-19 struck and I was forced to retire (see here for those gory details).

Many people downsize when they retire. At that point any children are grown and out on their own and income is suddenly reduced. There is usually plenty of time to plan. Moving from a larger home to a smaller one means less furniture, less storage space and less room for everything. In our case, we had two fully furnished homes. The one we were selling had 5 bedrooms and a large bonus room; a huge kitchen with masses of cabinets and a large, walk in pantry; a three car garage with workbench and a big collection of tools. We had already sold my car as we had no need for two cars during the pandemic, I was working from home. The home we were moving to had three bedrooms and a two car garage. The kitchen wasn't tiny, but it was compact and with a very small pantry.

We identified the few things we wanted to bring with us. Our computers and printer, some of the kitchen equipment as a weekend kitchen is sparsely equipped. Clothes obviously, and a few pieces of furniture—a set of shelves and a couple of bedside tables and of course, my sewing machine and a couple of desks. That was it. What to do with the rest!? We invited my stepson and his wife to take anything they wanted. They didn't have much room and just selected a few pieces. Next we asked our cleaning lady and she took most of what was left of the kitchen equipment. 

While we were packing and gathering stuff to take to Goodwill, I contacted a friend who was a realtor in the area and she arranged to come out and look at the house that Saturday. I warned her that it was a total mess because we were in the process of packing. At 10.30 a.m. she came and walked through the house. She said she was meeting a couple of clients at 12.30 to show them some houses and they might be interested. I said go ahead but warn them it is a mess. At 1.30 she called me with an offer, 'as is' and including the furniture. She also said they would undertake dealing with any mess and disposal of what they didn't want. 

Before my last day at work, bearing in mind that I had been working from home from some time, I went into the office and cleaned out my desk. I left behind a small refrigerator, a lot of technical books and a coffee maker along with some old mobile phones and tablets which I used for testing. Even still, I had a box of pictures, mugs and assorted bits and pieces to find a place for in our new home.

We were downsized. It has taken me two years to get used to the reduced storage, particularly in the kitchen. Occasionally I look for some item that I left behind in the old house and have to decide if I want to replace it or not, where would I put it?

There were four reasons our downsizing was so disorganized

1. We had no warning that Mildred was going to move out.
2. My retirement was not planned.
3. COVID was rampant.
4. We already had two fully furnished homes.

I like my little condo, the area is quiet (most of the time), because most of the neighbors are weekenders. The summer gets a bit noisy at weekends. But all the rest of the time, we can sit in silence and gaze at the lake. That is, when we are not out on it fishing.

I miss my car, but I don't need it. I miss the extra storage space, but I am learning to live with what I have got. I occasionally miss work, mainly my team and the challenge the job presented. I do not miss the office politics, nor the bullying that resulted in my decision to retire. 

I will never miss back scratchers. We had one in the bedroom—in both houses, on our desks at home, on my desk at work and in the living room—in both houses. For some reason, we felt it necessary to bring all of them along with us.