Ode to 2025

 Ode to 2025

Merry Christmas and may the New Year be good to you.

Let’s cut to the chase and talk about my big news,

I’m making a big change, a simpler life to choose.

Nephew Kyle acquired a set of duplexes located in Luck, last June,

Thinking I should downsize, put my name on a wait list and a plan I started to tune.

I began to slowly purge some of my stuff,

No rush, I have years to sort and donate, so no big huff.

But much to my surprise, an unexpected event,

A unit opened, so starting in October, I began to pay rent.

The rest of the year has been a whirlwind of purging and packing,

The house went on the market, that part was nerve-racking.

As of today, the deal on my Rice Lake house is just days from done,

I’ll be glad to end home ownership; my responsibilities reduced to nearly none.

I am ending the year filled with gratitude for this new cozy and safe place to live,

My landlord is my nephew & my neighbor is my sis-in-law*, I have many thanks to give.

My cat Barley is 17 years old and she adapted well, taking only a couple of days to relax,

And while I’m still unpacking & organizing, I am loving this place to the max.

I have called Luck my Hometown forever,

It is nice to have my story come full

circle. Move again? Nope, never!

Happy Holidays!

*Back in the 90s, Gus and Lois built this set of 3 duplexes in an undeveloped area in Luck. He named the cul-de-sac,  thanks Gussie.

The Big Week

 Monday,  I visited my Rice Lake house for the last time.  I retrieved all my cameras and router and modems. 

Then,  I signed all the sellers papers to sell my house.  My agent gifted me a homemade lasagna, casserole carrier, loaf of garlic bread,  bottle of Cabernet, as well as an assortment of logo items that are useful trinkets. 

I wasn't expecting these gifts, caused my eyes to leak 😢 .

Tuesday, I was home in Luck and it was wicked bad weather.  And, I started going into withdrawals with no cameras to check on my Rice Lake house. 

❄️ ❄️❄️

Wednesday, I drove to Hayward to have lunch with sewing pals Mary & Sharon.  This restaurant always goes all out with their decorations. 

  The roads were good and it was a bright and sunny day. After lunch, I stopped in Rice Lake to check my mail.  (I'm having a problem with my mail forwarding.)  By the time I got home Wednesday evening,  I was shot, that was a lot of driving.

🚗 🚘🚗 

Thursday was Bridge ♠️♥️♦️♣️ day,  but the forecast was for freezing rain, followed by severe temperature drop,  so I canceled out.  I'm glad I did, it got wicked, and all the school ballgames were canceled that evening. 

❄️ 

Friday, I drove back to Rice Lake to have lunch with Casey at Lehman's. I wanted to give her a little bonu$.  I am so grateful for this young woman. She was key in my packing and purging and we have become friends. 

Then, I got the call that the closing was completed and, not long after,  I saw the deposit 💸 into my savings account. 

Whew!

The beginning of my new era. 

Saturday,  I had a Christmas 🎄🍪☕️ coffee party with my neighbor, and sister in law,  Lois. She had baked my favorite cookies and made a pot of coffee. I padded over in my slippers and comfy clothes,  so fun.   

Then I started the process of transferring data from old laptop to new laptop. 

It's going slow,  but it is going.  And the Packers are winning 💚💛💚💛!

Well, they were winning...🫩

🏈 

It was a busy week.  I can't begin to express the relief that I am feeling to have the house sold, and the deal finalized.  

💰 

Now, it's time that I get busy unpacking and decorating my new home.  

Life is good ❤️ 

TV Upgrade Day

 I donated my 50 inch TV to the Sandcastle when I moved.  I felt like it was too big for my narrow living room in Luck. (I feel like it was too big for the Sandcastle too, but the boys wanted it up there.)

That left me with a 32 inch TV for my living room in Luck.  It was just a wee bit small, so on Black Friday, I ordered a new 43 inch TV.

Today I made the swap. 43 inches in the living room, on the TV stand. 

The 32 inch moved to my bedroom, after I assembled another TV stand. 

Excellent. All TVs are working and I'm happy with this new setup. 

Now to watch the Packers 💚💛💚💛 play the Broncos 🧡💙🧡💙 this afternoon. 

And, I'm going to finish my Christmas cards too!

-14⁰ outside,  but it's comfy in here. 

Junk

 I kept trying to connect with a junk man that I had used years ago, but he wasn't terrific yet answering my text messages. Once I knew that I was signing away the house come Monday, I felt anxious about waiting on him. 

I googled junk men in Rice Lake Wisconsin and came up with Travis as one option. When I called Travis from my landline, he didn't answer.  I did not leave a message.   I immediately thought okay... on to the next.  But not long later, I got a call back from Travis, saying he saw that he had a missed call from this number. And he was just calling back to see if he could be of assistance. So, needless to say, I went with Travis. He came today, with his workmate, and they made short work of the pile of junk that I had accumulated.

The garage is finally empty. 

I left behind a few usable items for the new owners.  And I'm hoping to bring my blower over on Monday to give it a once over so it looks a little better when I hand it off.

✔️ it off the list. 

🎄 🎄🎄

Catching Up

 I finally caught up my birthday cards.  I was behind, all the way back to Ruby, on September 5th.  I had to make the rest of the Danish Hearts first.  

Wrapping up 2025 with 60 hearts ♥️ made & sent. 

I also wrote my Ode for this year's Christmas cards and purged my files of old insurance papers.  I feel like my administrative work has been out of control ever since this moving idea started to take shape.  I'm starting to reclaim my normal life,  ever so slowly. 

The Villagers are here

 I finally got my Christmas brewery village set up. 

My new apartment feels so cozy & festive.  

The forest at the edge of town.  The Northern Lights are in the lamp. 

The local musicians. 

Local artisan making ornaments.

Another artisan blowing glass and the Brewers are busy sampling.

The beer wagon on his way

Today when I got home, from a long day in Rice Lake (16 days to go), I found a gift made by my great-great niece Evelyn. It was the perfect addition to the village. 

 

The perfect finishing touch.

Snow ❄️ Day

 On Friday, I went over to my Rice Lake House and cranked up the heat, flushed the toilets, turned up the water heater a tiny bit & ran the water In all the sinks.  I also closed all the blinds in the house and closed the doors to the extra bedrooms, no need to heat those. 

I got a package 📦 from Laila too. I have been saying that this is my new ERA, a little bit like TS.  What a cool gift. 

Pretty much it snowed all day Saturday, both here in Luck and also in Rice Lake. 

I've been keeping an eye on both houses via my Wyze cams

Rice Lake

Luck

In the middle of this snow,  the FedEx truck pulled into the cul-de-sac.  I thought I wonder who's getting up FedEx package on a night like this? Of course, it turned out to be me. I had ordered a few things from Walgreens.com and they shipped FedEx, for unknown reasons. I'm certainly glad that the driver did not know what was in that box that he was delivering in the middle of such miserable weather! Two bottles of hairspray, one box of allergy nasal spray and 8 bags of candy.  (I ordered the bogo candy to hit the free shipping threshold.) Good grief.

❄️❄️❄️🚛❄️❄️❄️

Sitting here tonight, watching TV, enjoying my Christmas tree and my electric fireplace, I just suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of how lucky I am and how very happy I am to be living in this place.