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.

Sn❄️w

 The first snow has arrived and it started with rain, so it's quite slippery under the snow. These are not good things for old people. The driveways here in Luck have been plowed and my entryway is shoveled.

This was one of the days I was looking forward to as a renter!  It will be even sweeter once the sale is final on my Rice Lake home.  We are getting closer. The inspector was there yesterday. I haven't heard any feedback yet.

You just never know

 I've been waiting to hear from the junkman but he's likely hunting.  So,  I've continued to purge the garage with the free table (which I am sure my neighbors are weary of), the garbage and Facebook Marketplace. 

I have had good luck with Marketplace,  so decided why not list a couple of things I thought I would have to pay to get rid of.

One was an antique door off a car,  it came out of Grandpa's barn.  I had dreams of using it in the yard somehow,  but there ya go. 

The other was a very old tire,  with wooden spokes, also from Grandpa's barn.  Again,  I had grand plans but it has been in my garage for 11 years. 

Yesterday, I posted both items on Facebook Marketplace for $10 each.  I had a bite on the car door right away.   I told the buyer that I would be at the house at 12 noon on Tuesday.  At about 11:30am, he messaged me that he was there early, & I was just minutes away.   He was so happy about the door, said he had a great use for it,  something about a campground he owns.  So I offered the wheel too, and he took it.  I told him to keep his $, I was glad to have it go to someone who will use it, rather than the junkyard. Saved me money actually.  

There was a second, very disappointed person, who also wanted the door. Go figure.

I'll go over again on Friday and fill up the garbage for the last time.   The service ends at the end of the month,  that worked out about perfect.  The garage is nearly empty. 

Predictions are for our first snowstorm to start tonight.  I'm prepared to hunker down for the next few days.   I have Thanksgiving fixings to make, if the turkey thaws in time.  

Happy 🦃 Thanksgiving

 

A few things

 I drove over to the Rice Lake House today, intending to work in the garage for a while. But it was cold, cloudy and windy and I was not in the right mood to deal with that.

While I considered not even getting out of the car & driving right back home, I actually did go in the house and grab just a few more things.  I brought home my vacuum cleaner, an old shelf that my grandfather Ansgar made and a large vintage picture that my grandparents got for their wedding in 1914 (111 years ago) and which hung in their living room in West Denmark.  Now I need to find a place of pride for it in my new apartment. I have had it for 50 years, since grandfather died.

The sun came out and warmed things up once I drove back to Luck. So I got busy and put some solar powered Christmas lights on the fence that holds the mailboxes for my cul-de-sac neighbors.

They look cute.  After I was done,  and back in my apartment,  I realized that I am the only tenant who can see those lights from my living room.  And,  most of my neighbors are not out and about at night very often.  But,  I will enjoy seeing the lights.  

That's it for today.  Hopefully tomorrow. Is a little more productive. 

Opening day of the hunt

 Gus loved this annual tradition and lived for it.  

I am secretly pulling for the deer but hope that the time spent in the woods and in the cabin creates lasting memories for all, young and old. 

Contingent

 Not a word that I use very often, until now. Today I signed a contract with an offer to buy my house with a seven day contingency for the buyer to get an offer on their house.  

For the next seven days, my house shows up as under contract and hopefully after seven days it shows up as being sold.

If not,  back to square one.

If it all goes as planned, I will have a closing before the end of 2025. 

I credit my agent for pulling together this deal.

It looks good

 Tuesday was a lovely sunny day.  My pal Bruce came over and put a little brick hearth under my electric fireplace 🔥.  Not because it needed it for safety,  just for looks.  

And it looks good. 

I finally went grocery shopping today.  The store in town has a good selection and sometimes, a few good deals.  I bought some Thanksgiving stuff.  🦃 

I ran into a classmate from Luck who works there.  She asked me if I was here for a visit. And I said, "No, I live here now". She asked where and I told her in the duplexes off of first street.  She said "Those really nice ones?"  I told her yes. She said, "Oh, I think Mike and I should live there!"  

I'm so lucky to be here. 🍀

Junk man

 On Monday,  I loaded up a few last odds and ends out of the garage. Then I took photos of what is left and sent them along to the junkman to finish the job. I'm still waiting for his reply. 

When I got to the house,  the free table was sold out.  It never ceases to amaze me.  

I have grown quite fond of this table. Dad built it when he was making kitchen cabinets. Because he worked alone, he had to have a way to move heavy projects around his shop. So, this table has seen a lot. 🔨 🛠  🎨 🖌 I've had it in my garage for over ten years.  I have used it for many different projects. Thanks Dad. 

During this move, it has been a lifesaver as it was easy to roll down the driveway, full of stuff to give away, and then easy to roll back up to reload. 

I've decided I can fit it in my new garage.  I can't quite bear to leave it when I sell the house.

❤️ 💙 💜  ❤️ 

I got back to Luck on plenty of time to watch the middle school basketball games.  

Great nephew Ivan plays with the 7th graders. He enjoys being on the team and he scored a basket in this game.  👏 

Great nephew Jens plays on the 8th grade team. These kids are getting good and have skated past all their other opponents but not so this game.  They were down by 10 and came back and finally won by 5. It was not a sure thing until nearly the end. 

Great nephew Jude is one of the managers for the 8th grade team. 

It's a real treat to be so close to the school now. ❤️ 

Sunday organizing

 I stayed home in Luck today to watch football and do little projects. 

I assembled the TV stand for the living room.  Moved a couple of lamps around too.

Now I'm ready for Thanksgiving Day when I put up my Christmas Village on the entertainment center.

I also found the pendant light for the kitchen.  That's the look I like. 💡 There was a high intensity bulb in the can light above the sink. 

And I moved a bookcase to the kitchen beside the fridge.  This will help with storage of little used items.

Little by little,  it is coming together.  

❤️  Home 🏡 Sweet 🏡 Home ❤️  

We are happy 🐈 .

Better

 Amazing how much a night of rest helps adjust my attitude.  

There was a showing of my house last evening,  a young couple with a baby. It would be a good house for them if they have any money.  I haven't heard any feedback. 

Another showing is scheduled for Tuesday morning. 

Today,  I loaded up the free table with a few more things,  filled up a tote of the tools that I am bringing to Luck and decided I can now call the junk man to come and get the rest.  I'll go over on Monday to take down the trash and then I'll take photos of what needs to get hauled away.  Time to be done with that now. 

I left a note for the agents about my lights. 

When I got back to Luck I decided to hang my clothes up in the garage.  I didn't sort my clothes before packing them and I need to take a bunch to goodwill.  Now,  I can sort them in the garage and put the goodwill stuff right into the car. 

The garage is walkable again. Yay.