Marti's Musings - Altered Thinking

Before you get the wrong idea on 'Altered Thinking', let me clarify.  I am not referring to drug altered, nor alcohol altered thinking (sorry to disappoint some of you, LOL)

Rather, I am referring to how we, Paul and I, are thinking these days, as we make purchases and plan for improvements for the 'stick n brick' house.

In the past, we purchased rather randomly, and at a whim (within reason - unless we were buying for the grandkids *wink*).

These days, however, when we are shopping for things for the house, or even for ourselves, my mind immediately goes to: "'Can we take that with us?" "What will we DO with it when we are ready to hit the road?" And invariably, if we STILL feel we need to purchase whatever-it-is, I have already half decided which child would want or could use whatever-it-is. 

Our conversations invariably go something like this: 

"Do you think we should get whatever-it is?"

"I don't know, what do you think?" 

"Well, the grandkids would love it (hee hee), but what will we do with it when we hit the road?"

 "Good point." or "We could sell it on Ebay" or "So-and-so could use it" or (rarely) "We could take it with us".

More often than not, these days, we walk away from it.  There have been a few exceptions this year however.  In great anticipation of the grandkids visiting this summer, we purchased an above ground inflatable 4' x 18' pool.  (Of course, we had to get HOA approval, grrrr - don't get me started on THAT topic!)

This weekend, as we are RV-less, we have cleared the ground and will begin setting up and filling the pool, so it won't be frigid when the kids get here.  Yup, I have already half decided which child will want this pool when we hit the road (anticipating it will still be in good condition at that point in time).

This is a change for us, or at least for me.  It let's me know that the reality of full-timing has actually hit home.  Even as I sit home in the evenings, de-stressing from the day, my mind invariable goes to different areas of the home that need cleaning out, and we have already discussed who-will-want-what when the final stages come.  That line of thinking can get overwhelming, as we have 12 years of accumulated junk - proof positive that I have pack rat tendencies and difficulty letting things go.... (See my previous post regarding our decision to not get rid of EVERYTHING when we finally hit the road)

Events from this past week may be early warning signs that the time may be approaching sooner rather than later.  At times that causes a quickening of the heart, part fear and part excitement - at other times it creates a deep longing for that time to come very soon.  The times of longing are happening much more frequently, and that, my friends tells me that my thinking has altered from the past.

The get-ready-task for this weekend is weeding out our overstocked coat closet.  Our goal is to complete at least one task a weekend, and get rid of one box in the basement a weekend.  (OK, we will have to speed THAT up, or we wouldn't be able to head out for the next century!)

 Last summer, we spent weekends travelling, relaxing and doing little else. See? Altered thinking.

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