Okay, most people would say "nothing".  ;-) (I am not going to open a poll on this one.)

Today was my last day at work. I'm still gainfully employed for another two weeks, but on vacation. And, will be using that vacation time for the "big move". It was a bittersweet day. I love(d) my job. The people. The customers and their enthusiasm for our products. The products. But, it is time to move on.

I honestly believe that I've given all I can give over 10 years. Yeah, I still have passion and ideas. But, I'm also excited to move on and turn the reins over to someone else with equal passion and probably better ideas. It is good for me to move on. It is good for Vision Research to get new blood. I'll miss it a lot, but also have a lot to look forward to. A new chapter in my life!

The past 10 years have been good to me. I have special memories and experiences that will always be with me. The amazement on people's faces when they see and understand the previously unseen. The passion and evangelism many have had for our products. An Emmy award. Attending the (technical) Academy Awards. And all the people I worked with.

I've worked pretty much continuously for almost 50 years. What will it be like when I wake up next Monday morning and instead of prepping for work, I will supervise the packing of goods we are moving to Colorado? Not having the 21 mile, 45 minute commute to work (and back)? Not feeling the need to check my work email the first thing in the morning?

Instead, what's on my mind is sorting the stuff in the garage. The office is a mess. It needs some serious attention this weekend. How will the estate sale go? Will our cross country trip go smoothly? (There sure has been bad weather lately.) Will the snow finally stop falling in Colorado? Will the roads to the cabin be muddy? (Or worse, inaccessible? Wouldn't that be hilarious?) How grateful I am that our storage facility volunteered to store our trailer, if needed! 

I've got this huge list of "things to do" when we arrive. It starts with establishing a banking account, and ends with going fishing. ... Okay, I'm moving "going fishing" up the list a bit. Stay tuned and you'll experience it all with us!

A new chapter. 

Bittersweet.

I've posted at length about our cabin address, and the issues it creates. "I Take it Back", for example. The latest frustration is with changing addresses online. It seems many (most?) companies that give you the ability to change your address online, verify the address with some kind of USPS address database.

If I type in the mailing address we've set up, which is our street address in Colorado but with Laramie, WY as the town, I get errors like "There is no street of that name at that Zip Code". True. (But don't tell the mail delivery person!)

If I type in the actual legal, physical address using Red Feather Lakes, CO as the town, then I get a similar message like "That address does not exist". Which is not true, of course, but since the USPS doesn't deliver to that address, it is unknown to them.

So, I'm stuck with many of the address changes we need to do. Phone calls have led to success in a few cases, but only frustration in others. We will rely heavily upon "paperless" billing and communications, I guess.

Bella on a walk to Egger's Pond.

We are almost there. Next week this time all our wordly goods that are traveling west with us will be on their way. That means that the last push will come this weekend. I think we're in great shape for the movers — and for the estate sale. We still have the office to go through one more time and we have to choose which clothes to take with us and pack them, which is always a big chore.

We also have to make sure to hold out certain things that we don't want moved or sold, and those things will be going with us in the two vehicles. (Well, three if you count Ms Tabbie.) We will have the two camp chairs and camp table from the Tab to use in the house for those days after the estate sale that we are still here. Have to have something to sit on! Oh! and the coffee percolater and wine glasses. We have to be sure to hold out the dog crates and all the normal stuff that goes on the road with two dogs and one cat. All the houseplants need to be moved into the one closet where we are storing things that go with us. 

Two weeks ago I bought myself a little gnome for the trip. He'll keep me company as Morty the Moose will be with Rick. If you don't know who Morty is I'll fill you in if you really want to know. He's kind of a "spirit guide" on trips. I was trying to think up a name for my little guy and all I came up with was Gene (as in genome or is that geGNOME). Such wit!

Anyway ... I am nervous and excited at the same time. Once the movers leave and the estate sale is over we'll be able to catch our breath again before hitting the road. 

I have lots of little plans going around in my head to make the cabin a real home and not just a vacation cabin. A little paint here and there ... maybe a new kitchen ... fix the screened-in porch up like an extra room for the summer instead of just the catch-all it is now. All the things we are taking westward will help too.

Sorry to be going on about nothing, but it's getting so close now! I could almost believe it wasn't happening because it seems so surreal if it weren't for the chaos in every room.

The past two weekends have been hectic. We are preparing for the "big move". There is so much to do. But, as of today, I think we are in pretty good shape.

We've been going from room to room, sorting items into four categories:

1. Stuff to move to Colorado: this is really two groups. Those items we will put in "long term" storage, perhaps wanting access to at any time in the future. And, things that we are having moved to storage in Laramie, WY, but will want to haul to the cabin right away.

2. Stuff that goes with us. We'll be taking some things with us in the trucks. The dogs and cat, of course, along with their supplies. A few house plants. Important paperwork/files. Clothes. Liquor. A propane tank (that I will empty as much as possible by grilling meals until we leave).

3. There are a few things we've promised the house buyers. So, we want to be sure we don't move or sell that.

4. Items for the estate sale -- which is most of the stuff we have. We really are trying to downsize, but it is hard. There are so many items that have sentimental value, or that we "might need" in the future...(Sentimentality takes up a lot of space!)

I guess there is another category, too. The stuff that we are discarding. But, we really are trying to minimize what will end up in a landfill.

This weekend we did a lot of sorting. Putting stuff in the appropriate places. We've set aside a closet for the items going with us. And, we've rehearsed what we'll tell the movers, who come one week from tomorrow (Monday....not sure when this will get posted). I decommissioned our weather station, today. Found items that we planned to move, then decided to sell, then decided not to sell...

Pretty hectic, but also pretty exciting.

The paintbrush will soon be "painting" the high mountain meadows with red and yellow.  The yellow is called "Wyoming Paintbrush."