Preparing to sell a house involves pain, both physical and psychological. We are in the process of de-cluttering, organizing, and purging the house where we have lived for 25 years in preparation to list it next month. Real estate agents and home stagers are ruthless in their evaluation of what to remove or add to make each […]
Enjoying Retirement
De-cluttering and Decision Fatigue
De-cluttering brings on decision fatigue. If you want a headache, backache, and a pain in the neck — all at the same time — decide to sell your house! Purging, de-cluttering, organizing, and cleaning are all necessary to prepare a house for sale. Since early January, we’ve been clearing ‘stuff’ from the basement. We began in […]
Saying Good-bye to Favourite Books
To date, saying good-bye to favourite books has been the most painful aspect of the de-cluttering and purging experience as we prepare to sell our house. Readers know that my husband and I are in the midst of a ‘basement bootcamp’. We are purging One long wall of the finished area of the basement […]
Basement Bootcamp
Since January 1, we’ve had a basement bootcamp. In preparation for selling our house, we have to purge years of stuff stored in various parts of the basement to get the house ready for the market. Potential buyers would be aghast to see the basement disarray. Books, craft materials, and other things that have accumulated […]
Selling our House — Reality Hits
Yesterday we met with a real estate professional. During the two plus hours he spent with us, the reality of selling our house began to hit. Until we started to look at various documents that we will sign to list the house, proposed marketing processes, and timing for the listing, selling the house seemed just […]
Year of Change
A new year brings opportunities for new beginnings. For me, 2016 promises to be a year of change. After much thought, many late night discussions, and the need to face aging realistically, my husband and I decided to sell the too-big house that’s been home since 1990. We are tired of maintaining both our city house […]
A New Year and A Year-End Assessment
Happy New Year to all postworksavvy readers! Many readers know that I write monthly posts for a retirement newsletter. In today’s publication at http://www.exploringretirement.co.uk you will find my year-end assessment, along with other interesting articles. I highly recommend the article, “Retirement — Regrets and Resolutions”, written by John Copelton, editor of Exploring Retirement. Prior to retirement, John worked as a psychologist. His extensive […]
‘Good Stress’ — Have a Happy Holiday
This year I plan to have a ‘good stress’ Christmas. For too many years, this holiday meant rushing through the days of December with anxiety about entertaining, panic as I searched for the right gifts, worry about what to wear to obligatory parties, and concern about food preparations. I used to joke that I needed […]
Laugh lines — Are they beautiful?
When discussing the joys and hazards of aging, we sometimes hear the comment that laugh lines are beautiful. Is the comment sincere? Is it authentic? Or, is it ingratiating and falsely flattering? Is there an implied criticism of how you look? Too often we look at ourselves and say something like, “I look so old”. […]
Speed Limits of my Life — Interim Assessment
A month ago I resolved to apply some basic time management techniques to deal with the ‘speed limits’ of my life. I found myself rushing through every day instead of enjoying the relaxed lifestyle I had imagined before retiring. I needed to set ‘speed limits’ for myself. As is the case for many people, retirement […]
