Farewell Mountainview Drive!

As the crocus and daffodils burst from the earth in bloom and the pear trees lining Mountainview Drive exploded in blossom, we were inside imploding our things into boxes to organize for our departure at the end of April. It is times like these that remind me of some of the personal characteristics that stand between us and perfection. For example, we cannot shed the old unimportant for the new important and therefore do not throw much of anything away. We collected all of the empty boxes stored throughout the house and abandoned in the basement and easily filled the truck bed (even after filling the intact boxes with flat corrugate and compressing everything else) for a run to the county recycling center. Upon arrival at the center, Mick was escorted to a special bin reserved only for the high volume contributors - the HOV lane for the recycling center.

Joni posted a number of items on CraigsList.com and sold many of the items she had gathered after our arrival in NJ. A living room couch, 3 office desks, 2 office chairs, a dresser, a 5-piece bedroom set were among the items sold. We even sold the old mud terrain tires from the truck (stored in the basement for the last three years!). Joni is so proud that she either broke even or made money on each of her sales.

Mars arranged for the movers to pack us up and move the house goods to storage for a few months as we sort out our plans. As three men packed things out to a truck, Joni and Jessica Craig (a wonderful young lady from our church here) thoroughly cleaned the house. When everything was out of the house and every corner was cleaned, we walked through the empty house reminiscing and saying good-bye. It was striking how large the empty house seemed.

From this, we move into the Marriott Residence Inn.  We'll keep you posted as the plans develop.

A view into the entry way from the 2nd floor landing

The roller rink (basement).

The master bedroom (part of it)

The kitchen and its queen!

A view of the family room from the 2nd floor landing.