I have been so busy lately that I really don’t know whether I’m coming or going. I have so much on my mind that I often forget what I’m doing.

Ok, that’s not necessarily a new thing… I have those tendencies anyway, but lately its like I put one thing in my brain and another two items fall out the other end. There’s only so much stuff a brain can hold!

So, what’s been happening since we last spoke?

Well… we had 3 garage sale weekends. They went great, good and not so great respectively. Still, we did sell a heap of stuff. The problem was we had SO MUCH stuff that we still had tons left after 3 weekends of sales.

That’s when Plan B kicked in: friends who have shops and do markets have been picking up stuff to sell for me on commission.

And Plan C: giving stuff away to anyone who wants it.

Right now I’m in that place where there are still things to be picked up but timing is of the essence here.

For instance… do I really want the washing machine and fridge to go till at least 3 days before I have to go?

What about the bed?

The couch is going tomorrow as are the kitchen table and chairs… but I’m holding onto some non-matching chairs and my blow mould table so I have something to use in the kitchen and something to sit on other than an air mattress on the floor!

So… between now and Monday I have to sort, pack and see things off the property.

Monday my stuff gets picked up for the long trip to Greece.

Pre-settlement inspection is on Wednesday so I want the house and yard looking as empty and neat and tidy as possible.

On Friday me and the dogs are on the ferry to Melbourne where I expect to sleep a LOT before starting the next adventure (stressful episode) of finding my dogs a new home…

Only then will I be able to book my ticket to Greece.

Stay tuned for more chaotic news from my chaotic life.

It will get better.

One day.

z

It had to happen.

I mean, how can something like a huge move to Greece go without a hitch?

I’ve been packing and moving boxes and furniture for weeks and NOW my back gives out.

Now. A couple of days before the last ever garage sale. The day I’d planned to take all the bits still in the house down to the casita for the garage sale. The day I planned to move everything from the porch so that tomorrow we can put all the furniture out there for the garage sale.

Perfect timing.

I’m really hoping that its better by tomorrow if I’m really good and take it easy today.

Yeah. Cause I’m all about taking it easy.

Uhuh.

Yep.

Well… a good night’s sleep maybe…

Let’s hope for the best.

z

Yes. Its hectic around here. People coming and going all day long… Piles of stuff to move to the casita for the garage sale…

I have notes on top of notes cause there’s so much happening I can’t remember it all. Lists of things for sale online, lists of things people have bought but yet to pick up, stacks of stuff to go with me to Melbourne, stacks of stuff to still pack for Greece…

My brain can only cope with so much… You know how it is… you put too much IN something has to go OUT to make room.

What’s my name again?

Luckily among the last things to be picked up are my bed, the kitchen table and chairs, the fridge and washing machine and the couch. My desk is gone. I’m now working on the laptop on the coffee table while sitting on the couch that no longer belongs to me.

Time is moving fast. Two more weeks. Then I’m outa here.

Better book a ticket for the ferry for me, the dogs and the car.

Better make a list of things I need to do before I go.

Better get back to packing.

I need a drink…

z

I’m so tired.

I begin my days early… I get up around 7am but I’m usually awake by 6. That’s when I actually sleep.

At this rate I may not need to buy another suitcase to travel with… the bags under my eyes should be big enough!

I have a coffee and something to eat and then I start working on something. The secret seems to be to just start something. Anything. Once you start its easier to keep going.

So I keep going. For some hours. Then I suddenly wind down, tired.

If I make the mistake of sitting down, having a cup of coffee… and I look around at all that still needs doing and suddenly I’m overwhelmed and paralysed again.

Sometimes I remember to have lunch. Most of the time I just eat a late lunch/early dinner. Then I usually watch TV to stop my brain a while.

We’ve had two garage sales so far. You never realise how much stuff you have till you try to put it all in one area and display it for sale. Getting ready for a garage sale of this scale is like nothing I’ve ever done before.

Last week I cleaned out the casita (that’s the original house on the property which is now a shed). That meant clearing out the storage room, the laundry room, the workshop room, the horse feed room. Then bringing in tables and other surfaces to put things out on.

It never seems to end.

It will end. I know it will. Its all that keeps me going. When I get to Melbourne I plan to sleep for about 3 days straight… getting up to eat occasionally and living in my pjs.

Meanwhile, what have I managed to do? Well, sell about half or 3/4 of my stuff. Still tons to go of course. This weekend will be the last garage sale. After that I’m concentrating on the final packing and cleaning up the property.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…

So. Keep me in your thoughts and send positive vibes I get through this without too much damage or loss of days from the end of my life. I was planning on those days and want to keep them.

z

This is not me… but it sure feels like it is!

Don’t they say moving house is one of the biggest stresses a person can go through?

Add to that moving across the world and you have some idea of what I’m going through right now…

The house looks like a hurricane went past, scattering things all over the place, taking some things with it as it ripped through – there are gaps where bits of furniture used to be, boxes of stuff everywhere, piles of stuff to sort through and pack/toss/sell, confused dogs walking in circles… and me standing in the middle ‘lost sheeping’* as a friend used to say.

Overwhelmed by all the things that need doing.

Luckily I get spurts of energy and purpose and I go crazy for a few hours at a time. Once I am no longer working I hope I can put those spurts to better use and really get things moving.

We had a huge garage sale on the weekend and it barely made a dint in the things we need to sell before we leave here. We’ve been here for 8.5 years… things accumulate.

On their own mind you… I had nothing to do with it!

As if you’d believe that!

One of the best things about this move is that I am finally able to look at my stuff and let a lot of things go. Things which I collected and loved for years no longer seem so important. Its time to move on. What’s more important is life itself and family and friends. Things are just things… replaceable.

Part of the decision to move wasn’t just to be with mom and other family while they’re still here for me to be with them, but the realisation that life is short. I know we say it all the time, but its true. You never know how long you actually have…

I’m winding up my grooming business tomorrow, my hydrobath and the other grooming tools (the ones I sold) are being picked up the very next day. Its hard to say goodbye to a business I’ve built up from nothing to a full time job… but I’m taking my basics with me, who knows… I might do some grooming on Paros.

My power tools are coming with me, I can’t live without those! So are my art supplies and most of my craft supplies. Not to mention the mountain of dolls I collected to repaint and remake.

I’m really looking forward to spending my first few months on Paros creating art and crafts and finding myself.

Watch out world… here I come!

No, seriously, I really want to reconnect with the artist in me. Its been buried for too long. Sure, I’ve done commissions over the years but I haven’t painted for the sake of creating art. I’ve diverted all my creative energies into making STUFF. Not that I plan to give that up, it gives me too much pleasure… but I really want to try do some real art too.

Maybe.

We’ll see.

Can’t make a living off art…

z

*lost sheeping: the act of standing in the middle of a paddock with a blank expression on your face cause the herd is gone and you have no idea where you are or where you’re supposed to be.

If there’s one thing you can say about international airports is that they’re not good for the ‘no sugar’ thing.

They’re full of duty free chocolate shops… or maybe its just me that sees chocolate everywhere…

I have to confess, I haven’t been 100% good. Yesterday I woke up feeling fluey and spent almost the entire day in bed. As a result of feeling sick and needing to nip it in the bud I’ve had more sugar than I’d like – in my throat lozenges, in the hot toddie’s I got Wayne to make me (honey, not sugar) and in the vitamin C gummies I’ve been chewing on since Wayne came down with the flu a week ago. (Thanks Wayne!)

Thank goodness it seems my flu shot paid off – I am better!

So, although I haven’t been GREAT, I’ve still been GOOD.

For instance I haven’t had a single sweet or chocolate. I didn’t touch my airplane dessert lamington and haven’t had sugar in my coffee or tea.

Ok, so I had one iced coffee… no cream but with a dash of caramel… I’m only human!

I think I’ll allow myself that small indulgence given all the other temptations I’ve let go by.

Other than that, the trip has been good so far. The first hop from Hobart to Melbourne was lovely and brief. The jump from there to Singapore not so much… three and a half movies later we had an an hour and a half to kill in Singapore walking up and down the gate lounge to get circulation back in my legs.

I can’t sleep on planes… times like this I wish I was a five year old again, able to curl up in the tiniest space… sigh.

Almost five hours in Dubai and honestly, there really isn’t that much duty free shopping one can do. Two coffees, two lovely chats with women from other parts of the world, and we’ll soon be boarding for the last leg to Athens.

By now I just want to BE somewhere. No longer on the go. This is such a long trip…

z