ONE MORE MONTH TO GO!!
Our current apartment lease ends on Labor Day, but we’re picking up a rental car on the second of September, our car leaves for Oregon the next day, and the movers will be here the fourth and the fifth to pack us out. We’ll move over to a nearby hotel with Kaipo and Tilly the afternoon of September 4, and clean the apartment and turn in our mail room key on September 6 (management charges everyone an additional $100 to clean the apartment after a tenant leaves even though we’re all still expected to have it clean for the cleaners. Grrrr.). Anyway, Labor Day will be our last full day in Tennessee and our nonstop flight to Portland leaves the next afternoon!
The dogs are doing well with their carriers and will now more easily go inside to get a treat. Kaipo still somewhat fights it but he seems to have figured out he’s not going to die in there so hopefully transporting the two of them to Portland will go easier. Tilly easily goes into her crate (and Kaipo’s too) – she eats her snack inside now and is ready to redecorate the place.
We’ve rented an apartment in Portland! It’s located in our old neighborhood (that we loved), one of the most walkable in Portland, in a vintage mid-century modern complex located just a couple of blocks away from Trader Joe’s! The neighborhood has a fantastic library branch, plenty of good coffee shops and great restaurants, and a food cart pod in what used to be a bank parking lot when we lived there. We’ll have a bit less floor space than our current apartment and won’t have a dishwasher, washer and dryer (but there are community laundry rooms for the tenants), or other fancy appliances like we do now but the place reminds us a lot of our last apartment in Hawaii that we loved. It has hardwood floors and a beautifully tiled bathroom, and we’ll also have our own little bit of lawn in front as well as some garden space to grow some things. Best of all (for me) is that we can have a grill again! I can’t tell you how much we have missed being able to cook outside these past few years. Overall, we’ll be living more simply than we do here, but in a nice, walkable location that fits our needs.
Our daughter-in-law gave us the boxes and packing material from her move at the beginning of July, so almost every day last month we packed one box and now we’re nearly done – the rest of the stuff in the apartment will be pretty much left for the movers. The apartment is looking bare – there is not much decor out and the few items we didn’t plan to take with us have either been taken to Goodwill or sold. We took all the books over to McKays week before last and got more for them than expected. It felt sad to let them go but I don’t think we’ll have room for them going forward. Moving day, after all this, will hopefully be an easy, relaxed experience for a change.
Our daughter-in-law made us a beautiful little book filled with photos of our time together here. We will see her once more before we leave, but our son, grandson, and sweet granddaughter K are all now up and settled in New Jersey. I get so many feelings when I look through the book and see the changes in all of us over the years. While it’s been difficult at times to be here both Brett and I remain grateful for the time we got to spend with our son’s family, especially after all the years apart while they lived in Japan. We’ll see them again at Christmas, thank goodness.
Last but not least: stay tuned next week to learn why we decided to live in Portland!!
Here’s how we did with our July goals:
- Get boxes and start packing! Almost done.
- Make a firm and final decision about whether to sell the books or not. They went to McKays last week.
- Read at least three more books. Done! I read Yesteryear, Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast and John Updike’s The Widows of Eastwick, his last published book. I didn’t enjoy the last book and didn’t finish it, a first for me. I’m back to using my Kindle again. I also read the latest in the Thursday Murder Club series, The Impossible Fortune.
Here are our goals for August:
- Get Kaipo and Tilly’s health certificates for travel
- Finish up all the food (throwing away as little as possible)
- Start cleaning the apartment
- Pack our suitcases!
Our plan of buying healthy prepared foods went well in July and did not ruin our budget so we did the same this month; in fact, we did better and ended up spending well under our budget for the month. Hmmmm. We got a few pasta dishes, pizzas, fish, macaroni and cheese, Mexican dishes (chili rellenos and burritos), several Asian entrees, chili, chips, & cheese, and everything to make French jamon beurre sandwiches (with gruyere cheese). We bought side dishes, those yummy TJ hash brown patties, and vegetables to go with the main dishes. What we spent also included a few packages of cookies, a cherry-almond Kringle, loads of dog treats, toilet paper, facial serum, two cases of Diet Coke and two lightweight quilted puffer vests I found at Costco! I need to think about this month’s shopping some more because I think we could end up spending a whole lot less every month for food in Oregon than we have been in Tennessee (and there’s zero sales tax in Oregon).
I am so excited for you! I think it is great that you are moving back to your old neighborhood. That is what we did here in Brookline. We moved right next door to where we used to live. It made a huge difference so there was really no period of adjustment for us. The only thing that is a little weird for me is that when I lived here before I was younger. Now I am elderly and it is a little strange. I don’t walk as far as I thought I would. When I lived here before I walked into Boston every day to go to work. Now I have discovered I can no longer walk that far. That was quite a disappointment but I am learning to adjust to my new “age” here. I do wish you all the best on this move and I cannot wait to hear all about it!
We were so happy to find a place in our former neighborhood. It has changed a lot, but still has everything we need, especially being so close to a Trader Joe’s. We are looking forward to being able to walk to so many things: grocery stores, coffee shops, etc. Here it’s quite a distance to get to anything, and the walk is dangerous, too. Our apartment will have a little lawn for the dogs – they will love that – and being able to barbecue again! Things are moving finally along and by the end of next week we’ll have less than a month to go!
Very exciting!!! It’s wonderful you found an apartment where you used to live and the proximity to Trader Joe’s is a major plus. Not having a washer/dryer may be an issue if you have to lug it up and down flights of stairs – is there an elevator? Not having a dishwasher isn’t that big of a deal, and they do sell portable ones if you feel you need one, as long as the apartment doesn’t prohibit them. I had one of those years ago and I’m sure they’re even better now. It’s tough to find a place that has everything, but it sounds like yours checks all the important boxes.
I haven’t rented in 15 years so maybe I’m behind the times, but I’m surprised you have to pay $100 cleaning fee and still have to clean the place before that!
Even though you didn’t care for living in TN, you made the most of your time there and as someone who also made sacrifices to help out with family, I know it’s not always easy, but I don’t regret a minute of it and feel the same way you do. Your grandchildren will always remember the time they spent with you and Brett. Will your daughter-in-law also be moving to NJ? I live in NJ so when you visit your son’s family, let me know if you ever want to meet up!
There are so many new apartments in Portland, but we connected with a company that buys and rents vintage apartments in the city and found something we like through them. No stairs this time, but we’re sort of in the back so hopefully it will be quiet. We will miss having a dishwasher but that’s about it. We both love how much walking we’ll be doing there, and think after a few months and are settled that we may get rid of the car and just use public transportation or a car share service (we did this the summer we stayed in Portland, in 2019, and we did fine).
We’re going to miss this apartments in some ways (the space!) but in other ways we are looking forward to leaving. They do charge A LOT of fees here – the extra $100 for cleaning wasn’t that much of a surprise.
We also feel we did the best we could with our time here. We were tied down by the grandkids’ schedules, but that was our reason for being here, and got out and away whenever we could. We are leaving in better financial shape than when we came so that’s a positive too. Our DIL will head up to New Jersey next year, in June, so she has less than a year to go here. She moved to a small apartment downtown, within walking distance of the consulate. Not sure if we will make it back to NJ, but you never know – will definitely contact you if we do.
The vintage building sounds amazing. I live in a house that was built in 1929 and the pride and attention to detail back then just doesn’t exist now, unfortunately. I’d rather live in an old house/building than what they’re building today for that reason. I checked some apartments around here and they also have a lot of fees. I guess that’s how things are now. Back when I was renting, it wasn’t like that. It’s good your DIL lives close to her job now and I love the book she created!
We lived in this neighborhood for years and never knew these apartments existed, because we never went down that street. The company was very easy to work with, and the apartments made it clear if you could have a pet, etc. (we don’t have to pay pet fees at this apartment, or a pet deposit – yeah! they’ve been hundreds of dollars at our last two apartments).
Close as she is to her work, our DIL will probably drive to and from the consulate because parking is gated in both places so it’s safer for her, especially when she has to work after dark.
I am so happy for you! Question, what neighborhood are you moving to? I am from Portland but left many years ago. Just wondering if I would remember the area
best wishes
We will be back in the Woodstock neighborhood, although closer this time to Creston-Kenilworth. We lived in Woodstock for many years (our daughters were all in the Mandarin Immersion program at Woodstock elementary) and loved it – so walkable and an easy trip down to Clackamas for Costco and Winco on SE 82nd or back up to places like Hawthorne, Sellwood, etc.
Wishing you the very best. Sounds like you are happy with the location in Portland. What area if I may ask?I might remember where it is located, lived in Portland many years ago
best wishes
We are very happy with the location. We considered areas all over Portland, but the place were found was in Woodstock, where we lived for many years before leaving Portland.
Things are falling into place! It must feel good to have a place lined and take that off your list. Very organized, but I’m not surprised. You two are really good at making a plan and executing it. Onward and upward!
(P.S. LOVE the book your DIL made. Great idea!)
I am just beginning to get those little burbles of excitement in my stomach – we are really moving to Portland. There are is still more to do, but the big stuff has been taken care of or is being taken care of. Moving day will be here before we know it.
I still feel like we have too much stuff, which is what happens I guess when you start packing boxes. We’re packing everything except for small appliances, breakable things in the kitchen, and art. The movers will take care of that. Everything is set up in Portland other than receiving our can and the household goods and that feels good. I think our biggest worry now is how the dogs will behave for the move.
I treasure that little book!
You are about to move across country, and I have started working full time for a nonprofit this week.
Life is about change isn’t it?
I think your new apt sounds fabulous! I haven’t had a dishwasher in 15 years nor a washer and dryer and it has been fine. You will probably do even better than me without the washer and dryer bc your complex has one! The hardwood floors sound so beautiful and I think being able to walk to Trader Joe’s is so awesome! I miss being able to walk to Aldi. I think you will really like the convenience of being about to walk there if needed. It actually sounds perfect!
First – best wishes on your new job! I hope it’s everything you hope for.
I think we’ll be fine without a washer/dryer and dishwasher. With just the two of us we get few dishes dirty during the day, and do laundry once a week, just 2 or 3 small loads. I am excited about Trader Joe’s being so close by – we’ll probably pop over once a week to get what we need. There are other markets close by though. I just ordered some new walking shoes today – I can’t wait to get back to walking again. I just gave up here. The weather is awful, it’s dangerous, and there’s absolutely no scenery or anything pretty or interesting to look at while you walk. One more month to go!
I hope this posts (didn’t work last time), but we were just in Manzanita & it was so, so lovely. Got lucky with the weather & we went mid-week, so minimal crowds. It was amazing & reminded me of why I love the Oregon coast so much. Not interested in another vacation house, but if I was – this is where I would buy again!
Manzanita has *always* been our favorite town when we visit the coast. Believe it or not, we’ve never stayed there – we just love popping in for a while for a walk on the beach and a stroll up and down Laneda before moving on for the night somewhere else (usually in Arch Cape). The BEST salt water Taffy is sold in a shop in Manzanita, perfectly soft and chewy, interesting flavors, etc. and the shops are fun too. I can’t wait to go back – we’re already talking about a fall visit this year.
I’m so happy for you, after a very long wait moving day is suddenly almost here! Sounds as if your super planning abilities will make this an easy move. Best wishes for a smooth transition.
Things have been moving along nicely, so far anyway. We’re still getting things into boxes, but are at the stage where we need the rest of the stuff until the movers arrive. The night before will be a madhouse! But, in the end this will probably be the easiest move we’ve ever done, at least at this end. I almost can’t believe we’re leaving in just 23 days (from today).