In from the wild: moving on

I am getting ready to make a big move -- from out in the sticks back to “civilization.” It’s actually a very scary step for me but it is something I really need to do.

I like where I am living now; I have the best landlords and good neighbors (except for the [alleged] meth cookers and owners of cat-murdering rogue dogs on the other side of the woods, but hey, this is East Texas). And it’s very pretty out here. I have enjoyed living “in the country” for the past nearly 18 years, but it’s time for me to come in from the wild. My current situation is not sustainable; for the sake of both my physical and emotional health, I really need to be in a place where I am not so isolated, especially since I don’t drive.

Fortunately I have been given a wonderful opportunity by very dear friends who are really my extended family and who have a suburban rental house available in the city where they live, which is about 200 miles from where I am now. There will be more amenities, better access to needed services, and numerous other advantages that I don’t currently have.

I’m now dealing with an almost overwhelming amount of logistical details that on previous moves I had Ron to help me with, and on which I have been egregiously behind schedule, mainly due to getting sick several times over the past several months. One challenge is covering the cost of moving, which is hovering around $6,000. After Ron died I was immediately faced with drastically reduced income, and while I am still trying to find ways to increase that income, my immediate concern is raising funds to help with the costs of using a professional moving company, as well as with a few miscellaneous expenses that are always a part of moving.

Since I don’t drive, a do-it-yourself moving service such as UHaul was not an option. Asking friends or my one remaining immediate family member (my brother) to help execute an entire move, including loading and unloading, was simply not an option either. My friends and my brother all have busy lives, and they live far away from here (I told you I was out in the sticks), plus we’re all getting too old to be lifting a lot of heavy stuff anyway.

And since I am going to be moving a considerably greater distance than all of the previous moves that Ron and I made together over the past three decades, I had to hire a company with big enough trucks that the move would not require multiple trips. That might sound painfully obvious, but due to my large library, it’s more of a challenge than it might be for many folks. (Don’t get me wrong; I have been purging books as well as other items to help keep costs down, but moving is still an expensive undertaking!)

So any any donation, no matter how small, will be deeply appreciated.

Moving is stressful for anyone. It’s one of the most stressful of life events, just behind divorce or the death of a loved one. For me it it’s no exaggeration to say that moving has always been at least a little bit traumatic, even when it was a very welcomed move, such as this one will be. And doing it all without Ron for the first time has added considerably to the stress and fear and uncertainty. I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and I have faith that it’s not an oncoming train. But for now, I need to get through this move so I can begin a new and more sustainable life.

Below is my information for Venmo and Paypal. I actually prefer Venmo, but Paypal will work fine too. Again, any amount will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

• Venmo: Username: @Connie-Schmidt-42email: cosmic.connie@gmail.com
  Here’s a direct link to my Venmo page:https://account.venmo.com/u/Connie-Schmidt-42
• Paypal: Username: CosmicConnieSchmidt
  Email: cosmic.connie@gmail.com
  Here’s a direct link to my PayPal page: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/CosmicConnieSchmidt
  If you are donating by PayPal, please specify that your contribution is for "friends and family," which will waive PayPal's transaction fee.

The "Donate" button that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version is still good, though I prefer the Venmo or PayPal links cited above. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account that belonged to Ron, but which I've kept active -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.

Thank you so much. And even if you can’t send a donation, please send me a heapin’ helpin’ of good vibes. I need all the help I can get. And I'll be back as soon as possible with a real post.