More goodbyes

I went to Durham yesterday with Chery and Mindy to say goodbye to my sisters and turn Mindy over to her new owners. She is now w/ Liz and MIke, good friends in Durham who live across the street from my sisters. She will have two people and one dog in her new pack - I can't think of a better situation. The picture is one of Mindy and her friend Fidel, a Javanese puppy - the only dog she will play with. I definitely developed a strong attachment to her in the year and a half she stayed with me. While I know I will miss my good friends and family very much while I'm gone, parting from Mindy is an acute ache.

I'm back in Asheville dealing with all the various wrapping up details. It seems like alot and I'm trying to combine the cleaning up, packing, sorting, etc. with serious friend time. Phone conversations with a couple of old friends who don't live here. Tonite I had dinner w/ newer - and whom I think will become very good - friends. Tomorrow morning - breakfast with a good friend. Tomorrow night is dinner w/ my closest Asheville friends. Whatever doesn't get done will not cause a big problem. Fortunately, I have great help.

Overall, I feel blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and blessed that I get to experience this wonderful adventure.

Leaving the western world

Getting ready to go is proving to be a harder task than I thought.

Here's a pic of what happens when you start REALLY cleaning out.

This is cleaning out just "a few things" in my storage place. The helpers are my sister Bobbe and my friend Tom. My sister Chery has been here since Saturday and thru this afternoon helping with the massive clean and declutter the house effort.

Here's another pic of trying to shove 10 pounds in a 5 pound

bag. My friend Susanne and I are trying to put my sleeping bag in what is laughingly called a stuff sack. Susanne is also helping with the monster declutter effort. Friends have taken away boxes of food, condiments, etc from the kitchen and there is still more to go.

Today I take my dog to her new home in Durham. That should be a pretty traumatic event.

My house still is a wreck right now because so many things are in "staging" - not quite ready yet. By Sunday night, whatever is not done will either remain undone or be completed by someone else.

I'm frazzled from overthinking all the things that have to occur to make this happen. Lots of lists, which I lose and have to make more.

The first suitcase is packed and weighed in at 45 pounds. I have one more suitcase to go and it has to be 50 pounds of less. Anything leftover is going to get mailed to me. Susanne and Chery and toting stuff out of the house to who knows where. I must join the process.

blog

Here's a new blog.  

 

Elizabeth Lynne Pou
25 Broad Street
Asheville, NC 28801
lpou@aol.com

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Good friends

I'm blessed to have many wonderful friends. Here is a pic of some with whom I had lunch last Saturday. They surprised me with presents for Armenia (which they will send later. As a special treat, they arranged with a local spa for spa services for us all. They gave me a hot stone massage which was wonderful.

Step sisters, I'll miss you!!

Here's another friend and her dog. Anne and I have known each other since 1964, when we started college at the same place. Tho we were separated for years as we led our separate lives, we started getting together again in the early 80s for occasional vacations, mostly to Key West. We now both live in western NC. This pic is her newest of 5 dogs, 4 of which are labs, black, yellow and chocolate females. Worthy, a male, is the latest addition. UNC fans might understand why Worthy is a good name for a champion.

12 days

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - much to do and little willingness to do it - I've spent most of the morning searching for a decent blogspot I can use for my journal. May have to separate journal and photos. Before I write much more I want to make sure this is the right place for a blog.