100 DAYS

So here we are, we begin the countdown of the final 100 days before we embark on our retirement chapter. The days have been filled with purging and packing as of late but we did take a little time off to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of July. Peggy drove down and spent the week of her birthday with us, letting us love on her and allowing us to work some more on the grieving process. The three of us have come to the conclusion that while it is sad that Perry never made it to the Mountainview Hideaway, it's also a blessing that we won't look around and be filled with nostalgia over memories shared there. Peggy will be flying up to the house a week after we get there and she will spend two weeks helping us to unpack and settle things in. Dave only has two weeks there since he has to get back to work but I will be there a total of three weeks, enough time to knock out some of those boxes. We've been giving thought to activities while Peg is at the house, not wanting to get melancholy revisiting a favorite hike the four of us might have went on so we are considering going up to Polebridge and the Bowman Lake area of Glacier, unchartered territory for all of us! We need a little recreational time, all work and no play makes for a grumpy Dave!

Sun Rift Gorge in 2012, one of my favorite pictures of the four of us!

Iceberg Lake, another favorite memory...Constant reminders of special moments in time...

I also had a weeks down time last week battling Bronchitis. I felt pretty crappy so needless to say, I didn't pack a single thing! The medications are doing their jobs, slowly but surely and I resumed my methodical packing. Right now, I am stressing over some sentimental and precious items to transport. I have my mother's doll "Ursulla", her only toy she was able to bring out of the Czech Republic after World War 2 when they became refugees, fleeing to what would become West Germany.

My Mutti with Ursulla, Czech Republic 1943

I found a display case to protect it and set up the photo inside with the doll.

There is also my first doll, a German one I got back when I was a little girl as well as this 135 year old doll which was passed down to me from a Great Great Aunt in Germany. I have wrapped these in bubble wrap several times and the box will be the last thing we load into the truck the morning we leave.

We upgraded our truck to the 26 foot size just to be sure we would have enough room to accommodate everything. We didn't know that we would be able to take the gas grill but now that it appears we will have room for it, I have to get out there and scrub it down and remove any grease and nastiness. My next project to purge is the utility room which shouldn't take too long. My final packing job is all my genealogy research paperwork and photos, not much to purge in those files!

The brutal heat of Texas is in full swing but I'm not as affected by it as I thought I would be. If someone had told me that we would go the entire summer in Texas, not taking a break out west from it's temperatures and I would be okay with that, I never would have believed them! Yet, here I am plugging along, knowing that this is the last summer that I have to deal with this horrific heat and it makes the anticipation of Montana in 3+ weeks, that much sweeter!