Moving to the middle of the Pacific

This is it - the big one- the time I've been waiting for and ...OMGOSH! This is totally freaking me out!

So Robert and I bought the farm - literally. That is, we bought a two acre flower and ti farm in Haiku, Maui. This is really a dream come true, but wow, the reality of it is intimidating.

Back six months or so ago we went by a former ward member's house we knew was on the market. He invited us in and his wife gave us the 15 min tour. Deciding that it was over priced and not wanting to do the negotiating for a lower price with someone we knew - we let it go. Later, Robert discovered it was off the market. It either had sold or they took it off the market. I contacted them and they said that they had decided not to sell. Ok...back to square one and nightly perusing of mauirealestate.com. Fast forward to September....we get an Facebook Message from Keli'i's wife - are we still interested? Their loan mod didn't go through and they need to sell. Well, heck yeah! We're back in the game. So Robert toodles over to Maui for 21/2 weeks and VOILA! We are in escrow.

That was more or less pain free...no agents, do-it-yourself negotiations etc. We are cookin' with gas! We are movin' to Maui, oh yeah, we're movin' to Maui, oh yeah, we're....CRAP! WE'RE MOVING TO MAUI!!!!

I am reminded daily of my friend John Gilmor's statement to us back when we started looking - "You know, you buy a house in Maui and that's all good, but then you wish someone would come in with a magic wand, wave it and make all of the stuff happen that needs to take place". No kidding. Ok, you've got a house in Maui...now what, smarty?

So the first question is - WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS CRAP?? Enter Craigslist. Yes, America's marketplace becomes our new best friend. Sell, sell, SELL I say!

The next part is...oh yes...the GRAND PIANO. Definitely not a carry-on item. So how does one pack a 574 lb piano. Very carefully (rim shot). 

I find myself wandering around the house like I'm a buyer at a garage sale. Do I want this? Nah...Will someone else want it? Nah...Should I throw it away? Yeah. Will I use a crockpot in Maui? Probably not - I don't even use it here. And my favorite thus far...what is this? Wait! I think it goes to that flour mill. What flour mill? The one that...oh yeah, I threw that out in 1984.

It's good that I've got 8 months before we go. I'll have plenty of time to fret.

The times, they are a-changin'

Life is crazy. The one thing you can count on for sure is that everything will change.
So we're down to the last little chick in the nest. This is the one who plans for everything - He saves, he looks for ways to make money, he thinks about his future. He takes a JC class in Fire Technology because he wants to be a fireman. He's 17 and is laying the foundation for his future. Then....WHAM!
It's Conference weekend - also know to us Latter-Day Saints as "jammie church weekend". We watch the leaders of our church speak to us on TV on Saturday and Sunday. We've got the hot chocolate, we're settled on the couch with our snuggle blankets. Our prophet steps up to the pulpit and with a smile announces that the missionary age for boys is now 18 and for girls it's 19. WHAAAAAAAT???????
Let me back up a bit...
Robert and I are gently balancing our last child's senior year with Robert's 3rd year of retirement and my 13th year at Austin Creek. The new dawn is in sight. We'll enjoy this last year of high school ever, attend every basketball game, senior night, men's choir concert and savor every moment. In the meantime...do you hear that sound?....(tick, tick, tick, tick, tick)...that's the sound of the clock ticking until we BOTH retire and move to Hawaii to farm flowers, walk the beach and watch the sunset over Lanai.
But now - the vegetable basket has been tipped over and we're opening a fruit stand, figuratively speaking. Will John go on his mission right out of high school?