1) My flooring guy came to measure for the new laminate for the kitchen, breakfast nook and little bathroom. I have used Brian Martinez for carpeting on a few other occasions and was very happy to find out that he installs all kinds of flooring. I highly recommend him if you need any new floors, tile work or carpeting.
2) I, myself, refinished the wood floors in the living room using the Rustoleum kit that I used on the floor in the little bedroom. They look really good!!!
 |
| New living room floor |
 |
| Old dining room floor |
3) I began a search for real estate agents using realtors.com and then narrowing down to meet my criteria. I emailed 8 prospective agents and have set up interview times for this week and next to talk to 5 of them who responded to my enquiries and are willing to meet my demands. Hopefully I can hire someone by the end of the following week. Wish me luck!
4) I put my profile on 3 different house sitting websites. More about this in the "adaptability" section of the post.
5) I have checked on long term leases in the SW of France. More about this in the next section.
6) I called the French Consulate in Denver to ask about the application process for long term visas only to find out that I have to apply for that through the French Consulate in Los Angeles! So I may be making a trip to LA in the next couple of months. (Hmmmm, Universal Studios is opening their version of the Wizarding World next month! Renae says she's game!)
7) I rented a storage unit so I have a place to put all those things that will not be used to stage my house which Beth is going to help me do the first week in April.
And amid all that hustle and bustle I found time to meet Ken and Beth for dinner at Carrabba's, spent a morning at the zoo, Renae and I enjoyed dinner and a play performance, I made a trip to Home Depot and to the ReStore, and I cooked Easter dinner for Andy and me. (And shoveled snow!) Whew!!!!
 |
| My sweet baby Elsa |
 |
| Zoya greeted me through her window |
 |
| Little Ember always brings a smile |
 |
| Grandma Juju relaxing on a snowy day |
So those were my accomplishments this past week. It seems as though the more I do, the more I realize I still need to do, but everything is coming together - perhaps not as quickly as I had thought, but isn't that usually how it goes with house and moving projects? Still, I am very close to being ready to put the house on the market. That's the next big step to moving to France.
I feel that my years of teaching adolescents has helped me become a master at adaptability. And I am finding that to be a helpful trait as I meander along the paths of twists and turns and unexpected bumps on my journey to France.
It was really interesting to check out the house sitting websites this past week. It was fun to see where all in the world one could travel to and stay for free in someone else's home. What I found out, however, is that most house sitting requests are for 3 days (a long weekend) to 10 days (a short vacation). Two weeks seemed to be the maximum time that most people required a house sitter.
I really don't want to be packing up and moving every 2 weeks for months at a time. I know that at some point I am going to want a permanent address. So that's when I decided to check out some house rental websites. There are lots of places to choose from in the SW area of France where I hope to eventually buy. There are holiday gites (small cottages usually attached to larger farm houses) available all year. In the warmer months they are leased by the week, but in the fall and winter many of them will offer long term leases for 6-7 months. I contacted a few of these and got a response from a couple who said I could rent their cottage starting in September for 7-8 months at their winter rate of 425 euros/month plus utilities and no extra cost for CoCO.
This cottage is very close to the place where Andy and I stayed a couple of years ago. When I realized that, I decided to contact Monsieur and Madame Olive to see if they did long term leases for their gite. Their website doesn't show any availability during the winter and I have a feeling they just lock it up and don't use it at all during the colder months. But I felt like I wanted to at least ask them. I will be contacting them when I arrive in France and am worried that they might feel hurt that I didn't even think of them when looking for a place to rent. So I emailed them this morning and will see what they say.
 |
| The Olive's farmhouse where Andy and I stayed |
So I've decided (at this point) that I will do a combination of house sitting and renting. I will sign the lease on the cottage to start in September. I will then need to contact the Consulate in LA and prepare all the preliminary paperwork to be sent to them before I can make an in person appt. But I will need an extension on my visitors passport to stay in France for up to a year so this will be a necessary trip.
Once my house sells - and it's hard to say when that might happen - then I will look for house sitting jobs, here and in Europe, to fill the time before I head to France. Sounds like a good plan to me.
This next week I will be interviewing agents and getting new floors and beginning to pack up the things I will put in storage. Things are moving along. When I look at all I've accomplished in the past year I amaze myself! But, as you know, this path has had its share of twists and turns and bumps. It's all part of the journey and I feel good about where I am at this point. I will admit to some trepidation and anxiety. I think that's normal when one is about to change one's life dramatically. But the excitement always overshadows the fear.
I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Easter Sunday. As always, I thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for joining me on this journey to SW France. Merci!
You are amazing Candy and have accomplished so much! It sounds like everything is falling into place.
ReplyDelete