When 2012 began I was still in my first year of retirement and wondering what to do next. We knew we wanted to sell the condo and move, but our plans were very inchoate at that point, and while we were expecting to feel some sense of urgency, we remained fairly relaxed and flexible about the details. I recall that I was wondering if OPM would ever finish calculating my pension, which they finally did just prior to our move. But with the beginning of a new year we started working on getting the condo in shape and organizing our storage units. Looking back on it, I think that was really the key. Once we began to get our stuff better organized and started to clear most of the clutter from the condo, we were able to get ourselves going on other fronts as well. From there inertia shifted in our favor.
Highlights of the year were, obviously, the sale of the condo and the big move. We ended up leaving quite a few of our things behind in a Public Storage unit in Alexandria, and we knew even as we drove off to Texas that we would have to return and collect them sometime later in the year. But at last we were in a new home and could begin to explore our new neighborhood and make some excursions into Austin. We visited with friends and attended musical events, some by local favorites and two by notable aging stars, John Prine and Leonard Cohen. And we weren't here long before we were able to celebrate July 4th among our new neighbors and take a boat ride out on what's left of Lake Travis to watch a fairly impressive local fireworks display.
We've spent a lot of time with my Mom and my stepdad at their nursing home in Lakeway, and continued to make the transition to our new home, discovering new shopping routines, getting our car registered and our Texas drivers licenses, and finding a local pharmacy, dentists and doctors. The other notable event was our return trip to Virginia in August to retrieve the rest of our stuff, which we turned into a combined vacation and work. We flew back to Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Southwest, then rented a car and drove directly to Annapolis to spend the first night before driving on the next day to Rehoboth Beach for a few days. We usually stay in the Atlantic Sands, but by the time we settled on dates for our trip, nothing was available there, so we switched to the Boardwalk Plaza, which was very pleasant and very expensive but, like the Atlantic Sands, right on the beach. We were able to do all of our favorite things, eat at our favorite restaurants, spend time on the beach, take walks on the boardwalk and around Rehoboth, and do a little shopping at the outlets.
When the beach vacation was over, we drove back to Alexandria and did a little more sightseeing there and at the Smithsonian and the galleries on the Mall in Washington, DC. Then we swapped our rental car for the U-Haul truck and loaded up all the stuff in our storage unit. The next day we hit the road for Texas, a long drive in any circumstances, and especially in a U-Haul. But everything went pretty much according to plan, and with a little effort we got all our stuff moved and stored away in our garage. Next was the decision to buy the house. We are still getting used to the idea that we are homeowners, but we are delighted and relieved to have been able to settle down so quickly. The last month we've been re-acclimating and getting used to Christmas in Texas. And now with Christmas over, we're looking forward to 2013 and hoping to continue getting used to living in Texas again after all these years.
We've spent a lot of time with my Mom and my stepdad at their nursing home in Lakeway, and continued to make the transition to our new home, discovering new shopping routines, getting our car registered and our Texas drivers licenses, and finding a local pharmacy, dentists and doctors. The other notable event was our return trip to Virginia in August to retrieve the rest of our stuff, which we turned into a combined vacation and work. We flew back to Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Southwest, then rented a car and drove directly to Annapolis to spend the first night before driving on the next day to Rehoboth Beach for a few days. We usually stay in the Atlantic Sands, but by the time we settled on dates for our trip, nothing was available there, so we switched to the Boardwalk Plaza, which was very pleasant and very expensive but, like the Atlantic Sands, right on the beach. We were able to do all of our favorite things, eat at our favorite restaurants, spend time on the beach, take walks on the boardwalk and around Rehoboth, and do a little shopping at the outlets.
When the beach vacation was over, we drove back to Alexandria and did a little more sightseeing there and at the Smithsonian and the galleries on the Mall in Washington, DC. Then we swapped our rental car for the U-Haul truck and loaded up all the stuff in our storage unit. The next day we hit the road for Texas, a long drive in any circumstances, and especially in a U-Haul. But everything went pretty much according to plan, and with a little effort we got all our stuff moved and stored away in our garage. Next was the decision to buy the house. We are still getting used to the idea that we are homeowners, but we are delighted and relieved to have been able to settle down so quickly. The last month we've been re-acclimating and getting used to Christmas in Texas. And now with Christmas over, we're looking forward to 2013 and hoping to continue getting used to living in Texas again after all these years.
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