The incredible disappearing life

Today I watched as people decided whether my belongings were worth a small amount or nothing at all. People arrived much earlier than advertised and I must admit the whole thing flustered me. I made a major mistake in not putting the price on each thing. This seemed to be an invitation to insist on what I should be selling it for, not what I wanted and in my 'need' to get rid of things I did let some go at silly prices, just to feel I was making some forward progress. When my friends arrived they pointed out I had been a very 'silly billy'. I was a bit careless in selling my step ladder and clothes dryer so soon too, ouch!

Their advice is to put the worthwhile stuff on Trade Me, even if I'm rather busy. I'm hoping Laura can help me with that as my head is spinning with all the myriad things I must deal with at once. Apparently all my few genuine rings and stones are only worth $250 to a jeweller. Ridiculous! I'll have to try Trade Me for that too.

At least my beloved piano is going to a good home. Some things about this move make me very sad, some important things are irreplaceable and have been part of my everyday experience for decades. Some things I chose to buy because I really enjoyed them and now they are gone. I will have 'regrets' about giving up things I still wanted to keep but I don't have the financial resources to keep them in NZ or transport them to France.

My bank is going to charge me for the privilege of topping up my mortgage - hey, they should be paying ME, it's all of benefit to them. Yet more sneaky new charges. Vodafone want to sting me for leaving NZ before next year.

I'm hoping my property management company isn't going to rip me off with high fees - just waiting for the paperwork. Fortunately I know my property manager from our forays into dating each other from the internet. I have to trust that he and future tenants will go kindly on the home Laura and I lived in for 14 years.

I do want to say a big thankyou to my friend Shuping and my lovely friends Yasmin and Muhab Hilali. They've known me since I came to my house 14 years ago, they've seen my trials and tribulations and I've seen their children grow up. We don't see a lot of each other but when we do catch up, it's as if no time has passed at all and they really do care about me. Thanks too to my colleagues at Waitakere who are so encouraging of my huge adventure. I have moments of confusion and almost doubt but somehow they manage to take the sting out of worry.

I know I'm going to miss our visits together.