Done Provisioning....

...at long last! The freezer is full, as is the refrigerator, so we are well-stocked and I'm glad that's done, along with the 1,001 other details we had to take care of before we are ready to leave. I believe I logged 100 miles a day trying to get everything wrapped up: post office, bank, book store, grocery store, house, hardware store, liquor store, doctors office...I feel like I've been to each place repeatedly this week! I had to pre-pay our property taxes, for example, since they are due in July and we'll be gone. However, the county tax bills aren't generated until July 1st, so they couldn't tell me how much the taxes will be, which made paying a bit difficult! I made an estimated payment, and they'll let me know if we owe more (or less?) later.

It will all work out, but both Ron and I did SO much work this week to prep the boat, we're exhausted. I had to get all of Allison's re-enrollment paperwork in to school ahead of time as well (and encountered the same thing re the July 1 bill generation....!) since her forms are due in late July, but managed to get that taken care of with the assistance of Oldfields. Ron was immersed in boat projects to batten down items (installing D-rings for strapping down bins in the storage area, for instance) between the melancholy moments of his last few days at work.

It's finally hit Ron, how big a change it will be to retire and not see daily all the folks who mean so much to him. There have been so many wonderful tributes to Ron this week; it's been very touching. There was a fabulous event Monday evening with many board members, community leaders and executive folks in attendance, and Warren Green, president of LifeBridge, gave a great speech before presenting Ron with his retirement gift: a fabulous video camera to be used for underwater photography. Ron was thrilled with it, to say the least! The following day Levindale had their going away party for him, and he was again stunned by the generosity and outpouring of affection. He was incredibly touched: most meaningful was the gift from the Levindale employees, who all willingly donated money and raised $50,000 (!!!) to build a garden courtyard at the facility to be named in Ron's honor! It will benefit both the facility and the residents, so it was perfect!! Truly appropriate, and he loves it.