Two Paths; One Goal

Less Than 30 Days to Go

We’re officially under 30 days now—and wow, the pressure is on. There’s still so much to clear out of the house before the dogs head off to JFK, and we board our one-way flight.

There are a million ways to tackle this whole “get rid of everything” project. You can haul it to the dump, pay someone else to do it, or list it online. These days, social media is basically a never-ending garage sale—you can sell stuff, give it away, or just hope someone will pick it up from the curb in the darkness of the night.

We’ve already done a garage sale and the big giveaway, but now comes the tough part: clearing out the rest. And here’s where Mikey and I take very different approaches.

Two Different Styles

Me? I want action. I wake up with an agenda in my head, and I want to dive right in. My style is: pick up an item, decide if it’s going to a friend, a non-religious nonprofit, or the trash, and move on. Quick and done. The problem is, lots of charities don’t take certain things, which leaves us staring at random piles of stuff. Sometimes I’ll throw things on the curb to see if they disappear. If they don’t…to the trash it is. Of course, mistakes happen—like tossing something we actually needed.

Mikey, on the other hand, is all about planning. He likes to step back, map everything out, and create a step-by-step process for how we’ll get the house cleared. Once the plan is in place, he works it like a project manager. It’s efficient in the long run, but sometimes “planning paralysis” takes over, and nothing moves forward.

When Paths Collide

You can probably see where this is going. Our styles don’t exactly blend smoothly. Stress builds, silence fills the house, and we both get frustrated. Yesterday was one of those days—Mikey was overwhelmed by me buzzing around asking a million questions, and I was frustrated that things didn’t feel like they were moving.

At the end of the day, it’s not about love (we’re good there). It’s just that we walk different paths. And sometimes, seeing each other in our “zones” only makes the differences stand out more.

The Bigger Picture

This move to Uruguay is nothing like any of our other moves over the last 25 years. It’s bigger, more complicated, and way more emotional. But even when the stress hits, we keep reminding ourselves: at the end of this process, there is a new life—a safer life for us.

Tyson turned 7 years old yesterday.

And that makes every bag, box, and trash run worth it.

COUNTDOWN: 29 more days!