The Grand Plan Current Status

I alluded to the moves made prior to Deb's job offer in the introduction. Well I thought I would get a little more detailed about the getting ready to get ready part. Roughly a year ago when we decided that this was likely to happen, we started positioning ourselves to make the transition a little easier. Quoting Jimmy Buffet "I got too much stuff", it was obvious that we were going to have to weed out all the junk we had accumulated through the years and distill it down to the necessities. So the yard sale and donation thing came about in the early summer. The other obvious thing to us was money or should I say the lack there off. As typical Americans with middle class tastes and incomes and no children we tend to live a little better and spend a little more than rational people might. Well with the potential costs of relocation looming it was time to get serious about the money end. We both worked a little more this year and spent a little less. Deb had a little more taken out of her checks to put in the credit union, we bought a house to remodel and flip, all in the name of putting a little extra cash away to grease the wheels. We buckled down and got rid of all the debt we could. Then a little over a month ago we did the unimaginable, we sold the boat. Now to normal people selling a boat may not sound like an extreme measure, but I am in my forties and purchased my first boat when I was 23. I hadn't gone a single day of my adult life since then that I didn't own a boat. Regardless of what most people have heard about the best days of a boat owners life "is the day you buy it and the day you sell it", for real boaties this simply is not the case. Then there is the issue of our real estate. We own some rental property that after about fifteen years of limited upkeep the building was getting a little long in the tooth. So in the spring we reinvested some money and put all new windows, siding, and roofing on it to make it a little more maintenance free, and to make it a little more attractive in the event that we decide to sell it. We are going to hold onto to it at least for a while until we decide how we fit in the islands. We also own the water front home we are living in, well we own part of it, I am pretty sure the bank owns most of it and just lets us rent it from them. While we were trying to decide what to do with our house a neighbor told a friend it might be available for rent. Well the couple called us in August, came and looked at the house and agreed to rent it furnished upon our departure. A month or two later when we all figured out that things were moving at Island speed, they basically committed to staying in their month to month apartment until the house became available. They own a waterfront home on the great lakes and will be here for a few years due to work and wanted back on the water so they are willing to wait on our house as waterfront rentals are very scarce here. I am pretty sure the Carib Gods lined this up for us. The only question is whether this is to reward us for our perseverance or to set us up for punishment later, only time will tell. So here we are mere weeks away from the next big step.... actual relocation. I still have to take care of the automobile situation; we plan to sell both of our current vehicles. I am looking for a cargo/work van for myself and my tools to ship down and we plan to buy Deb an Island Car next month when we get down to the islands. Say a little prayer that these pieces fall into place as well as the rest have so far. If there is a moral to this story, be careful what you wish for you might just get it. A rum,sun, and sea induced dream has morphed into plan, and what on surface appears to be an obtainable goal.