Getting a move on

We've been in a cleaning/packing frenzy since Sunday morning and it looks like this is what the whole week will be like.
Saturday night brought a welcome pause in the chaos when we spent a delightful evening at Lauri and Jim's house in the country with good friends from the newspaper. We even spent time in Lauri's new hot tub, which was dry at the moment. Great food, lots of booze, good friends.
We got so busy today that I completely forgot an appointment with a dermatologist I had scheduled for 7:10 a.m. today. I got it reset for 8:10 a.m. Wednesday.
We closed out our savings account and emptied out the safe deposit box at the local bank and loaded the car up with empty boxes from the grocery store this morning.
Maria just nailed down a temporary home in a little brick house about four blocks from her office. We'll pack up the Subaru Saturday morning and she'll head off on her great adventure while I continue working on the house to get it in shape to show and sell.
I have an appointment with the Subaru dealer to service the car early Wednesday afternoon. The Realtors come at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to look the house over and map a strategy.
As far as the house we made an offer on is concerned, the owners came back with a counteroffer that our Realtors said is not grounded in reality. If we need to sell the place in less than three years, we'd probably take a loss at that price. So we have not responded to their counteroffer and are letting them twist in the wind. We're feeling surprisingly detached about it. If we get the house at the price we want, we'll go for it. If not, there are other houses.
In the meantime, the focus is on getting as much done here as possible, which includes painting the kitchen and maybe the upstairs porch.
My friend Skip has offered to drive down sometime in the next few weeks while I ride Maria's motorcycle to Jonesboro and then bring me home, which will be a huge help. Weather permitting, maybe we should think about making that trip the middle of next week.