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.Think you can do some cooking like this when you get to San Francisco?""You're in luck.I love to cook.Guess I'm just a frustrated chef and cooking just for me is not a lot of fun.Get ready! This is the part of our relationship I think you're really going to like," Jill replied."Actually, there aren't any parts I'm not liking," Aaron said, grinning.As she sat in the warm morning sunshine looking out at the perfectly maintained golf course, enjoying breakfast with Aaron, the image of the white pill vial containing her supply of Freedom pills flickered briefly through Jill's mind.She quickly shut it out, not wanting anything to destroy this moment.I'll think about it later, she thought.I'm probably going to have to do something about this pill thing, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the ride.Jill had reserved a tee time for 9:00 a.m.The desert could become brutally hot in the afternoon and she wanted them to finish their round of golf before the heat made it unbearable.Given the fact that neither one of them had played any golf for a long time, they both played fairly well and promised each other they would continue to play regularly when Jill moved to San Francisco.Aaron had belonged to an exclusive country club with a beautiful golf course for several years, but he'd never taken the time to play there.When he’d used the clubhouse for luncheon meetings, he'd often admired the course.It would be fun to take Jill there and play the course on a regular basis.There were a lot of things in San Francisco he wanted to share with her.The parking lot in the Italian restaurant where Jill had made dinner reservations was jammed with Bentleys, Mercedes, and BMWs.When she saw the parking lot, she was doubly glad that she'd called for a reservation.She'd read in the local newspaper, the Desert Sun, that you couldn't get a dinner reservation for the weekend after Wednesday.They were always full.The hostess escorted them to a table for two.The place was packed and a quick glance at the food being served to the guests at the other tables reassured Jill that she'd made the right choice in selecting this restaurant.Good wine, good food, good service, and a great ambiance.The restaurant scored a ten on all fronts.Satisfied and sleepy, they made their way back to Jill's gated community home.They spent the following morning making plans for the future.Jill called Lenore at her home and talked to her about the job.Jill would be in charge of all fundraising for the hospital.She would meet with large donors and oversee the different fundraising groups that supported the hospital.It was a newly created position and Jill would be hiring her own staff.Jill accepted the position on the spot, knowing she would excel.She and Lenore agreed that Jill would start two weeks from Monday.Before they knew it, the day was almost gone and it was time to take Aaron to the airport.Jill returned to her home in Newport Beach the following day feeling completely overwhelmed.How would she ever get everything done in just under two weeks’ time? She remembered something she had read about breaking things down into parts when a person is confronted with a large project.The article suggested not thinking about the whole thing, just thinking about the individual parts.She made a list of the major things that needed to be done and broke each into separate parts.The two biggest things on her list that had to be dealt with were her house and its contents.She had some valuable antiques that she and Rick had acquired over the years, some of which might fit into Aaron's condominium, but many of her other things would have to go into storage.Jill decided to rent the house rather than sell it, but she didn't feel comfortable renting it with all her furniture and valuable antiques still in it.She called a property manager, making an appointment for the following day.Next she called a moving company, arranging for them to come on Thursday of the following week.Lastly, she called the storage company she had passed many times on the freeway, not too far from where she lived.She began to feel a little better.Those had been the major things.Then she moved on to the lesser items on her list.She made a list of the clothes that she wanted to take with her to San Francisco.Other clothing would have to go into storage.She knew she'd be coming back from time to time, so if she needed something, she could easily get it later.She wondered what to do with the books, CDs, and a houseful of plants she had accumulated.Jill's mind was whirling.By Monday evening she was exhausted from all the decisions she had made.She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, one of her favorites.There were perks to having money and a good red wine was one of them.As she walked back into the living room, she glanced at her collection of books.She loved the look of books as a decorator item in a house, but in her case, she'd read each and every one of them.She asked herself if she would ever read them again and had to admit, honestly, that she probably wouldn't.A donation to the Newport Beach Public Library seemed to be in order.Next, she needed to deal with the houseplants.She made a note to call several of her friends to come over and take any plants that they might want along with their containers.Her large outdoor patio was filled with potted and hanging plants and every room in her house seemed to have one or more plants in it.As much as she had enjoyed them, she knew they would do fine in their new homes.She had several valuable Oriental rugs and made a mental note to check with Aaron to see if any of them would work in his home.Back in the kitchen for a second glass of wine, she wondered what to do with all of the pantry items.The last time she had been in Aaron's home, she had made breakfast and noticed that salt and pepper were about as good as it got in his spice rack.She would have to hire a moving van to transport her clothes, some personal things, her spice collection, the Oriental rugs, and other odds and ends to San Francisco.She could donate the rest of the pantry items to "Someone Cares," the soup kitchen in Costa Mesa, which fed hundreds of homeless people every day.She knew they'd appreciate the donation.Everywhere she looked something needed to be donated.Well, she thought, I can call some charities and have them pick up the things I don't want.That will be a big help to them as well as solve some problems for me.The following days went by in a blur for Jill.A never-ending stream of friends rang the doorbell, wanting to personally say good-bye.There were endless decisions about what to take and what should stay.Each time a friend took one of her plants, she felt like crying.They were as personal to her as her books were.Jill had so many books that the library brought a van to her house to transport them.It was gut wrenching for Jill.She was a voracious reader who had first learned to read when she was three years old and she'd never stopped.She considered her books to be old, cherished friends.The moving van arrived, packing up a lot of her life.The storage rental unit had a home service for people like Jill [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]