Not Lost...

... just trapped under a pile of debris. We have owned our house for 2 weeks now and this is the update:

• Rec'd many quotes for new kitchen countertops, came up with many possible design options and agreed upon a steal of a deal thank's to my oldest friend Bekah (and by oldest I mean, I have known her longer than any other friend - since first grade). Her husband was able to help us out with a great deal on granite, so I am terribly excited. Who knew that late night gossip and playing with make-up would prosper to such possibilities!?!
• We have purchased the floor we plan to put in and have managed to rip out 1/2 the floor that's gotta go. I am feeling optimistic in a glass is half full sort of way. We have managed to get a good deal done, but I know the parts that are left are gonna be more difficult than the parts we have already done.
• My mom and I worked our patooters off in the yard. It is a beautiful huge yard with very mature landscaping. Just beautiful. But there is a lot of it and if we let it go anymore with the spring bloom, it would have gotten out of control! So we did a lot of weeding, cutting, and fertilizing, and then we set up the furniture outside. We have nothing inside, but the outside is gorgeous!
• Mike took out the wall between our kitchen and breakfast area, so now it is one huge kitchen. It is so great it took my breath away. As I stood back watching my husband with a power tool destroying that wall, I wished we weren't staying in the same room as our children and mother's house...wink wink!

So... we've had lot's of demo and a little prettying up, but all in all I think we are headed in a great direction. The house in my mind is going to be so great! I know it is going to take a while, but it is going to be so worth it!

I promise... lot's of before and after pics to come.....Ihave not clue when, but by gosh when it is done, they'll be here!

I forgot to mention that we christened the pool... and not intentionally either. The boys just couldn't handle being outside all day and not touching the water, so we let them touch the water... then they had to get their feet wet, Mom and I look up to see Max barefoot and struggling to get Ben's socks off (proud that he was including his brother, not proud of the action). Then we sat them on the side were the steps are and let them splash their feet. Well, if they let me touch the water, and then let me splash my feet in the water, what's wrong with touching the water and splashing my feet at the same time!!!! Well, Max had the coordination skills to do both, but Ben did not and "splash" into the pool he went then floated up to the top! He was wearing overalls so Mike was able to bend over and sweep him up out of the water. He was sobbing crying, and sopping wet. I ran inside to find a box with towels in it and came out to a naked crying baby repeating over and over, da pool, da pool, fell da pool, I fell da pool.... I grabbed him and dried him and said... "well, now it is decided, we get the pool fence!"

I passed!!

I passed!!


I PASSED!!!


I PASSED my teaching certification content test!!!!!!!

.... now... to find a job......

D-U-N

That's right people... stick a fork in me because I am done...

There is not a bone or joint in my body that does not cry out for Advil. It was an 18 hour day, but at the end of it, the new owners had a home they could eat off the floors, and everything we own was safely stacked one on top of each other in the garage of the new home. We are going to be staying with my mother for a while because we want to replace the floors and counter tops before we really move in.

I cried...and for those of you who know me, I am sure you are "so surprised" to hear that information.... but anyway.... as Mike was locking up the garage after packing the last load of our stuff, I was looking at our backyard and I just cried. I just loved that home. From the first moment I saw it, I loved it. Our friends Allison andTodd lived right around the corner, and they insisted that we go (in the middle of the night) and look through the windows at it. When we walked into it for the first time with the realtor, I knew instantly it was the one. We worked so hard on it before we moved in, and the week before the move in, we found out that I was pregnant. We brought both our baby boys home to that house. We started our family in that house.

The couple buying the house are just great. They have a 2 yr old boy. The moment she walked into the house, she knew it was the one. It was great experience.

Then when it was time to close on the new house, it just so happened that the person responsible for the closing of the old house would be the one signing for the trust of the home we were purchasing. Her parents had lived there for 30 yrs, but her father had passed and her mother now had dementia and could no longer live alone. We had a very pleasant time signing all the papers and talking. Once it was all through, I asked her if her mother was still able to understand what was going on, and she said sometimes. I asked her to please tell her that we were going to love her home as much as they did, and we thanked them for such a beautiful home. Tears started streaming down her face and she got up, came across the table and gave me the biggest hug that seemed to never end. She was weeping in my arms and said, "This was just so hard, but now I am so happy that such a a young and loving couple were going to raise their family in this home." ..... and of course I cried......

So yeah.... this was all meant to be..... it is just so wonderful when things happen the way they are supposed to .....

Moving

Right now... we are moving... like I gotta turn the computer off so the movers can move it!!!

H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S-!

365....

Only 365 days until my husband's 40th birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Ta Ta!!

Egypt

So I have been sunbathing on the river bed of that big beautiful river in Egypt lately. I am not acknowledging the fact that I will close on the houses 1 week from today. I am not yet indulging in the fact that the movers will arrive at 8:00 am next Friday. I have not even begun to embrace the fact that I will be required to completely vacate my residence for the past 5 years in 48 hours.

So , I tapped my toe in the water today, and started making the calls to transfer services and what do I find out? My current telephone/internet/blah blah package is not valid at my new address....it is valid 4 DOORS DOWN.... but not at MY house. Am I upset that I am changing address? losing my current phone number? ..no.... I am flipping out that I am going to have to change my email address!!! It is so silly, but now days, more people can find you via email than anything. The idea that my email is changing is killing me!

Ridiculous......

And a big fat juicy wet kiss to my loving husband.... 'cause if it wasn't for the fact that he has worked his pattooters off packing the house while I rest along the river, we would never get out of this house!