# 438 - SOLD!

Hello everyone! WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! It's official! There's no going back now!!

We signed final papers on Wednesday, but we have until Monday to move out because we negotiated for a five-day leaseback, which is SUPER NICE.

But, there have been multiple "kinks" in the moving plan...as life usually dictates!

First of all, every RV we liked ended up having an offer on it already. Let me just say...RV sales are super duper right now.

There was one used RV that we LOVED and it is a Cougar Keystone 30FKV and it had been on the RV lot for FOUR days and by the time we walked to the office to put an offer on it, the RV had been sold. It was a 2010, so we searched high and low to find another one, but we soon found out that this floorplan is in such high demand that they are nearly impossible to find. When you do find one, you better move fast because it will go fast.

So, even though we are in Houston, we had to negotiate with a dealer all the way outside of San Antonio, Texas to get one of these RV's with the great floorplan, brand new. I cannot believe we had to search five hours distance from HOUSTON to find a NEW available RV. However, the out-of-town dealer gave us a great drive-out price that includs delivery to the Houston office. BINGO.

However, the problems we encountered with trying to find an RV took a full week out of our schedule, and it was exhausting and stressful. We didn't rush out to buy one early because we have neighborhood restrictions with keeping one in the driveway (no more than three days is allowed), and we wanted to MAKE SURE the house was sold before we bought a temporary residence for the acreage.

On top of everything...the RV search, the closing on the house, the packing and the huge life-change we are encountering from city life to life on rural property...my husband gets a call on the day we closed on our house that he had been promoted to Sergeant! This had good and bad elements. The promotion means an automatic shift change and a "mystery" re-assignment that is not up for debate, plus you lose your slot on the vacation schedule because you have to re-apply for vacation at your new department.

LOSING SCHEDULED VACATION IS NOT GOOD DURING A MAJOR MOVE. Having part of next week off is critical because we must be moved out of our house by Monday. I am so happy about his promotion, but there are hitches. The good part is, there is a pay increase so this means less working time for more money...always good.

On top of everything, the "good" news meant that Deputy Dave, who is now Sgt. Dave, be present this morning, far across town, for the Sheriff of Harris County to present his new gold badge to him during a promotion ceremony.

The first time my husband put on a law enforcement badge, nearly 25 years ago, I pinned it on him...this second time, the Sheriff himself pinned it on because it appears that only another law enforcement officer pins on upper level badges, which is nice. Many Deputies being promoted would have their father, brother, uncle or mentor pin on their badge...or the Sheriff.

However, Sheriff Adrian Garcia pinned the badge on without fully finishing the job with putting the pin through both holes and so it could not be latched closed, so my husband asked me to put it on him ALL THE WAY for the first time, so I did, and I was proud to do so.

Another great part about this promotion is that he doesn't have to wear his badge on the uniform because he can wear it in a special badge holder that goes on a chain around his neck. This is especially good for off-duty issues.

It was an awesome ceremony. Sgt. Dave was one of the few at the ceremony who had served in the military, and it's always nice to see a veteran receive recognition for their duty. The applause was hearty.

An emotional moment came with another Deputy being promoted was honored for serving TWO TERMS in Vietnam. Outstanding sacrifice and service.

I must take a moment to say that I'm extremely proud of my husband's career choice; he's good at what he does in law enforcement. It's his calling. For all the heartaches, physical strain and dangers that he and his fellow law enforcement brothers confront in the Greater Houston area --- and this is a tall order with a high concentration of "big city" crime issues that never stop. The Harris County Sheriff's office covers 36 cities in and around Houston. For the men and women serving, I am pleased that we have people willing to go through the rigors of such a job because there is most definitely NOT ENOUGH PAY to keep a person in this job; it must be a passion.

So, after seeing my husband dedicate his entire adult life to this field and after seeing him go through personal suffering because of this job on so many occasions, I am happy to see a sliver of recognition via a promotion that he deserved.

So, we had a very long day, again.

A day that kept us away from the house, again.

A day that has prevented us from packing. Another day that has prompted more exhaustion.

To make matters more stressful, we got a call that the dealership near San Antonio had problems with their driver, so they were not even sure if they could get the RV to us by tomorrow. And this is my response, "WE HAVE SOLD OUR HOUSE AND HAVE NO WHERE TO LIVE!!! THIS IS THE EXACT REASON WE HAVE PURCHASED THIS RV...SO WE COULD HAVE TEMPORARY HOUSING AS WE BUILD A HOUSE!!!"

However, I think I sounded more like a horror scene from the Exorcist as I was telling the dealer that this RV was NOT FOR RECREATION.

As it stands, I don't know if our RV will be delivered to Houston in time for us to get it loaded and hauled to the acreage in Livingston by Monday. Things are really unpredictable because none of our plans are working out very well, so we keep going with the flow, then keep trying to get back on track.

But, this RV is worth waiting for. If you read the post I made about the RV search with our checklist of preferences, I must say that this RV that we've purchased does have everything we wanted...and more. It will be fairly comfortable and spacious, for an RV.

Solar lights will be needed next week since we don't have
electricity connected, yet. Augh!

However, another snag...the utilities will not be connected in Livingston in time because there are problems with the lines running to the acreage and the water has issues too, issues that require us to be on site for resolution. It appears we won't have running water, electricity and no cable/internet or any other utility; therefore, it's fantastic that we'll be in a self-contained RV, powered by a generator, and with a good holding tank full of water to conserve carefully until the water is turned on at the spigot four acres away from the RV site.

Are we having fun yet?

I can't wait for all of this to come together, but there are fragments of chaos surrounding us. Anything worth having requires sacrifice. 

As the Duck Dynasty group would say, "We're happy, happy, happy" and that's all that matters. Inconveniences in life are nothing compared to what we've lived through in the past, so things are in perspective.

Well, things are in perspective until I must use my Exorcist voice again.