# 415 - Smiles Galore - Moving Countdown

MOVING COUNTDOWN

28 Days



Changes can be hard. It's fun to think about making a change, but actually doing it is something else. Personally, I think it's good to be receptive to change because life can bog you down.

Sometimes, a change can breathe a bit of fresh air into your life. Making POSITIVE changes can put your life on a better track and can broaden your experiences.

However, a long time ago I moved far away from my family. At 18 years of age, in all my infinite wisdom, I followed my husband to his Air Base in Germany. For three long years we lived far, far, far away from our families, and this was during a time when there were NO Internet connections, no personal computers, no Windows, no cell phones and your most affordable, practical method of
communication was to put pen to paper, then wait in line at the post office.

Back then, the postal system was our most valued resource for being linked to those we cared about.

At least this time around, my move is within 1 1/2 hours from our current location and even if a week goes by without any of us being able to make the three-hour round-trip to see each other, I can keep on contacting them through other electronic means. With our IPhones, my Sissy and I have regular Face-Time talks that allow us to see each other on the screen while we talk. It's amazing.

Below, you will see my Sissy (Robin), myself, my dad and my brother (Bubba).

Photo take a couple of weeks ago, March 10, 2013

Right now, I have an added struggle with moving because on the day we signed the contract on our house, we discovered that my dad's recent day surgery to remove a "boil" out of his leg was biopsied and turned out to be an aggressive, ugly, rare cancer.

 

We lost our mother to cancer, so I am dreading the prospect of losing another parent to cancer, especially while my sister is still in her 30's.

 

It's especially difficult because my dad is so strong and full of energy. He has more physical ability than many men half his age. For example, every year he buys at least nine Houston Rodeo tickets - I suppose he's some kind of rodeo season ticket holder.

 

Last week, he went to the rodeo, daily, and even enjoyed seeing George Straight and Martina McBride --- dad didn't let the wound with staples in his leg stop him from having rodeo fun. However, I know he paid a price.

 

So, you can imagine I felt hugely conflicted that NOW of ALL TIMES we are in the process of moving farther from the area. Dad's oncologist needs to start aggressive chemotherapy as soon as my his leg heals from the second surgery he had this past Tuesday morning. They went back into his leg with the knowledge the tumor had been cancer; they needed to get a second look and try to remove more visible signs of cancer.

 

But, oncology cannot start chemo until his wound has completely healed. That means we are all holding our breath --- every day of healing is a day without the much needed chemo.

 

At the hospital this week, waiting for the staff
to find my dad!

 

After the 2nd surgery on his leg this past Tuesday, I went to his house to visit with him for a few hours and to just be with him. I like being with my dad - I'd like it better if he quit smoking and he's working on it, but I can't imagine a time when I might not have a direct connection with him. He just turned 67 years old, so he's still very young --- in my book --- and he just bought a Mustang last month, so I hope he still gets YEARS of use out of that fun car.

 

My dad last month on the day he brought his hot-rod
over for me to check out. I was SO EXCITED that he finally
bought himself this car. Now, I'm even more elated.

 

However, my dad gave me some wonderful advice this week, knowing I was in turmoil over selling our house and moving to the country during this time. He told me that he's seen people take off too far from their families and he feels sorry for them because the loss down the road for them will be deep and irreversible. Then, he sees people hang around the block to be with family and forgo their own life for too long. So, he is grateful that he is seeing us embrace a happy-medium change that will allow us to live a dream, yet still be close to our hometown and easily accessible to family and old friends. 

 

 

He told me he was glad to see it all taking place and that he thought our choice to live on the acreage shows that we are really following our hearts and he knows we will get more enjoyment out of life by living out there with all the freedoms that living in the country can bring. Then, he pulled up a photo of one of his good friends and showed his country house that was surrounded by boats, four-wheelers, and other fun country things. Dad said he wished he were out there too.

 

The beautiful swampy part of the lake at
the backside of our acreage.
I'm looking for alligators.

 

He might not know how precious his words have been to me because I was feeling a bit panicked over increased distance from my dad as he's about to be in a fierce battle against this cancer. No matter what, I'll do my best to be with him as much as possible. The next immediate task will be the surgery to insert the port into his chest for the chemo to be administered.

 

Even so, I have to stand back a little because he does have a girlfriend who is by his side and who wants to take him to his appointments and such, which has been difficult for me because I've been the child who has been able to be there for my dad for all appointments and for his last cancer battle that happened a year after my mom died. My dad lived at my house for one year during that battle. But, I guess the girlfriend has her place and her usefulness in his life is not to simply tag along with him to the rodeo.

 

My dad has done a great deal for his "friend," (he doesn't like the term girl-friend) so I suppose it is natural for her to want to show him that she can do something for him as well. She does care about him. I'm glad he has a companion through these hard times. 

 

However, us kids will be there for him --- we are family.

 

My oldest daughter, Heather, is expecting her
first child in September. She made the trip into
Houston a couple of weeks ago to be with her
Paw-Paw for his birthday celebration. We all
love this man.

 

So...the sell of the house is still scheduled, and I think we're kind of in "shock" phase of trying to reconcile the fact that it's really going to happen. I dread moving --- all the unpleasant details and organization that will be required to move efficiently. However, I have much to look forward to.

 

I'm okay, as long as I keep reminding myself of the tremendous adventure this move is going to be for us!

 

 

The hard fact of not having a house to move into is pushing us to make some difficult decisions regarding this move. We must have a place to live, but trying to decide which direction to put our money is tough.

 

We have decided to not get a POD for storage of our household items because Deputy Dave called to inquire about the process and was informed that it would cost $500. to have it hauled to our property, which they consider to be "rural."

 

So, during our last trip to the country, we went into town and found a newly constructed storage facility with climate-controlled units that we will probably select for our storage needs. Over the next couple of weeks, we will begin to taking some furnishings, garage items and boxes to the storage building so we can make a dent in the moving process.

 

One thing is for sure, these two furry babies of ours are ready to be in the country full-time. As we pack and load up to leave for the acreage, these two characters prove that dogs really do smile. They are so happy to race to the backseat, knowing exactly where we're going because the trailer is hooked to the truck...once that trailer comes out of the garage, the dogs become extremely goofy, they race around, bouncing about and are super happy about the upcoming road trip.

 

You can literally see their happiness in the photo below. It cracks me up every time I see it.

 

You guys ready to go to the country?

I am savoring the best that life has to offer. Savoring the beautiful moments and the smiles I am blessed to be given.



 

# 414 - Rattlesnake - Moving Countdown

MOVING COUNTDOWN

30 DAYS

It was so nice to come home to a real bed on Monday night, exhausted. Over a long weekend, we stayed on our acreage. We love camping out, but sleeping in a tent has its hardships.

We stayed on our land this weekend through Monday to do some things in preparation to moving onto the land next month because our house in the city is being sold.

We're about to be homeless. Literally. We're trying to figure things out, but there are so many considerations...where to stay while we either find an RV or do a quick-build for a cabin that will eventually be a guest cabin or build a large workshop with an area zoned aside for living quarters.

It will be challenging and exhausting, at least for a few weeks.

Considering this cabin as our temporary housing
while main cabin is being constructed.
This would cost as much as a nice RV, yet
provide much more room during this phase.

However, for now, camping allows us to be directly on the property without having to come and go; we can be there on site and get a considerable amount of work accomplished. I cannot do the hard labor that Deputy Dave handles, but I can sit on the lawn tractor and mow acres of land with fierce determination. I can go into high brush areas with my head tucked to avoid being scraped by the low hanging tree branches and my mind chills out while the blades of grass and massive ant beds become mulch.

I was slow moving this weekend, feeling bad after battling a stomach virus on Friday that had me being close buddies with the toilet, so the weekend had me feeling drained. Even so, once I got on the lawn tractor, I had an awesome time mowing. It was obvious I wasn't feeling well because my mow-patterns that were spread across several acres were not very orderly. I mowed like a drunk landscaper. I'd wind in between this tree and that tree, then forget where I'd started. When you are mowing acres of land that has multiple clusters of trees, it can be a maze. So, I ended up weaving and ducking and dodging and crisscrossing.

And, in most areas, the grass looked more like prairie grass and took several mower passes to get it cut. I still made great headway.

However, Saturday, Deputy Dave took the lawn tractor into the back parts of the acreage that are more difficult to reach. We have an agreement, if I am off mowing somewhere on the land, he will stay close to the "home" site or camping site and vice-versa . So, he's off about three acres away in a heavily wooded area to mow the walking trails and after a while, I hear the POW, POW, POW's of a gun, which I knew was the 38 he had in the pocket of his overalls. Yes, we are packing fire power, mostly because of the worries of confronting wild boars and such.

I had been using my time at the campsite to do some peaceful thinking, reading, writing and was listing to Pavarotti. Classical music was playing as I began to hear gun-shots. I grabbed my IPhone to start videoing.

This video hit home for me that I live a life that most women don't...I guess I have more knowledge about weapons, ammunition, fire-power and such because by the time I began to video, I had already automatically counted four shots, which I immediately calculated to know that only one shot was left in the gun that holds five rounds. As I was thinking this aloud on the video log, POW, the 5th shot rang through the woods.

http://youtu.be/rKP3LQdHvzk

It didn't hit me as odd until later that day...Do all wives actually count shots of an unplanned shooting after remembering the kind of weapon that is being carried by their husband --- knowing how many shots have been fired, how many are left and exactly when it will be necessary to reload?

At that moment, I knew Deputy Dave would either be reloading or heading back to camp for more ammunition. I was fairly certain the shots were because of a snake.

I'm more of a machete kind of girl, but he's very comfortable with any kind of gun. We make a good team.

I continued to run the video-log and here he comes around the corner, yes it was a snake, but he left it where he shot it and retrieved it soon afterward.

On my second video-log, that I cannot show right now, Deputy Dave shows up with the snake he shot and we both realize, as I'm filming, that the snake is a rattlesnake. Of course, I have to reach out and shake the rattle, then I realize the snake is alive, even as it is being firmly grasped by Deputy Dave, his grip firm at the neck of the snake.

I cannot say much more than this because I'm discovering that some deadly snakes should be "allowed" to roam freely on your land, even on your pathways because they are "protected." These same snakes are on record as having the capacity to EASILY kill pets and children. Many adults who suffer a strike either die or lose a limb.

Live and learn.

In the country, we know snakes are all over the place, but the ones that are deadly venomous are not exactly a best buddy.

This particular snake is one of the most deadly in our parts of North America. It has some of the longest fangs on record, and I can attest to that fact upon personally seeing the long, curved fangs that ended with little needle sized protrusions that work like hypodermic needles to inject venom.

The fangs grow larger toward the jaw-line to allow the snake to really sink their teeth into their prey. These snakes can easily pierce thick clothing and most boots. 

The rattle on this snake that found his end on our life did have four buds/rattles which means the snake was four years old...one rattle per year. Since this snake was coming out of a den near the area my brother recently camped with a boy-scout troop, I am thankful none of the kids accidentally stepped on this snake or came upon it without knowing how deadly a bite could be for their smaller stature.


This pit-viper had swollen cheeks indicative of a venomous snake. The rattle made an eerie sound. I am a Texas gal and it still had me doing the heeby-jeeby dance.

Most of all, I really didn't like the fact that these snakes can birth up to 20 live one-rattle slithering babies every year; rattlesnakes give birth to live young. And if you are a big snake lover who "raises" snakes in your controlled setting or fish-tank, more power to you. But, we don't have the luxury of being warm and fuzzy to a creature that could easily snuff out a child's life. Additional horror, it is also highly unpleasant to know that these snakes also have nocturnal activity.

They eat rodents, squirrels and rabbits along with some amphibians. But, these snakes are highly deadly to animals, pets and are either deadly or medically devastating to adults.

And the previous day to Deputy Dave shooting this snake, we'd been taking a nice leisurely walk to our lake, while wearing our flip flops through this snake's home-zone. Smart people, that's us. We don't live on the acreage as if we are in fear...we don't bundle up in layers of clothes and we don't wear steel-toed boots while walking around, we are comfortable out there while knowing there are predators of all sizes that might be around the corner. We've owned land in the country and have been raised with enough country-life to be comfortable in that setting.

However, for almost fifteen years, we've enjoyed being out there and have had years of living with nature, in peace. A few close run-ins with nature keeps us alert to the fact that this acreage is not an indoor arena, but we enjoy incredible freedom and comfort while in the country, but that means living more closely to creatures such as rattlesnakes.

Scary thought, especially since the coloring on these snakes perfectly enables them to be well camouflaged as they slither through the leaves on the ground. You can barely tell they are there, so my flip flops might give way to stomping shoes during our hikes.

Oh hell, I've been hiking there for nearly fifteen years. My flips flops aren't going anywhere but on my feet, but I might trade them in for the rubber galoshes a bit more often.

# 413 Moving Video-Log

Enjoy the video below as we made our way to the country, yesterday.

http://youtu.be/jSIT6VxIHBY

And then video # 2

http://youtu.be/SE9osjpVw60

See ya!

# 412 - Scaling Back - Moving Countdown

MOVING COUNTDOWN

34 Days

Part of moving to the country includes scaling back from a near 3,000 square foot house to...well...having no house. At least, not at first. The cabin on the acreage is going to be custom built, so that means a one story, three-bedroom home, eventually. We will probably start building within a month of moving, but we will first have to clear more land and prep the site for construction.

So, we don't want to have furniture sitting in storage that we really won't need in the country cabin.

Right now, we have four bedrooms, a separate study, a formal dining room, breakfast area, living room and huge game room. This is WAY TOO MUCH SPACE for the two of us. More space means more furniture which means more dusting.

Since we are 34 days from moving, I decided that this week should be dedicated to serious consideration toward what goes and what stays. Therefore, I've been taking inventory of each room. We must be discerning because we won't be able to use everything in the future cabin that we have in this house right now.

The three chairs here are going with us -- the one by the chair railing
is VERY OLD and has hand-stitching for the backing and seat that was
sewn by my great-grandmother Pearl. I love that chair.
The bench in the distance is a family antique and the other
rocker chair is one I wrote about recently on my blog ---
an old chair of Maplewood that is in
excellent condition and that I purchased from Good Will. I call it my
"reading-thinking" chair, which my youngest niece
LOVES and respects. I look forward to rocking my grandbabies
in this comfortable chair.

Thankfully, my oldest daughter, Heather, wants our downstairs leather group. She actually has rather new living room furniture, but they are re-doing most rooms in their house to prepare for the baby, due in September, and she knows I don't want this furniture to go to someone who won't appreciate it. This set also has built-in recliners that will actually be a slice of Heaven during those long nights with a baby and they can put their money toward more things needed for the baby. And, frankly, when people come into town, all the recliners will give extra sleep-over space, if needed. Heck, Heather has slept on this sofa quite a few times. I think she claimed it a while back.

One GREAT aspect about leather furniture is that it breathes, can be
easily cleaned/conditioned, holds up to pets and feels softer and softer
with time. This is my "cowboy" set. I love it and will miss it,
but it could not find a better home than to be with my daughter.
Since this furniture is not old and since it has been well
cared for by her mother, she knows she's doing me a favor by taking it. :-)

So, the living room downstairs will just have a coffee table, end tables, big flat-screen, lamps and my mother's cedar hope chest to take with us. We still have the boxes in the attic for our flat-screen televisions and those will come in handy for moving.

My son-in-law will also be taking my solid wood executive desk that I LOVE for his own office space --- makes me happy, happy. It's a beautiful piece of furniture with built-in file drawers, lots of storage and ample desk work space with solid wood goodness, but it will be much too large for me to have in our next residence. I'm blessing this desk and sending it with him to put to good business use.

That desk needs to be put toward some money-making endeavors...it's a power desk, a true executive desk. I re-finished it myself just a few years ago, so it means a lot to me. To be honest, I made a lot of money sitting behind that desk, so I hope the tradition continues. Can't find pictures, working on it.

So, that means, from my study, I will just have my upright grand piano to take. And I can't even think about leaving my piano behind; I still play regularly and have SERIOUS separation anxiety when I am unable to feel those keys beneath my fingers. It's hard to explain. I'm dreading moving the piano; it's extremely heavy, bulky and I will go ballistic if it gets a scratch on it --- I've taken VERY GOOD care of that piano for most of my life, so it's a part of me, especially since it helps me to filter emotions as my fingers connect to my brain, heart, and body with purging movements across the keys.

And an electronic piano (we have one) is like comparing a hot wheels Corvette to the real deal with the powerful pedal ready to respond to your VROOM urge. Just can't compare. I've never owned a Corvette, but I'm using my imagination. My upright grand piano is my real Corvette.

Onward...

My beautiful master bedroom furniture is too large, but we have a sweet family friend who wants to buy it and is getting it for a steal because he does so much for his own family. That will leave our master bedroom empty, except for wall art.

The set has a matching tall chest of drawers, and a dresser with mirror.
This was the first bedroom suit I'd ever owned and I was forty years
old when I finally purchased it with money I'd earned.
It was a beautiful experience to get this bedroom suit, but we
don't want to move it and store it. Although, I'm glad I bought it.

I have three twin beds and am giving two away from upstairs.

The bed near the window is Stefie's ultra-plush "princess" bed that
feels like you are sleeping on a cloud. The other bed is a combination
of two new mattresses and a boxspring, so the bed near the
camera has two stacked twin mattresses. After Stefie finished her
first year in college and was finished with dorm life,
we suddenly got a 3rd twin bed back. The stacked beds on one
side match the height of Stefie's plush dorm twin set. Yah!

The refrigerator stays. I had put it as an exclusion, which meant it wasn't included with the sale of the house, but the buyers wanted it. So, I negotiated a five-day leaseback on our house for the buyers to be able to keep it. Deputy Dave was celebrating the freedom from having to move that bad boy.

The negotiated exchange of the fridge for a complimentary five-day leaseback means we close on the sale of our home, hopefully on April 19th, then we will get to stay in what will then be THEIR house for five more days, with no charge. Usually, it's at least $100. per day for the seller to lease "back" their own house after closing, if it can be negotiated. I'm thankful that it gives us five days after the closing to get moved out. Five important days.

My formal dining room table that seats six is a beauty, but I believe that's going to my dad's house. He's been super busy, so I haven't even asked him, but I'd like to give it to him.

If he doesn't want it, then I will figure it out. I have an awesome table in my breakfast room that I love --- it has a metal base, firm but comfortable pub-height chairs that each have metal legs, plus the table top flips to reveal an awesome POKER TABLE!

So, that table goes with us. It's a fun table and a beauty.

So, back to the formal dining room...that leaves my china cabinet from Germany, which is a keeper, of course. That china cabinet was the first piece of furniture that my husband and I purchased together in 1986, while living in Germany. We paid $75. for it and that was an extreme hardship at that time. A fighter-jet pilot from our Air Base and his wife met us at their house so we could look at it; we had just moved to the same quaint German village.

They sold it to us because they were preparing to go back stateside with a large family and they needed to sell some things to prepare for their next military move. I think they saw my eyes after I fell in love with this piece of furniture, and they probably would have given it to us, knowing we'd treasure it. I have a wonderful story behind that piece of furniture that I will tell in one of my follow up posts, it deserves more time.

Upstairs, in the game room, we will be keeping that leather group, even though it's made for tall people and leaves my legs dangling, but that makes the recliners in the set more comfortable. Since I have my rocking reading chair, I'm good.

Since our downstairs leather group is also a higher quality leather, I am glad to have this second leather set because I'm sure it will last a very long time. Plus, I LOVE the look of leather sofas and chairs as they get old and more wrinkled, but neither set that we own have had enough time to get to that stage. We're working on it. But, leather really does develop more character and comfort with time. I'm sold on leather; it costs more upfront, but is well worth the investment because it lasts so long.

In all, the leather group in the game room has a total of five recliners, so we all kick back when sitting on that set while watching a movie or while hanging out together. And the credenza that holds our television components and gaming system, that goes with us too.

Upstairs, my metal bed and German closet goes with us along with our second queen-sized guest bed with maplewood furniture that had belonged to my oldest daughter, once upon a time. It will be the guest bedroom suit when we move. I couldn't find a photo to put up for reference.

You can see the Maplewood armoire in this shot and the nightstand
to this set is being used in Stefie's pink room since she took her
nice bedroom suit with her to college.

My youngest daughter has already taken her bedroom suit, the other breakfast room suit and some other things. This is what is left-over in Stefie's room...just an extra queen bed (no headboard), a chair that is Stefie's -- given to her by her great-grandmother and the maple nightstand in the corner that you can't see, but that matches the armoire in the other room with the twin beds.

Since she's still a college student, she has to ration her furniture so it will fit in the small space available during this stage of her life.

The chair in the shot below...I LOVE that chair! It's another Good Will purchase. Six bucks.

One day, all our things will belong to someone else. Until then, the things we are keeping will be thoroughly enjoyed and the things we are giving away will be sent with love.

And moving day approaches.

# 411 - Option Period - Moving Countdown

MOVING COUNTDOWN

36 DAYS



It's taken years and years for us to finally reach the point to where we can move to the country, full-time. Nearly fifteen years of owning our land and wanting to eventually move to it. Having a contract on our house in the Greater Houston area is nice. I suppose this means I might as well accept that our land will also be home to a couple of farm-raised pigs and maybe a couple of cows, which will be my husband's cup of tea. He's already raised these animals, so it will be old stuff to him.

As for pigs, I keep having horrifying images of me approaching the hog pen to find the snorting beasts chowing down on my dogs. I can already see those evil pigs enjoying a Howdy-snack (eating our dog) as I hear theme music to Psycho. Why? It's not a pleasant thought. It's as if I am afraid the hogs/pigs will attack the dogs or squash them or pen them into a corner and start chowing down. This is the city girl side of me being too scared of pigs. Then, I remember, two years ago, I was terrified of chickens and now I love raising them in my backyard.

I hope I will learn to trust pigs too. I won't even talk about scary images I have involving cows.

The contract on the house is still in place, but we're trying to emerge from the Option Period of the contract which is the ten-day time-frame allowing the buyers time to get their inspections, check on insurance rates, and to ponder making the right decision. Of course, you'd hope a buyer would not come this far unless they were serious and capable of purchasing the house.

The Option Period ends at midnight on the 16th. So, the date for an easy back-out is about to end.

Yesterday, the buyers had their inspector come over to check out the house...appliances, mechanicals, piping, electricity and so on. The state licensed inspector prepares a written report for the buyers to alert them to any potential problems. And it is a guarantee that every house will have problems, even a house that is brand new construction. As far as we know, our house doesn't have any problems. In fact, it has a new 30-year roof, newer flooring, appliances and we're giving the buyers a year's worth of a home warranty.

But, I keep hoping we get past this option period. If a buyer had ants in their pants, this is the time they'd choose to back out.

If there is a time to be nervous with a contract on your house, it should be during the Option Period.

Will be saying good-bye to yet another very unique room designed
by one of my children. Both of my daughters always had complete
freedom to make their room their own --- we would help them do
whatever they wanted to make their room a reflection of their
personalities and design preferences. We've had some interesting
rooms throughout the years. The little girl moving into this room
is extremely excited and ready to make it her own.

No more weird angles for me. They make furniture placement frustrating.

We negotiated for the buyers to have the refrigerator, which also
means we have one less huge item to load and store.

So, I am glad the prospective buyers for our house have invested themselves further into the purchase of our house by hiring an inspector. That also shows their level of seriousness toward buying our house.

If we get positive feedback regarding this inspection, then we will keep moving forward with our plans to get packed up and outta here! The past couple of days, I've been in happy mode with finding out who in the family wants some of our furniture and in finding someone who wants to buy our beautiful master bedroom furniture. We are really scaling back.

This week, we are going to the acreage and seeing the town utility peeps to get started with the process of having the electricity turned on at our two main poles and to get the water turned on at the front spigot. Deputy Dave will also be putting up a mailbox so we can put in our change of address and have it start coming to the acreage.

This will be a challenge. The last mailbox was killed by a redneck during a drive-by with a baseball bat. This is when we learned the beauty of country mailbox design with nearby boulders placed strategically to require a slow down to approach the area. And we learned that a country mailbox should be secure. We're still learning with this one. If you have suggestions, we'll take them.

Personally, I'd like to post Daryl from The Walking Dead in a hide-out and let the arrows fly during the next mailbox assault. If you don't watch The Walking Dead, you're missing out on Daryl goodness.

This weekend, we're going to start bringing some heavy things to the land, such as our large, decorative potted plants, our decorative garden stones that are stacked and ready to be loaded, the tractor portion of the chicken coop and other outdoor items that we can take into the woods and leave there with relative confidence that all will be okay.

In fact, Deputy Dave is pulling the trailer out of the garage as I type. I'm tuckered out and this is when I write my blog posts. I'll be glad to no longer have to maintain this large home. A blade of grass doesn't need to be dusted, that's a beautiful thing. I would rather operate the lawn tractor than walk up and down the stairs with a dust-rag.

Less indoor work means more outdoor fun. And I don't think outdoor work is "work" because I love being outdoors. I'll make the trade any day. Yet, I realize the dust inside the house will always be an issue...unless I get a volunteer-maid. Since that is highly unlikely, I'll keep the dusters handy.

As for immediate tasks on the land, we might have to get materials to build front gates so that our land will be better protected from people being able to drive onto it at a whim.

During recent trip to our land, we were a bit disturbed to see that someone had been out there using part of it as a country-shooting-range. Deputy Dave has some old construction leftovers on the land and a backer-board was being used for someone to test their different weapons.

The picture below was how we found the shooting set-up and each board had a different caliber weapon bullet hole in it.

Now, people in the country do know how to handle their guns. For those shooting on it, the land has rolling hills, dips and loads of trees, but it still feels weird to see that someone is going to my country address to shoot their guns. Once we're living on the property, people will be very unlikely to trespass. That's how it works in this part of the country. If the land appears to be unoccupied and without much oversight, then you will probably have people exploring it or using it as a pass-through. But, once we've set up out there, as we have done previously for a three year span of time, we had no one step foot on our land.

My hand to show the board with the largest bullet holes. I suppose
this is shotgun or "buck" shot??? I forgot to ask before writing this post.

One good aspect of being there will be to FINALLY have the utility companies be forced to get pre-approval to come onto our land with their heavy equipment because they are the WORST about leaving deep tracks and a mess behind them. Once we are living there, that will come to an end. They will be held accountable and be forced to clean up after themselves.

So, we are moving forward with making preparations for our move to the country with the sale of our home, I hope.

One small problem...I think we might officially be "homeless" until we buy an RV to put on the property while we are building the cabin. We had a great RV that we sold nearly two years ago and that one would have been PERFECT for temporary housing on the land. Oh well.

We've never been in this position before, so it is HIGHLY scary and pretty darn exciting! It's like a major adventure is underway!

We're literally going into the wilderness WITHOUT a home already built. But, we can't build until we are on-site to guard and supervise our construction materials 24/7.

However, it's weird that we aren't moving into another cookie cutter home sitting on a city block lined with diverse neighbors. I've been pretty darn happy with my cookie cutter homes and pleased with the amenities that they bring. But, we don't have kids at home any more, we don't really utilize all of those amenities. Besides, this move is ALL ABOUT THE TWO OF US and no longer about the school district, the neighborhood park, the distance from grandma's house, the bike path and the kind of neighbors living a few feet from our house.

This move is about the two of us finally being able to do what we want...putting ourselves as the priority and that is exactly what this stage of parenthood is about...enjoying the freedom that you've earned because you've already put in the time, energy, money, blood, sweat and tears into raising your kiddos. And it's a time to watch your kids develop their own life so that, they too, can eventually reach this phase of life to enjoy grand-children, nephews, nieces and friends.

Now it's time to put all of those things toward a life filled with CHICKENS, DOGS, BIRD-WATCHING, A CRAFT ROOM, A WOOD-WORKING ZONE, HAMMOCKS, A FRONT PORCH EQUIPPED WITH WI-FI and an OUTDOOR FLATSCREEN and all those kinds of great things.

Deep breath...

However, first, before all the "fun" concepts can take place, we will be focused with putting equity from this house into building a cabin. Getting the shell and mechanicals in place will be a priority. It will be time-consuming, so the journey is just now beginning. We will employ strict adherence to every dollar being directed to building another home.

I like this basic design. I've had the weird angles and am
no longer digging those too much. I prefer focusing on building
solid and also on making our outdoor space enjoyable.

The way I see it, that first $500. in equity monies should be put toward clearing land or buying posts and beams, and that last $200. of equity money should be put toward buying paint. Every dollar of equity money will be managed with the intent to make it stretch as far as it can go so that we can have a nice, cash-built cabin. If the cash is used for other things, there is no money left for a home; it's that simple. This is another test in discipline and in money-management ability or lack thereof. Since I am known for making a dollar stretch very far and have often been able to save money in spite of difficult odds because I am financially conservative, I eagerly look forward to seeing our cabin come to life on a tight budget.

The right mindset is imperative. Being prepared to put every dollar of equity toward construction while saving funds for the next phase in construction is a necessity. So, this will be a wonderful challenge to prove we've got what it takes to make this happen. 

I'm just a tad excited.

# 410 - Moving Around the Block!

Well folks, the contract is signed. Closing on our house is scheduled for mid-April. Looks like we are MUCH closer to moving from the city to the country.

It's inevitable I think...I'm having mixed feelings, but it's taken a long while to get to this point in the house-selling process.

 

It's not any fun to live as if strangers might be taking a tour of your home at any moment. Well, the kind of tour headed by a state licensed real estate agent with pre-approved buyers...you get my drift.

For a person like me, who likes to be a PERSON, it's not easy to live as if we never use the stove-top or kitchen table. It's not been fun waiting for some agent to show my house who is a neighborhood Nazi and turns us in for having backyard chickens.

As for the house, I do like things to be in order, but I'm no longer one to freak out about five dishes in the sink and the extra bedrooms may be due for a dusting...it's okay, unless people are coming into the house to inspect and compare. Parking down the block from your own house is kind of weird in itself...waiting for strangers to walk out of your house so you can go back inside is a unique feeling.

And selling a house really does mean that you need to present the best of your house, in its highest form, with as few distractions as possible. So, this is the main reason professional stagers will advise a seller to knock out clutter, to clear out the collections and clean the crevices. But, as my own mother used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do."

Waiting for that perfect buyer to come through our doors has been a challenge; that perfect buyer seemed to be nonexistent. We've had potential buyers come for a showing during their out of state housing tour, and we've had appointments scheduled by people who had to drive hours to get here for their search of a house in this neighborhood.

 

So, you can imagine our surprise when our buyers ended up living one block away from us! This family has outgrown their one-story, smaller home and they are desperate to have more house, more yard and more room to grow.

Deputy Dave and I are FINALLY embracing our Empty Nester status, so it feels great that the house is being bought by a family of six so the two of us can move onward with our lives --- into the woods.

As for the celebrating, I'm feeling as if everything will be alright, no matter what happens because that's what life is all about. I've done a happy dance, but the real celebrating is around the corner.

Meanwhile, we've got to take a leap of faith and get back to work packing room by room

# 409 - Moving? Buyer Making Offer!

Well folks, looks like we've experienced a scenario similar to Goldilocks and The Three Bears. A family came to see our house late Wednesday evening, around 7:00pm, so Deputy Dave and I headed to Chick-fil-a to order a keep-the-kitchen-clean kind of dinner so the potential buyers could enjoy looking at our house. We took the dogs, made an errand, then headed through the drive-through and then headed back home.

However, before we left the house, we'd dashed around doing house preparations...turning on all the lights, putting great music on the built-in sound system and we were hoping the buyers would not come back with the same old line, "the house is much too big for us."

After getting our food and making another quick errand, we pulled up the block, about two houses down and we sat in the truck waiting for the crew in our house to finish looking around. We didn't want to eat in the truck with the dogs in the backseat, so we sat and waited for the people to leave our house. And we waited, and waited and waited some more, then Deputy Dave says, "I've really got to go to the restroom about right now, and I'd sure like it if they'd wrap this up...it is a work-night."

We waited some more. Then, I finally became irritated and said, "Damn, are they moving in already?"

By now, it's 8:00pm. They've been there for an hour. I knew from my professional real estate days that this was actually a good sign, so I tried to take a deep breath. The group had two cars, one in our driveway and one parked in front of the house. Deputy Dave and I were waiting, or stalking our own house from about two houses down the block.

Finally, the Realtor came out with her clipboard and the family followed suit. A big family. Lots of kids. Well, that's a great sign! Yeah for big families!

We watched them all drive away and so we dragged our tired butts inside to eat our dinner that had almost grown cold and to dash around the house, upstairs and down, to turn off every light.

Well, I guess the family had their Goldilocks moment because they have decided that our house is "just right" and they appear to be very motivated to buy our house. I hear that the family is sending us an offer within the next 24 hours. We will look it over this weekend and make up our mind by Sunday as to whether we can accept it or make a counter-offer.

Even so, we have another showing scheduled for Saturday afternoon and those buyers are anxious because their agent knows we will be considering an incoming offer this weekend, so she politely asked me to just remember to consider the highest and best offer.

This is how it works folks...when you are having multiple offers submitted within the same time-frame, it is not about first-come-first-serve, it's about the best offer being the one to win out. A seller has all the power in this area to choose which offer is best and you have 48 hours to respond to a submitted offer. Up until the paperwork is actually signed by all parties to become more than mere paperwork...to become an actual contract, your house is still open for any incoming offers. Even once a contract is in place, you can continue to show your house and take back-up contracts...just in case.

Working in real estate, I found that a lot of first-time buyers were under the illusion that if they just submitted their paperwork first, then the sellers were obligated to accept that offer, even if a second and third offer followed and had better terms. It doesn't quite work like that. But, if these potential buyers make a solid offer or are receptive to a reasonable counter-offer, they will likely have a contract to buy our house by Monday.

So, we've gone from lack of offers to a possible bidding war. I guess we'll see how it goes; I'm confident the right family will end up filling this house with new memories.

 

For us, we are kind of NERVOUS. I think every seller goes through nervous remorse as they prepare to leave a house they've loved. Conversely, "Buyer's Remorse" is the worst phase to get through, especially for a first-time home-buyer.

The main goal is to move and to be out from under a home that is much too large for us and it being a two-story makes it more difficult to maintain. Have I mentioned that in 2009 I had a broken neck that caused spinal cord damage and required major double-sided cervical-spine reconstruction? That made having a two-story more challenging, but I manage. I think I take after my dad with his Superman genetics. I like to fondly refer to myself as the REAL "Bionic Woman." I have many spare parts, so many that it might gross you out or make you say, "COOL!" For me, I'm of the position that it is "COOL" because those spare parts keep me together, literally. But, our many steps to get to the second floor is not so cool. I can walk rather easily, but climbing is difficult and a step upward is a climb for me.

Back on track...all of you Blog-Buddies who have journeyed through this process with us --- I'm sure you can imagine the level of anxiety we are feeling about this move. Up to this point, I think it's great that neither Deputy Dave nor I have buried one or the other in the backyard as added compost.

Deputy Dave and I, in South Padre, over 20 years ago.

Us twenty years later, he has less hair and I have more weight.

This move has added stress, especially because, for the first time, we have no house to go directly to. And that's because we're building a custom home on our acreage. Normally, we are selling a house and buying a house, simultaneously. This time, our acreage is so far away that we cannot begin building until we get this house sold.

My stomach rumbles as I think about all of these big changes. But, I've been through bigger changes...several times in my life. So, this one is a positive change and very exciting for us.

I think Deputy Dave is getting too happy over being able to raise pigs and maybe a couple of cows. Originally, I pictured myself out there with all these goats and now that mental picture is being re-thought. My chickens will be a huge part of my life out there and my dogs, but I know the other animals will have to be introduced slowly. We'll have a lot of adjustments to make.

 

And a lot of fencing to install. I think it will be time for us to buy a small tractor with the right attachments, such as a post digger thingy.

However, I do believe that the two of us are living an American Dream Come True. We've held onto this land since our daughters were young girls and we've waited for this day. We've earned it. We've fretted about it. We can't believe it's really happening.

We are about to be living in FOREST. The Piney Woods of East Texas! The Big Thicket is our area.

 

So, I guess we'll know by Monday if our house will be under contract. If so, I will be thrown back into the world of packing, panicking, and preparing for the big moving day.

I can honestly say, I'm going to miss this house.

We lived through a hurricane in this house; we lived through two years of rebuilding; we continued to help put our daughters through college in this house;

we buried our favorite little 16 year old Chihuahua "Cinnamon" at this house; I began to raise my first flock of chickens at this house...and we still have them, well, except for the roosters; my dad lived in this house for a year after his house flooded and he was diagnosed with bladder cancer --- I helped him in this house --- not a good year for him; both my children officially left home to be more involved with their own budding lives from this house; since living here, my oldest daughter graduated from college, got married and is now expecting her first baby; and in this house that I moved to six months after my mom died, I've had the most awesome dreams of her.

This house has a few moments that I'd rather forget, but isn't that how all houses end up? The walls contain both the worst and the best of us. None of us are different from each other in that we all have a bit of both good and bad, sometimes one more than the other, depending on where we are in life and our circumstances.

And I can't even think about the increased distance between me and my sister and my youngest niece since we're all such a HUGE part of each other's lives. Right now, we live just a few miles apart. My sister and I are already desperately making plans to be able to see each other frequently and for Shaye to remain an integral part of our lives. My sister is wise enough to know that family relationships are very important for Shaye and for us, but my sister and I have always been connected in that way. For my sister, she doesn't have too many family members directly involved with her daughter, so she really treasures that her sister is so close to her daughter.

I love my sister. I will have to take extra steps to reassure Robin that I will still be a major part of her life. I adore my Sissy; she's my best-friend in the world.

Then again, I'm blessed to have multiple best-friends, but only ONE Sissy.

I'll save my boo-hoo session for when the papers are signed, we're in contract, and the buyer's Option Period (back-out clause) has passed. And I won't celebrate until we've closed the deal and the buyer's money is wired to pay for our home, making it theirs. THEN Deputy Dave and I will celebrate, in style, with hopefully an intimate ground-breaking ceremony for construction to begin on our acreage.

We might wear overalls for the occasion.

For now, I'm kind of trying to get accustomed to the idea of leaving this house that we've lived in for over seven years of pivotal life changes along with personal shrinkage and growth.

However, as the eternal optimist, I know that the future holds the BEST that is to come and the lifestyle we're about to start living, in the woods, on our acreage, will be a magical time for us.

Magical with blood, sweat and tears and an obsession to check for ticks.