# 242 - Moving Along, At Least Trying to...

The entrance to our country home will have something similar to this archway welcoming everyone. Once we get moved to the country, I believe we'll have some kind of design especially welded to reflect our family's individuality.

Whichever design we decide upon, we will be sure to incorporate it throughout our acreage, in different ways, on a smaller scale.

Our house in the Greater Houston area has been for sale for just over one month, and things are slow. The changes in our housing economy are harshly evident. However, Deputy Dave and I feel confident about knowing that we're doing our best, and whatever the Good Lord wants for our future, He will handle it. If our efforts are blessed (which I hope is the case) we'll be moving along to the country in the near future.

I was hoping the house would sell rather quickly, but to the honest, so much chaos has been happening the past few weeks that if we had received a contract we would have been a mess. As it stands, we are better able to prepare for our move.

There's no doubt, I still feel it coming. The move to the country is lurking around the corner. The house is still for sale, we've even lowered the price. It will simply take the proper buyer to come through our doors to know that this house is "the one" for their own family.

At that point, we'd still have to move along very quickly to get packed and to wrap up details that are currently dragging onward.

Time is precious. I guess "time" itself will dictate our move. Timing. If there were some secret clock that I could speed up to get us down the road, out of the city and settled onto our country property, I might fast-forward the clock a tad. (Well, maybe not a fast-forward of time...How about having a Crystal Ball instead?) However, I also realize that everything happens for a reason, in the timing that it was supposed to occur, so I will remain relaxed and ready...even though I can clearly see the number of buyers has dwindled in our real estate market over the past couple of years, I am so thankful that truck loads of strangers aren't scoping out the house. Less serious buyers means less interruptions.

However, I'll gladly be interrupted for that one gung-ho buyer that is ready to move into our house as fast as we are ready to leave it.

For now, we enjoy our house. We're supposed to be here for some reason. Well, this weekend our family and guests are supposed to be here while Deputy Dave and I leave town for our acreage. It will be great to get a break away from the house. Even though I truly love this beautiful, luxurious home, I still am thrilled about getting to sleep in a tent for a few nights and rough it.

Thank God for us Country Girls who never forget how to be one with nature.

# 241 - Blogger Blog Limits - Photos

Does anyone have any suggestions about the blogger limits on photo storage, etc.? I have been given a message, upon trying to upload photos for my next blog, that I am at my max storage capacity and must purchase extra storage space.

Then, I went to look at my photos via the Blogger upload side button --- didn't realize I had a photo account with Picasa (sp ?) and there are duplicates of the same photos, all throughout. Strange. It's as if their software automatically takes one photo and duplicates it, sometimes up to 15 times in a row, apparently in an effort to purposefully use more space.

If anyone has suggestions, I'll be grateful. I am not knowledgeable about this part of blogging and don't know if there's a round-a-bout way to go around this hijack manner of getting our money.

Of course, I don't want to delete past posts as they also serve as my personal journal and record-keeping for our farm life lessons. The photos are very important to me. Plus, my readership is important and I've made many friends with fellow bloggers over the past few months with this blog. I'd rather not have to make any drastic changes as many readers like to read past posts to sort of get caught up.

I'd love to be able to delete those extra photos off the Picasa (sp ?) account that I didn't realize I had set up. I'm using a Yahoo email address and am scared to change that because of it causing additional problems; however, I will do whatever is necessary.

I guess I should check the gmail account that is given upon opening a blog, but I've never had to use it since I have Yahoo at my beck and call --- hence --- I KNOW how to use it already.

Any help is very appreciated. If I can figure out how to erase all of those "extra" duplicated photos that I KNOW I didn't load, it should free up valuable photo storage space.

Suggestions, advice and personal stories are always welcome so that I can get this settled over the weekend.

By the way...family is coming into town to stay at our house to dog-sit and chicken-sit, but we are getting to make a long-awaited trip to our acreage this weekend! We've purchased a new, larger tent and will be taking the two big dogs with us on our trip. It's been a long while, since about December since we last went, so we are thrilled.

I'll be praying for NO TORNADOES! As for the Greater Dallas Area, I'm blessed that my oldest daughter Heather and her fiance were not hurt in the tornadoes yesterday. I'm a Southern gal whose home has been hit by a tornado in 2008, but I'll never become accustomed to the terror that comes with the whirling winds and devastation.

Little tent weekend, let there be good weather or we'll be high-tailing it back to the house made of sticks and bricks.

Oh yes...blogger photo storage...help.

# 240 - Yes...No...Maybe So

This kiddo is the light of my life. Well, I've got a few other bright lights in my life as well, but this little one is a sparkling light that makes me smile.

This past week, me and my niece, Shaye.
March 2012

Being an aunt is a lot of fun. I taught my niece how to answer a question by responding, "Yes, No, Maybe So."

Little Miss Sassy. Yes, I warned her to not say it in school, but now she loves to giggle and say...

Yes...No...Maybe So...

It has indeed been so funny. All day long, she answers every question with "Yes, No, Maybe So."

Well, as the day was coming to an end. I found that if you ask her if she wants ice-cream, she looks as if she is in physical pain because she wants to give her sassy answer, but then she finally says, "Absolutely!"

Glad to know that she still knows how to respond appropriately to certain questions.

Good kid.

# 239 - My Love for Mother

The close of March is always a difficult time for me since March 31st is the day my mother died. Of all the battles she had conquered in her life, to include Polio, it was breast cancer that finally consumed her warrior body and never-quit mindset.

My mom was truly a beautiful woman. The scars of life could not lessen her beauty.

Me at about three years old, my dad and my mom.

 At only 57 years of age, she died at home after she'd been constantly surrounded by loved ones.

My mom was about 35 years old here and my dad
was about 38 years old.

 My dad has dated several people since he lost his wife of approximately 40 years of marriage, but he's never re-married and will likely be content to focus on his family and remain a single man until the day he joins mom in Heaven. He told me that he's not interested in marriage any longer, it served his life for a meaningful purpose and he's not intending to start all over with someone new. That doesn't mean he's not able to find fulfillment and joy, it just means he won't have a marriage certificate applying to him any longer.

It's now been six years since she died and he's often been hit hard by the fact that his wife had been a woman full of passion and love. Sometimes he took that forgranted when she was with us, as most of us do when we have our loved one available to us as needed. She was eager for adventure. He misses this part of her the most. At a moment's notice, she was ready to pack their bags and head out the door with a huge smile.

Every year, dad took mom to the Texas Hill Country to see the Bluebonnets in full bloom. This yearly trip of theirs had been sacred. I think dad misses these poignant trips. Every time he sees wildflowers and bluebonnets springing up from the earth, he is pained, yet overjoyed at remembering their jaunts to admire God's carpet.

Shortly before my mother passed away, we'd made a day trip to our land to mow and before we left to head back to Houston, I stopped along the frontage of our acreage to gather a huge bouquet of wildflowers. It was one of the most beautiful collections of wildflowers I'd seen. I brought them home to her, put them in a vase and set it on top of her dresser for her to enjoy.

I knew she'd not be able to ever leave again for another trip to see her beloved wildflowers, so I brought them to her.

Stefie and Heather with their Grandma who they
loved more than any grandma can be loved.

This visit to the hospital to see my mother was difficult, yet full of smiles. We were at M.D. Anderson as she was having brain radiation for cancer growths near her brain stem. By this time, she had cancer all over her body...along her spine, in a femur, her ribs, her lymph nodes...everywhere. However, once it reached the brain, she became truly distraught. She had a Master's Degree and had worked to overcome Polio and be educated...her body had been ravaged by Polio at only five years old so her mental capacity for learning had been her treasure in life. She might not have been able to walk right and she didn't have the use of both arms, but she sure could out-think and out-smart anyone.

The radiation treatment used state-of-the-art laser beams that stretched several city blocks across Houston underground and the beams directly targeted the three tumors and zapped them efficiently enough to not destroy surrounding tissue. High science in action saved her from her worst fear coming to life before the cancer cells caused her death.

My mom and I had such great times together. We could talk about anything under the sun, stars or moon. She could tell me anything, and I could tell her anything, ours was a true two-way relationship. We wanted to spend time together. It's a huge blessing to consider your mother a friend and confidant. I feel very fortunate to have appreciated my mom and to have accepted her so completely...none of that ridiculous crap with expecting a mom to be perfect, but to just love her the way she was...all the good, all the bad...I loved all of her. Of course, she was just about perfect to all of us.

Deputy Dave and my sister, Robin, were taking turns having
their picture taken with mom. We all wanted our turn.

These days, I still miss not being able to pick up the phone and to hear her on the other end. I miss talking with her for hours about nonsense. I miss her coming to pick me up so we could go out to eat together. I miss going go the fabric stores together and to the craft stores together. I miss getting to see the next new beautiful project she would have surely painted. I miss seeing her with the grandchildren she adored, and my heart aches that she was never able to meet my niece Shaye. My sister had been expecting her first child when our mother died. Whoever said death was timed according to our desire? No doubt, our mom longed to meet Shaye. My sister had been fortunate enough to tell our mother that the baby was a girl and would be named for her namesake, Shaye. Mom never had words to express her personal grief, she'd simply raise a hand and lightly lay it against my sister's growing abdomen. No words were needed. In life, mom felt empty over this loss, but I hope in death she found the richest fulfillment possible.

My sister and I often talk to Shaye about her grandma, letting her know that grandma would have adored her to pieces. But, I know, if she could, mom would be with us. She had an uncanny way of making each of us feel as if we were the most special one in her life.

In part of sharing my mom, I am including one of her handwritten recipe pages that she jotted down for us. Here is her recipe for King-Ranch Chicken and Sour-Cream Biscuits...my mom truly made the best biscuits on the planet. She was the best Southern Chef you'd want to meet. Dinner at our house always included Southern smells and tastes.

The Good Lord knows that there are a few people whose death has a profound impact upon us because these people shared our life with us in significant ways. We can't imagine how life can move forward without this person. After the loss of my mom in my 30's, I sometimes felt like saying, "Mom, but I never heard the rest of the story about Grandpa's war days, and I wanted to REALLY listen this time to the stories about our youth!"

She's gone and with her absence I feel the tragic loss of her friendship and of the information that we cannot grasp tightly because her personal stories are no longer accessible. Losing a loved one is kind of like a chunk of your history has fallen off and disappeared from sight.

Like mom's spirit that has fled, all the valuable historic information about our own family that she knew is out of our reach. It's yet another way to feel left behind.

To counteract this kind of pain, I've purposefully kept extensive journals. For years and years, I'd usually write in my journals about ordinary happenings of day to day life. However, I've decided to start a journal, in honor of my mother, to tell the stories that I know regarding our family and including my beautiful mother. One day, since I'm the oldest child and have more historical information than my younger brother or sister, it might come in handy or be interesting to those who would want to know. I guess the journal would be appropriately called a collection of short stories about the family. Oh how I wish to have one of these left behind by my grandmother or grandfather!

I'll do my part to give my own family a better written history with accurate personalization so that we'll have more to enjoy for historical reference other than birth and death certificates.

One of the reasons I'm eager to move to our acreage is that my mother had graced and blessed our land with her presence. This fact gives me tremendous joy! Years ago, we picnicked on our land together. She loved being in the midst of nature, she'd soak in nature wherever she could get it.

The city house where we currently live was purchased after mom's death. That's the way of the world; we might lose the ones we love, but we must continue onward. I believe we should live so fully as to honor our own life and the one of who is now gone. Live with DOUBLE fullness! Regardless, it will give me additional peace and contentment to know that my mom had enjoyed our acreage; she actually saw the home-site where we will be living for the last portion of our own lives. It makes me feel good to know that she had loved our acreage and that her voice had let go of soft words and soft laughter to float among the forest.

It just feels good to know that.

# 238 - Happy Faces

Heart be still...few words are needed to express the love we feel for our pets. I am happy to share the love and fun we have with our dogs.

Have a great weekend everyone!

# 237 - Assembling our Country Cabin Contractors!

A garden center near our home has built on-site a beautiful office that is very similar in design to what I am wanting to build for a country home. While on their property, I stand in their office and my heart goes pitter-patter a bit faster each time I see it.

I would love to have something similar to this house. Of course, the front porch would have to be wider and there would have to be a backporch overhang as well, but I truly love this house. The designer put in so many details that make this a special, well-built house. All the little things add up and the dedication to craftsmanship is impeccable.

I hope that we have beautiful, lush landscaping around our cabin in the woods, but we will have to stick with shade loving plants because the cabin will be tucked into the forest.

The double front door is something simple, but it's an element I want to incorporate into the design of our own home. Double doors can indeed come in handy, especially on moving day.

I already know that the front porch will have posts that will be substantial. You can't get these from an ordinary hardware/wood supply store, you must go have them specially cut, raw cut to your specifications.

For the bulk of the exterior, I might consider nicely painted hardiplank siding, but the wood on the front porch must retain the appearance of its natural grain and character, we mght stain those pieces. A metal roof topping off our house would be a delight. Previously, I'd not wanted divided light windows, but these days, the division of window panes is an illusion because the division occurs in between the glass panes, so these windows are easy to clean. I still favor picture windows, but a picture window must be in the proper place to look right. I do like the symmetry of this little house. My front doors will likely be something different, but this overall look is what I'm shooting for, on a budget.

The accent window is a nice touch. I love surprise elements to a home that make it pop.

This front porch is warm and cozy, but not large enough. We must have a porch that is sizable enough to accommodate a porch swing angled sideways and to hold a few tables and chairs for fun gatherings. The house must be designed with both front and back covered porches. I don't particularly care for the bright green trim, but I don't pay much attention to cosmetic aspects that I can easily change.

This house will have to be built larger to expand it to hold three bedrooms. But, the basics for the house are in place. This home is built on pier and beam with decorative concrete forms used - you can see the swirls and it is a nice touch. I guess the drainage here is helpful. That will be a concern for us, to make sure everything is graded properly when building our home and workshop so that it will not give us problems with drainage.

Getting a shot of the electrical and mechanical hot spot is important as well.

And this garden center definitely has an architect and designer close to my own heart. As for this entrance, I will be glad to have something similar to it on our land as well. Of course, we'll personalize it, but this design gives me a good head-start.

The workshop across the drive is also nice and has elements to tie in with the house, such as the windows and doors as well as matching colors.

The great news is...it looks as if we've found an awesome concrete team for our area. They do much of the work for the city and for many people around town who are full of gratitude for their incredible knowledge and skill. I've spoken with people who had their concrete foundations poured by this team nearly 20 years ago and it has been better than any other they've seen. They'll be able to do both our workshop with the concrete foundation along with the pier and beam foundation for our house.

Additional good news is that we've also found a master electrician who is nice young man, former military and very fair. He knows his business and will be working with us on the side to get our electrical needs squared away.

Looks like things are falling into place. We should be making a trip to our acreage pretty soon, another camping expedition. Maybe, one day, even after we have built a house on our land, Deputy Dave and I might still pop a tent on the other side of our land and have a little bit of old-fashioned fun. Until then, we'll enjoy the hardships because the best parts and the richest memories can usually be found in the midst of hardship.

In a blink of an eye, I'll be sitting on the front porch of our house. Living in the woods will be a dream come true. I believe life is about to become more fun and more full than it's ever been. We have tastes and bits and pieces of country living...it's always been beautiful and welcoming to both of us, but getting to live it full-time will be astronomical. Living in a place you've dreamed of living in brings a feeling of delight and EXCITEMENT --- no matter your age!

Is it Christmas? I feel like a kid just thinking about moving to the country! A great big wood package is waiting to be enjoyed every day for the rest of my life. I'm ready to get started!

Buyers for our city house can show up this weekend. We're ready to sign the paperwork and put our city house under contract to sell. It's time.

# 236 - Snake in the House!

We had an interesting happening this past week. Deputy Dave and I were sitting on the loveseat in our living room with the dogs laying all over us; it was a nice moment of trying to give the dogs some needed attention. All week long I'd been so busy that we'd not even had time to play a game of ball with the dogs, and Howdy can play ball for two straight hours; it's serious business around here. Even so, the dogs were so good all week, as if they sensed a problem and tried to be on their best behavior, so we were giving them lots of cuddle time while watching the big screen tv.

Stefie comes shuffling into the room with her stiff posture from her back being hurt. As she walked toward us in the living room, she looked down at the floor and said, "A WORM!"

In the span of the next few seconds, we were puzzled. Yes, we have chickens and I'd been feeding the chickens a treat of worms purchased from the fishing section of Walmart. The night before, Stefie had stood by as I poked holes in the top of the worm container. The worm container was sitting just a few feet away from us, on the kitchen serving bar. As her eyes widened at the sight of this worm in our house, I imagined that I had poked a hole too big in the container, allowing a worm to escape.

Even with a stiff back, Stefie's country-girl side took over and with an erect back and awkward posture, she knelt down to pick up the worm. She hadn't even given the urge to pick up that worm a second thought, she was doing what came naturally to her. Get the worm.

Suddenly, as her fingers were about two inches from picking up the worm, she looked up at us with a shocked, yet guarded expression. Then, she calmly said, "Oh, this is not a worm, this is a snake."

I know she was very concerned because her dad is NOT a fan of snakes, not at all. The coffee table was blocking our view of the snake, the table lay between us sitting on the loveseat and Stefie kneeling over the snake.

Immediately, we jumped into action and Stefie let out a little squeal as the snake began to quickly slither on the tile floor toward the chest against the wall that holds our television components. All of our voices and body language went up a few notches.

Get the snake.

Howdy, our Aussie, had obviously taken note of our tone of voice, our alarm and our body language. In two seconds flat, he ran to Stefie's side and took the snake in his jaws. At this point, our living room is in chaos.

I yell, "DROP IT!"

This is a regular command for the dogs at our house. Howdy knows this command.
I had no idea if this snake was poisonous, but Howdy listened, immediately. The good thing about Howdy is that when my voice is with conviction, he heeds my words. Without hesitation, he twisted toward me and dropped the snake from his jaw and looked to me for instruction while swinging his head wildly the opposite direction to also keep the slithering snake in his view.

Meanwhile, Deputy Dave had decided that he couldn't start shooting the snake while inside the house, so he ran for the broom and dustpan. The snake was about a foot long and quickly making its way toward the cover of the cedar chest.

I had hit the point of saying aghast, "I can't believe we've been sitting in the living room this entire time WITH a snake close to us!"

SUPER DISTURBING.

Deputy Dave swept the snake into the deep dustpan and high-tailed it to the front yard for release. Turns out, it was a grass snake. A healthy grass snake. Still, it's a snake and I don't like them in my house. Obviously, Howdy grasped the snake in his jaws just enough to pick it up, but not kill it. The snake appeared unharmed.

By the way, this is the second episode we've had with a snake in our house and I'll have to tell about the first experience on another day. It was beyond creepy.

I wondered for a moment...How many critters will intrude into our house once we're in the country?

Another question I pondered was the one with Howdy. It was obvious that he is definitely on-task with picking up verbal ques and body language to pounce upon the danger at hand, without hesitation. He is ready to defend, to rescue, or to come to our aid. The problem is...I've got to teach him to not rush to attack a snake or other animal that he perceives as a threat to the ones he loves. He is so in tune with our body language and tone of voice that it takes little to bring him to heightened attention.

I initially felt great concern as Howdy dropped the snake from his jaws because the motion caused him to fling a huge line of slobber across the room, as if his saliva glands went into high production. It did not seem to be an appealing moment for him, but he stood over the snake, watching it slither across the tile, and I could tell that this dog was determined to stop that snake. He then lunged forward with his huge claws to attempt to stop the snake from moving, he will pin things to the ground with his paws or with his entire body, so I had to again tell him to stop. But, he kept his body aligned with the snake as it wiggled on the tile for cover.

We were all relieved once Deputy Dave quickly scooped up the snake and escorted it out of the house.

The most funny moment of all was when Stefie realized that her fingers were within two inches of picking of the "worm." That girl has no fear at times because she was raised fishing, and she played with worms enthusiastically. She spent much of her life in the country.

If she stops to think about what she's doing, she'll be less inclined to approach the creepy crawler, but her auto-pilot is driven toward being unafraid of nature. These days, her lack of excitement toward country life has to do with wanting the luxuries of a real house. Since she was a child, we've been going to our acreage and she savored the exploration and fun that being on raw land offers; however, at her age of 21 today, she savors a fully working bathroom, air-conditioning and a stocked kitchen with a microwave.

Regardless of the little luxuries on our acreage, I believe she will still gravitate toward the worms. I hope she doesn't ever lose that side to her. Worms should never cease to be intriguing. The child in all of us should continue to be magnetized toward nature.

Nature holds me captive. I surrender.

# 235 - Govt. Services for Your Land

Having raw acreage to prepare for construction and a homestead can be quite a daunting undertaking. Years ago, one of our first hurdles to confront with owning acreage was to get to the post office to file for our "911 Address" which gave us our street address and a mailing address for us to be a part of the outside world in typical postal fashion.

On a pizza delivery note...if a pizza place ever opened close enough to our land, we'd at least have a physical home address to provide for delivery. Sadly, as it stands, I believe we are too far from town to get deliveries. Besides, I suppose we'd have to stand among the forested road to wait for the delivery because the house will be constructed a good distance from the entrance to our property. I think moving to our acreage will mean the end of pizza deliveries...it's okay, we'll adapt, take-out will rule the day.

Another exciting angle we've taken with our acreage is to work with the National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS). We completed a "SCIMS" form which then required a copy of our deed and survey for the NRCS to conduct a soil sample of our area. Turns out, National Resources Conservation Services has been conducting nationwide soil testing and is compiling a national data system which is quite complicated.

The National Cooperative Soil Survey produces information about soil data through the Web Soil Survey (WSS); all ran through the National Resources Conservation Services. To date, there are soil maps and soil data available online for more than 95% of the nation's counties. It is very interesting. You can even do an online search for your area.

For our land, we will be working closely with this office because we have natural springs and creeks on our property which contribute to soil erosion.

Part of our land is susceptible to being extra-squishy.
Deputy Dave's truck had been stuck in this area, but he's an
expert at becoming unstuck.

If you are interested in soil studies for your particular area, go to www.nrcs.usda.gov and you will see a series of selections. If you go to the one about soil, you can get started. The process looks a bit complicated and it appears that you need your legal address, not your 911/street address to access data. As I stated, we're going the hard-copy route via the SCIMS form. If your land has not been soil surveyed, you might be able to get them to include it in the study by submitting the proper paperwork.

Since we have completed all of the necessary paperwork, we are allowed to pick up a "Soils Book" from the NRCS office in Livingston. However, since we're not able to find the time to make the two hour trip (one-way) to Livingston, we are having them FED EX the book to us at our home in the Greater Houston area. The shipping method is left to the discretion of the NRCS office personnel. The book should arrive next week. If we had been able to pick up the book, there would have been no cost involved to obtain the Soils Book, but the shipping costs required to send to the book to us will be on our dime.

The next task for us to complete is to keep working with another agency, the Farm Service Agency. This agency is literally next door to the National Resources Conservation Services office. The Farm Service Agency is working in conjunction with the NRCS and will use the paperwork we've already sent to assign us our Farm and Tract No.

Deputy Dave

I guess we'll see what happens as we mosey along with all of these processes.

For those of your who have been reading, Stefie is well enough to drive back to college this afternoon. She's still stiff and in pain, but is doing much better. Physical therapy is helping, especially the aqua-therapy to take the pressure off the disc bulge and compression that is causing her so much pain.

Once she leaves to go back to school, this old gal will be whipping the house back into shape for more showings this coming week. We'll be employing an OLD marketing technique called..."lowering the price."  ------- I am cracking up.

Anyway, I hope the reduced house price will attract a new segment of buyers who cannot qualify for the $5,000 difference that had perhaps held them back from qualifying. Every $5,000 opens up the potential for a new cluster of buyers. I guess we'll see what happens. I have until Wednesday to get the house back into tip-top shape because that will be the day that our price reduction will be effective. It's good to make changes to your marketing on Wednesday because potential buyers and agents will likely be in heavier property-search mode by Thursday morning for the next few days of showing appointments.

I believe the good weather, the reduced price and the almost-April-time-of-year will work to our advantage. It's kind of the time-frame I had planned. I wanted to sell the house around the end of April. Since it took us longer to get the house on the market, I need to allot for an adjusted sell date. Probably mid-May is when we will close. And, that's my positive mind-set at work folks!

We've always sold our houses very fast. This economy is surely reflecting the hesitancy of buyers and lenders to move the housing industry in anything but a snail's pace. The good thing is...the difficulty with purchasing a home means that you have less people crossing your threshold who aren't qualified buyers. I don't allow anyone to make an appointment to see our house unless they have a letter of qualification from their lender on hand. When you are selling your home, you don't feel like entertaining bands of sight-seers.

Keeping the sight-seers down to a minimum is also the soaring gas prices. Gone are the days when people would pile into the car to roll around town to leisurely drive down street after street in an attempt to catch a real estate sign in desired locations. These days, we stroll on the Internet first, it's a gas-saver.

I guess we'll see how this next week will go...hopefully I won't have anything but a boring good old time!

# 234 - The Country Waits Patiently; Me...Not So Much!

As of this week, our house will have been on the market for nearly one month. We've had some showings that had potential buyers, but we've also had horrible weather that keeps people from getting out to see houses.

Usually, April is a super "hot" month with people trying to find their next house. For buyers, the school-year is coming to a close and the timing is perfect for the buyer-family to find a house and get everything in order to start the summer somewhere fresh.

To help things along, we will probably have a slight price drop to make sure we hook more buyers. It's always good to start off higher and work your way down.

I have a strong feeling that once we lower the price, we will be swamped with showings. Between the time of year drawing closer to the end of school and summer, along with the weather improving, and a price drop...I believe we will soon be tackling the serious end of packing.

As for our acreage, I have been trying to put everything together in an organized fashion so that our move and construction process will go smoothly. However, it seems that I never have enough time or energy to do all that I need to do. The good news is...we've found a great concrete worker for our country area and they come highly recommended. This is important because the soil at our acreage is much different from surrounding cities that have a higher clay make-up.

We've reconsidered our construction process and will probably start off with building the shell for our cabin; we're thinking of building it with a metal frame for the main supports. There are so many considerations and expenses; it can be overwhelming. However, once we sell this house, we won't have the high monthly outgoing expenses. Those can be redirected toward building our home in the country.

Just imagining how overgrown our land is at this moment makes me shudder. As Spring approaches, the land has a burst of thick growth and becomes unruly.



I'm hoping we can get moved before the full heat of summer kicks in around June. Before that time, we can work in relative comfort during the early morning hours and late afternoon hours. Since most of our land is shaded, it will be nice, but we'll have to be careful about dehydration and heat stroke. Being in the South means to beware of the heat. It cannot be underestimated.

Pacing ourselves is most important.

For now, we need to get back on track with selling our house. I need to resume my pre-packing and get our house readied for the big move!

The country waits for us. It holds back for nothing and for nobody. As for the two of us...we're ready for the shocking change that will come with moving from the city to the country.

I think we'll adapt just fine. I guess we'll figure it all out, one day at a time.

# 233 - Nickname Madness

Families usually have nicknames for their loved ones. Sometimes we don't want to be called these wondrous names, other times, they are better than the legal names we were born with.

My brother is one of these people who was given a nickname upon his birth. He's my "little" brother and he's my "Bubba."

Yep, that's what we've always called him in my family, "Bubba."

Even my daughters call him "Uncle Bubba."

Isn't there a saying that every Southerner knows a "Bubba?" If so, I guess it's true.

In the picture above, that's my sister with my brother. We call her "Robin." But, that's not her legal name. However, we just recently discovered that many people who've been in our family for years didn't  know this fact about her. She's never used her legal first name...not even for work. We began calling her "Robin" when she was about six weeks old because she had begun to whistle in her crib. I've never seen such a thing before or since her whistling baby days.

She whistled for a few weeks, as a newborn baby, then she stopped. By the time she quit whistling, everyone in the neighborhood had been called to witness her amazing feat and she was dubbed the little singing "Robin." It seemed, for a time, instead of crying, she had begun whistling. After a while, she figured out the voice part of the equation. But, she never really cried. She was probably one of the happiest babies I've known. And, I've had a couple of my own. Regardless, her nickname stuck.

She's a school counselor and an amazing woman. She's only 36 years old --- I'm the older sister of both of those critters.

Here in Texas, sisters often call each other "Sissy." Robin is my "Sissy" and I'm her "Sissy." When we are speaking about each other, we frequently refer to each other as "Sissy." Beyond that, when I'm talking with my youngest daughter about my oldest daughter, I ask, "Have you spoken with your Sissy?" We've got a lot of women around here referred to as "Sissy."

I never really understood that the name "Sissy" or "Sister" is extremely familiar here in the South until I saw Urban Cowboy many, many years ago for the first time. Then, I began to pay closer attention to my grandmother and how she called certain loved ones "Sister." I realized that this is a learned nickname that is passed down for generations, just as is "Bubba." Sissy or Sister is a term of endearment in the South, the same as saying, "Sweetheart" or "Baby." And you do call your sister "Sissy" or "Sister." It's a sign, in our family, of loyalty.

Below is another picture of my Bubba a few years ago --- as he's having a ball at his favorite place, Big Bend. These days, he still looks the same, even though he's officially 40 years old. He's joined me in the realm of 40-something fun.

The last photo shows my brother with his best-friend and buddy, Chris. My brother is the hairy guy in the hat and his friend is the bald, shirtless guy. Chris is called "Chris." If he were born into my family, hardly anyone would know him by his legal name. I can only imagine what we would've called him.

I am starting to think that my family had reason to hide our names from society. It's not that I'm actually becoming paranoid or concerned about my family consistently using concealed identities with "nicknames," but I do kind of feel sorry for certain in-laws and out-laws who have been in the family for approximately 20 years, yet are just finding out that our names are not our legal names.

Their shocked expressions and squinting eyes at the revelation showed a conveyance of them feeling betrayed. What? Come on! You didn't know Robin wasn't really named "Robin?" You never heard the story about the whistling? Oops!

It's okay, we'll still be calling her Robin for the next 36 years, I promise. The nickname is her identity. The same for the rest of us. It is what it is.

As for these two guys, they served in the Marines together. My brother served in the Middle East and that was a horrific time in our family. Military service impacts everyone in the family. My heart always goes out to every military family out there. The way I see it, each family member is also serving their country in sacrifice. Since my brother didn't actually have a brother, he claimed Chris as a brother. They've been through some very...interesting...times together.

For any of you out there who have had a brother, I'm sure you understand.

The nicknames apply to pretty much everyone around here...it's a way of life. As for me, I answer to "Woman" since my husband likes to call me that in a low tone reminiscent of a caveman. It's kind of cute and sexy, in a historical archaic kind of manner. Until...the day my youngest daughter reached about three years old and began calling me "Woman" in a contrived deep voice that had all of us in hysterics. I think she thought it was my name.

Did it stop him from calling me "Woman?" Absolutely not. In fact, to this day, my NOW 21 year old Stefie frequently uses that deep, powerful voice to call me by this nickname. It still cracks me up. The only difference is...she's 21 now, so I get to use it right back at her.

WOMAN.