It's Been a Long Time...

Dear God things have been busy. After agreeing to a slightly higher price than we had originally offered, we discovered that when they paved the road all the survey pins were covered up. The owner has been out of town and it seems like things have taken forever. I was getting terribly frustrated but we should have a signed contract by Wednesday, the pins have been reset and then we'll have 30 days (if we need it) for due diligence!

I've been cleaning out closets, packing things to go to storage and painting. Did I tell you how much I hate painting? Elmer has been taking loads of stuff to the storage unit and I've been donating truck loads to second hand stores. The only thing that keeps us going is knowing how wonderful it's going to be to have the property we want. Prices on goods and services are so low right now, along with interest rates, that we're thinking we'll go ahead and build a small house rather than waiting a few years and having prices on everything go up. I've decided that if at all possible, I must have a wraparound porch.



It's all exciting but I'm exhausted. We're hoping to put our house on the market by next weekend. Oh, and did I tell you that I got my first CASA case on Thursday? I have to interview about 7 people and have a report written for the court within the next week...

Adventure Awaits...

Unless something goes terribly wrong, that piece of property we wanted so bad is ours!



After our original offer, the sellers came back with a counter offer we knew we couldn't afford. We decided to try one more counter and added a bit to our original offer. After waiting weeks, yesterday they came back basically asking for a very small amount over our offer. So tonight, we sign and accept their counter offer!

Next, we start 30 days of due diligence so we can get the survey done and get answers to any questions we may have before we close. I don't think we'll use the entire 30 days as we did almost all the leg work before we ever made the original offer. All we really need to do is have the survey done which should only take a few days. One interesting note, the property is called "Jacob Springs". For those of you who don't know, our oldest son's name is Jacob, so one of the first things I'll do is make a sign for the property with the name.

Wow. Scary and exciting all at once. So much work to do on the house before we put it on the market. Painting and a few cosmetic things and taking a whole lot of stuff to storage. But, the thought of having the property we've dreamed of is such a motivation that I should have every room in the house painted within a few weeks! We did the right thing when we purchased this house from the builder before it went into foreclosure 8 years ago. Elmer contracted the finish work out so our investment in this house was about $100,000 less than most people were paying up here at the time. So, we can list and sell this house for under $300,000 and still make some money. And, the new buyer will be getting a great deal on our house.

We've kind of decided that we'll put a barn up on the new place and turn 1/2 of it into a mother-in-laws quarters and live there until we can build a house. When we have a house built, we'll rent it out or hopefully Elmer's brother will come and stay in it.

Probably nothing too fancy, something along these lines...


I'll post some pictures of the property once we've signed the offer. After 22 years of having the "dream", I can't believe it's about to really happen. Elmer and I are going to have such a great time - it's everything we've wanted.

I can't tell you how excited I am for this new adventure!

Holiday From Apron Strings...

That's how dishwashers were described when they became an affordable part of our lives. Every wife needs one in order to fully enjoy life with the rest of the family.





Well, every dishwasher I've ever owned has turned out to be an absolute piece of shit. The one I have now leaves soap scum on everything. I've tried using less soap, more soap, gel soap, dry soap, CLR, and vinegar. I've started washing all my dishes by hand and if I ever own another home, it will come complete WITHOUT a dishwasher.

I'm turning this one into a filing cabinet...

Guess What I've Got!

Nope, not a feeling, not the music in me, not the clap, not a crush on you, not a brand new pair of roller skates (damn that was a good song) - not even a lovely bunch of coconuts.

A few weeks ago mom called me.

"I ordered something for you from QVC today."
"Really?! What?" Damn I love surprises.
"A Roaming Gnome."
"Get Outta Here!"

Now, I have to admit, I had never thought that I needed or wanted, a Roaming Gnome. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought how much I really did, not only want, but need, a Roaming Gnome.

So, today he came...



I hope this doesn't sound racist, but to me, they all look alike. So, I shall have fun with him. I'll dress him up for holidays, I'll take him with me to Walmart where I'll strap him into the seat on the shopping cart. Occasionally, he will be hidden somewhere in a picture I post on my blog and if you find him first, you'll win a wonderful prize! Ok, that's a bunch of crap, but it'll be fun to see if I can hide him in some pictures.

I will call him RG. He's my new best friend.

Thanks mom!

Paul, the Psychic Octopus Receives Death Threats...

Fri Jul 9, 5:44 am ET
BERLIN (AFP) – Paul the oracle octopus has predicted that Germany will beat Uruguay in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday, but is now the target of death threats from angry German fans.

The octopus, who has become a World Cup sensation by correctly predicting all six Germany games, plumped for his country of residence on Friday, carried live on national television.

The two-year-old mollusc medium then took a rest before predicting the result of the final between Spain and the Netherlands.

Football predicting has become a dangerous job for the English-born Paul however with some bitter German fans threatening to turn him into sushi after he predicted a semi-final defeat for the German team.

Paul's home, an aquarium in western Germany, has received death-threat emails saying "we want Paul for the pan," said entertainment supervisor Daniel Fey.

"Since yesterday our colleagues have kept a very close eye on Paul," Fey added.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero hinted at octopus bodyguards. "I am concerned for the octopus ... I am thinking of sending him a protective team," joked Zapatero on Radio Cadena Ser.

Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian has called for the creature to be given an "immediate" free transfer to Spain to "ensure his protection."

Stung by Paul's "treachery" at picking Spain over Germany in the semi-final, some sections of the 350,000-strong crowd watching the game on giant screens in Berlin sang anti-octopus songs.

Friday's prediction is expected to be the last for Paul, who in octopus terms is a pensioner, at the grand old age of two-and-a-half. Octopuses generally live three years at the latest.

Universaly Beautiful...

The other day on my home page, MSN had a picture of a storm on the sun. It was so magnificent that I started looking for more and found these. If you click on the picture you can see them better. They're so beautiful that I downloaded them and someday I'd like to have them framed. How fascinating that we can get such photographs of places we've never been!

This one is called "Trees on Mars". I love the colors!


This one is a storm on the sun...


and so is this one...


This one is a Space Pillar (whatever that means!)


and a beautiful image of the sun...


Absolutely fascinating.

Do You Have a Dream?

My friend Jennifer, a cancer survivor, posted something on Facebook this morning that really hit home with me. It said "Where will you be in 15 years? If you know, can you point me in the direction of where I'll be, because I'm having trouble seeing it." I know exactly how she feels.

It's very hard to have a dream or even think more than a year ahead after cancer. You don't know if you'll ever be able to realize your dream so is there any point in having one? I don't like that I feel that way. I want to believe that I'll be alive in 15 years.

I've really only had one continual "dream". When Elmer and I got married, we lived in my grandmother's home after she died. It was an acre and we had goats and chickens, geese and ducks. We loved it. Since leaving there, we've looked for property dreaming of that life again. A place to have a little farm with animals and a somewhere where family and friends can come and just sit on the porch and enjoy our quiet and simple life. I'd have a horse that I can jump on whenever I choose.



Tell me your dream and how do you plan to make it a reality?

New Baby and a Parade...

Our sweet baby Halia was born on Saturday. She's our 4th grandchild and perfect in every way!


We attended our little Hidden Springs July 4th parade - it gets bigger and better every year. This year we even had 3 horses!







I had to end with this picture - gotta love those shorts!


Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday America!

A New Journey...

For the last couple of years I've volunteered for Camp Erin and have really enjoyed it. This year however, the camp program was taken over by someone that I find rather annoying and didn't think it would be a good fit for me.

For probably 10 years, I've thought about becoming a volunteer for CASA and took my application in about a month ago. I knew this would be something that I would really have to be committed to, nothing like I've ever done before. I was excited to get a call from them this morning asking me to attend their training next week and the week following. I'm very excited yet very nervous. Hopefully I'll be able to advocate for these children without it eating me up. I'm sure they'll give us some tips on how to make sure that happens.

So, I'm looking forward to starting this new journey in my life and hope that in some small way I can make a difference. I'm excited!