Joys In My Life

Everything's on target for settlement on the old house tomorrow at 9 AM. We did our last load of stuff last night and did our final walkthrough and took pictures of the inside and out with no furniture. We made a lot of changes since we first bought this house 7 years ago. Phoebe was being a ham last night. She let me take lots of pics of her in the old house some she was goofing off, some were very pretty. The one I really like is of her standing in front of the sink in the kitchen. I told her that I have pictures of her getting her hair washed in that sink when we first brought her home from the hospital. She had a lot of hair, even then, and loved getting her hair washed back then. She used to make the cutest face! Now here she is 4 feet tall and standing next to the sink and is tall enough to turn the faucet on herself. If I could only get her to wash dishes!!! LOL! After we loaded up the cars and finished saying our goodbyes to the old house (and I didn't cry), ...

Things are getting a more homey feel at the new house. We went to Walmart this past weekend and picked up some pretty doormats to wipe our feet at the various entrances. It's amazing how nice that makes everything look. We also picked up some cushions for the patio furniture we brought over from the old house. So now we have a nice place to sit in the evenings and have a nice glass of wine after a long day at work. We're very excited to get through the next two days. Tonite we're finishing the last bits of things to move from the garage at the old house. We can finish this tonight as there isn't much left. The new homeowners have their final walkthrough tomorrow at 11 AM. Then Thursday at 9 AM is settlement at the lawyers office. We're planning on going out to dinner Thursday night to celebrate the closing of that chapter in our lives. It will feel so nice to move on and forward. We'll have so many new things to do at the new house that we need to pri...

Things are going very well. Tom and I divided the phone calls about disconnecting utilities and such to the old house. We'll be going to the old house tomorrow to finish moving some things in the garage as well as putting up a standard ceiling fan in the master bedroom (we're taking the one there now) and fixing an access panel in Phoebe's old closet that is for the hallway bathroom plumbing. After that we'll be finished with the old house and our minds can fully be in the new house. I can't wait. I now need to make a list of things to do in the new house and put them into priority. I have to admit, I love going through lists and checking things off. We'll be leaving work early today as it's the Friday before a holiday weekend. I'm hoping to get a lot of walks with the dog in this afternoon and over the weekend. I went really far the other evening. Like my favorite heroine, Elizabeth in Pride and Predjudice, I am a great walker. There are a few...

Wow! Two days of posting in a row. Not much happening here but lots of work. I got the downstairs weekly cleaning done last night. V. proud of me there. However, I couldn't get up this morning to work out, so not so proud of me there. I did skip the workout so I could get to work at a decent time. V. happy with how that worked out. I've been kicking butt at work today. I think. At least until the next crisis comes along. Woo hoo!!! Since just writing the last paragraph the next crisis came along and it's awesome! The realtor just called. The buyers want to move up settlement to June 1!!!!! I have so much to do in nine days now, but I'm so happy!

I've been really bad about posting lately. We were so busy last week with Tom coming back from China and him getting adjusted back to reality and the EDT time zone. Now we're really busy getting the two items done for the old house from the home inspection so we can be ready earlier than the June 15th settlement date. I'm glad we are, as the realtor today said that the new owners may be interested in settling early on the house, as they are selling a house and they may be able to get out of that one earlier. Earlier is better in our minds! We moved a bunch of stuff yesterday from the old house with help from my in-laws. We'll probably need one more trip like that to finish the job. Of course last week I got AF four days early and the exact day after DH got home from China, which really sucks. I haven't been on the herbs from the acupuncturist as I ran out and haven't gone back due to lack of time and money. Maybe I'll be able to go back soon. It was...

Yeah! Tom called last night from Beijing! It's exactly 12 hours ahead in Beijing, China from the east coast of the USA. Hmmm, wonder if they do daylight savings time. If they don't it would be 13 hours difference in the fall/winter. Anyway, I found out why he hasn't been eating well over there. They put a lot of MSG in the food. Tom's allergic to MSG. Makes his rheumatoid arthritis act up and he feels crappy all over. Poor guy. I told him to see if when he goes out to eat if he can ask for no MSG. Phoebe has a little cold. She's a little congested and has a cough. I gave her some medicine last night and this morning, and it helped. I know she wouldn't want to miss school today, because I get to leave work early to be at her school at 3 PM for a Mother's Day party. She's been looking forward to it all week. She's also realized she can read a bit and is very excited about it. I started reading Dr. Seuss's "Hop on Pop" two ...

You'd think I'd be happy selling the old house, but of course my brain is now onto other things as soon as I had the news. It's been tough since Tom left for China on Saturday morning. I miss him terribly. I realized that even though he travels for work sometimes, in almost 12 years of marriage we've really never gone a day without talking at least once. With the miracle of cell phones, we've usually talked at least twice a day when he's out of town. He did call on Tuesday morning and the first words out of my mouth were, "We have two offers on the house!" We had to cut ourselves short of talking so it wouldn't cost too much. I have so much to try to remember to tell him when he gets back. Most are Phoebe stories. The other has to do with his family's finances (my in-laws, not ours). He will not be happy. I've been on the phone with MIL most days as she's trying to help them out with it. Unfortunately, I don't want to go...

It's official. Our house is under contract. I'm very pleased. The contact is for only $7k below our asking price. They are doing the home inspection on Monday at 9 AM, even though it's not due until the 20th. They say they'll have the home inspection report to us on Tuesday and the Radon test results on Wednesday. Now that I have the house sold, I'm starting to think of all the other things I need to get done. LOL!

I've had lots I should've wrote about helping DH get all his final papers for school together before his class left for China on Saturday at O Dark Thirty. Phoebe and I have been great getting stuff done. We made some great carrot cake cupcakes for a Homeowner's Association Picnic at the new neighborhood. They were from scratch! Cream cheese icing! Mmmmmmm. But I've had no time to write. Hopefully, I'll get to piece some of the really cute Phoebe stories I've accumulated over the past week. But here's the exciting news! As expected, we received two offers for our house today. One is better than the other. One is not complete (missing a signed disclosure statement and mortgage pre-approval letter) and that is not the better offer. So my realtor is talking with both of them and hopefully the one we like will pan out and I'll be signing the contract soon to make it official. Thank you for all your beautiful words and concern. We're tough co...