Dulce Domum

Happy February! 

Last month seemed so long and dark and dreary that I was happy to switch over the calendar page this morning. I took a personal day off work today. It's going to be a date to remember...

...because I went to the bank and paid off our mortgage this morning!!

Gregg and I are beyond thrilled. We love our modest home so much, and knowing that it now belongs to us completely is like a dream come true. Earlier Gregg texted me from work and said, "This is one of the most exciting times in my life!" and "I don't want us to ever leave there. Home." 

We're both so happy and very, very grateful. Yes, this will be a day to remember.

Random daily life stuff

 It's a most welcome day off for me. Today is, of course, Election Day, and schools are always closed on this day. As a matter of fact, the school where I work is my polling place. Gregg and I went early this morning, before he had to leave for work. I was grateful to be able walk in the gym, cast my vote (with no wait), and then head back home for the rest of the day.

Work hasn't gotten any better, unless you're judging by how well I seem to be managing to keep my head down and power through. * So far this has been a loooong year. For the first time in my six years at the school, I have a mild dread in the pit of my stomach on Sunday afternoons. Spring can't come soon enough; that's when contracts and work agreements start coming out and jobs start opening up. With 24 schools in our district, surely an opportunity to transfer to something better will come along soon! 

George's leg/knee is still a real worry. He still limps some half the time, despite almost six weeks of reduced activity and the NSAIDs he gets every morning. Arthritis in his left knee seems to be his biggest issue, and we're probably going to have to try to manage it for the rest of his life. He's gotten somewhat depressed because we haven't been taking him for his twice-daily half mile walk. Hopefully the vet will soon let us gradually get him back to walking more. We've just been making sure that if it's a ligament tear, it has some time to heal, but if it's just arthritis, then gentle exercise will be good for him. 

Poor George; we've been sneaking around with Poppy, taking her on walks. Not too often, and mostly when he's in a back room napping and so won't notice, but still. I hate going without him and I feel guilty. But as bad as I feel for making him rest for all these weeks, I can't deny an 11-month-old puppy the chance for exercise. She's got so much pent-up energy she's like a small package of dynamite!

Okay, well "small" might be the wrong word for Poppy! She was 50 pounds when I last took her to the vet. She's getting to be a big (and tall) girl. Although I'm a little sad that she's not really a puppy anymore, I'm pleased as can be about the dog she's becoming. She's turning out to be very intelligent, friendly (to humans and dogs alike), and playful, with the beginnings of a sense of humor that I didn't know was possible in dogs until Ginger came along. She's sweet, too. Very cuddly, especially late at night and early in the morning when she's sleepy. Poppy is already very much a part of our family.

Her only fault so far (and it's only really kind of a fault) is that she's stubborn and protective, and she'll bark like hell at people coming and going at neighbors' houses. She's also not fond of strangers (like the pest control guy that comes quarterly) who enter our home. She'll snarl and bark and put all the fur up along her spine, and no amount of scolding will make her stop. I always end up banishing her to the back yard if I have to let strangers into the house. But she's loving and loyal to all our friends and family, so at least there's that! Ginger was also protective, but she was smart enough to discern which people might actually pose a risk and which wouldn't. Since Poppy is so smart I expect she'll gain some discernment with maturity. She's still very much a puppy in some ways.

One last item of note: Gregg took down the last really large aquarium in our house. It was a 125 gallon that's been in our den since we moved in here 4 years ago. ** He decided he wanted to sell it while the tank was still in good shape, and he wants to concentrate on something a little bit smaller and less time (and space) consuming. He sold it for a very, very good price to a secretary at one of the medical offices where he gets paid to maintain their aquariums. He's known this woman for years, and she's been wanting a nice, large tank of her own. He only charged her $400 for the tank, stand, lights, filters, and several buckets of nice substrate. A real bargain.

The aquarium, cleaned and ready to go, right before the new owner came to pick it up.

Of course, we had to totally rearrange the den after the aquarium was gone. So far, I like what we've done in there, and today we're going furniture shopping for new barstools to go in this room! That's going to be Gregg's birthday gift--his birthday is tomorrow--and I'll post photos of the room once we're finished redoing it. I'm a little sad to see the tank go, but excited about rearranging and redecorating.

* Knocking on wood as I type this. When your boss almost certainly has a personality disorder, and you manage to stay in their (mostly) good graces, it's best to stay humble about it. All that could, and might, change tomorrow!

**Today is the 4-year anniversary of us buying this house! That's so hard to believe. Time really does fly.

Homeowner headaches

As many of you long time readers know, I was thrilled when I was finally able to buy my first home a couple of years ago. We waited and rented so long that I was beginning to be afraid we'd never be able to manage it. The first few years after we got married we were almost ready; we had a decent nest egg saved up, good credit scores, and I had a job making double my current income. Then cancer struck, which wiped out our savings, ruined my husband's credit score (the medical bills were obscene, even with good health insurance) and put any plans for the future strictly on hold for a long time. 

When we were finally able to buy this house, I was so grateful. It's been a bittersweet thing, because what made it possible was a generous inheritance we got when my dear mother-in-law passed away. She would have loved this place!  I get sad sometimes when I think about all the fun we could have had, sitting on my screened porch, drinking wine and watching the bird feeders. I wish we could have bought this place before she died, but such is life. 

Since becoming homeowners, we've been very preoccupied with proper care and maintenance of the house. Our last rental home had grown so shabby (thanks to our cheap ass landlord) that I was embarrassed to have people over by the last year we were there. Things wear out and break down over time, and he always, always found the cheapest possible option to repair and/or replace things. We swore that we would never look for the cheap option over the quality one in a home we own, and not only that, we're looking to improve the place. Not for resale, because we hope to live here forever, but for our own comfort and happiness.

Still, I've discovered the one downside of homeownership: there's never any end to the maintaining/repairing/replacing one must do, especially with an older house like ours. 

We've done pretty well so far, though. First off, we had to replace the 36 year old HVAC that was here when we bought the place. It kept breaking our first summer here, and in a place as hot as South Carolina that's a ticket to misery. Of course, it took a large chunk out of our savings but it's been so worth it. Not only are we super comfortable, but our power bill has gone down dramatically thanks to the new, much more energy efficient unit. We added a door to the half bathroom off the master bedroom. The previous owners only had a curtain up, which was just bizarre. Along with a few other small repairs, that was all we did the first year. 

In the last month we came into some extra money (an actual tax return for the first time in years and then our stimulus payments) and decided to save part of it, but to put the rest into the house. First I called an HVAC company and paid a yearly fee that includes twice a year servicing of our new unit. They came out on Monday morning and did their pre-summer maintenance, and they'll be back in 6 months to do the same thing to prepare for the winter. I paid for the year all at once, in advance. Hopefully this will make our new unit work better and last longer than it would otherwise, so I consider it protecting the investment we made. Money well spent.

Then we had decided we needed some plumbing work done. The shower drain clogged regularly and putting chemicals into it was making me nervous and wasn't resolving the issue. There was a tiny, intermittent leak under the kitchen sink. Most importantly, we have a tankless hot water heater and had heard that they need periodic flushing and maintenance to continue working properly. I looked around online and contacted a combination plumbing and electrical company that has years' worth of excellent customer reviews. They came out Tuesday morning, looked at those three things, and quoted us a price....

Over $800!!!!  We were aghast.

It was $300 to service the tankless water heater....$200 to add a new drain to the bathroom tub that would work better....and the tiny, almost insignificant leak under the kitchen sink was the result of a poor, "rigged together" piece of plumbing that wasn't "up to code" and had to be redone...another $250. Also the initial assessment of the issues involved a $65 service fee. 

We went ahead and had the work done, but weren't happy about it. I'll admit that the technicians were very professional, prompt, and thorough. But they should have been for the $870 we ended up spending after taxes were added in! If any of you reading this are homeowners and live in the states, do you think that's excessive? It seemed so to me, but what do I know? I do know this, however: whenever we go to have plumbing or electrical work done in the future, we'll try a different company to see if we can get better rates!

At the end of the day, though, we've had some nagging worries put to rest and that's a little more peace of mind. Our a/c is getting regular service now, our tub drains, our kitchen sink is "up to code" and won't be leaking anymore, and our tankless water heater has had really important maintenance done. 

Time to move on down the list and onto the next thing.....as soon as our bank account recovers!

Extra cash

Yesterday I got a text from the secretary of the school where I work. It seems that our superintendent has done away with "comp time" this year. Basically "comp time" was when you worked extra hours off the clock that could be used later as needed. I guess it was too easily abused. So instead of a bunch of people getting in comp time next week during registration, anyone who works will be clocking in and getting an extra paycheck for the time worked. The secretary asked me if I wanted to work any or all of the 3 days of registration, and when I found out that I could make some extra money, I decided to work all three! So on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week I'll be working from 8am-3pm and earning a small extra paycheck. And after that I'll still have Thursday through Sunday off before I start back for real. I'm happy for the chance to make some extra cash.

Speaking of extra cash, Gregg is getting ready to sell almost 200 pounds of old dried coral skeleton we've had sitting around in buckets in the garage. One of the nursing homes where he maintains the aquariums is switching their 180 gallon tank over to African cichlids and they're totally redoing the aquascape, and coral skeleton will be perfect for it. Gregg has offered them a deal on the coral: $1.50 a pound, when it normally sells for at least double that (if you can find it at all). So that will be another extra check for us. We decided yesterday (when I was considering whether or not to sacrifice three days of my summer vacation) that we could combine the extra money we'll be earning to buy a piece or two or furniture we still want for the house. We still need a desk, two barstools, and a new chair for the living room. This will give us the chance to knock an item or two off that list.

I don't really mind giving up the three days. Last year during registration my job was to sit at a table and sell school t-shirts. For part of that time the band teacher hung out with me and we had a good time trash talking Donald Trump and exchanging funny student/parent/school stories. It wasn't really like work at all. I was already planning to work a day or two for comp time, so getting paid is a nice surprise! The last few days off will fly by no matter what I do, anyway.

Today I'll be hosing off the coral Gregg's about to sell and letting it dry in the sun. It's been in the garage for so long it's a little dusty. I'll have the house to myself until 7 or 8pm because Gregg has two aquarium jobs to go take care of after he finishes his shift at the pet store. I'm trying to decide if I want to meet up with some friends this afternoon for coffee and conversation. It's something I do fairly often on Wednesdays since that's his day to work late. I haven't spent nearly as much time with friends this summer as I'd planned to; somehow with one thing or another I've been busy with other things. The new house has been the focus of almost all my energy this time around. I imagine that by next summer we'll be more settled in and I can turn my attention to other things. Not that I mind pouring time and energy into our new home! I love it and want to make it as nice as possible.

Catching up at the end of March

This month seems to have flown by at the rate of January and February put together. March is my favorite month of the year, and it's almost gone already!

I realized I never posted pictures from my little birthday get together(s). It was such a lovely weekend that I want to blog about it to remember it.

First up: I decorated the dining room with paper flower garlands purchased years ago from the dollar store, no doubt for one of my "girls' night" gatherings. I made lots of party food, which included ham ranch pinwheels, raw spring veggies with dip, strawberries and grapes, a fruity white wine sangria flavored with apple brandy, and of course the carrot cake I had bought for my birthday.

And Marla brought this little sweetie along with her, which was fun for us all. Martina gave the baby a tiny stuffed turtle, which she loved:

I got a lovely gift from Martina: a pretty basket with gardening cloves and wooden cooking spoons, which were handmade by a local artisan. Aren't they pretty?

The birds are Carolina Wrens, which is our state bird and also a species we see frequently at our backyard feeders. I love these and can't bear the thought of actually using them, even though they're supposed to be fine for use as long as you're willing to do a little extra maintenance. Carolina Wrens are also on one of the mugs I bought myself as a birthday gift earlier that day from the Wild Birds Unlimited store (I dropped in to buy seed in bulk for the feeders).

I love these bird mugs and want the whole collection. I started with these two.

The day after my birthday, I went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some of my book club friends: Marian, Rita, Karen H., Karen R., Paulette, and Kathleen. The place has wonderful margaritas and fresh tableside guacamole. I got a bunch of cards, and one gift of a tiny stuffed narwhal from my friend Karen H. It puzzled me at first.

Then Karen reminded me of something I shared on Facebook the other day that she particularly enjoyed:



When she saw the tiny pink narwhal, she thought of me. I love my friends!

After the birthday weekend fun it was hard to go back to the grind of work last week. We still haven't had our spring break yet, because it's tied to Easter which is very late this year. We also had a few long weekends taken away since Christmas because we had to make up some of the days lost to Hurricane Florence. The kids are wilder than ever and everyone is fed up and sick of being at school (the staff too!). Good Friday (our first day off) can't come soon enough!

I start a conversational Spanish class on Tuesday. Keeping up with my lessons on my own has proved challenging to say the least and I think the structure of taking a course will help me reignite some enthusiasm for continuing to learn. We have lots of parents at the middle school who only speak Spanish so there's a real need for it at work. The adult education center connected with our school district is offering the course for only $35. Classes are from 5-7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for all of April and May (with the exception of the week of spring break). I'm really looking forward to it!

That about finishes up what I've been doing/thinking about this month! It's so beautiful outside right now. Our screened in back porch has become my "happy place" and I spend hours every day sitting out there, enjoying the mild spring weather and watching the birds at our feeders. Spring in South Carolina is something to see.

The view from our driveway.

Our neighborhood is filled with blooming wisteria.

Our dogwood tree out front is blooming.

View from our front door.

Just catching up

I've had a bit of a blogging dilemma since we've moved to the new house: our tiny third bedroom that we're using as an office isn't a comfortable place to sit and write. We have an old desktop computer, but no desk to put it on yet. At the old house we used an extra dining table we had acquired along the way, but I hated it and refused to put it in the new house (it's in the garage now where we're going to use it as a work table). For the time being our computer monitor, keyboard, mouse, the computer itself, the modem and wifi router, and two small speakers are all crowded onto three end tables that we intend to donate to charity or give away as soon as we buy a proper desk. The end tables are not meant to be used that way and it's uncomfortable to sit and type. Not only that,

but the room is very crowded and messy, as you can see. Marco's big cage doesn't fit anywhere else in the house (that works for us, anyway) so this is where it's ended up. We also had to find room for two 120 gallon aquariums, so one of them had to go in here. There's a pile of boxes behind the door that need to be broken down and taken off to the recycling center, and the list goes on. What we really need is to find a new desk and get rid of all the clutter, but money is tight and there's a list as long as my arm of things we need and want to buy for the new house! I'm hoping to go looking at the thrift stores and flea markets for a nice (and cheap) desk.

But I digress. The whole point of all that is to say that sitting there to write anything is uncomfortable right now. We don't own laptops, unfortunately. If I'm at home and want to do anything on my blog, it's either from this spot, or on my phone. And typing comments on my friends' blogs is aggravating enough when using a cell phone keypad, nevermind writing a whole post on it! I'm actually sitting at the computer you see in this photo as I type this, and while it's not the end of the world, it's definitely not comfortable. I'm spoiled with a really fast, nice computer at work (and two monitors!) along with a nice desk to work from, but I never visit this blog from my work computer. Our IT department can track every keystroke we make, and every website we visit, and it's better to stay away from anything that falls within the realm of my personal life.

But speaking of work....look at the craft some of the kids in the PMD class (profoundly mentally disabled) made and presented to me this afternoon! It was my favorite quote from Martin Luther King Jr. printed on one side of a cut out heart, with some scribbled color on the other side and a piece of yarn for hanging.

 Oh, my heart.



We just had a long weekend, with the MLK holiday meaning we had a day off on Monday. I couldn't help but think about those 800,000 federal workers going without pay for over a month now. I get so angry when I think about the government shutdown and all those poor innocent people working without pay and with families to feed and mortgages and rent to pay. And we have food banks being set up so that our federal workers can at least eat...it's just absolutely mind blowing. It makes me furious and I hate Trump and his supporters and all of the GOP with my whole heart. Just bitter black hate. And then I look at the words of someone like Dr. King and I think: how did you do it? How on earth did you manage to keep love and tolerance and hope alive in your heart when the whole damn country just seems like a nightmare of conflict and evil and the worst kinds of narcissism and corruption?

In any event, it seemed fated for me to receive this message this week, and from our most vulnerable students, at that. I needed the reminder.

Did you see the lunar eclipse on Sunday night? Since we had Monday off I was able to stay up late. Totality was around midnight. It was bitterly cold outside so we just walked out on our front porch,  looked at it for a couple of minutes, then went back inside. It was almost directly overhead and a rusty orange color. We've seen lunar eclipses before; they're not all that rare, but they always seem kind of special. Gregg and I had a rare day off together the following day, Monday. We're enjoying the new house so much! We can sit and discuss plans for the yard or paint colors or things we'd like to do for hours and hours. I have no idea when (or if) the newness of having our own home will wear off but the house is almost like a new member of the family right now. :)

The good thing about having a long weekend with Monday off is the fact that it's only a four day work week. Tomorrow is Thursday already. This week has been hectic and a little stressful at work, but at least it's a short one. I'm already ready for another weekend!

What are you up to this week?

Welcome to the neighborhood (not!)

One afternoon a few weeks ago, before we started moving our stuff over,  I was at the new house cleaning, and I met the first of our new neighbors. It was a guy named Joe, and he seems really nice. He owns the house next door, which he inherited from his aunt who passed away a little while back. I said hello while he was out sweeping the porch (he's been trying to sell the house) and we struck up a conversation and immediately hit it off. I was disappointed when I found out he doesn't live there, because that would be at least one good neighbor!

Then on the day the movers were bringing our furniture in, I heard a cheery female voice call out "Yoo Hoo!" from the foyer. It was the lady who lives on the other side of us, come to introduce herself. She's a pleasant widow who's lived in her house decades now. She said we were going to love the neighborhood, that it's quiet and safe. Her (many) children grew up in her house and all of them live locally and visit regularly, and so do her grown up grandchildren. A thoroughly pleasant and decent lady--by this time I was thinking that we had hit the jackpot on good new neighbors.

I was wrong.

There's a creepy old man that lives behind us (our backyards are separated by a fence) who has come to our door three times in three weeks to complain about our dogs barking and disturbing him and his wife....during their 1pm to 3pm afternoon naps. He keeps insisting that we need to put the dogs inside for those two hours every day and refuses to hear us when we try to tell him that we work doing the day and can't be at home to accommodate him. It's really weird.

The first time he showed up at our door was two days after we'd moved in. I was in the shower mid afternoon and someone started ringing the doorbell, over and over. Of course I wasn't in a position to answer it at the time and by the time I got out he was gone. About 15 minutes later the doorbell rang again, and when I finally made it to the door I found a small old man with a big bouffant of white hair taping a letter to the front door. It said (and he said, too) "We've lived here 50 years. Your dogs' barking disturb my wife's naps, and she's been ill. We nap between 1 and 3 in the afternoon and we'd appreciate you putting your dogs inside. We're Christian people." Of course I was horrified that my dogs were disturbing a sick old woman, and I told the guy I'd be happy to do whatever I could to accommodate him on the weekends, but we work during the week and our dogs don't stay inside when we're not here. They have the porch and backyard during the day, and then they spend every night in the house, so I know they're not disturbing anyone at night. What they do during the day is something we have limited control of.

Well, it was like talking to a brick wall. He kept repeating that he wanted us to put the dogs inside and that they'd lived here "for over 50 years" and "we're good Christian people".  It was strange. Gregg and I talked about it, and I even considered baking the guy and his wife a plate of cookies and including an apology note....because, again, as weird as he acted (only two days after we moved in, remember) the last thing I want to do is disturb our neighbors. We want to fit in to the new neighborhood and be on friendly terms with everyone. We were really bothered by the whole thing.

Then two days ago the man showed up at our door again. This time it was Gregg who was home alone. The guy got really weird this time, repeating over and over a demand for us to put the dogs inside from 1pm 3pm every afternoon. He wouldn't acknowledge anything Gregg tried to say in response, and even got vaguely threatening..."I don't like to cause trouble for people" "I'm a Christian man and I hate to start trouble, but....." and similar things repeated multiple times. He also asked where we had lived before, and when he got a vague answer, he actually had the nerve to ask
where exactly we had lived! I'm proud of Gregg for holding his temper and his tongue. He was furious by this time and had to struggle not to go off in a way that old man wouldn't have soon forgotten. He says he doesn't know if the guy is suffering from mild dementia, or is just a nasty old crank, but he's got one more time to show up on our door and we'll be putting a stop to his harassment.

I talked to the sheriff's deputy assigned to the school were I work and asked for advice. I'm slightly scared of the crazy old man--not that I think he'll do anything to us, but what if he's nuts enough to do something to our dogs? The deputy told me that 1. Our dogs are perfectly free to bark nonstop during the day. If it were happening all night, every night, then that could be a noise complaint, but they're not even outside at night. 2. The next time Mr. Crazy shows up at our door, tell him "We're not going to resolve this. You're going to have to accept that. Now get off our property, and don't come back. You are not welcome here." and shut the door in his face. If he comes back after that we can file a report on him for trespassing, and he'll get a friendly little visit from local law enforcement. 3. If something happens to our dogs, the legal consequences will be severe. I have a copy of a letter the guy wrote us (dated) and I have the deputy's word that he advised me about this situation on x date.

I'm sure it's not going to come to all that, but this whole episode has been terribly unpleasant. Our poor dogs have had a hard enough time adjusting to a new house and yard and neighborhood, and now the neighbor behind us is a loony old geezer who hates them.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress of our new neighborhood feud. Sigh.

Oh, and there won't be any Christmas cookies or cards going to that house!

Settling in

The settling in at the new house is well underway. Most of the clutter and boxes piled in the hallway has been dealt with, and we've gotten started on the garage, although just barely. We've brought in approximately 3/4 of the boxes of books we own and unpacked them. We decided to have the bookshelves in the hallway, across from the bedroom we're using as an office. 

Speaking of which! I finally got an ethernet cable to connect our desktop computer to the modem this past Friday! Prior to that we could only use the Wifi for Internet access, which means our phones. (We don't own a laptop computer although I hope to buy one someday soon, after we've gotten over the purchase of this house bleeding us dry). Blogging isn't easy from a tiny hand held device, and although I've been reading I haven't done much commenting or blogging of my own lately. Now that our computer is operational again I look forward to remedying that!

My mom and dad finally came to see the house yesterday. It's far from perfect, we still have plenty of unpacking and arranging to do (not to mention things we still need to buy like a small loveseat and two bar stools), but they loved it and said so many nice things! They brought gifts of a basket of fruit and nuts, two amaryllis plants sprouts for force blooming, and a pink Christmas cactus plant. Oh, and a Christmas tree scented candle. It was so sweet of them! Marla is coming over this afternoon (and hopefully bringing the baby) to see the house for the first time, and at some point between now and Christmas I hope most of my other friends can drop by, too. A house just doesn't feel like a home until it's had friends and family inside of it. They'll just have to excuse the fact that we still have plenty to do to settle in, and besides that....no house is ever perfect anyway. 

Several of you asked to see pictures, so here are a few. After this I'll try to blog about something besides the new house, which must be getting awfully boring to at least a few visitors. As you'll see, we've done a bit of decorating for the holidays already. How are your preparations for the next few weeks going?

News

We're buying the house!

My realtor kept telling me to wait on accepting the last offer, and it turns out that was great advice. The seller got antsy and eventually dropped the price back down to what we originally offered! The only concession we had to make was to pay our own closing costs, which isn't a big deal.

We're beyond excited!

Our closing date is November 8th, so everything is happening very fast. The inspection is Monday, and I'm hoping that goes smoothly and there are no delays. At this rate, with a closing date so early in the month, we should be finishing the move by Thanksgiving. Once Christmas gets here, we should be settling in nicely.

Thanks, everyone, for all the positive messages and good thoughts. Please keep them coming over the next three weeks or so as we navigate the purchase and the move!

Thursday at home

We're out of school again today. Hurricane Michael has turned into Tropical Storm Michael and is passing through South Carolina as I type this. This makes six days we've missed in this district thanks to the weather and it's only early October, but what can you do? Not control the weather, that's for sure.

I'm thankful we're spared the worst of this storm. There are still a whole lot of people devastated by flooding and the last thing they need is more rain, but at least Michael has been downgraded and is moving through quickly. I feel so bad for the people in Florida who have had to endure a true monster of a hurricane. I was relieved and grateful to read last night that Ms. Moon and her family are safe and sound, after seeing how strong the storm had become early yesterday morning.

I'll admit I was kind of glad for the chance to sleep in this morning. I haven't slept well in a week. The people selling the house we're interested in have been negotiating with us (we thought at first they were going to hold firm on the too-high price--turns out they're a little more motivated than they originally seemed) and I'm finding the whole process incredibly stressful.  It looks as though it may work out after all, though. I'm excited and nervous and, at this point, ready to get through this whole process and have it over with. If all goes according to plan we may be in our new home by Thanksgiving! Please keep sending good vibes our way for smooth inspections and no last minute unpleasant obstacles.

Today I should be catching up on chores, but aside from a couple of loads of laundry (provided we don't lose power) I'm going to try to rest and relax instead. Since we intend to call our realtor tonight and accept the last offer we got, I'm fully aware that the next few weeks will be busy and probably exhausting.

Yesterday I went by the bookstore where I used to work and picked up a load of good sturdy boxes, and this weekend we're going to start packing in earnest. But not today. Today I'm going to do my best to enjoy the last few hours before I'm fully committed. While the wind blows and the rain falls, I'm going to work on my current knitting project, watch some Netflix (again, that's dependent on the power staying on) and spend some quality time with the dogs and Marco. We're all in for an exciting few weeks!

The outside is very plain, but the inside has been nicely renovated and 

the neighborhood is exactly what we've been looking for.

Word of the week: Eventful!

This has been the most eventful week I've experienced in ages, with surprises both horrific and wonderful, big and small.

There was the crazy active shooter that opened fire in a residential neighborhood here in Florence on Wednesday. It turns out that the gunman was the father of a child that attends the school where I work, and 30 minutes before he went on his two hour killing spree he had picked up his son in our school car line.  I left a long comment at the end of my last post if anyone cares to read more details about this tragedy, so I won't recount them here. It's been a terrible thing, as you can imagine.

The next day, Thursday, I got a text from our realtor about 3 homes she wanted to show us. She emailed links to the listings to my work account so I could have a look on my lunch break. One of the three was far enough above our price limit that I clicked through the photos quickly without paying too much attention to them. What I did see didn't look too remarkable, anyway, especially for the listing price they were asking. I didn't expect to even go look at it, although the realtor insisted we needed to see it and that the price would be negotiable. Turns out the photos didn't do the place justice. It was the first house we've been shown that actually looks better in person than it did in the photos. It was a real surprise.

And you know what's even more surprising?

We've submitted on offer on it! I can hardly believe it.

I'm also afraid to be too excited. We're offering $10,000 less than the asking price, with the understanding that the seller will also cover the closing costs and a one year home warranty. My realtor is confident that that's a fair offer and if we hold firm they'll go for it. It's tucked away in a quiet neighborhood and looks kind of plain on the outside and so although they've been trying to sell it for a while now it hasn't gotten much attention. I hope this means it was meant to be ours and was waiting for us! It checks off every single item on our wish list:

*Safe, quiet neighborhood convenient to everything.

*All hardwood and tile floors (no carpet).

*Gas range and tankless water heater.

*Fireplace (gas logs) 

*Plenty of windows for natural light.

*Garage.

*Fenced yard.

*Screened porch.

*A yard big enough to have a small garden and some trees, but small enough that maintenance won't be an insurmountable problem as we age. 

I won't say any more about it until I see if the current owners accept our offer. I probably shouldn't have said this much, but since we're not talking about this with our friends or family yet I just had to tell someone! Wish us luck!

Speaking of luck, I found out this morning that I won a prize over at my friend Rue's blog Rue and Hyssop !!! Every October she has the most wonderful seasonal giveaways on her blog (a new one each week, so go check it out!) and she's a gifted writer to boot. To wake up this morning and discover that I won one of the first week's giveaways was a fabulous surprise! Thank you, Rue, if you're reading this!

It's definitely been a week jam packed with news around here, and the next few weeks are going to be super busy if the offer is accepted. Our contract states that the closing date will be on or before November 8th....the day before Gregg's birthday! I can't believe that we might be in a new home by Christmas, much less Thanksgiving. I'll definitely keep you all posted!