Moving Day

 Today is the day.   Pray for me.  I have never done this by myself 😱

Duck Count 🦆

🦆  

Downstairs duck hunt is complete!!!  50 ducks.....

Upstairs duck hunt is still continuing ...42 have been found - only 8 to go 🦆 

I am hereby making a declaration concerning moving.  I am aware that this is probably NOT our last move, but --- next time will be different.  I have no problem packing our belongings, but instead of trying to move all the little stuff ourselves, we will be hiring the next crew to move EVERYTHING!!!!  I'm too old for this crap...just saying.

Movers come next Wednesday.  I hope this will be over soon.  

Random Stuff

 First let me say that I hate the process of moving.  I started trying to be organized with the packing, but as time is going on, I have finally gotten to the point of "just throw the crap in a box and I'll deal with it later"😆  I'm hoping to be moved right before we go to Ozark on the 22nd or right after we get back.  Having things in two places is not fun.

Speaking of the new house...anyone that knows me, knows that I don't have second thoughts or really sweat decisions until they have already been made....then I question said decision to death knowing that it's too late to do anything about it....as I have done with this house purchase.  But a God wink has set my mind at ease and it's the craziest thought process to date for me (I think)...lol.   The house number was eating away at me because it seemed so familiar - 2056-  It took me a couple of weeks to FINALLY  realize why it was so familiar...don't laugh now...It was a phone number from my childhood and still stands to this day.....774-2056 .... is the number for the Dairy King in Ozark which I know I have dialed hundreds of times for call in orders ... God wink set my mind at ease and yes I'm sure God has a sense of humor.

When we moved my parents into a nursing home and started going thru their belongings, I found SO many things that Mother had meticulously packed away and saved for a special occasion.  She had dressy purses and shoes, pearls, dishes, clothes and anything else she deemed too good to use everyday.  Long story short....she hardly used or enjoyed any of the things she had.  Such a wasted...I am trying to break that practice.  This practice was so ingrained in me from all of the women in my family that I also have things that are put away for a special occasion...As I'm packing this house, I carefully packed my grandmother's china - which I don't believe has ever been used and 2 matching sets of gold flatware that I bought because they caught Jim's eye and he fell in love with it.  I plan on using all of this for at least 1 meal every week.  Several years ago, Jim bought me a beautiful pearl necklace.  I have been saving it for a "special occasion"  I had a special occasion last week...God granted me another day on this earth...I wore the pearls...I'm not "saving" anything else...it's time to enjoy all the wonderful things this life and God has afforded me.  I hope to pass this attitude toward possessions to my children...sometimes the "special occasion" comes too late.  ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!!  Everyday is a special occasion.

Long Update

 SO SO much has been happening that it has been difficult to stop and write about it.  But here is a little of what has been happening in our life lately.  First, after SEVERAL years, Jim needed a new CPAP machine.  The CPAP machine in our house is non-negotiable.  I’m more than certain that the severity of his Apnea would have taken his life without it.  Anyway….protocol has changed now and in addition to sleep study (which he failed miserably), Drs now want you to have stress test, EKG and Echocardiogram.  Of course this sent Jim into a nervous tizzy.  He got through all the testing and I went with him to Dr for results because we all know that he would “forget” or not tell me everything…We are prepared for anything, but when Dr. comes in and looks over chart - he goes over all the results and tells us that Jim is “golden”.  All tests came back perfect except of course the sleep study.  Prayers answered.  Now let’s take a guess at who thinks they are indestructible? 😜

Next - we are homeowners again.  We closed on our new house !!!  Not exactly what anyone would picture we would buy, but we think it will take us nicely into retirement and possibly become income property if we decide to move post retirement.  We left the NC Charlotte area and moved across the SC line.  It only adds maybe 20 minutes to Jim’s commute when he is in the Charlotte office (which is not a lot), but it is a nice small town and (whispering) the people talk like me - with a Southern accent.  The downtown area is old original buildings with small businesses and could easily be used to film a Hallmark movie…lol.  The house is smaller that what we have had before, but there are only two of us, however there is room for more should anyone need it.  We always make sure we have room for more(we got 4 bedrooms…lol).  Totally open downstairs so everyone can be in the same room whether it’s the kitchen, dining or living room.  I think I’m going to like that.  Still a lot of tweaking to do but it will be fun.

After 3 hours in the DMV yesterday, we are now South Carolinians.. but as the song goes, my home’s in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head.

The packing and moving has started - garage is almost empty and lots of boxes are full but we will be hiring movers for the furniture  Our bodies remind us that we are not in our 20’s anymore…lol

I’m writing this blog today from Tenn looking out my hotel window at the Mountain View while Jim is working then tonight we are off for our favorite outing here….Supper at Paula Deen’s and bluegrass music outside of the Moonshine store.  This is a 180 from our Tues night date which was a Guns N Roses concert in Charlotte  It was SO awesome.  I’m so glad we live in an area where we can go from one extreme to another like this!!!

Duck Count:  I think I’m close to 70 ducks now….the problem is, I have found most of the obvious ones.  They are being found in the most unusual places now that we are packing up.  Never let it be said that my children lack imagination!!!

More to come later….BYE!!

100 Ducks

 Logan has been with us the entire month of July.   Jake, Jennifer and Emily were here for a long weekend.  Lots of laughs, food and games.  Everyone is gone and the house is extremely quiet.  I miss them already.  You always think that the each stage of your child's life is the hardest, but so far, them being grown, out of your safety net and not living close is the worst. You are proud of them for being independent, responsible adults but dang it's lonely.  But enough about that.....

Let's talk about the ducks....Sunday, Jim and I had to take Emily to her truck (parked at Jim's office) so she could go home.  While we are gone, Jennifer and Logan hide 100 mini-ducks all over my house 😲  So far, only 16 have been found .  This could take a while...they assured me that some may not be found until I start packing the house for our move....ducks, ducks everywhere !!!!

Lord help me 😂😂  100 of these little things !!!!

Our Last Day Alone

 Today was my last day alone with Logan.  Jim will be home tomorrow night and Jenny and Emily will be here tomorrow afternoon.  Logan is excited to see his Mama, but is making it clear that he's only interested in a visit and does not want to go home....lol.  

We had breakfast this morning and decided we needed to get out of the house.  We went to TJMaxx, Marshall's, Five Below and Best Buy for Logan to look until his heart was satisfied (which was almost 2 hours).  Logan had mentioned wanting Asian food for several days, so I decided we would check out a new restaurant in the area.  Konnichiwa.  The food was wonderful!!!  Logan got sushi and cleaned his plate, then began to eat what was left of my steak bowl....lol 

It has been wonderful being able to spend the month with Logan.  I will be lost and lonely for a while after he goes home!!!

God's Hand at Work

 For the past year or so, Jim and I have been looking for our own house.  We have looked in the neighborhood we live in now, we have looked in the community, we have looked in the next town over and every time there has been a stumbling block in our way.....everything from being multiple offers to overpriced housing.  We have given up , re-started, gone through two realtors and decided to start again. Prayers, prayers and more prayers.....for God's will and God's timing.  

Our realtor emailed us several houses every day but none ever felt right.  We looked at a few and we were even putting an offer in on one only to be told it was already taken by the person who looked at it before us.  As I was looking thru Trulia and Realtor.com one day, some new builds came up as "something you might be interested in".  I looked and thought ... nah... I think that is too far out... This listing just kept coming up over and over again...   I told Jim about it and we decided to go look.  We drove thru this new unfinished neighborhood, had nothing else to do, so we decided to stop at the model house/sales office where we proceeded to look at several floor plans and we agreed on one we both liked.  The next week I had our realtor go out with me to check things out and talk to the salesperson on our behalf.  She was very impressed and it would be a good deal since the area is the next to build up with over 1,000 building permits outstanding for future housing.  We would be getting in on the "ground floor" before the pricing went higher.  Still, something wasn't settled with me.  I was convinced it was too far out for my spoiled self to make quick grocery runs and casual shopping, so here we go out there again to map out the area.  We were absolutely shocked to find out we were less than 2 miles from the main township and new shopping area containing grocery stores, Walmart, restaurants, etc.  This lifted a load off my mind but something still wasn't right.  The floor plan that we had agreed on was not working in my mind.  We discussed this and decided to return to the sales office and look at a smaller house with a better layout.  The one we looked at was perfect for us.  Backing up to a wooded lot between the house and the highway, no one would ever build behind us.  The outside color of the house was perfect, the lot was level and our cars would fit in the driveway ( these are big concerns in the Carolinas).  We called our realtor and told her we were ready to put in an offer on this new build (the salesman said they would entertain offers because the house was finished).  After a few back and forths we came to an agreement and along with their incentives we came out below our budget for a house!!!  Barring any hiccups getting all the paper work and inspections, (all financing has been approved), we should close sometime next month!!!    I would have never looked in this area if this house had not just "magically" appeared in my internet search.   We are moving to a "small town" but still less than 45 minutes from all Charlotte has to offer.  God's will and God's timing.