10/29 House woes

Mortgage company called with little things that must be done to the house before closing. I told them to email it to me because I'm old and can't remember things on the phone. So that's what they're doing.

Plus the toilet in the master bedroom is leaking. Luckily it's clean water from the tank. I turned off the water, but can't get down to tighten the bolt. I told Kris I think she can do it; that we don't need to bother her dad with it. If I could bend well, I could do it. My animals liked it because it was another place they could get a drink of water. Unfortunately it soaked the old carpeting in there and it smells nasty. Guess I'll have to get the carpet cleaners in again--between that, Hunter's vomit stain, and Gussie's pee stain.

But at least we're getting close to closing on the house. That'll be nice. I'll have to find my own handyman however. It's easy when someone else is responsible for it. :) But I can't wait until it's all done. One less thing to worry about.

6/4 The best, the better, the good, the bad, and the OOPS.

The best is that I accepted an offer on my Mississippi house. The bad is that I'm losing a ton of money, but I just need to unload it.

The better is that I had physical therapy today and it felt good while I was there. The bad is that it doesn't feel good right now.

The good is that my promotion will give me a lot of satisfaction at work. The bad is that I'm hardly getting a raise.

The bad is that I still haven't found homes for Q and C. The good is that I get to keep them longer.

And the OOPS? Well, I slipped on a wet kitchen floor and fell flat on my back. Ah well...such is life.

5/16 Hooray it's the weekend

Nothing exciting to report. I'm still waiting for an offer on the house in MS. Waiting impatiently, I might add.

Last night was my godson's Jordan's baccalaureate Mass. It was long, but was so neat. I can't believe he's graduating from high school. We're having a big family get-together on his graduation day this Sunday. Should be fun. I'm making a vegetable tray and dip and also a cranberry salad.

5/15 Horrible and fantastic news

The horrible is that the deal fell through on my house. Depressing.

The fantastic is that Jill and kids are visiting in October, and I'm thrilled beyond words. We're hoping that Rob and Beata can come at the same time.

5/14 Another offer

I accepted an offer on my house, except said no to one little thing they wanted. My realtor thinks they'll say yes. Maybe tonight.

Keep your fingers crossed!

5/13 Offers

One horrible offer on the house, but when they found out I was getting another offer they upped it $10,000. Still bad, but at least worth a thought. I should get the second offer tomorrow and I'm excited.

Spent a quiet night at home with the puppies. I really missed them. Both are behaving so well. We'll see if that continues while I'm at work tomorrow.

5/5 GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

I got an offer on my Mississippi house! Hallelujah!

The problem is that it's $12,000 less than what I'm asking. I'm countering at half that. We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed please. (And prayers won't hurt either.)

I'm in between clients at the moment. I saw 8 clients today before I got away for lunch at 4:30. Sure made the day go fast. Have two more before I can go home tonight. It's been a really good, and productive, day.

2/27 Tired but happy

Met with the new painters last night. They are great guys. Both teach and coach at a middle school and both have been teaching for 25 years. I'll get the estimate today or tomorrow. They'll even come back in to touch up after the floors get finished.

I've got everything arranged, including someone to clean up at the very end--because I'll be gone. This has taken a lot of orchestration, but here's the schedule:

3/17 and 3/18 Movers move
3/19-3/23 Painters paint
3/24-3/27 Floorers floor
3/28 Cleaner cleans
3/28 House goes on the market officially

Throughout--payor pays. Yes, it's taking some money but it's going to be the best looking house in the subdivision and that will help sell it. Someone (who shall be nameless) said I should paint the place myself to save money. I'd love to do that. But I've never done it before, plus I work until 3/20 and am leaving that same day. (Have to be at work in the new city on 3/24.) There's absolutely no time to (a) learn how to paint and (b) actually paint.

This move is happening incredibly fast. I told Rob that I see the effects of stress on me. But I'm doing the best I can. And at least this is good stress.

I'm a lucky bug.

12/7 I've been absent

Sorry for the scarcity of blog entries, but I've been working late every night. It just seems there aren't enough hours in the day. And when I am finally finished working, I play with the dogs. They miss me. And I sure miss them. Wednesday night they had to stay at Pampered Pets because I couldn't get there before closing. So last night I made sure I picked them up and brought them home before going back to work.

These pictures are of my dining room and kitchen. The table isn't my regular one but the one I put up when people are coming over to play cards. Rob put up the shelf which contains some of my lovely items from Okinawa, including two beautiful tea sets from Rob and Beata.

12/2 50 degrees at night

Guest bath and guest room. Messy because you know who was visiting.

12/2 80 degrees in December

More pictures of my house. Beata wanted to see more.










Living room

12/1 70 degrees in December

My home office was basically just a big closet until Rob came and helped me organize it. I'm grateful beyond words. (The TV, printer, and phone are on the desk. Everything but my laptop.) Still some boxes under the desk, but I'll take care of that soon.

11/25 Not much time

Need to get some sleep. Rob is downloading his photos for me, and I'll post some tomorrow. But for now I have to catch some zzzz's.

He was absolutely awesome today. Rob did so much work around my house; I can't believe it's the same place.

I took him to the Beau Rivage tonight for dinner--the seafood buffet. He was suitably impressed, and did some damage.

11/2 Waiting for Jan and Tim

They'll be here later tonight. In the meantime I'm having friends over to play cards at 7 and they'll leave after meeting Jan and Tim. (That doesn't sound nice, does it? Didn't mean it that way.)

Today I went over the bridge. I got choked up but still couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was slow, only 35, and crowded--because lots of people are going across just because they can, but it was still wonderful.

Went to a house blessing today and it was so moving. It was a house our construction crew rebuilt. Lovely, and the owners were very grateful.

Met a dog there that I fell in love with. Her name is Honey. She's a seven month old golden retriever and is so calm and sweet. She's trained already as a therapy dog. Her owner is one of our staff and she had to get trained too. Amazing. Just amazing. This puppy was not distractable at all. She'll make a great therapy dog, and will work in nursing homes and at disaster sites. A welcome addition.

Gotta go--have to finish cleaning the kitchen and then I'm (finally) done.

7/18 Brazilian crash

I got called last night to work crisis phones for the Brazilian airplane crash. It's a phone bank that handles making calls to families and receiving calls from them too. Then giving death notices if necessary. It's a sad, sad job to do, but very necessary.

Unfortunately the call center is located in a city I no longer live in. So it's off to my regular job. So much to do today that I'm almost feeling a bit paralyzed with "how am I going to get things done?" I worked at home until about 9 and did get a lot of emails taken care of.

When I get to work I'll only have a few minutes there before I have a meeting to go to. Yesterday was busy, but on the way home I managed to order the day bed and trundle bed for the guest room. The day bed wasn't in stock so won't be here in time for Gerri, but the pop-up portion is being delivered this Saturday. So at least there will be a bed and a mattress.

Got good news about Q. Her eColi infection is totally gone. Yay.

5/27 A great Sunday

Quincy and I had a really good day so far. We went for a walk, and we played fetch at least three separate times out in the yard. She loves chasing and retrieving her pink ball. Plus I put away another boxful of stuf, and took myself out for lunch before I went grocery shopping.

A good day.

5/26 More work

Tommy and Tom came back today and put up another ceiling fan and did some other work too. We didn't get as much done as I'd hoped but I can do some of it myself. My favorite thing is that I have a fan on my back porch. That will be great for warm evenings when I still want to sit outside.

Q is acting the fool right now. She keeps jumping on me with a toy in her mouth. She'll come right to my face then turn around and put her butt in my face. I swear she's laughing while she's doing it. What a character.

All my brothers and nephews are out at John's land for the weekend. They do this every Memorial Day weekend and it's a nutso experience. How do I know? Because I'm the only sister who was allowed to partake of the weekend a long time ago. I loved it, but it is indeed a surreal time. They'll come back with tons of stories and lots of inside jokes. All part of the family mythos.

5/25 Working at a different site

Yeah, I'm working from home today. Someone is here to put up three new ceiling fans (office, guest room, and back porch). He's also going to hang my big pictures for me and do a few other things, but I doubt he'll get done today. So many little projects.

Because my electricity is going off and on because of the work, there won't be 8 hours of work done for my company. So guess, I'll make up for it tomorrow.

Q is happy to have more people here--Tommy brought his son, Tom. They "belong" to my real estate agent, Paula. I'm grateful to have someone to be able to do these chores for me.

5/19 New....

Yesterday I bought two plants, two ceiling fans, and a refrigerator. Yep. It'll be delivered today after 4, so I have to clean my kitchen. The guy who lived here had an old refrigerator in the kitchen. It doesn't match anything else--it's black and all the other appliances are white--plus the freezer door keeps popping open. So I bit the bullet. It'll be great because I'll get filtered water and ice in the door as well.

I hope I've spent the big bucks and that everything else is small. I bought a refrigerator, washer, dryer, fence, lawn service (to get rid of the weeds, fire ants, and mole crickets), and various other smaller items. The house is new so I don't expect too many repairs and things like that. So here's hoping....

Oh, and big news--Quincy slept eight hours straight the last three nights. I think my little pup is growing up. It's made a big difference in my energy level, that's for sure.

4/22 Bite me!

Yeah, that's what Q keeps doing. She thinks I'm a giant chew toy and teething ring. It'll be nice when she gets rid of all her razor-sharp baby teeth.

We went out for breakfast yesterday. I sat outside so Quincy could be with me. It was not a very relaxing meal because every single person had to stop and play with her. It's great to have a beautiful and friendly dog, but I don't get any privacy when I'm out. Is this what it's like to be a celebrity? :)

Right now she's attacking the doorstop. She found out that they move when touched so every doorstop in the house has become a toy. I've had to take off the little white rubber ends because she takes those off and chews on them. I'll put them back on when she loses interest. IF she loses interest.

This morning we walked around the circle (a block or so). This was the longest she ever walked without stopping. Felt like it was a big deal.

Have lots of LSSDR work to do today so need to get going....

4/20 Home with Quincy

She was thrilled when I picked her up at the vet's today. But not as thrilled as I was. It was great to have her back home. She's still on amoxycillin for her urinary tract infection, but the doc said she was fine.

I put away five boxes tonight, but the place doesn't look like I even made a dent. The boxes must have reproduced while I was gone. I plan to do more tomorrow, but also have to do work work. I was able to set up the wireless DSL today and am excited about that. No excuses now. Can have both my computers hooked up at the same time.

Gotta run. Dog's gotta go outside.

4/16 In Albuquerque, NM

It's just as cold here as it is in Biloxi but should be 70 tomorrow. That'll be nice. Back home there were horrible thunderstorms on the Gulf Coast.

Great to be here but the timing is bad. Wish I was back home--with all the stacked up boxes and my little puppy. It was hard taking Quincy to the kennel for a few nights, but it had to be done. I acted like it didn't bother me so she wouldn't sense I was upset. As it was, she happily went with the tech. Just like sending your kids to kindergarten for the first day.

What a blessing to be in my own home!!!! A new washer and dryer are being delivered on Friday and I hope to have some guys out to give me an estimate on the fence. Then I need some yard work done--and fire ant hills removed, but after that I'll need to stop spending. At least until something else pops up.

And to the world news...it's unfathomable how humans injure humans. 33 people dead and we'll never know why. I have a feeling someone at this conference will address the issue. And I wouldn't be surprised if some attendees left to help deal with the aftermath of the tragedy. This conference is NVOAD--National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

4/12 Great news!

Yesterday, Paula, my agent called and said, "Good news, you can move in the house." I had to sign rental papers since we didn't know yet about the closing. She'd told the seller's agent that my moving van was driving in circles trying to decide whether they would unload at the house or at a storage place.

It was probably one of the most stressful days of my life. And the rent is just awful. BUT I'll get it back at closing. They are so sweet after all.

The woman returned to Milwaukee from Mexico and they are closing today at 4. We're closing tomorrow afternoon.

I've been praying a lot--even saying that I'm okay if it doesn't go through. Yet I really love this little house. It's just perfect for me, except for that dratted small living room. Plus the doors are narrow and we couldn't get my sofa bed into a spare room. So it's stuffed in the living room with other stuff. And they did damage to my house and sofa even getting it in there. Guess I never thought to measure doors, huh?

But that is small small small compared to how happy I am. Quincy seems to love it too. There's certainly a lot more room than in the RV. Right now I'm in the RV getting the last of my stuff. I'll return tonight to watch Survivor. :) Really I'm going to return to clean the place because it's being moved tomorrow to Camp Biloxi so Maria, the Case Management Director can move into it. It's a very nice RV. But I'll be thrilled to be surrounded by my own "stuff."

Paula gave me a housewarming gift--a very nice microwave. I really needed one since there's no built in. A perfect present.

More later. Gotta run.

4/10 No time to blog

Work is crazy busy plus I have to walk the dog every few hours. That does give me a nice break though.

Looks like things will work out for Wednesday. I'll write more about it as it happens.

4/9 Good news bad news

The good news is that Quincy slept 7 1/2 hours last night. Wow, what a nice surprise. Still no accidents either.

The bad news is that the closing has to be postponed. The gal buying my condo is stuck in Mexico. The airline overbooked and she was denied boarding. So she can't be back to Milwaukee until tomorrow and won't make the closing. Has to be postponed until Wednesday. Hope it all works out. Nothing I can do about it.

4/4 Working from home

I've already accomplished so much and have a trash bag full of "stuff." Also, on a personal note the moving company will deliver my furniture April 13 or 14. This is great because originally it was supposed to be the next week and I'll be in New Mexico then. The best news is that it's only going to cost $388 more than it would have cost to ship it to Quincy; 750 miles for that price. Not bad, huh?

As I'm going through all this material, I'm re-reading the information about Katrina's impact. It's so much more meaningful to me since I now live here. Perhaps I'll post some of the statistics when I get a chance.

4/2 More...

The best news is that my nephew is home and fine. Luckily it was something they could fix right away.

Work was so, so, so busy. I wasn't able to get to my planned work until nearly 5 tonight. I decided to work from home one day this week and one day next week so that I finish some tasks that are overdue. There are some really wonderful people working for our company. I feel so blessed to work with them.

Just got some good news from my realtor. The tenant in my house will be gone by Good Friday. They'll have the house cleaned on Saturday, so I will definitely be able to move in on Tuesday, April 12. Well, I won't have any furniture yet, so will probably wait several days before I move in "for real." But I'll be able to take some of my stuff over there and clean out the RV to just essentials. This makes me smile.

Oh, and we had more than 3 1/2 inches of rain when those thunderstorms came through yesterday. Amazing.

3/23 Friday again

Tomorrow will be pretty boring since I'm going to be working on taxes. I think I'll have Turbotax going on my personal computer and a movie DVD going on my work one. Should keep me awake anyway.

Got a lot done today. Then went to lunch at Camp Biloxi with Sandra and Maria. Afterward we drove out to Woolmarket where we checked on a warehouse operated by IDTF (Interfaith Disaster Task Force). Since Woolmarket isn't too far away from my new place we drove by there on the way back to the office.

It was such a beautiful day that I left work at 4:30 and walked around the RV park a little bit.

There are boat races on the Gulf this weekend. Maybe I'll stop there. It will remind me of the races on the Quincy bay. :)

Oh, I got an email and everything is set with my home loan. Can't wait.

3/17 Happy St. Pat's Day

There's a parade in downtown Biloxi, but I went into work for several hours and now am doing laundry and packing for my move tomorrow. Am moving into an RV temporarily, until my house closes next month. So this will be another adventure, I guess.

3/10 I bought it!!!!!!!

I'm really happy. After talking it over with Rob, I realized that I wouldn't be happy with any of the older houses, and the other new ones were either in neighborhoods I didn't like or were way above my means. I love this house and will post a picture as soon as I can.

PLUS--I'm in the Biloxi Sun Herald. The article is a quarter of the page. Took that much room for my picture--big butt. :) Will try to post the article. And was on the news last night on the local ABC affiliate but I fell asleep about 5 minutes before it came on. I heard it was good. Sigh.

3/9 No go on the house

I made an offer, he countered, I countered, but he wouldn't budge. I was already going to pay $10,000 more than I'd planned on. And if I accepted his counter offer it would be $15,000 more than I'd planned.

I'm really sad. Loved that house.

So back to square one. Sigh.

3/8 So much going on

Today we visited Camp Biloxi. Totally cool, just like Camp Victor, but very different. I love that the camps are different. Victor is self contained in a 52,000 square foot converted warehouse. Inside are all the bunkhouses, kitchen, mess hall, distribution center, and warehouse. At Camp Biloxi it's not centralized. People live in containers that are like big trailers. The kitchen is currently in a huge tent, but will be moved to a permanent structure. There are spaces for 27 RVs as well. Both camps are really big, and very well organized.

We also talked about the plans for the big ceremony tomorrow. John had the idea to have a "passing of the torch" so that people would know when he's bowing out and when I'm taking over. The media will be there, and all staff will wear their Lutheran Disaster Response polo shirts. I'm quite excited about this. I'll report tomorrow night about how it went.

Because of a tragedy in the selling agent's personal life, I'll hear tomorrow whether they accept the offer or not. Keep your fingers crossed.

3/7 Made an offer

Couldn't help myself. I made an offer on the house. It's in the north of Biloxi out in the country. Yet I'm only 10 minutes from the Gulf and 20 minutes from the office. I'm thrilled. Made kind of a low offer, and I don't know if they'll accept it.

The place is only 18 months old. Brick, 3 bedrooms, two bath. Master bedroom is big. The other rooms are small. Nice sized back and side yard. Will post pictures if they accept the offer. Couldn't find a condo that I could afford (and that was in a good neighborhood. But these houses are just right and in a nice area.)

Work was good. Drove with John to Long Beach, MS to meet with a pastor, then stopped at a great pizza place for lunch. Tomorrow I'll be going to Camp Biloxi for the first time. (Yesterday's visit was to Camp Victor.) Am really looking forward to the visit tomorrow.