Friday, August 26, 2011 Part two

We don’t plan to stay in the house but another 2 weeks while we finish up the slight remodel. We replaced the floor in the kitchen, added cabinets and new counter tops, added a dishwasher, removed a kitchen from a bedroom, removed buckets of wallpaper, painted, painted, also did some painting, and enough landscaping to fill 3 trucks loads, if I recall correctly, with yard waste. Phew. The goal is to have renters in within the next 4 weeks.

We have another house under contract, but it’s a short sale and best case scenario it doesn’t close until sometime in November. That house needs a lot of work inside, but comes with an extra large 2 car garage that we could use for personal storage, and might even be able to add a pad with all the amenities to hook up our camper there for times that we come back to stay. It’s located on a corner lot, so we could make it so that the tenets don’t even know that the property is related.

We also have an offer in on a foreclosure that will close within 30 days, and that house doesn’t need much work at all. However there were 4 offers including ours, and we still haven’t heard back. The listing broker was pretty sure that they had accepted our offer, but didn’t want to offer false hope. I’m feeling very peaceful about the situation either way.

Friday, August 26, 2011 Part one

I tend not to write when I’m in the middle of something, because when you are a dreamer, like I very much am, you tend to be in the middle of something fairly often, and when it doesn’t come to fruition, it makes you look flakey. I’m not saying that I’m NOT flakey, just that I’m doing what I can to keep that image on the back burner.

With that disclaimer, we have purchased a house and have been living in it for 2 weeks today. The house is absolutely beautiful. It’s a 120 year old Victorian that currently has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths with an abundance of unfinished space offering the possibility of expansion into potentially a 7 bedroom home.

The location exceeds my wildest imaginations with a HUGE fenced yard, at the end of a dead end street, and walking distance to everything. I can actually see the library from my bedroom...

Sunday, June 26, 2011

We were invited over to hang with a good friend last night. These friends saved Gary’s butt this winter when he flew home to empty out the house. He told them to come take whatever they wanted to do with what they pleased, and knowing that he needed the entire contents of the house removed, took everything. At the time Gary told me that he would never have gotten it all done without them, as they literally took away garbage for him.

I knew that they had much of out old stuff, as she would periodically say, “OMGosh, we are just loving (insert beloved item here) and are so happy to have it!” but I wasn’t prepared to see my old things in her house. When I walked in, I saw my former beloved bowl, a gift from another good friend, sitting on her kitchen table. It literally took my breath away. It was a knee-jerk reaction, I think because I have been able to believe that all my stuff is tucked safely away in the attic, and this was an in my face example that I no longer own much of anything.

We ate dinner on my old purple dinner plates and used my old Correlle bowls, and heck even watched a movie on our old television! My friend was so gracious and told me that if there was anything at all that I felt I wanted back it wouldn’t bother her in the least, but truly I don’t want any of it back. I was honestly happy to see that those things were being used and making her happy. What I said to her was that Karmically, that wouldn’t be good for either of us. I wouldn’t trade a single one of my experiences this last 8 months for all the things I used to own!

Birthday Party! (Still August)

Today was a surprise party for a good friend. There were several people there that we haven’t seen in ages, so that was a treat. The kids had a blast running around together like crazy people!

I was worried that I wouldn’t get enough social time in Maine, and boy was I wrong! I’m beat! The quantity is much less than I’ve grown used to, but the quality is very different. There are so many people to see and catch up with that it can be a bit overwhelming.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Being back in town is surreal. I feel kind of disconnected from here, yet without any new connection to compare it to. It feels like where we used to be from, but there isn’t a replacement location. It is kind of neat to be always looking around, knowing that it’s more likely than not that I’ll see a familiar face.

Everywhere I go I run into someone, which makes me feel bad about not having contacted that person about getting together, but it’s just too much. I did put out a post on FaceBook so I figure that anyone who wants to see us will get in touch.

I can not get over how cold it is here. It’s summer for goodness sake! The past few days have been rainy and raw. Last night I curled up into as tight a ball as possible and just couldn’t keep warm. I guess my blood really has thinned out. I can’t even imagine if it were actually cold! I guess I’m not a New England Girl anymore!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Today was another wonderful day. The day started with one of Gary’s friends stopping by to say hello, followed by my super special friend Jen and her super special kids. We caught up and hung out together all afternoon, and even took a ride to the local farmers market. It feels like summer has been in full swing for some time as we have been in the south so it seemed strange that the farmers market didn’t have much available.

While we were at the farmers market I ran into another friend and chatted for a few minutes. Then we came back to our premium campsite and we all hooped together for awhile. It was a blast!

Then Jen and crew headed home and our other super special friends Gannet and Ron came over with their super special daughter and they brought us pizza! We had a great time catching up and hung out together all night! The girls decided to have an overnight so they folded the table into a bed. That’s the first time we have converted it. I love that we have enough space to have guests.

Today was really great, but omgosh so overwhelming. In a good way, of course, but goodness I’m tired!