54 posts tagged “moving”

Bah Humbug:

1. The Steelers football season is basically over for this year.  They have to give another team a turn ;)  We have so many injured players that it's just pretty hopeless.
2. It causes me great stress to just be mailing my Christmas cards.  I know that's probably odd but I like to have them out at the beginning of Dec.  Dumb computer crash!

Merry Christmas:

1. A friend and I made a shopping trip today to buy Christmas presents for a family whose having a rough December.  It's a single mom of 5 and she crushed her wrist in a 4-wheeling accident so is unable to work.  I have to say it finally got me in the holiday spirit!
2. Our entire house is carpeted!  Well, except for the theater which we don't plan to finish for a year or two.  By the end of Monday, the rest of the flooring will be finished as well as the kitchen counter.  We have 2 working toilets, too!  (I'll post some more pictures soon).
3. We've made plans to go back to Jamestown January 1-3 to move the rest of our furniture.  Could still use some prayers for that house to sell.  Anytime now would be just perfect!!
4. We'll be moving in after we get our things.  There will still be little stuff to do but we can do that while living there.  I finally feel like I can get excited!!
5. My grandma, aunt & uncle, brother & girlfriend, parents, and cousin's family will all be here for Christmas.  I love a big Christmas!  Ray is thrilled to not have to pack up every single present and travel this year.

After a full day at the wrestling tournament, we returned just in time for Lily's birthday party.  My mom was a real sweetie and had everything set up and my brother's girlfriend made a yummy baked macaroni and cheese. 

 There were 11 little girls that came to her kittie themed party.

She wanted the cake to look like Butterscotch and I think it turned out great!  (I did not make it).

After supper, it was time to go swimming.  I had 2 parents tell me their daughters didn't swim well and needed to stay in the shallow end, one of the girls tell me themselves, and one parent stay (I would be one of those at a swim party).  As soon as we opened the door to the pool room, they all ran and jumped in.  Right away one of the girls was paddling frantically and not getting her head above the water (nobody mentioned her not being able to swim).  This is when it occured to me that it probably would've been smart to at least have my swimsuit on in case of emergency.  She was too far from the edge to reach or throw anything to so I was left with no choice but to jump in wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt, jeans, and socks.  It's a good thing the deep end is only 5 ft. so I can hop with my tippy toes and keep my own head above water or it would've been very difficult with my clothes weighing me down.  I was able to hand the girl off (who wasn't phased by the whole incident) to the other mom who had stayed while I quickly went to change.  I got smart and put my swimsuit on just in case I needed to make another rescue.  Ray found the whole thing quite entertaining.

The girls had a blast in the pool.  It seemed weird having a pool party when it was -10 outside.

This girl is in my choir and her family just bought a house by our new one.  I think they'll be the best of friends!  (We like the parents, too).  They also have a daughter in Jace's class and a baby due this spring.

  They swam for around 45 minutes and then got out for cake and presents.

After 2 hours, I was very happy to have it over!

Thumbs Down:

1. We're not in our new house yet nor has our other house sold.  Sigh.
2. Our main computer crashed.  Ray has everything working except Outlook.  It wants a key-product code and we have no idea where it might be.  I have about 200 email addresses and my calendar on there so feel like I've lost a limb.
3. We're missing Cody's wrestling tournament today.  It wasn't on the original schedule so we found out late and it's just not working out.  I hate missing the kids' stuff.

Thumbs Up:

1. The carpet for the main floor is scheduled to be installed on Monday. 
2. Booked our annual ski trip for after Christmas.
3. Had a really nice Thanksgiving.

Thumbs Down:

1. Our house still hasn't sold yet.  There's a lady who loves it and wants it but her husband doesn't think they need a new house.  Feel free to pray that she changes his mind!
2. I helped Ray grout the main bathroom yesterday.  All I did was wipe off the excess and 3 of my fingers are split.  I won't be doing that again without gloves!

Thumbs Up:

1. This gorgeous weather we've had in November is totally making up for the crummy October.  I can now make it through winter.
2. I have 1 room left to paint in the house before we move in.  We hope to have carpet installed in the next 2 weeks and move in shortly after.  We might have a few things left to finish when we move in but that's ok!
3. Friends from Jamestown are coming this weekend to go hunting on our ranch.  It'll be fun to see them and Jace is totally stoked to see his godbrother that's the same age as him.
4. Chorister Choir sang for a church brunch last Sunday and it was classic (the one time Ray didn't record).  The 2 yr old twin-siblings of one of my singers decided they wanted to be with her.  So, they took turns coming up and standing by her and attempting to sing the song, that they didn't know, very loudly.  It was classic!  I guess I have some future members on my hands.
5. Friends who are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help me paint.  Not only that, they're willing to do the cutting because I'm so bad at it!
6. My mom making us hot breakfasts every morning.  Today it was french toast and sausage.
7. My brother's new girlfriend.  I think we're going to become fast friends!

Thumbs Down:

1. A woman looked at our house last week and just loved it.  She brought her husband to see it on Monday and he was very quiet except to say one of the bathroom's needed remodeling and they'd already done a lot of that on their current house.  Our realtor is hoping the woman just needed some time to talk her husband into it.  I'm afraid it was a woman who thought she needed a new house and her husband didn't. 
2. I was a crabby patty today.  It's not very often that I'm in a cranky mood all day but this was one of them.  Several little things that put me in the mood. 
3. My great uncle passed away.  He was my step grandpa's brother.  Grandpa died when I was 12 but he lived in town and I spent tons of time with him.  Out of his 3 brothers, this was the one I was closest to.  He and his wife have lived in AZ the past 10 years and had just moved back to MT to be closer to family.  I've made at least 3 trips to Billings and wanted to stop and see them but always had other things to do.  Now, I regret waiting.  I'd also like to go to his funeral tomorrow but it's not going to work out.  He has such a twinkle in his eye.

Thumbs Up:

1. We really are making good progress on the house.  We've started painting the basement even though we don't plan to totally finish the basement right away.  The tile is done in the foyer and Lily's bathroom floor and shower.  Ray's started hanging interior doors and putting on base trim so the carpet installer can come.  2/3 of the kitchen cabinets are done.  I need to get pictures of some of the lights Ray's installed because they are gorgeous!  We're very tentatively hoping to be in around the end of the month.  (No laughing, mom).
2. There's no school tomorrow so Ray's taking the boys hunting.  This will be Cody's first time going as an official "hunter" since passing Hunter's Safety.
3. The 1st quarter is done at school.  Cody really struggled the past few years but is finally taking school more seriously.  There is still room for improvement but he made the Honor Roll so we're very proud.  All his teachers had great things to say.  This is Jace's first year to receive letter grades and he earned all A's and B's.  He's also suddenly taken a huge interest in reading.  He's always hated reading but is now reading 300 page novels!!  Lily is also doing well.  All of the kids' teachers are very impressed with their transition into new schools.  It truly has been amazing and we couldn't have asked for the move to be any smoother.
4. Cody has started Middle School wrestling and his first tournament is Saturday.  Wrestling is such a different environment here.  In Jamestown, Cody was teased a lot for being a wrestler instead of playing hockey or basketball.  Here, wrestling is huge!  Last night, they had a photo shoot for their team poster!!  He's best friend here is also a wrestler and a super, nice kid.
5. Though the weather in October was awful, November is off to a gorgeous start.  It's even supposed to hit 60 tomorrow.

 

My parents have a very unique house.  It has an indoor pool and part of it was once a health club so there's a large, open space with His & Her bathrooms that each have 2 showers.  The kids sleep in what was once the single-stall garage and we sleep outside their room in a TV / game room area.  In this area, there is a pop / beer fridge.  At one time, this fridge was in the house I grew up in.  I'm not sure what the original color was but my mom had it painted to make it kind of fun for when my brother was a teenager.

So, this fridge is probably going on 25 yrs or more and it makes this really loud noise like a plane about to take off twice per day.............at exactly 10:47 am and 10:47 pm.  How weird is that?  Ray and I never attempt to fall asleep before 10:47 pm because it'll just wake you up!

 

As you know, the kids and I went to Jamestown for a few days to visit before school starts.  We spent 3 nights there and Lily spent all 3 nights with friends and the boys spent 2 of the nights with friends.  Good thing Rascal went with or I would've been completely alone!  We got to see just about everyone that we wanted to see but, of course, it wasn't long enough.  We even went to church on Sunday.  I was hoping AWE would be singing so I could join them but it was their Sunday off.  Directors haven't been found to replace me with AWE or the kids' choirs which really concerns me since time is running short.  Our Pastor tends to procrastinate a bit much and I'd hate to see the programs fail.

A few photos from our trip. 

Bluebird's daughters with Jace & Lily.

Our house didn't sell from any of the 2nd showings last week.  I'm afraid we're going to have to drop the price again because we really need to unload it.

The last night was the best for me.  I had supper with Deb & Cory and then we sat on their deck and visited in the gorgeous weather.  Afterward, Kristi came over and we had a cup of Chai tea and visited before bed.

 

 

Ray & I were scoping out You Tube videos from our area last night.  Let me just say that what we found was slightly frightening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqvKE2OkYSs

I think on one of our 2nd or 3rd dates, Ray took me with his buddies to go water skiing.  Irrigation is big around here so there's a huge canal that goes through town.  They were actually water skiing in the canal while being pulled by a truck!

 

Thumbs Down:

1. Two funerals in one week.
2. Having a hard time picking out our granite.  Everytime I find one I like, there either isn't enough or its too soft.

Thumbs Up:

1. We had 3 showings on our house this week.  Two were really positive and we haven't heard back on the third.  Sure hoping something comes of it.
2. We've made plans to go visit our friends in ND in 2 weeks.  Can't wait!
3. The pancakes my husband made for breakfast.
4. The stucco process has started on our house.  We're in the process of ordering flooring and cabinets.

Stinky:

1. I'm signed up to do the women's golf league for the first time tonight and the wind is blowing about 50mph and it's raining off and on.  Sure hoping it quits in the next 2 hours!
2. I miss my friends back in ND.
3. Our house still hasn't sold.  Supposedly there was a really positive showing last week but we haven't had an offer.  It really needs to sell SOON!
4. Coming home Sunday night to a terrible mess left by the babysitter and kids including a pint of chocolate milk sitting on the counter, everything from supper left out, and the kids still awake when it was 1 1/2 hrs past when they were supposed to be in bed!

Perfume:

1. Ray & I went on the 2nd annual Cattle Crawl Sunday night.  It's a progressive beef dinner.  We started out at the Cattle-ac for appetizers, then we went to my parents' restaurant for their big salad bar, next we hopped on 2 large busses and went 10 miles to Fairview for a roast beef dinner, and then we went another 30 miles for a steak dinner before returning.  There was a free drink at each stop plus free beer on the bus.  Of course, I felt like my normal, boring self because I wasn't drinking.
2. The deck being built on our new house.
3. Meeting more people.
4. Going to Billings this weekend for the soccer tournament.  The coach is very impressed with the boys' skills.  It'll be nice to bond with the other families, too.
5. Seeing my cousin from AZ in Billings this weekend.  I think it's been about 5 years!