Gotta go faster...

I just got a call from Beth, who wanted to congratulate me on having our offer accepted on the house we are looking to buy... Except the text she received was not from me. :(( We have not put our offer in yet, because my organization needs a major overhaul. I mean, how in the world am I able to get our taxes done, have all the copies of the actual taxes, but not be able to find the W-2's that were used to produce said paperwork? The last bit of paperwork needed by the lender to produce our pre-approval letter in order to make our offer!! It is SO frustrating! So...Cam ordered a new copy of his W-2 on Friday, it came in the mail today, and I will pick up a new copy of my W-2 tomorrow and promptly fax copies of all 2006 and 2007 W-2's to Jill, our lending officer.

I spoke with Carol, our realtor, last Thursday. The house we have our eye on is still on the market... Yeah!!! So, 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace'...I wish it would hurry up and get here so I could pick up my copy of my W-2 and fax it all to Jill! Patience, patience, practice patience.


Claire and Cam on the swings at Terry Ashe Park, between fires. She's not even two yet and already quite the swinger!

Shop till they drop!

Have you ever spent so much time in one store that you begin to call the employees by first name? {It would have been worse had the employees called us by first name. I guess 4.5 hours is not enough time to move to a first name basis with customers.} Cam, my Mom and I have been working hard to get our current home into selling condition. In order to do that, we needed supplies. Lots of supplies! So, 4.5 hours in Home Depot and $1300 later, we should have all the supplies we need to finish the house.


Claire fell asleep while sitting atop a five gallon bucket of paint, thanks to Jocelyn who was rubbing Claire's back

Since the Home Depot trip, we have put down new vinyl flooring, tiled above the shower and painted the whole spa room; put down new vinyl flooring in the kitchen, moved the old refrigerator out and the new one in (and repaired to tear in the NEW vinyl floor!), installed a new dishwasher, and hauled numerous boxes and furniture items to storage. We are getting the job done, and getting tired. We still have the vinyl flooring to put down in the hall bathroom, tile above the bathtub, paint all the rooms except the spa room (after getting the pink flowered wall paper, that came with the house, off the wall in the girls bedroom), put down the tile or vinyl in the entryway, shampoo all the carpets and clean the brick above the fireplace. When all of that is done, the inside of the house will be done and ready to stage. Outside, I still have projects also. Before the fires started in Butte County, I was working on putting up a retaining wall along the front of the property. Now, with all the smoke in the air, the 400 gray retaining wall blocks sit patiently in the front yard. Beside the grey blocks are 75 red blocks I will be using to put the front walkway back together. (I got ahead of myself and took apart the old walkway before the supplies arrived and before the second round of fires hit. Since the destruction of the front walk, you have to walk through the fine, red Paradise dirt to get to and from the front deck. Hence the red dust on my black work shoes.) When the smoke finally clears, and the air quality is no longer over 250 (hazardous to all age groups), I will again work on the walk way, then the retaining wall. Until then.....

Wow!

Prepare to be moved...

News from around the world.....

Humboldt Fire threatens Paradise!




Have you ever had the thought 'Wow, this is just like in the movies!'? The last few days have been that way for me. Try as I might, something always came up when I wanted to go down the hill to Chico and look at flooring. Wednesday thru Saturday that 'something' was the Humboldt Fire. On Wednesday, my Mom and I had been to all three flooring stores in Paradise, when I was called in to work to help out. Thursday I was called in again. I was able to hang on to my one day off, Friday. (Jeri felt to guilty to call me in.) Then it was back to work for the start of my regular work week on Saturday. (Not that I mind being called in during an emergency. Other than with my family, there is no place I would rather to be if I had to be up here on the ridge, than right in the thick of the information; to be able to pass on the updates to my family) By Monday night, the fire was totally contained...
5 days
1,000's evacuated
23,344 acres burned
74 homes destroyed
20 more damaged
DC10 bomber (the only one in the United States)
2500 firefighters (THANK YOU!!)
over 50 law enforcement officers from outside agencies (THANK YOU!!)
$11.5 million to fight
$16.3 million in damages





THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CAME TO HELP DURING THE FIRE. The fire is out, with minimal damage to the Town of Paradise as a whole. Though not all of it's employees were so lucky. Linda G., one of our beloved Community Service Officers, lost her house in the fire. Linda Q, one of our beloved Fire Secretaries, also lost her house in the fire.





DC10 helping to fight the fire...the only DC10 supertanker used for fire fighting, in the United States!



A break and some much needed rest.





News from Hawaii!!

While we were facing evacuation, Brianne was sunning herself in Hawaii. The only picture she sent me was this one...

It's to bad she had to go all the way to Hawaii to learn to respect the scalding hot frijoles!


News from Ethiopia!!

Beth and Garrett received a referral for two beautiful little girls! I am SO happy for you two! We can't wait to meet your beautiful daughters!

15 places in the US kids should see (according to Budget Travel):

Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz ($12, vehicles $25, kids 15 and younger free)

Ellis Island Museum and the Statue of Liberty (free guided tours, audio tour $6)

Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va. ($37, kids 6-17 $18)

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. (free)

Niagara Falls, N.Y. (free)

Gettysburg, Pa. (free)

The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas (free)

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (free)

Monticello, Va. (tours from $15, kids over 6 $8, free for children 5 and under)

Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Fla. ($60 for kids, $71 for 10 and older)

National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis ($12, $8.50 kids) {Also highly worthwhile: Alabama's Birmingham Civil Rights Institute ($10, kids free) and Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center ($12, $8 kids)}

Redwood National Park, Calif. (free)

Ground Zero, New York City ($10 suggested donation)

Freedom Trail, Boston ($12, kids $6)

Independence Hall, Philadelphia (free but tickets for timed tours are required from March 1 to December 31)

Let the vacation planning begin!

Getting ready to sell!

I have been so worried about jinxing our plans, that I have not wanted to tell to many people about them. I have decided if I want what is best for my family, I have to relinquish control to a higher power, and trust the Lord to provide the path. (I pray He helps me to keep my eyes open to see his path.) So here I am, telling all of you ... we are getting our house ready to sell. There, I said it.

Cam and I have found a house we REALLY like, with enough room for us now and in the future. (6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, two bonus rooms, some fruit trees already planted, and plenty of room for a vegetable garden!) We are working hard to make the dream of owning this house, into a reality. One of the MANY projects on the way to getting our current house ready to sell, is finishing the retaining wall I started across the front yard.


Gavin and Cam are working on the wall while Brianne and Claire supervise from the shade. (It may look like dirt in front of the wall, but it's actually the asphalt lined gutter, a perfect base for my wall.) I'll try to keep you posted on our progress!