9th Anniversary (2 days ago)...and more...

I know, you would think I would be all over blogging about our 9th wedding anniversay. I have it written on all the calendars in the house, entered into the calendar in my phone, and entered into my email calendar at home and at work. But to be truthfull, we have had a so much on our plates lately. Getting all the last minute documentation in to the lender for the house, getting pictures to the insurance company, meeting with everyone, on top of making sure we have time with the girls and dinner ready at a reasonable time each night. I have been trying to take loads of belongings to the new house each time I have to go to Paradise. A box here, a box there, it all adds up.

We were supposed to sign the final papers on the new house on the 21st, but to escrow company was unable to get the paperwork to us in time.

We ended up signing the papers yesterday.

SO...Happy Anniversary Baby!!!!!!!!!

Slow Motion...

Do you ever feel like your are moving in slow motion? Or like you are stuck in quicksand while the world rushes around you? I feel like I am in limbo. We are waiting for the new septic to be put in at the new house. (Most recent update is that it should be in by Friday, permits were supposed to be picked up today.) Once the septic is in, we should be able to close escrow within a week. I want to yell YIPPEE!!, but I feel like I am stuck. Time is dragging when it comes to getting into the place, but moving so quickly when it comes to going to work, getting ready for the Cancer Walk in San Francisco, getting ready for the girls birthdays these next three months. So much to do, and not enough time.

I would really love to get the new bedrooms painted before we move in, but I figure the house is large enough for us to camp out in other rooms while we paint the bedrooms. I still need to get the girls to Home Depot or Lowe's and let them look at paint colors. One of the officers at work has an airless sprayer he is going to lend us to get the painting done faster. No more rolling and brushing! (Thank you Will!)

Cam has been bringing boxes home from work every morning. We have been using them to pack up the rest of the house, and also sharing them with my Mom's neighbor Jerry, also with Jeri's (another co-worker) Mother. I am getting tired of having boxes everywhere in the house, but I have to be patient. It will be a couple of months before all the boxes are gone and everything is put away in the new house. My goal is to have everything set up, wiped down, put away, etc by the holidays. I would LOVE to have everyone over at our new house. A place to gather, to celebrate and to relax, together.

I have SO many projects I want to start right now, but really need to wait until we get into the house and settled. I have dresses I want to sew for Jocelyn; quilts I want to make for two special little girls; jams, jellies and butters I want to make to restock my shelves; photos to take, print, frame and hang; and SO much more...

Updates...

There is a local consignment shop we love to visit. It's called Jeannie's, and you never know what you might find there; original oil paintings, one of a kind furnishings, antique toys and jewelry, I have even purchased a trailer ball and extention for my van at this place. Anyway, this past week my Grandmother found a dining room table, complete with eight chairs and a leaf, that she thought would be a perfect housewarming gift. I went with my Mother and Grandmother to look at it on Tuesday. It will be a wonderful new addition to our new dining room. (Thanks Grandma!) (My old dining room table will be in the laundry room for now, to use for sorting and folding. It is a beautiful old table with claw feet, two drop ends, a leaf and actual gears underneath. It used to belong to a church and was given to me by an old co-worker of my Mom's.) While we are still waiting for the septic to be installed, we do not have permission to move anything into the new house yet. So....we had to store the new table in my Mom's garage. (Thanks Mom!)
We picked up the table and chairs yesterday, playing tetris with the pieces to get them all into the back of my little truck (with the tool box and lumber racks on), and my Mom's car. Gavin was a help in climbing in and around the furniture to place the blankets between and pieces that may rub together during the transport. (Thanks Gavin!)

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It has been a couple of months, but I just came across this photo and thought I would share it. We had a report of a fawn that had been abandoned in a yard in town. The caller advised the fawn had been in the same place since the afternoon before and was possibly injured. It must have been later in the day, or a holiday as we did not have Animal Control on duty and had to send and officer to check out the situation. Per the Department of Fish and Game, if the animal is able to get on its feet, we are to leave it alone. However if the animal is unable to get up and has obvious injuries, officers are to dispatch the animal. What the officer found, was a very dehydrated fawn in need of some help, but no obvious injuries. The fawn was brought back to the police department while we tried to find a rescue center to take it in. After just a few phone calls we were able to located a rescue volunteer right here in town!
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Cam and me ....

House Update...

We are in escrow!
The roof inspection was completed last week. The house needs a new roof within the next 2-3 years. If we do it now, we can get the amazing deal of $5700 ($2300 less than I thought it would be)! The heating and air inspection was also last week. The air unit is industrial size and works wonderfully, although it does need a new thermostat. (It successfully froze Gavin during the night while he was watching the house for us.) The fire place needs a new block (?) but works, and the pellet stove is inoperable and to old to fix. I would have worried about how to heat the family room if my Mom's neighbor, Jerry, had not offered to give us his potbelly stove in exchange for boxes to pack his belongings for his move.
The septic inspection was also last week. The house needs a new septic. Am I ready to give up? NO! The seller has to fix the septic, so it will only mean we won't be able to move in as soon as we wanted.
The pest inspection was also supposed to be last week, but has not yet been completed.
The appraisal was yesterday morning. I am trying to be patient while waiting for the results. The appraisal is the only thing we have been waiting on to order the loan documents....

Work continues...

Yesterday we were able to start laying the top layer of subfloor in the dining room. Cam and Anthony measured, cut and placed half the flooring in the room, while Gavin scrubbed Briannes room and vacuumed the carpet. I started vacuuming the master bedroom carpet ...... until the power head on my rainbow died.

I was vacuuming away in the master bedroom, picking up the larger pieces by hand, when I noticed something small and gold by the wall. I really thought is was a small piece of gold foil, so I tried to vacuum it up. It would not come up, only moving closer and closer to the wall until I knew there was no way the vacuum was going to pick it up without me moving away from the wall. Then, the power head started to make an unusual sound. I turned off the vacuum to take it apart and clean out the power head. After vacuuming out the inside of the power head, I put it all back together and turned it back on ..... the light on top of the power head came on, but the motor was not turning the brush. Biscuits!! On my way to ask Cam to take a look at the vacuum for me, the gold object caught my eye again, so I picked it up. It was not foil after all. It was a small pin with a small cross and the words 'Let Go Let God'. I smiled to myself as I walked out to the dining room to tell Cam about the vacuum and show him my new treasure.


The pin is now attached to my purse....

Cleaning and destruction.....

We have signed the loan application and are waiting for signed paperwork from the selling bank. While we wait, we have been cleaning and .......... cutting holes in the floor.

For some reason known only to God and the previous residents, the top layer of sub floor was removed and vinyl squares were put down on the remaining 1/2" plywood. Well, if you have ever tried to walk on 1/2" plywood resting on joists, for any length of time, you know that eventually the plywood is going to wear down and break. SO, there were numerous holes all the way through the sub floor, meaning if you had a flashlight, you could look past the insulation under the house, and all the way to the dirt!



Cam and Gavin have been crawling around on the remaining plywood, cutting out the weak and broken areas, and have successfully replaced and braced all necessary areas. Next they will be putting down the 3/4" flooring to bring the house back up to code.

While they are crawling around in the kitchen, dining room and entry way, my Mom and I have been vacuuming and shampooing the carpets. So far the play room, family room, downstairs spare room and living room are done. (Actually the living room will need another going over as the water is still coming up looking like creamed coffee.) When the living room is done, we will move on to the other downstairs bedrooms, then the stairs and the upstairs rooms. Gavin has already scrubbed the hall bathroom downstairs, so we still have the other 2 bathrooms to clean also.

I will put up more pictures as soon as I can get to a computer where I can download them!

Because I promised Beth...

More pics of the house...

Greetings at the front door... (please excuse my reflection)

The front of the house from the north side...

The back of the house from the south side...

The back of the house from the north side...

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.....