I’VE BEEN BUSY…

The past month and a half have flown by and I have been so busy that I have been meeting myself coming and going. 

The middle of December we moved into our house with more boxes than I ever dreamed possible.  Then Christmas sneaked up on me and we celebrated with our boys who came and went the weeks before and after Christmas.  In between visits I unpacked and STILL have boxes to unpack!

Well, I must admit that my art room looks a whole lot better than the picture above, and the picture on the easel is framed and mailed, but there are still a few boxes left!

The grandchildren came and helped me christen the art room.

Miss Ella Bella wanted to have a canvas and use the easel!

Son #2’s wife and children did not mind working on the floor. Hey gang, come back because I have a table now!!

Then we went to southern California and spent ten sunny days while our area had drizzle and rain.  It was green and beautiful while we were there!

And I have drawn off the above picture (the view from our room at the resort where we stayed) for a new painting.  I am working on a rose painting (below) from one of the half a zillion pictures I took in the beautiful rose garden where we stayed!  Still some work to do on that painting!!

And now we have settled in for the WINTER!  It is a HIGH of 25 today and has not been above freezing for the second day in a row!  It has been unusually cold for us but temperatures are due to be back in the 60s in a couple of days.  However, we hope to see the rare sight of a few snowflakes this evening!

BLOG COMPETITION

Well, it seems that we have a little blogging competition going on in the family.  My daughter-in-law, Kara, was the first to start a blog and encouraged me to start my blog.  I must admit that I have neglected my blog lately but intend to update everyone soon.  Now, Son #2 has decided to begin a blog featuring his wonderful photographs. 

I hope you will visit his blog and view his pictures as he adds them.  Here is a recent picture that he shared with us.

He has some wonderful pictures that he has taken of the West Texas landscape.  I hope you will enjoy visiting his blog and seeing those pictures.

AN INTERESTING CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!

We moved into our house on December 10th.  I had broken my little toe about ten days before our move and I came down with a horrible cough the day we moved—either from all the dust, the beginning of the dreaded cedar pollen, or a virus.  All of that slowed me down a bit.  Prior to our move I had done very little Christmas shopping and, thus, felt very overwhelmed.  Almost everyone in our neighborhood put up beautiful Christmas decorations, but I could not even find mine and really could not find time to worry about decorating our messy house filled with boxes.

I tackled boxes and our kids came to the rescue.  Son #4 and family came to help and got my washer and dryer installed. 

They also conspired with Son #3 for a huge surprise for us.  On the Monday before Christmas, Son #4 said he was going to get breakfast for us.  Meanwhile, Grandson #2 decided he could not wait for his dad to return so we were in the process of making scrambled eggs.

In walks Son #4 with Son #3—fresh from the airport and carrying a beautiful vase of roses for me.  I was so surprised I almost fell over and did get all misty-eyed.  Son #3 had arranged for a day off to come celebrate an early Christmas with us.  Below is Son #3 with Son #4’s daughter, Miss Ella Bella and wife.  Son #4 is the one holding my Christmas tree.

Son #3 saw that I was missing a Christmas tree and went out and bought a tiny one that we put on a chest in the living room.  We exchanged gifts, had dinner together and returned Son #3 to the airport.  Thanks, guys, for such a wonderful surprise!

We went to visit Son #4 and family for Christmas and had a wonderful time there.  We got some much needed sleep, some great food, and had some time away from all the boxes and disorganization at our house.

Son #4 came back with us after Christmas and did about a month’s worth of work in one day.  He organized my husband’s office, got our computers and cable television up and running and installed blinds in all the rooms upstairs.  My husband’s office is looking great!

But my art room is complete chaos—especially since the painters came yesterday and moved everything to paint the baseboards.

I’m not sure what I am going to do to get all that organized, but I need to start working on it—TODAY!

BOXES, BOXES!

We moved over the weekend.  We spent Friday night in our very empty house and ate breakfast on our lawn chairs and table.  Then the movers came with our furniture and mountains of boxes!  How did we ever accumulate so much stuff??

My sweet sister and lots of neighbors came to help!  Thanks so much to each one of you!

Sunday a.m. my sister, my husband and I had breakfast by the fireplace.  Nice!

The following picture’s caption is “Table?  What table?”  I finally uncovered it this evening so we could eat dinner—a casserole brought by a neighbor.  Delicious!

And my nephew’s little girl came by yesterday afternoon to explore the little kid’s room under our stairway.  She spent about half an hour there, so I guess the grandchildren will enjoy it.

This house is going to be so wonderful, but right now I am a bit overwhelmed by all the work that needs to be done in almost every room.  Thankfully my sister and a neighbor arranged and completely decorated the two guest rooms.  I am so grateful to them for that.  PLEASE come back SOON!!!

MOVING, MOVING!!

Last Thursday our builder told us we could move in on Friday, the 10th.  I am SO EXCITED!  Preliminary inspections begin tomorrow.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us!  Meanwhile great progress has been made and the movers will bring our things from storage on Saturday!  I plan to spend Friday night in my house!!

The kitchen has been repainted after the tile and sheet rock repair.  Our oven is in and working, and so is our cooktop.  And the refrigerator is due to be installed tomorrow.

The pond and waterfall are working, the gutters have been installed and the rain chain looks just great!

About 20 years ago I painted a lamp globe for my mother.  It hung over the small organ in her living room for years.  When she left Amarillo I claimed the globe and kept it in our garage for ten years.  When I showed it to our builder he told me he had the perfect place for it and had a new fixture installed to hold the globe.  It is the first thing people see when they walk towards our bedroom.  It is lovely—thank you, Doug!

Meanwhile, Dr. Dad has found a new friend.  We have had a feral cat wandering around in our back yard since Daisy (our fearless watchdog) died in July.  My husband decided to tame the cat and keep it around to take care of the rats and mice that Daisy used to catch for us.  I think he has succeeded!  I about passed out when I came by the house one day and found it IN his truck!  The cat is slightly cross-eyed and doesn’t look too bright, but it is bright enough to know it has found a friend.

I can hardly wait for moving day!  Stay tuned…

TWO STEPS FORWARD, THREE BACK...

They are making great progress with our house and we are ALMOST there, but not quite.  A few snags have caused delays, but things are moving along in a most exciting way.  The floors are done and they finished the fireplace today--quite a change from our old red brick one.  And the floors look just lovely!

The kitchen now has a microwave and I could boil water because the sink also now has fixtures and water that will come out of the faucet.

The claw foot tub we rescued 15 years ago from my husband's aunt's backyard and had refinished is now installed in the hall bathroom.  Note the 1881 railroad rail installed above the tub--it is also an antique from my husband's family.  I can hardly wait to take a bath in that huge tube and sink all the way into the bubbles!

Our bedroom now has carpet and the bed is supposed to be delivered this afternoon.  Unfortunately, there are too many unfinished tasks and inspections to obtain a certificate of occupancy next week, so our move-in date has been moved from next week to another indefinite date. I was disappointed to hear that today.  Perhaps by Christmas??

Meanwhile I am trying to figure out how to get organized for Christmas.  Thankfully, one of my sweet daughter-in-laws has offered to host all of us (all 4 of my boys and families together???) for an early Thanksgiving on Wednesday.  That is so exciting!  I plan to take lots of pictures and will post a family update next week sometime.

WHAT HAPPENED TO OCTOBER??

In the month of October we saw all of our children and grandchildren and met our first great-grandchild.  What a whirlwind month!!

First, I went to Dallas to keep Son #2’s children while they went to Kara’s high school reunion.  We had fun at the Magnolia Hotel and at the Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Festival!!

When I returned home, Son #4 and family were waiting for me at the airport and we had a great day while they looked at our house and played in our newly landscaped yard.

And my new pond…

And then Son #3 came for a visit and we had a great time exploring new restaurants in town (since my kitchen is not ready yet)!

Then we took a quick trip to the coast to meet our #1 Great Grandson.  He is a real doll!

To wrap up the month last night we had a combination birthday party and Halloween celebration in our nearly finished house. 

The birthday boy and wife on our back patio.

Picture-taking on our patio during the party.

I am SO READY to be back in our house—probably sometime towards the end of the month (November)!!