I missed last week's blog post, but it has been a very busy couple of weeks here, thanks to house hunting. Last weekend, Dear Husband's parents came down, which was delightful. We'd both hit the serious doldrums of missing our families, and having MIL and FIL here helped ameliorate all of that.
We took them to look at one of the houses that we'd liked, and our realtor had found a few more, so we went out Saturday to look at them. We looked at the one that had been our favorite so far, and then found another we hadn't seen....and to be quite honest, it's just about perfect. It was built in 1975, so it's stood up to a hurricane or two, and unlike the other house that we liked...this one is not in the flood plain, so that--plus being more affordable--pretty much made the decision between the two for us. It's a lovely house--three bedroom, plus an enclosed garage (that will serve as an office/man cave), a nice big kitchen with a dining area, a formal dining room (my estrogen loft, I think) a great entry way, and a huge living room. It's got a nice backyard, which has enough room for Little Bit to be able to go out and play. It's located in a neighborhood that's mostly retirees, it seems, so it's very quiet. We actually got to talk to one of the neighbors on Monday when we went back, and it just made us feel even better about the house.
So Monday, we put in an offer on it. We got a counteroffer back on Wednesday and accepted it. Our inspection is Tuesday, which I hope can still be done easily. Why?
Well, it turns out that there's a "tropical disturbance" coming out of Mexico, which the weather service is expecting to strengthen to a tropical depression or, worst case, a tropical storm, and which is making tracks for the Coastal Bend. It's already starting to cloud over here, and we're expecting rain starting tonight or tomorrow morning and lasting through Thursday. (Because yes, that's what we need--more rain.)
This might not be that much of a concern, except for the fact that the house in which we live right now is in the storm surge area. Likely, a tropical storm would not put up enough of a surge to bother us, but there's also the possibility that we might be without power for a while. So today, we went and finished out our emergency kit. We've had a pretty good one since we were living in Middle Tennessee--living at the conjunction of Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley will do that to you--but we needed a few other things. So we picked up supplies for making survival candles today--which we did this afternoon--water, extra batteries, a new cat carrier (big enough for Cat and Bergie to share, and which we've needed for some time), some extra cat litter and some disposable litter boxes (aka foil roasting pans). We've got a good first aid kit already--something we bought at Smoky Mountain Knife Works when we were there a while back and which we have kept stocked; a weather radio, which Mom bought me when I moved to Nashville; and basically, everything that's suggested that we have; and a five gallon gas can that DH bought when we bought the lawnmower--though it was for emergencies, not the lawnmower. So we should be prepared to weather out a storm here at the house or to pick up and move out if we need to.
And it's a good thing this is happening before we close on the house, I feel--and with that much rain coming in, the inspector will have an easy time telling us about how the new house does with water. But I do understand why when I got an estimate for insurance for the new house, windstorm insurance was twice the amount of the homeowner's! (Talking to Dad though, it's not that much more than what he pays, so that's not bad. I haven't priced out flood insurance for it yet, though, but I'm guessing that shouldn't be too much with it being actually out of the floodplain. We may not even need it.)
In other news, I finished two prayer quilts, which turned out very nicely, and pieced a quilt for the baby, which has to be fixed, as it is currently diamond shaped. *sigh* Little Bit's mommy isn't very good at geometry, but I think all I need to do is to take out and resew three seams. I just haven't done it yet, as I've not felt terribly well this week. The hotter it gets here, the less energy I have, and to be honest, I've been a bit depressed, particularly once MIL and FIL went home--it was suddenly very lonely here!
But I've also got lots of projects to keep me busy--the baby quilt, an afghan, another quilt, a cross-stitch project, plus a whole Pinterest board full of ideas for things to do when I finish these. (Okay, maybe not the cross stitch project, but I've got plenty else to do.)
In the meantime, I've got a cat sitting in my lap who is glaring at me, because Little Bit keeps kicking her. Ding figured out how to unbuckle her collar and get it off today. They keep life interesting. I can't wait to see how their lives get interesting when Little Bit arrives.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Summer: Week 2
Church yesterday was a solemn affair. The church was more full than it usually is--a lot of people showed up, partly for comfort and partly in a show of support for those who are still missing. This week has been very hard for our church family. Michelle, her dad Ralph, and the McComb's son, Andrew, were all found this week. Two more female bodies were recovered Saturday night, and we are waiting on confirmation that they are Sue Carey and Laura McComb. We are still waiting on news about Michelle's husband Randy, her son Will, and the McComb's daughter, Leighton.
The thing is, we've been working through the Bible in church, using a condensed version of the Bible called The Story. This week brought us to the fall of Jerusalem, and verses that are not the most comforting in the world. But Father M reminded us that in the face of such tribulations, God's promise always prevails. It was a sermon that everyone needed to hear, and I think that by the time the service was over, the church was just a little lighter, a little more hopeful than it was when we had all come in.
We've had a fairly productive week here. Dear Husband and I have been looking for a house, and we've found a contender. Nothing is final by any means, though I think the realtor would like for it to be--there is another house that we would like to look at before we make any final decisions, and it's entirely possible that we might end up not getting any of them, and decide to keep looking. MIL and FIL are going to be here next weekend, so we will take them to look at the houses and get their opinion.
In the meantime, I'm trying to keep myself occupied. I still don't do time off well, I've discovered. I realize I should be savoring this time--this will be the last summer I have without a kiddo underfoot, but still. It's a bit like last summer--I should have been savoring it, but was spending too much time worrying about whether or not I would have a job come fall. I've been working on catching up on craft projects, and working on cleaning the house one little bit at a time. I've gotten one prayer quilt top completed, and one to go, then I need to tie them and bind them. I also have an afghan I'm working on, and there's a quilt upstairs that I started handquilting that needs finished and found, and there's a cross-stitch project halfway through...I really do have plenty to do!
Little Bit has just been kicking away. She's kicked her daddy good and hard a couple of times this week, which just fills him with wonder. I, on the other hand, have been experiencing the stylings of a future martial artist, I think. She kicked me so hard in church yesterday that I had to duck out to go to the bathroom.
Well, it's time I run out and go to the bank and pay rent and go to the grocery store for some odds and ends that seem to keep getting missed every time someone goes. Errands ho!
The thing is, we've been working through the Bible in church, using a condensed version of the Bible called The Story. This week brought us to the fall of Jerusalem, and verses that are not the most comforting in the world. But Father M reminded us that in the face of such tribulations, God's promise always prevails. It was a sermon that everyone needed to hear, and I think that by the time the service was over, the church was just a little lighter, a little more hopeful than it was when we had all come in.
We've had a fairly productive week here. Dear Husband and I have been looking for a house, and we've found a contender. Nothing is final by any means, though I think the realtor would like for it to be--there is another house that we would like to look at before we make any final decisions, and it's entirely possible that we might end up not getting any of them, and decide to keep looking. MIL and FIL are going to be here next weekend, so we will take them to look at the houses and get their opinion.
In the meantime, I'm trying to keep myself occupied. I still don't do time off well, I've discovered. I realize I should be savoring this time--this will be the last summer I have without a kiddo underfoot, but still. It's a bit like last summer--I should have been savoring it, but was spending too much time worrying about whether or not I would have a job come fall. I've been working on catching up on craft projects, and working on cleaning the house one little bit at a time. I've gotten one prayer quilt top completed, and one to go, then I need to tie them and bind them. I also have an afghan I'm working on, and there's a quilt upstairs that I started handquilting that needs finished and found, and there's a cross-stitch project halfway through...I really do have plenty to do!
Little Bit has just been kicking away. She's kicked her daddy good and hard a couple of times this week, which just fills him with wonder. I, on the other hand, have been experiencing the stylings of a future martial artist, I think. She kicked me so hard in church yesterday that I had to duck out to go to the bathroom.
Well, it's time I run out and go to the bank and pay rent and go to the grocery store for some odds and ends that seem to keep getting missed every time someone goes. Errands ho!
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