The packers rolled out the red carpet for us first thing this morning and let me tell ya, “we’re in very good hands”.

They are doing a great job packing and it was so nice for us to relax now and then while the house was being turned upside down. Bobby had the honors of taking down all three of our chandeliers and replacing them with the ones that came with the house. He was up and down that ladder so many times as the foyer has 18’ ceilings and his legs have taken a beating. Exhaustion is setting in and there is no doubt we’re going to sleep like a rock tonight.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Living Room Before

Living Room After

And the Family Room and our bedroom will be hit by the packers tomorrow.

I’m busy packing up our things as tonight is the last night for us to sleep here. Nor do I want the packers to accidentally pack the things we need. If I were to relay my feelings at this very moment, I would have to say this feels surreal.

Bobby Knows how nuts I get when the house is not all put together so he keeps asking how I’m doing with the big mess and all. And I keep telling him “Honey, I’m just fine, our little apartment back home is clean, sheets are clean, and his good work clothes are all clean and ironed waiting for us when we get back.” And I just told Bobby tonight, “things will never be the same at this address again”.

Today begins the packing and moving part! The packers are due to arrive any minute and we get to oversee the project. Is it done yet? Tonight will be the last time we spend the night here as the packers will have us all packed up by tomorrow. So Bobby’s got a hotel secured for our last 3 nights here. Then the movers arrive Thursday to get all the packed stuff loaded up. Then we’ve set aside one day to make sure this place is spic and span. All the floors will be cleaned, there’s baseboards to clean, nail holes to fill and paint and this place will be fresh as a daisy for the new owners to move right in and make themselves right to home. Speaking of paint, I was up at 6:30 a.m. painting in the garage (yesterday morning) and Bobby’s like “honey, what ya doin’ that for?”. And I’m like “honey, I can’t leave any mars on the walls in here”, he thinks I’m crazy but he loves me that way. And Saturday we board that plane and head back home. We’re moving right along, I’ll say.

It feels like we’ve been gone a whole lot longer than 2 ½ weeks and we’re raring to get back. We’re having no troubles saying goodbye to TX but we’ll miss our friends here. And I’m so glad I’m not feeling sentimental these days, that would not be a good thing. I’m more than ready and Bobby is too.

Hey, the movers aren’t here yet, suppose I ought ta crack the whip? Just Kidding.

I’m feeling just a wee bit frazzled as the packers and movers arrive NEXT WEEK! So far I’ve cleaned out my kitchen cabinets, well, that is, all things I no longer want. I’ve also cleaned our closet really good and got rid of a BUNCH of stuff, went through our night stands, dresser and armoire and feeling so good about the stuff/junk I got rid of. I didn’t realize all the junk/er stuff we no longer use/want/need that piled up in those places. Sheesh, the job is done and that’s a good feeling.

So to celebrate my success I’m taking a moment tomorrow first thing and have scheduled a color and cut. And I’ll tell ya; about right now I’m looking so forward to my little visit to the salon. (Sigh)

But I dare not get too awfully excited as we have to take inventory of all the stuff in the house and provide replacement values of everything should something get damaged/broken in the move. That’s a chore that I’m not really looking forward to at all but Bobby is keeping my nerves at bay and helping me to remain calm.

All in all, we feel pretty good about the time we’re making up this week. We originally wanted to have a big going away party this Saturday but we are not ones to push it and have just decided to scrap the whole shebang and that’s just the way the ball bounces.

I’m not doing such a great job keeping up with all of you but rest assured, when we get back home, I’ll have lots more time to catch up. ‘Til then, I may be posting here and there and I’ll see all of you soon!

By the looks of things one would never guess we’re leaving for 3 weeks to TX. I have yet to start packing and I still need to retrieve the suitcase. I believe I’ll finish up my cup of coffee and then I should get busy as we have dinner reservations in Dallas tonight.

Sometimes I wonder why things don’t seem like reality even while going through the motions. We were just commenting this morning that this would be our final trip back and that’s not sinking in. It doesn’t seem final and perhaps we’re having a little moment of reflecting on all the good times there. We’re “trying” to plan for a big farewell party but I don’t know if we’ll get that pulled off or not. We hope so but if it’s just too much, we’ll have to cancel those plans. And I keep wondering how it’s going to feel pulling away from the house that last time.

One thing we are both grateful for is having a sense of where we plan to live for many many years to come. I keep telling Bobby that I think he’s going to have a very hard time pulling me away from this home we’re getting ready to build. Although he knows I’ll follow him to the ends of the earth in a heartbeat. But Bobby even commented that we may never sell our home up here as we both really like this area. That chapter is yet to be written but for now we will take this one day and step at a time and enjoy the moment.

As of last night and this morning Bobby had somewhat decided to wait ‘til next Thursday to go back to TX ~ so much to do, so little time. I told him I didn’t care one way or the other and whatever he decided suited me just fine. I got the call this afternoon and he feels we really need to get back and get through as much stuff as possible. I did say that if we leave Saturday that I would like the latest flight possible and he honored my wishes. We will be leaving Saturday early evening and spending our last 3 weeks at the place we called home for many years.

I have exhausted myself with floor plans today and I keep going back to the one we really like. Who knows just yet what the exact foot print is going to look like but we certainly don’t want to rush it.

I do need a break from this and I also need to start thinking about dinner plans. That’s all for today.

Good question, it may take me a while to figure it out ~ Lets see ~ I’m sitting down at the moment and things are beginning to sink in. We finally have everything done on our part and the house in TX is now owned by the company! It’s so good getting that all behind us!

I’m also looking ahead for our new plans to settle down up here. From the time we arrived up north to almost this very day, TX still felt like home. But now the tables are turning where this is starting to feel like home. And it’s so nice to finally have a place to pin point where we plan to live for a very long, long time.

We leave to go back to TX this Saturday for our final 3 weeks back at the home front. We’re going to try and get some major cleaning out and discarding of things done before the packers arrive. But what doesn’t get done, oh well, we’ll get to continue on when we settle in up here. But on the bright side, we’re gonna have a nice big walkout basement where we can store lots of stuff and go through things as time permits.

But where I am right now? If I can be perfectly honest is right up here and I’m starting to feel like we are finally “home”. We’re actually both wishing in some ways that we could just stay here another week or so so that we could move things along with our builder. But it is what it is. We need to be back in TX at least 10 business days before the packers arrive as they need to do a walk through and survey everything and plan exactly how long they need to get us all packed up. They already did this before we left TX but now they say they need to do it again and, well, it is what it is and we’ll be there but this time my heart will be lost up here.

We had our appointment with our Realtor Saturday over at the development where we fell in love and it truly calls us home. Our Realtor let us know there was a house being built that was just about a month shy of completion. So we went to check out the house and lo and behold the BUILDER was there! Insert a HUGE Praise. It was such a lovely home on 4 acres up on a hill but there were some things we wanted in our next home that this one didn’t have. But since this home was our only choice we decided to get it if it was the only option.

After talking with the builder we learned she had more lots available. And when we heard she had one lake front property left we were sold! We moved forward with that lot over the weekend and she is drawing up the papers and it will be ours soon. The other praise is that she was reserving that lot for herself as it is the best lot with the best views on the lake. She’s going into retirement and was going to build her home there. I don’t know why she let us have that nice piece of land but all we can do right now is say thank you Jesus, thank you Lord! The one thing she did say is this “I really like you people”. And she told me again today that she wants us to be happy and she’s ready to build our home. Bob and I still can’t believe she sold us her lot and we are both pretty much in utter shock right now.

We’ve wanted to build our next home for quite some time now so we are already a step ahead as we started a “wish” list sometime back. I’ve been looking through floor plans on-line and in quite a few magazines she provided. We have a couple picked out that fits what we’re looking for and with a tweak here and there we should be able to pin point the plan soon. We’ll be meeting with the builder again this week and then we will be working with her excavator, architect and engineers to finalize the floor plan and to get things in motion.

We both fell in love with our builder. She’s such a joy to work with and we love her down home personality. And Bob and I feel she’s an Angel. She’s straight and to the point and there’s no guessing with her which we really love. And she has suggested some really good things to consider.

It proved to be an unbelievable weekend for us and we feel patience has paid off once again.

I have no idea what has gotten into me the last few days. Between dreaming of a new place to call home and thoughts of getting out of our home in TX, I have no idea where I am right now. My phone has been a buzz with the Realtor back home in TX as we are getting our home in TX finalized and ready to turn it over to the company. We just received the signed contract today and it looks like things are almost finalized on our end.

We need to secure our flights for next weekend and I’ve already got the rental car reserved. It’s all coming so fast but we feel we are right on schedule. Bobby’s been working with the company and they already have our movers scheduled for that last week that we’re there. And we have both started lists of things we want to accomplish before the packers and movers arrive.

I haven’t been able to concentrate or get into the drawing mode at all today but I did manage to get some food shopping done. Anxious, is that the word? No I think I’ll use excited. No… well ~ to be quite honest I’m both anxious to get back to TX and wrap it up there and already excited to get back so that we can pursue another nest.

How to describe saying goodbye for good is hard to put into words. A good portion of our married life was spent in TX. The thought of sleeping in our bed there at home seems so final, and driving down the familiar roads that lead us “home” concludes our time spent there. And the thought of moving all our things from home will finally bring closure for us.

We were told late last summer that listing our home at the end of the “season” that we may have to wait ‘til next spring (the here and now) for the new season to sell the house. We’ve been well taken care of with the company Bobby works for. They’ve been taking care of all the expenses back home including our mortgage, insurance, all utility bills and the lawn maintenance… They’ve given us x amount of trips back home to take care of things and we’ve been just fine being able to go back home for visits now and then and to check up on things.

We’re just coming into the season for homes to begin selling and we have just recently received not one but two offers! We’re still working on the first offer and it looks like we’re moving forward with those plans. But the party with the second offer is willing to wait to make sure the first party’s plans work out. Bobby and I will be traveling back to TX yet again to spend our final three weeks back home. So we have another two weeks here in NY before we make our final trip home. The beauty of the company is that they will buy the house from us once we get a contract and we don’t have to wait for the closing! And then the company takes care of all the closing costs and all that kind a stuff.

We are both eager to move on and put TX behind us, the future is bright and we don’t have to know what’s ahead to feel content in the present. We’re both so happy to be here and we know there are exciting days ahead up here. We feel that we could live anywhere and be totally content because we have each other and as Bobby always says, home is where you are. Here’s to new beginnings!

Bobby asked me many months ago where I would like to spend my 40th birthday and without hesitation I picked “home” and “home” was where it was going to be. Of course he wanted to know if I wanted a big birthday bash but I know he already knew the answer. We’re neither one into “big celebrations” for ourselves. We’re both home bodies and neither of us are ones for having the attention on us in crowds. Who knows but my bd comes the end part of May and if we’re too exhausted from the travel, I’ll be just fine spending it with Bobby right here in our comfy little apartment. Just being with the love of my life is all I want for my 40th birthday.

The week is going by quite gingerly. Tuesday evening the gentleman that purchased our furniture arrived with a U-Haul and carted it all out of here. Moving furniture in and out of here is not an easy task and we’ve learned through movers that the rock makes the best passage in and out of here. So when the “team” of guys arrived to move the furniture, Bobby explained that going up the rock was an option. Side note… We live on the ground floor but there is no way of getting out of here without going up. So when they started out they used the stairs for the loveseat. By the time they got back for the second load, ‘the sofa’, the man in charge announced they would be climbing the rock this time. So here’s the gentlemen rock climbing with that heavy sofa.

On Tuesday evening, this was the way Bobby chose to recline and I must say he had such a hard time getting comfortable. I was sitting on our hard wood dining room chairs and my bum; well let’s just say that was not the most comfortable chair to relax in all evening.

Wednesday morning first thing, the delivery showed up with our new furniture. Oh the joy it was last evening for both of us to be able to recline in the loveseat. We have always wanted to sit next to each other in the evenings and Bobby has always wanted to recline. I like to recline too and it’s nice to sit without my feet dangling as I’m so short. And it’s wonderful having the best of both worlds.

After Bobby learned the furniture was delivered, he wanted to meet for lunch. He prefers I pick him up so that we can ride together and that’s what we did. We went to a nice little restaurant downtown where we had a tasty healthy lunch, great conversation and such an enjoyable time.

Today I plan to give us a good cleaning over here and get a little laundry done up. I also need to get caught up on some ironing and I think that will keep me busy for a while. I’m also watching a beautiful snowfall and I’m more than ready for another beautiful white ground covering.

So here I go again and wishing all of you a pleasant day.

We had a great day (yesterday) in spite of the ice, sleet and whatnot. Bobby opted not to get out there in the mess and stayed home. We neither one have 4 wheel drives nor does Bobby want to take chances, so he worked from home.

He did take on another roll yesterday changing hats depending on whether our phone was ringing or not. The ad for our furniture ran for the first day yesterday and our phone seemed to ring off the hook with loads of interest and I lost count of the callers early on. Many callers took the day off due to the weather and quite frankly most of them were not game to get out at all. As a matter of fact, Bobby was telling callers that they may want to hold off coming ‘til Saturday. Well, this one gentleman insisted on coming yesterday so Bobby didn’t hold him back. Out he came in his 4 wheel drive, came in, had a look, shelled out a substantial down payment and bought it! And the kicker is we made an extra $250 smackers on top of what we purchased the set for. He’s made plans to pick it up the beginning of the week depending on weather conditions and we’ll be reclining soon with our new set!

After getting all situated with our new leather furniture, we found the exact leather furniture that’s in our home in TX. We just noticed it yesterday at the discount furniture store and we decided that we now want that instead of what we already have. We love our set from home as it is a full reclining set. The sofa and loveseat both recline and we like that set so much that we just hauled off and purchased the set this weekend. The store is going to hold it for us ‘til we get rid of what we currently have. Now Bobby and I can’t wait for our new reclining set to get here!!! I’m working on the ad and I’m sure we will have no trouble getting rid of this set.

Below is a picture of what our set looks like in TX and a picture of what we have here in NY that we are going to be selling.

Finally our last piece of furniture will arrive tonight. Actually Bobby and his buddy (Quinton, a single young man who works for Bobby) are going to go pick it up. And I’m making dinner for the guys. Bobby has already put in his dinner request so; it’s back to the grocery today to pick up the ingredients for dinner and desert.

Bobby can’t seem to get away from Mexican so I’ll be making shredded chicken flautas and tacos along with Mexican rice and a few other side items. He told me I could surprise him with desert so I’m thinking perhaps churros, an apple pie and Ice cream or making his favorite strawberry cheesecake. I still don’t know but I’m sure I’ll figure it out by dinnertime.

We found the furniture for our living room from an ad in the paper. We got a dark brown Italian leather set complete with a chair and ottoman. The original owners only used this set for a year and its in very good condition. The only problem with it was the sofa had a very bad obvious stain running down the front of it. Bobby proceeded to tell the couple that he was not interested in getting it because of the unsightly stain. Then the lady replied, “It has a full warranty”. So we agreed to purchase the set if the stain could be repaired. So right after Christmas we gave her half the money and we brought the loveseat, chair and ottoman back to our place.

Between now and then, the company was out to her place to repair the damage on the sofa but was unable to repair that revolting stain. So we were told the company was going to exchange the old sofa for a new one. Finally the new sofa will be delivered to the owner’s place today and we get to pick it up this evening! I still can’t believe the deal we got on this set and now we get a brand new sofa. Talk about getting more than what you bargain for, just gotta love it!