Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I just picked a pint of Sweet 100 tomatoes. Probably my second-most favorite food ever. Marvelous little jewels hanging out there on the vines, just begging to be picked. Biting into one of them is a little bit of sweet-and-tart tomato-y heaven. They are SO GOOD! Unfortunately, the mockingbirds like them almost as much as I do; fortunately there are plenty to go around.
Victoria was here this morning, so Roger and I escaped to the library. I caught up on some of my blog writing. We also checked on the rental storage units. The ones at the end of Belle Terre are now going for $190 per month with a move-in special of $11 for the first month. They have a 10x25 unit, air-conditioned, which has now been saved in our name. We also inquired about their smallest outside unit, which is 6x10 and rents for $30. Ouch! It is going to cost us more than $1,000 here in Louisiana unless we can get our house sold. We stopped by the storage unit place near the library, and their prices are comparable except that their largest is 10x20. Probably not big enough to hold all our worldly possessions.
Speaking of worldly possessions – I am struggling with what to take to France. This is going to be a weighing-and-balancing thing: what do we spend our allocated 200 or so pounds on – clothing? General toiletries? Other items? The camelback? Meds, of course. I take lots of vitamin supplements – will I be able to get comparables in France? I can certainly give some of them up, such as CoQ10, but can I find no-flush niacin (which I order now on-line) in France (for cholesterol)? Chromium picolinate (for my plantar fascitis)? We are going to have Shelli and Ronnie receive and ship our prescription meds for us.
If it weren’t the dead center of summer, I would wear a winter coat, because I don’t think I have room in my allotted two suitcases to pack it. I will probably try to buy a second-hand one as winter approaches in France. But do I try to pack that furry-lined sweater that Shelli and I love so much? And how many shoes? I’m a woman, so it’s a given that I have lots of shoes. I’m trying to hold it to 5 pairs, but I don’t know if I will succeed. That doesn’t count the Crocs.
I have to try to figure out how to add pictures appropriate to my blog. I tried attaching a couple of photos of gravestones – those of Amos and Pansy Ross and of James Walter and Mary Jean Patrick. So now I have those two huge photos at the top of every page of my blog. That’s not what I want! I want to be able to sprinkle photos among the pearls of wisdom I am spewing forth! I guess I am going to have to set up a link to them somewhere – I suppose I ought to start a Flickr account.
Friday, May 28, 2010
My final luncheon
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The invitations to my final luncheon went out yesterday – I invited nine ladies. I know that two of them can come. Here’s hoping that most of the rest can make it as well. I know that Sharon probably won’t – it is too much for her to get here from Ponchatoula. Babs hasn’t come to any of my luncheons for the past five years or so. The rest will depend upon whether they already have plans. An etiquette piece I read on the internet suggested that I should send out invites six weeks in advance – well, so much for that! Our house will be empty and we will be gone in six weeks! I barely managed to get this planned for two weeks out.
I made some caramelized onion bread today – a bit of work but it is pretty good. When I was at the grocery store this morning, some sage cheese caught my eye, then leaped into my basket. The combination of the bread and the cheese is really great! I am thinking of serving it at my luncheon as an appetizer, along with some gazpacho – perhaps white gazpacho. Also, salad, shrimp impossible pie, chocolate cobbler for dessert.
The invitations to my final luncheon went out yesterday – I invited nine ladies. I know that two of them can come. Here’s hoping that most of the rest can make it as well. I know that Sharon probably won’t – it is too much for her to get here from Ponchatoula. Babs hasn’t come to any of my luncheons for the past five years or so. The rest will depend upon whether they already have plans. An etiquette piece I read on the internet suggested that I should send out invites six weeks in advance – well, so much for that! Our house will be empty and we will be gone in six weeks! I barely managed to get this planned for two weeks out.
I made some caramelized onion bread today – a bit of work but it is pretty good. When I was at the grocery store this morning, some sage cheese caught my eye, then leaped into my basket. The combination of the bread and the cheese is really great! I am thinking of serving it at my luncheon as an appetizer, along with some gazpacho – perhaps white gazpacho. Also, salad, shrimp impossible pie, chocolate cobbler for dessert.
Home from Texas
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Home, sweet home! It was great to sleep in our own bed again, even though the bed at Daddy’s is pretty comfortable – it’s just not home. I have a cold. Ugh. It has a pretty deep cough – deeper than I am used to. I keep dragging up phlegm. It woke me up a couple of times last night (and consequently Roger), but didn’t keep me awake long. I don’t feel bad, and the coughing doesn’t hurt, it just has to be done. I have started using my fast-acting inhaler to aid in treating the cough. I think it helps a bit.
I called Stella. She said the open house went great, except that there were no offers on the house. She said that the house looked really good. There were two large groups of lookers. One rather bulky lady took one look at the stairs and declared that she could never get up and down them. Then why is she looking at two-story houses? Our stairs are no steeper than any others. I’M BITING MY TONGUE (and my fingers)!!!
Home, sweet home! It was great to sleep in our own bed again, even though the bed at Daddy’s is pretty comfortable – it’s just not home. I have a cold. Ugh. It has a pretty deep cough – deeper than I am used to. I keep dragging up phlegm. It woke me up a couple of times last night (and consequently Roger), but didn’t keep me awake long. I don’t feel bad, and the coughing doesn’t hurt, it just has to be done. I have started using my fast-acting inhaler to aid in treating the cough. I think it helps a bit.
I called Stella. She said the open house went great, except that there were no offers on the house. She said that the house looked really good. There were two large groups of lookers. One rather bulky lady took one look at the stairs and declared that she could never get up and down them. Then why is she looking at two-story houses? Our stairs are no steeper than any others. I’M BITING MY TONGUE (and my fingers)!!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Bittersweet - mostly sweet, only a little bitter
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday morning we spent getting outfitted for the funeral. Neither Roger nor I had come even remotely prepared for a funeral, so we headed for the mall in Clovis which offers Sears, Penney’s, Dillards and Bealls. I found a nice little suit on a sale rack in Bealls for not much. Roger had a much smaller selection – Sears had almost nothing, and Dillards had suits more expensive than we wanted to consider. He finally ended up buying from Penney’s. We went to Wal-mart for shoes and a belt, plus a belt for Eric. Eric insisted that he needed a 36, but I think his belly is bigger than Roger’s, and Roger needs a 38! So we bought one 36 and one 38. Roger ended up wearing the 36, Eric the 38. I bought a bit of make-up and some stockings, as Shelli is bringing me shoes.
The funeral yesterday was nice, if one can say that about a funeral. It was a typical West Texas funeral. Upon arrival at Farwell, we drove by the cemetery and saw the burial plot and Pat’s headstone. The church collected food and had lunch for the family (extended, plus some friends) at noon before the funeral at 2:00. It was wonderful seeing lots of people I hadn’t seen in years. Carol Dean still looks great, as does Allyne Pearce. Her son Danny (goes by Dan now!) was there and was telling the kids stories about how he and his brother Roddy and Roger and Marty White used to get in trouble. Lots of laughs! There was Marty’s sister, Susan there, and her husband Doyle. There was Pam Monk, and her mother Jo Patrick, who is Roger’s aunt. Her husband, Proff (Arthur) Patrick just died a few weeks ago but she said she is doing really well, and she looks great. Barbara Anderson, James and Lena Golden (cousins of Roger’s) were there and I am sure I am leaving out lots of people. Daddy, Jimmy, Susan and Brant came for the luncheon. There was, as usual, LOTS of food, all that good west Texas home cooking. Yummy!
The service was short. We sang a couple of the old Baptist hymns that Mary Jean loved, and Nicole sang Shall We Gather At the River. Eric had written a tribute which he read called Grandma’s Home. It was really great, full of memories and humor. I heard the congregation laughing a couple of times. The preacher was from Winters and at least had known Mary Jean somewhat during her five-year stay there. His remarks were brief and appropriate. The pallbearers were the four grandsons and two grandsons-in-law. Perfect! I hope somebody got a picture of the pallbearers’ shoes. Five pairs of black shine, one pair of brown with pale brown on the sides. Wonderful! So perfect in its imperfection!! The graveside services were brief as well – it was a warm and windy day – typical of west Texas.
We went back to the house afterward. We showed Barbara and Lena the box of old-fashioned hats we found in the closet. Shelli and Alicia modeled them for us, and Alicia tried on a couple of Susan’s old formal dresses as well. Nicole tried to wriggle into one, but it was too small even for her, and very hot as well. We laughed a lot. Everyone got to go through one last time and take whatever they wanted, and it was a wonderful closing to a bittersweet day. Around 4:00 we all hugged and departed.
Around 11:00, we headed for bed, but I popped my head back out to wish Alicia and Peter a Happy Anniversary, since they are on Eastern time, even though their anniversary isn’t until tomorrow.
The next morning we awoke early. Peter and Alicia, along with Shelli and Ronnie had to leave for their drive back to Dallas. The plan was to get Ronnie to the airport for a 9:00 a.m. flight to Dallas. He had to be at work around 2:00 and the drive would not get him there on time. Shelli and Ronnie arrived from the Wedels’, and they packed up Ronnie’s car and pulled out. Before they left, Shelli and Alicia were arguing about the quilting stuff and whether they had room for it in the car. Alicia said she needed it if she is going to make a quilt for “that one,” indicating the baby in Shelli’s stomach. Shelli retorted “yeah, if it makes it.” It breaks my heart that we cannot all be wholly joyful about Shelli’s pregnancy, instead of having to hold our collective breaths waiting to see if she can carry this one to term.
It was not until after they left that Roger wished me a happy anniversary and I remembered that I had not wished the same to Alicia and Peter this morning before they left. I texted the wish to Alicia later. Our anniversary – ack! We have done nothing to plan a celebration – no cards, no gift, no nothing. The funeral and all the busy-ness involved in having family here, etc. kept our minds occupied with other things, and now, here it is our anniversary and we have nothing but each other. But that’s truly all we need.
Our flight didn’t leave until 4:25 p.m., so Roger decided he wanted to drive to Bovina to see his grandparents’ gravesite. We invited Daddy along, and spent a delightful morning driving past dairies and fields and sprinkler systems and grain elevators and all the other things that make up west Texas. I have no desire to live there, but I still REALLY love that place. It is so full of its own special kind of beauty. There has been lots of rain this year, so everything is wonderfully green and utterly gorgeous. The drive to Bovina only took half an hour or so. Roger thought he remembered where the cemetery was, but we took a left instead of a right, which took us out of town, then Highway 60 brought us right back around to town again. We stopped and Roger got out and asked a couple of guys where the cemetery is. One of them introduced himself to Roger and said he knew Mary Jean, and was sorry to learn of her passing. He not only give us directions, but told us to follow him and he would take us there. We did, and he turned onto the road where we should have gone right, then led us all the way to the cemetery gate. Roger wasn’t sure exactly where the gravesite was, but he remembered it as being somewhat to the west of the center road. I stopped the car, and he went straight and I went right. It wasn’t even five minutes before I located the marker. We took pictures and noted that Amos was 16 years older than Pansy. Then we headed back to Muleshoe via a different road for varied scenery. Wow! That brought back memories! Once we were back in Muleshoe, we stopped at a roadside stand advertising cherries and bought some to eat now and on the plane and to share with Daddy and Susan and Jimmy. Yummy! Cherries are my favorite food in the whole wide world!!!!
We had lunch with Jimmy, Susan and Daddy, and handed off some of the cherries. We were going to take Roger’s suit to the cleaners, but Susan suggested that we let her take it to Lubbock to be cleaned, as the cleaners in Muleshoe does a less-than-outstanding job at times. We took Daddy by the cleaners to pick up a jacket of his, and to the bank where he made a deposit. While he was at the teller, Roger and I stood around near the table in the middle of the bank lobby. I am sure they thought we were casing the place, as the bank president came out to inquire as to whether he could help us. We indicated we were waiting on Mr. Wedel, and the light bulb came on in his face as he realized I am his daughter, and he introduced himself as Robert Montgomery and we chatted for 10 mintues or so, with Daddy joining us when he finished his banking transaction. Ain’t small-town life great! We went to Carolyn’s and ordered flowers for Susan and Jimmy as a thank-you, and didn’t even have to give them the address!
Susan arrived about 2:00 to take us to the airport. Rats! I forgot to give Susan money for the cleaners, although we did give her the suit. She said she would hang it up in the master bedroom closet after it is cleaned. I left my dress there as well for – well, for the next funeral. I hope we don’t need it before we complete our year in France.
Monday morning we spent getting outfitted for the funeral. Neither Roger nor I had come even remotely prepared for a funeral, so we headed for the mall in Clovis which offers Sears, Penney’s, Dillards and Bealls. I found a nice little suit on a sale rack in Bealls for not much. Roger had a much smaller selection – Sears had almost nothing, and Dillards had suits more expensive than we wanted to consider. He finally ended up buying from Penney’s. We went to Wal-mart for shoes and a belt, plus a belt for Eric. Eric insisted that he needed a 36, but I think his belly is bigger than Roger’s, and Roger needs a 38! So we bought one 36 and one 38. Roger ended up wearing the 36, Eric the 38. I bought a bit of make-up and some stockings, as Shelli is bringing me shoes.
The funeral yesterday was nice, if one can say that about a funeral. It was a typical West Texas funeral. Upon arrival at Farwell, we drove by the cemetery and saw the burial plot and Pat’s headstone. The church collected food and had lunch for the family (extended, plus some friends) at noon before the funeral at 2:00. It was wonderful seeing lots of people I hadn’t seen in years. Carol Dean still looks great, as does Allyne Pearce. Her son Danny (goes by Dan now!) was there and was telling the kids stories about how he and his brother Roddy and Roger and Marty White used to get in trouble. Lots of laughs! There was Marty’s sister, Susan there, and her husband Doyle. There was Pam Monk, and her mother Jo Patrick, who is Roger’s aunt. Her husband, Proff (Arthur) Patrick just died a few weeks ago but she said she is doing really well, and she looks great. Barbara Anderson, James and Lena Golden (cousins of Roger’s) were there and I am sure I am leaving out lots of people. Daddy, Jimmy, Susan and Brant came for the luncheon. There was, as usual, LOTS of food, all that good west Texas home cooking. Yummy!
The service was short. We sang a couple of the old Baptist hymns that Mary Jean loved, and Nicole sang Shall We Gather At the River. Eric had written a tribute which he read called Grandma’s Home. It was really great, full of memories and humor. I heard the congregation laughing a couple of times. The preacher was from Winters and at least had known Mary Jean somewhat during her five-year stay there. His remarks were brief and appropriate. The pallbearers were the four grandsons and two grandsons-in-law. Perfect! I hope somebody got a picture of the pallbearers’ shoes. Five pairs of black shine, one pair of brown with pale brown on the sides. Wonderful! So perfect in its imperfection!! The graveside services were brief as well – it was a warm and windy day – typical of west Texas.
We went back to the house afterward. We showed Barbara and Lena the box of old-fashioned hats we found in the closet. Shelli and Alicia modeled them for us, and Alicia tried on a couple of Susan’s old formal dresses as well. Nicole tried to wriggle into one, but it was too small even for her, and very hot as well. We laughed a lot. Everyone got to go through one last time and take whatever they wanted, and it was a wonderful closing to a bittersweet day. Around 4:00 we all hugged and departed.
Around 11:00, we headed for bed, but I popped my head back out to wish Alicia and Peter a Happy Anniversary, since they are on Eastern time, even though their anniversary isn’t until tomorrow.
The next morning we awoke early. Peter and Alicia, along with Shelli and Ronnie had to leave for their drive back to Dallas. The plan was to get Ronnie to the airport for a 9:00 a.m. flight to Dallas. He had to be at work around 2:00 and the drive would not get him there on time. Shelli and Ronnie arrived from the Wedels’, and they packed up Ronnie’s car and pulled out. Before they left, Shelli and Alicia were arguing about the quilting stuff and whether they had room for it in the car. Alicia said she needed it if she is going to make a quilt for “that one,” indicating the baby in Shelli’s stomach. Shelli retorted “yeah, if it makes it.” It breaks my heart that we cannot all be wholly joyful about Shelli’s pregnancy, instead of having to hold our collective breaths waiting to see if she can carry this one to term.
It was not until after they left that Roger wished me a happy anniversary and I remembered that I had not wished the same to Alicia and Peter this morning before they left. I texted the wish to Alicia later. Our anniversary – ack! We have done nothing to plan a celebration – no cards, no gift, no nothing. The funeral and all the busy-ness involved in having family here, etc. kept our minds occupied with other things, and now, here it is our anniversary and we have nothing but each other. But that’s truly all we need.
Our flight didn’t leave until 4:25 p.m., so Roger decided he wanted to drive to Bovina to see his grandparents’ gravesite. We invited Daddy along, and spent a delightful morning driving past dairies and fields and sprinkler systems and grain elevators and all the other things that make up west Texas. I have no desire to live there, but I still REALLY love that place. It is so full of its own special kind of beauty. There has been lots of rain this year, so everything is wonderfully green and utterly gorgeous. The drive to Bovina only took half an hour or so. Roger thought he remembered where the cemetery was, but we took a left instead of a right, which took us out of town, then Highway 60 brought us right back around to town again. We stopped and Roger got out and asked a couple of guys where the cemetery is. One of them introduced himself to Roger and said he knew Mary Jean, and was sorry to learn of her passing. He not only give us directions, but told us to follow him and he would take us there. We did, and he turned onto the road where we should have gone right, then led us all the way to the cemetery gate. Roger wasn’t sure exactly where the gravesite was, but he remembered it as being somewhat to the west of the center road. I stopped the car, and he went straight and I went right. It wasn’t even five minutes before I located the marker. We took pictures and noted that Amos was 16 years older than Pansy. Then we headed back to Muleshoe via a different road for varied scenery. Wow! That brought back memories! Once we were back in Muleshoe, we stopped at a roadside stand advertising cherries and bought some to eat now and on the plane and to share with Daddy and Susan and Jimmy. Yummy! Cherries are my favorite food in the whole wide world!!!!
We had lunch with Jimmy, Susan and Daddy, and handed off some of the cherries. We were going to take Roger’s suit to the cleaners, but Susan suggested that we let her take it to Lubbock to be cleaned, as the cleaners in Muleshoe does a less-than-outstanding job at times. We took Daddy by the cleaners to pick up a jacket of his, and to the bank where he made a deposit. While he was at the teller, Roger and I stood around near the table in the middle of the bank lobby. I am sure they thought we were casing the place, as the bank president came out to inquire as to whether he could help us. We indicated we were waiting on Mr. Wedel, and the light bulb came on in his face as he realized I am his daughter, and he introduced himself as Robert Montgomery and we chatted for 10 mintues or so, with Daddy joining us when he finished his banking transaction. Ain’t small-town life great! We went to Carolyn’s and ordered flowers for Susan and Jimmy as a thank-you, and didn’t even have to give them the address!
Susan arrived about 2:00 to take us to the airport. Rats! I forgot to give Susan money for the cleaners, although we did give her the suit. She said she would hang it up in the master bedroom closet after it is cleaned. I left my dress there as well for – well, for the next funeral. I hope we don’t need it before we complete our year in France.
The worst of news
Saturday, May 15, 2010
We left shortly after noon yesterday to drive to Lubbock for Craig’s graduation. Kevin was there, as was Merideth, Craig’s girlfriend, and, of course, Susan and Randall. We had chicken kabobs and cake at Craig’s house, then left for Spirit Arena for the 4:00 ceremony. Craig’s was among the first names called, then it was an hour and a half of BORING! Afterward, we went to Cagle’s steak house for dinner, then on to Muleshoe. We had just arrived in Muleshoe when Susan C. called to say that they had taken a detour out of Lubbock on some muddy roads where there were no gas stations, and they were finally on the road to Muleshoe, but they were coasting on fumes, not sure they would make it to a gas station in Littlefield. She put us on alert that we might have to come rescue them with some gasoline. She called about 20 minutes later to say that they had made it to a gas station, they had a full tank of gas and they were under way.
Today I slept until 8:00, then we had breakfast. We waited for Susan C.’s call, but finally gave up about 9:20 and headed for Farwell to clean in Mary Jean’s house again. Once we were on the road, Susan called to say they were headed to Farwell, and it turns out they were only about 3 minutes behind us.
Saturday started out so nicely and ended so badly. Susan, Randall, Roger and I worked in Mary Jean’s house Saturday for about five hours cleaning out stuff, sorting, throwing out, setting aside and generally trying to get the everything out of the house that we want prior to letting the youth group take over for a garage sale. At one point, when I went into the master bedroom where Susan was sorting clothes, she pointed to a small pile which was actually two suits. She asked which one I thought Mary Jean should be buried in because, after all, she might as well go ahead and set something aside now, as we would need it eventually. I opined that the purple one looked better. We all left about 3:00, we to go back to Muleshoe, Randall and Susan to return to Winters. This was after we loaded our “loot” into our cars, including a samurai sword, a couple of bayonets, (named after the city of Bayonne in France!), lots of quilting supplies, a bread machine and myriad sundry items.
About 9:00, Susan called to tell us that someone from the nursing home called her to say that Mary Jean was having trouble breathing, and they thought her heart was failing. When Susan and Randall got to Winters, they went to the nursing home to see her, but she was unresponsive. Right about midnight, the nursing home notified them that she had passed away, and Susan called us to let us know shortly afterward. We slept very poorly the rest of the night, and I gave up at 4:30, got out of bed and came in to work on an obituary and notes and lists of things to be done.
Sunday was something of a blur. We tried to nap during the day but had little success. Roger called the kids to let them know that their grandmother has died. At about 8:00, he called Alicia and Peter, since they live in the eastern time zone. He called Eric next, but there was no answer. At about 9:00, he called Shelli and Ronnie. They all began to make plans to come. Susan told them that grandma left money to help fund their travel if they need it. Nice touch! It lets the kids travel here without having to worry about the cost. Kevin and Craig are already in Texas. Dennis and Nicole plan to fly to Albuquerque then, rather than sit in an airport for a 4-hour layover, they will drive to Clovis where Susan has reserved a couple of rooms.
We ate lunch with Susan and Jimmy, and Susan kindly offered her house for sleeping if we need it for the kids. She has a bed in Jami’s room, and room for an air mattress in another room. We decided to put Shelli and Ronnie there, along with Eric on his air mattress. Alicia and Peter will stay here with us at Daddy’s house.
We left shortly after noon yesterday to drive to Lubbock for Craig’s graduation. Kevin was there, as was Merideth, Craig’s girlfriend, and, of course, Susan and Randall. We had chicken kabobs and cake at Craig’s house, then left for Spirit Arena for the 4:00 ceremony. Craig’s was among the first names called, then it was an hour and a half of BORING! Afterward, we went to Cagle’s steak house for dinner, then on to Muleshoe. We had just arrived in Muleshoe when Susan C. called to say that they had taken a detour out of Lubbock on some muddy roads where there were no gas stations, and they were finally on the road to Muleshoe, but they were coasting on fumes, not sure they would make it to a gas station in Littlefield. She put us on alert that we might have to come rescue them with some gasoline. She called about 20 minutes later to say that they had made it to a gas station, they had a full tank of gas and they were under way.
Today I slept until 8:00, then we had breakfast. We waited for Susan C.’s call, but finally gave up about 9:20 and headed for Farwell to clean in Mary Jean’s house again. Once we were on the road, Susan called to say they were headed to Farwell, and it turns out they were only about 3 minutes behind us.
Saturday started out so nicely and ended so badly. Susan, Randall, Roger and I worked in Mary Jean’s house Saturday for about five hours cleaning out stuff, sorting, throwing out, setting aside and generally trying to get the everything out of the house that we want prior to letting the youth group take over for a garage sale. At one point, when I went into the master bedroom where Susan was sorting clothes, she pointed to a small pile which was actually two suits. She asked which one I thought Mary Jean should be buried in because, after all, she might as well go ahead and set something aside now, as we would need it eventually. I opined that the purple one looked better. We all left about 3:00, we to go back to Muleshoe, Randall and Susan to return to Winters. This was after we loaded our “loot” into our cars, including a samurai sword, a couple of bayonets, (named after the city of Bayonne in France!), lots of quilting supplies, a bread machine and myriad sundry items.
About 9:00, Susan called to tell us that someone from the nursing home called her to say that Mary Jean was having trouble breathing, and they thought her heart was failing. When Susan and Randall got to Winters, they went to the nursing home to see her, but she was unresponsive. Right about midnight, the nursing home notified them that she had passed away, and Susan called us to let us know shortly afterward. We slept very poorly the rest of the night, and I gave up at 4:30, got out of bed and came in to work on an obituary and notes and lists of things to be done.
Sunday was something of a blur. We tried to nap during the day but had little success. Roger called the kids to let them know that their grandmother has died. At about 8:00, he called Alicia and Peter, since they live in the eastern time zone. He called Eric next, but there was no answer. At about 9:00, he called Shelli and Ronnie. They all began to make plans to come. Susan told them that grandma left money to help fund their travel if they need it. Nice touch! It lets the kids travel here without having to worry about the cost. Kevin and Craig are already in Texas. Dennis and Nicole plan to fly to Albuquerque then, rather than sit in an airport for a 4-hour layover, they will drive to Clovis where Susan has reserved a couple of rooms.
We ate lunch with Susan and Jimmy, and Susan kindly offered her house for sleeping if we need it for the kids. She has a bed in Jami’s room, and room for an air mattress in another room. We decided to put Shelli and Ronnie there, along with Eric on his air mattress. Alicia and Peter will stay here with us at Daddy’s house.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Grand Tour
Friday, May 14, 2010
I finally went back to bed at 12:30 a.m. and slept pretty well. I feel better this morning – the prednisone furnace seems to have cooled down some. This is the 4-pill day. The less of this stuff I have to take each day, the better. I will be through with the complete regime by Tuesday. I feel good enough that I don’t think I need to try to see a doctor today in Lubbock.
We got the Grand Tour of the farms this morning, or at least half of it. We drove out to the gin, where Daddy loves to go and kibitz with a dozen or so of the local farmers, who meet at the gin for coffee every weekday morning. Today there were about 8 men there, with another walking out the door as we arrived. We stayed for 20-30 minutes, then left for the tour. Daddy directed, Roger drove. We saw much of the 4500 acres of land which Jimmy farms. We didn’t get to finish, but there is time either Sunday or Monday morning to complete the tour.
Rain this morning! The local farmers are rejoicing – this is an area which only gets 12-18 inches of rain annually, and rain is almost always a welcome occurrence. They measure their rain in hundredths of an inch here. Satellite pictures indicate that much of it may miss this area but there is at least some moisture coming down.
I finally went back to bed at 12:30 a.m. and slept pretty well. I feel better this morning – the prednisone furnace seems to have cooled down some. This is the 4-pill day. The less of this stuff I have to take each day, the better. I will be through with the complete regime by Tuesday. I feel good enough that I don’t think I need to try to see a doctor today in Lubbock.
We got the Grand Tour of the farms this morning, or at least half of it. We drove out to the gin, where Daddy loves to go and kibitz with a dozen or so of the local farmers, who meet at the gin for coffee every weekday morning. Today there were about 8 men there, with another walking out the door as we arrived. We stayed for 20-30 minutes, then left for the tour. Daddy directed, Roger drove. We saw much of the 4500 acres of land which Jimmy farms. We didn’t get to finish, but there is time either Sunday or Monday morning to complete the tour.
Rain this morning! The local farmers are rejoicing – this is an area which only gets 12-18 inches of rain annually, and rain is almost always a welcome occurrence. They measure their rain in hundredths of an inch here. Satellite pictures indicate that much of it may miss this area but there is at least some moisture coming down.
Travel to Texas
May 13, 2010
WARNING! THE BLOGS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS MAY CONTAIN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL, AS WE ARE VISITING MY FATHER, WHERE WE HAVE NO INTERNET CONNECTION AND LOTS OF TIME ON OUR HANDS!!!
It is Thursday morning, 4:40, and I can’t sleep, so I though I would get up and write a bit. Wow, what a day! Or couple of days, actually.
A few weeks ago we decided to make a final trek to west Texas before we head off into our great adventure. We have a couple of frequent-flyer tickets which will expire before we return from France and figured to put them to good use. I wanted to spend a little time with Daddy before we go to France, and Craig is graduating on Friday from Tech, so we chose to go at this time. We also need to help at least a little with the cleaning-out of Mary Jean’s house. All the burden of caring for her and dealing with the house has fallen to Susan C. and I felt that we needed to pitch in at least a little bit.
We checked the availability of flights on Southwest and found that, for this particular weekend, the closest flights available to Craig’s graduation allowed us to fly in to Lubbock on Wednesday and out on Monday. We checked with Jimmy and Susan to see if one of them could ferry us to Daddy’s house in Muleshoe and got a positive, then called Daddy to make sure he could accommodate us for a 5-day stay. Everything lined up fine.
Tuesday morning, the day before our departure, I awoke with a slightly-swollen left eye. No problem, just a minor allergy issue. I don’t have them often, but they are not unheard of. I did pet a cat on Friday or Saturday – maybe that’s the problem, although the onset delay seems a bit distant. No matter – during the day Tuesday the eye went down some, although it did not resolve completely. When I awoke on Wednesday, departure day, the eye was much worse – it was half-swollen shut. Ack! I hated how I looked, but had little choice but to head on out. We needed to leave for the airport by 11:00 at the latest, and I planned to stop by WW and weight in at 10:30 before we left. There was no time to get in to see the doctor, and I felt sure he would just tell me that it looked like an allergic reaction and that there wasn’t much he could do. So we headed for the airport, stopping on the way to pick up some Benadryl. Our flight took off on time for the New Orleans-to-Dallas leg. In the air, I became aware that my face was tingling on the lower right side. (It felt like the same tingle I had 5-6 years ago after eating seafood at Kevin’s Cajun Cabin in French Settlement. My face swelled and broke out and I think I probably went to the doctor the next day, but I don’t have a specific recollection of the outcome – did he give me a shot? Prednisone? Or did it just resolve itself without medical intervention?) My face also felt warm inside, and I knew I was in trouble. My right jaw began to swell slightly, and the warmth inside told me that this allergy attack was still ongoing.
When we got to Dallas, we located our gate, got some lunch and I sent Susan W. a text telling her that I would need to get to an urgent care clinic when we landed in Lubbock. She kindly texted back “No problem.” My face continued to burn. We landed 10 minutes late and Susan was waiting at the front door of the airport. About 20 minutes later, we were at a clinic. Bless Susan’s heart!! She took an extra 2 hours out of her day to schlep me around to the clinic and to the pharmacy. At the clinic, the doctor took a look, heard my story, and gave me a steroid shot. He also prescribed prednisone (sigh) and Zantac and said to continue the Benadryl I had already started (sigh again!). (Nice clinic set-up. I walked in and was seen by a doctor within half an hour. He emailed the prescriptions to the pharmacy of my choice, and by the time we got there, the prescriptions were ready for pick-up!)
Benadryl and I have an unpleasant history: it keeps me awake. Hence my blogging at 5:00 a.m. Prednisone and I don’t get along particularly well either, but I am hoping we will manage.
Susan took us to Daddy’s house where we unloaded our luggage and picked up Daddy to go to dinner at Leal’s – one of Muleshoe’s few restaurants. Brant and Jimmy joined us and we were six for Mexican food, starting with the ubiquitous chips and ending with sopapitas (miniature sopapillas) and honey. Susan dropped us back at Daddy’s after dinner and we all headed for bed about 10:00. I slept pretty well initially – the Benadryl did not keep me awake – but I roused around 4:00, tossing and turning enough to wake Roger. We straightened out the cover issues and I left at 4:30 a.m. to go into the living room so Roger could sleep.
• I remember now why I don’t like prednisone. It makes me hungry. I had a bigger lunch today than I usually have, but my stomach is rumbling at 4:15. We went to Mary Jean’s house this morning and spent a couple of hours working there. The electricity is on, but there is no running water. About 10:00, I needed the toilet, so I decided to drive somewhere and find one. But when I got into Daddy’s car to drive down there, the car would not start – it tried twice to turn over, then went into that dead battery clicking mode. Uh-oh! After reporting in to Roger about the battery issue, I left to walk to the court house for their bathroom. Passed the sheriff on the way, and just waved. After I left the court house, I walked across to the First Baptist Church to present to whomever there my idea about letting the youth tag and sell the contents of the house for a garage sale and letting them keep all the proceeds. I had a nice discussion with the church secretary, a Mr. Pollard (?). I told him that I thought Robert Fowler had a key to the house, and he called Robert on the spot and verified that he did – the Fowlers being church members. I left and walked back to the house to report in to Roger. We tried the car again with no luck, and it weighed on our minds for the next hour or so as we worked to clean personal stuff out and throw out trash.
About 11:15, who should walk in the front door but Robert Fowler! He introduced himself to us, and I reminded him that I had met him a couple of times prior, and that I had picked corn at his house one summer while visiting Mary Jean. We discussed the garage sale idea a bit, and he indicated a pile of pots and pans in the floor of the kitchen and said his daughter, Hailey, wanted those. We said “no problem, but sort of suggested that he or she should get them out of the house soon or they would be tagged and sold by the youth group. Hailey is probably a part of the group, although she may be too old now. I asked how Hailey is doing with the car that Susan donated to her, and he said “just great,” remarking that somebody had rear-ended her last weekend and the collision pretty much tore up the other car but barely dented hers! The car was Mary Jean’s, and it’s fate was to sit in the driveway, never to be driven again after Mary Jean went into the nursing home. So Susan asked us if we minded her donating it to Hailey and we told her “no problem.” Hailey she got an 11-year-old car with about 65,000 miles on it, if that!
We told Robert that we would return on Saturday with Susan, Randall and Craig to work in the house some more, and he will probably show up then to get Hailey’s stuff, although, since he has a key, he can get it any time. We sort of gave him permission to let the youth group in the house, but didn’t specifically so state, so we need to clear that up on Saturday. Then, bless his heart, he took a look at the battery, listened to the car, and pulled his truck up next to the car and jumped the battery. The car started right up. Outstanding!!
We returned to Muleshoe to pick up Daddy for lunch. Roger did not turn the car off during the short wait to get Daddy. We met Jimmy, Susan and Brant for lunch at Mom’s, and afterward the car started with no problem. Nevertheless, we took the car to Burton’s for a battery check. Daddy introduced us to the elder and younger Mssrs. Burton. The elder Mr. Burton recalled to us that Daddy had gotten three of his hired hands and had brought in a trailer, and the four of them helped the Burtons move into their new location several years ago. He said he has know Daddy for more than 30 years and had high praises for him! The younger Mr. Burton began to check out the battery. He suggested that the battery needed replacing, but that it might be under warranty and eligible for a partial refund. Noting the brand, he indicated that Daddy had bought the battery from another shop in town. He then proceeded to take the battery to the other shop and get the refund for Daddy. Now that’s small town service!!! In another small-town indicator, when we were lunching, I happened to notice a guy, probably because of his sizable stomach. He was wearing a red shirt and had a moustache. After we had been at Burton’s for about 10 minutes, he walked in there as well.
I have been reminded even more forcefully why it is that I don’t like prednisone. I think is screws seriously with my metabolism. I feel as if I have a prednisone furnace raging in me. My face is swelling and breaking into a rash and my upper body, particularly my face, is hot. It is 11:45 at night, and I am up writing this because I cannot get to sleep. And I’m restless – I feel as if I must have had a couple of cans of Jolt, or as if I perhaps have ADHD. I was given prednisone about 6-8 years ago for a severe poison ivy reaction. I seem to recall that at that time I had a similar reaction to the prednisone. In fact, I thought it was that the prednisone was not working, and I increased it on my own. Then, when I went to the doctor for the prednisone rash, I had to re-reduce the dosage a little at a time. I don’t recall whether the doctor also gave me another shot but I think he may have. I know not to stop the prednisone. Tomorrow is a 4-pill day. We are going to Lubbock tomorrow for Craig’s graduation, and I plan to try to see Dr. Schilling before the graduation, perhaps for another shot, or at least to discuss with him the issues.
I read the prednisone fact sheet provided by the pharmacy and the medical info insert which came in the package. After reading that, I am trying to figure out why anyone would take this medication!!!!
WARNING! THE BLOGS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS MAY CONTAIN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL, AS WE ARE VISITING MY FATHER, WHERE WE HAVE NO INTERNET CONNECTION AND LOTS OF TIME ON OUR HANDS!!!
It is Thursday morning, 4:40, and I can’t sleep, so I though I would get up and write a bit. Wow, what a day! Or couple of days, actually.
A few weeks ago we decided to make a final trek to west Texas before we head off into our great adventure. We have a couple of frequent-flyer tickets which will expire before we return from France and figured to put them to good use. I wanted to spend a little time with Daddy before we go to France, and Craig is graduating on Friday from Tech, so we chose to go at this time. We also need to help at least a little with the cleaning-out of Mary Jean’s house. All the burden of caring for her and dealing with the house has fallen to Susan C. and I felt that we needed to pitch in at least a little bit.
We checked the availability of flights on Southwest and found that, for this particular weekend, the closest flights available to Craig’s graduation allowed us to fly in to Lubbock on Wednesday and out on Monday. We checked with Jimmy and Susan to see if one of them could ferry us to Daddy’s house in Muleshoe and got a positive, then called Daddy to make sure he could accommodate us for a 5-day stay. Everything lined up fine.
Tuesday morning, the day before our departure, I awoke with a slightly-swollen left eye. No problem, just a minor allergy issue. I don’t have them often, but they are not unheard of. I did pet a cat on Friday or Saturday – maybe that’s the problem, although the onset delay seems a bit distant. No matter – during the day Tuesday the eye went down some, although it did not resolve completely. When I awoke on Wednesday, departure day, the eye was much worse – it was half-swollen shut. Ack! I hated how I looked, but had little choice but to head on out. We needed to leave for the airport by 11:00 at the latest, and I planned to stop by WW and weight in at 10:30 before we left. There was no time to get in to see the doctor, and I felt sure he would just tell me that it looked like an allergic reaction and that there wasn’t much he could do. So we headed for the airport, stopping on the way to pick up some Benadryl. Our flight took off on time for the New Orleans-to-Dallas leg. In the air, I became aware that my face was tingling on the lower right side. (It felt like the same tingle I had 5-6 years ago after eating seafood at Kevin’s Cajun Cabin in French Settlement. My face swelled and broke out and I think I probably went to the doctor the next day, but I don’t have a specific recollection of the outcome – did he give me a shot? Prednisone? Or did it just resolve itself without medical intervention?) My face also felt warm inside, and I knew I was in trouble. My right jaw began to swell slightly, and the warmth inside told me that this allergy attack was still ongoing.
When we got to Dallas, we located our gate, got some lunch and I sent Susan W. a text telling her that I would need to get to an urgent care clinic when we landed in Lubbock. She kindly texted back “No problem.” My face continued to burn. We landed 10 minutes late and Susan was waiting at the front door of the airport. About 20 minutes later, we were at a clinic. Bless Susan’s heart!! She took an extra 2 hours out of her day to schlep me around to the clinic and to the pharmacy. At the clinic, the doctor took a look, heard my story, and gave me a steroid shot. He also prescribed prednisone (sigh) and Zantac and said to continue the Benadryl I had already started (sigh again!). (Nice clinic set-up. I walked in and was seen by a doctor within half an hour. He emailed the prescriptions to the pharmacy of my choice, and by the time we got there, the prescriptions were ready for pick-up!)
Benadryl and I have an unpleasant history: it keeps me awake. Hence my blogging at 5:00 a.m. Prednisone and I don’t get along particularly well either, but I am hoping we will manage.
Susan took us to Daddy’s house where we unloaded our luggage and picked up Daddy to go to dinner at Leal’s – one of Muleshoe’s few restaurants. Brant and Jimmy joined us and we were six for Mexican food, starting with the ubiquitous chips and ending with sopapitas (miniature sopapillas) and honey. Susan dropped us back at Daddy’s after dinner and we all headed for bed about 10:00. I slept pretty well initially – the Benadryl did not keep me awake – but I roused around 4:00, tossing and turning enough to wake Roger. We straightened out the cover issues and I left at 4:30 a.m. to go into the living room so Roger could sleep.
• I remember now why I don’t like prednisone. It makes me hungry. I had a bigger lunch today than I usually have, but my stomach is rumbling at 4:15. We went to Mary Jean’s house this morning and spent a couple of hours working there. The electricity is on, but there is no running water. About 10:00, I needed the toilet, so I decided to drive somewhere and find one. But when I got into Daddy’s car to drive down there, the car would not start – it tried twice to turn over, then went into that dead battery clicking mode. Uh-oh! After reporting in to Roger about the battery issue, I left to walk to the court house for their bathroom. Passed the sheriff on the way, and just waved. After I left the court house, I walked across to the First Baptist Church to present to whomever there my idea about letting the youth tag and sell the contents of the house for a garage sale and letting them keep all the proceeds. I had a nice discussion with the church secretary, a Mr. Pollard (?). I told him that I thought Robert Fowler had a key to the house, and he called Robert on the spot and verified that he did – the Fowlers being church members. I left and walked back to the house to report in to Roger. We tried the car again with no luck, and it weighed on our minds for the next hour or so as we worked to clean personal stuff out and throw out trash.
About 11:15, who should walk in the front door but Robert Fowler! He introduced himself to us, and I reminded him that I had met him a couple of times prior, and that I had picked corn at his house one summer while visiting Mary Jean. We discussed the garage sale idea a bit, and he indicated a pile of pots and pans in the floor of the kitchen and said his daughter, Hailey, wanted those. We said “no problem, but sort of suggested that he or she should get them out of the house soon or they would be tagged and sold by the youth group. Hailey is probably a part of the group, although she may be too old now. I asked how Hailey is doing with the car that Susan donated to her, and he said “just great,” remarking that somebody had rear-ended her last weekend and the collision pretty much tore up the other car but barely dented hers! The car was Mary Jean’s, and it’s fate was to sit in the driveway, never to be driven again after Mary Jean went into the nursing home. So Susan asked us if we minded her donating it to Hailey and we told her “no problem.” Hailey she got an 11-year-old car with about 65,000 miles on it, if that!
We told Robert that we would return on Saturday with Susan, Randall and Craig to work in the house some more, and he will probably show up then to get Hailey’s stuff, although, since he has a key, he can get it any time. We sort of gave him permission to let the youth group in the house, but didn’t specifically so state, so we need to clear that up on Saturday. Then, bless his heart, he took a look at the battery, listened to the car, and pulled his truck up next to the car and jumped the battery. The car started right up. Outstanding!!
We returned to Muleshoe to pick up Daddy for lunch. Roger did not turn the car off during the short wait to get Daddy. We met Jimmy, Susan and Brant for lunch at Mom’s, and afterward the car started with no problem. Nevertheless, we took the car to Burton’s for a battery check. Daddy introduced us to the elder and younger Mssrs. Burton. The elder Mr. Burton recalled to us that Daddy had gotten three of his hired hands and had brought in a trailer, and the four of them helped the Burtons move into their new location several years ago. He said he has know Daddy for more than 30 years and had high praises for him! The younger Mr. Burton began to check out the battery. He suggested that the battery needed replacing, but that it might be under warranty and eligible for a partial refund. Noting the brand, he indicated that Daddy had bought the battery from another shop in town. He then proceeded to take the battery to the other shop and get the refund for Daddy. Now that’s small town service!!! In another small-town indicator, when we were lunching, I happened to notice a guy, probably because of his sizable stomach. He was wearing a red shirt and had a moustache. After we had been at Burton’s for about 10 minutes, he walked in there as well.
I have been reminded even more forcefully why it is that I don’t like prednisone. I think is screws seriously with my metabolism. I feel as if I have a prednisone furnace raging in me. My face is swelling and breaking into a rash and my upper body, particularly my face, is hot. It is 11:45 at night, and I am up writing this because I cannot get to sleep. And I’m restless – I feel as if I must have had a couple of cans of Jolt, or as if I perhaps have ADHD. I was given prednisone about 6-8 years ago for a severe poison ivy reaction. I seem to recall that at that time I had a similar reaction to the prednisone. In fact, I thought it was that the prednisone was not working, and I increased it on my own. Then, when I went to the doctor for the prednisone rash, I had to re-reduce the dosage a little at a time. I don’t recall whether the doctor also gave me another shot but I think he may have. I know not to stop the prednisone. Tomorrow is a 4-pill day. We are going to Lubbock tomorrow for Craig’s graduation, and I plan to try to see Dr. Schilling before the graduation, perhaps for another shot, or at least to discuss with him the issues.
I read the prednisone fact sheet provided by the pharmacy and the medical info insert which came in the package. After reading that, I am trying to figure out why anyone would take this medication!!!!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Waiting, waiting for a buyer
I started an entry almost a week ago but somehow it didn’t get saved. At that time we were at PJ’s drinking iced tea and availing ourselves of their wi-fi connection. We were there because Stella called about 1:50 on Monday and asked us if we could have the house ready to show in 30 minutes. We said “of course,” and started scrambling. Fortunately, since it had just been shown the morning before, it was in pretty good condition. We had to wipe down the bathroom and kitchen, clear the table, put away a few things, and we were ready to leave in 25 minutes. We stayed away an hour, then returned to the house. When we drove by, there were still cars out front, so we went to Ace Hardware to get a primer bulb for the weed eater, then returned again to our street. The cars were still there, but three people stood on our porch talking. We parked in the shade down the street and waited about 10 minutes before everyone finally left. Stella later called the Realtor for feedback, but that Realtor said she had shown so many houses to this particular couple that they all ran together and she couldn’t remember our particular house. Nor could Stella get any feedback on the Sunday showing.
Next weekend Prudential is having a Super Open House wherein they are featuring all their listed houses. We agreed to include our house. We won’t be here – we are going to Texas one last time – but they don’t want us to be here anyway. We will probably lower the price after the open house if we don’t get any nibbles. In the meantime Roger has been painting the trim at the back of the house. This is made difficult by the lack of easy access to the second floor eaves. He has to stand on a ladder and essentially paint without seeing what he is painting. He is making slow but steady progress.
I have over half of the artwork and pictures wrapped and boxed. I hope to finish that job tomorrow or Tuesday. I need to finish it before we leave on Wednesday. Shelli’s room is in something of a shambles right now with pictures strewn around among bubble wrap, large cardboard boxes and scissors. I have to have it all cleaned up by Wednesday, and I don’t want to have to get it all out again, so I want to finish up.
Today is Mother’s Day, and the scales were very nice to me this morning. We went bicycling for over an hour and a half, and I did not have a granita like I did yesterday. Little did I dream that a granita would cost me 7 points!!!! Yesterday we biked for about an hour and a half, and ended with a stop at PJ’s for drinks. I decided to spring for a small granita, as that was what Roger was having. NEVER AGAIN!!
I am planning my final sorority luncheon for either the next-to-the-last weekend in May or the first weekend in June. I don’t want to have it over the Memorial Day weekend. We have to start emptying the house around the beginning of June, so I would rather have it in May. I usually host it on Saturday at noon, but I may bump it to Sunday. I need to decide soon and get the invitations out. I have traditionally hosted a pot luck luncheon, but I am contemplating doing it all myself and serving salad, quiche and bread plus dessert.
Next weekend Prudential is having a Super Open House wherein they are featuring all their listed houses. We agreed to include our house. We won’t be here – we are going to Texas one last time – but they don’t want us to be here anyway. We will probably lower the price after the open house if we don’t get any nibbles. In the meantime Roger has been painting the trim at the back of the house. This is made difficult by the lack of easy access to the second floor eaves. He has to stand on a ladder and essentially paint without seeing what he is painting. He is making slow but steady progress.
I have over half of the artwork and pictures wrapped and boxed. I hope to finish that job tomorrow or Tuesday. I need to finish it before we leave on Wednesday. Shelli’s room is in something of a shambles right now with pictures strewn around among bubble wrap, large cardboard boxes and scissors. I have to have it all cleaned up by Wednesday, and I don’t want to have to get it all out again, so I want to finish up.
Today is Mother’s Day, and the scales were very nice to me this morning. We went bicycling for over an hour and a half, and I did not have a granita like I did yesterday. Little did I dream that a granita would cost me 7 points!!!! Yesterday we biked for about an hour and a half, and ended with a stop at PJ’s for drinks. I decided to spring for a small granita, as that was what Roger was having. NEVER AGAIN!!
I am planning my final sorority luncheon for either the next-to-the-last weekend in May or the first weekend in June. I don’t want to have it over the Memorial Day weekend. We have to start emptying the house around the beginning of June, so I would rather have it in May. I usually host it on Saturday at noon, but I may bump it to Sunday. I need to decide soon and get the invitations out. I have traditionally hosted a pot luck luncheon, but I am contemplating doing it all myself and serving salad, quiche and bread plus dessert.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Getting the house on the market
We spent a couple of frantic weeks working to get the house ready to sell, and it went on the market on April 13. The MLS tour was the next day. We were hoping our house would catch the eye of a buyer seeking that $6,500 or $8,000 tax incentive. No such luck. It expired on April 30. We had our first showing yesterday morning, so we took our computers and sat at PJs drinking coffee and surfing. As we pulled up to the house, we weren’t sure whether it had been shown or not, but when we entered, we knew it had been; we had turned on almost every light in the house, and the realtor had turned most of them off before departing. Great little device for letting us know someone had actually been here. But no offer. We will participate in Prudential’s super open house on May 16 – maybe that will help a bit.
Overall the house looks good, and in the interior, it is fairly good. Some of the floors need replacing and the kitchen needs updating, but it has a fresh coat of paint in almost every room, and we replaced the sinks and countertops in every bathroom. They look SOOOOOOOO much better!!! There are major flaws outside, however. The siding needs to be replaced, and the roof, which is a 20-year roof, is about 18 years old. When we had the shingles replaced post-Gustav, we were told at that time that the shingles are pretty fragile and that we needed to consider replacing them in the not-too-distant future. Ugh – that’s about $10,000 - $12,000 worth of work needed outside. We are really going to take a hit on the price, even if we get an offer. Ouch once again!!!
We sold my car to Kyle. We drove it to Dallas for Jami’s wedding, then flew home. When we went in to State Farm to cancel the insurance, Kevin informed us that State Farm will not insure an empty house – they will cancel our insurance a couple of months after it is empty. Ouch!!! And if it is not insured, the mortgage company will call in the mortgage. Ouch again!! Actually, it is not the end of the world (or our house) for us, as we can, if we must, pay off the mortgage in full since we owe less than $25,000 on it. But that leaves us owning an uninsured house!!! Ouch yet again!!!! We are looking into vacant house insurance, but I am not sure it is offered here in Louisiana.
We have our French bank account – success again! Or partly. It is not actually funded yet because we have to wire the funds. We were hoping that, since we now have an account with HSBC and that is the bank we will use in France, that we could just transfer the funds via the internet, but Roger was told today that the funds will still have to be wired, and by the time he called about it, those people who could facilitate that transaction were gone for the day. Sigh! That which makes the most sense to us is not always the way things are.
Roger got our tickets a couple of weeks ago. We are flying British Airways. They have been strike-prone, so he bought insurance as well – not our usual mode of operation. However, I think the insurance will cover a cancelled trip due to any volcano activity, which is a real possibility right now, given the Eyjafjallajökull eruption last month.
Roger is officially retired. This was his first full day of retirement. The retirement actually started on Saturday, May 1, but neither that day nor Sunday was a work day, so this is sort of the beginning of his retirement. He spent the day putting a floor below the sink in the bathroom upstairs. Water had eaten through the existing particle board flooring and had left a hole in it, so he set out to replace it. I am sure he would rather have been working than doing that! It is not the kind of task at which he is adept.
Overall the house looks good, and in the interior, it is fairly good. Some of the floors need replacing and the kitchen needs updating, but it has a fresh coat of paint in almost every room, and we replaced the sinks and countertops in every bathroom. They look SOOOOOOOO much better!!! There are major flaws outside, however. The siding needs to be replaced, and the roof, which is a 20-year roof, is about 18 years old. When we had the shingles replaced post-Gustav, we were told at that time that the shingles are pretty fragile and that we needed to consider replacing them in the not-too-distant future. Ugh – that’s about $10,000 - $12,000 worth of work needed outside. We are really going to take a hit on the price, even if we get an offer. Ouch once again!!!
We sold my car to Kyle. We drove it to Dallas for Jami’s wedding, then flew home. When we went in to State Farm to cancel the insurance, Kevin informed us that State Farm will not insure an empty house – they will cancel our insurance a couple of months after it is empty. Ouch!!! And if it is not insured, the mortgage company will call in the mortgage. Ouch again!! Actually, it is not the end of the world (or our house) for us, as we can, if we must, pay off the mortgage in full since we owe less than $25,000 on it. But that leaves us owning an uninsured house!!! Ouch yet again!!!! We are looking into vacant house insurance, but I am not sure it is offered here in Louisiana.
We have our French bank account – success again! Or partly. It is not actually funded yet because we have to wire the funds. We were hoping that, since we now have an account with HSBC and that is the bank we will use in France, that we could just transfer the funds via the internet, but Roger was told today that the funds will still have to be wired, and by the time he called about it, those people who could facilitate that transaction were gone for the day. Sigh! That which makes the most sense to us is not always the way things are.
Roger got our tickets a couple of weeks ago. We are flying British Airways. They have been strike-prone, so he bought insurance as well – not our usual mode of operation. However, I think the insurance will cover a cancelled trip due to any volcano activity, which is a real possibility right now, given the Eyjafjallajökull eruption last month.
Roger is officially retired. This was his first full day of retirement. The retirement actually started on Saturday, May 1, but neither that day nor Sunday was a work day, so this is sort of the beginning of his retirement. He spent the day putting a floor below the sink in the bathroom upstairs. Water had eaten through the existing particle board flooring and had left a hole in it, so he set out to replace it. I am sure he would rather have been working than doing that! It is not the kind of task at which he is adept.
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