Getting Together with Friends and Family

The countdown begins until the big drive...only six more days to go. Our friends and family have been so good to us, you would think we were moving away forever, what with the outpouring of love and kindness we've been shown. More company on Saturday night....

which of course means lots of chit-chat about old times. I am constantly telling the twins I DON'T want to know any more than I already do about their high school antics, however, they seem to feel free to ignore my pleas. Yikes...those were some seriously crazy days.

Sunday morning, before church, I finally rode my bicycle around the complex admiring all of the massive oak trees, and how, although the buildings are similar, they are also different. I was trying to find some information about how this was built, but aside from reading that they began the construction in 1983, taking five years to complete it, I cannot find much else. I do so wonder about this huge piece of property off Michigan...what could it have been?

One of our ministers is leaving for another church; Sunday was the farewell service including the Orlando Gay Chorus, of which Talia apparently was a member. I'd always heard they were super good, and now I know that they are!

On the way home we stopped here:

Although we'd driven by many times before, this was our first shopping trip, courtesy of Sue. She insisted on paying me for the wedding party photos, which seemed silly to me, but I finally agreed. Having a gift certificate to spend is an occasion to go crazy, especially if you are trying to empty out your food supply. Here was our haul which included a $13.00 six pack of beer, along with a $6 bag of Siracha popcorn. Unreal, right?

Finally we took some time to relax Sunday afternoon. Bruce took his boat out on Lake Pineloch(the big lake) for some fishing time, catching and releasing one; if you look very carefully you will see his orange kayak in the distance.

Meanwhile, I went swimming in the big pool with David, whose picture I insisted on taking.

I loved our swimming pool for sure, but it is nice having a big pool where you can swim laps. It does not hurt that the setting is superb.

With the waterfall and hot tub, I told David I felt like I was at a hotel! Bruce brought the boat in,

as rain seemed imminent. Nothing like Saturday's downpour though...holy cow did it ever rain!

A tiny nap for Bruce, and we were off again, heading over to Pam and Glenn's wonderful home for a party in honor of the couple about to embark on a grand adventure. Everyone in our group are great hosts, but I suspect we can all agree that Pam and Glenn sure know how to throw a party!

Pam outdid herself, making a chicken mole, pork carnitas, and ground beef for tostadas. Cheryle provided the table decoration.

Lisa,

made some fantastic scratch refried beans. Irene, pictured on the left in a super cute blouse she made, brought some cookies that were to die for. Honestly, I've never had a cookie with cayenne pepper before, and frankly, I did not know what I was missing!

Pam insisted we get out of the kitchen for once...

As if there were not enough alcohol in our beverage choices, David, pictured on the right, made a delicious Irish whiskey cake.

It was all good fun and your little blogger cried when Montel brought one of my prints her daughter purchased, maybe six or seven years ago, having everyone sign it, wishing us well.

Monday morning, bright and early, Mr. Peck, the provider in all of this craziness, flew to Seattle, while I organized our closet and dumped most of what was in the junk drawer, pictured above on the kitchen table. Seriously, did I need twenty or so writing instruments? I think not. Walking from the kitchen to the bedroom I saw what I thought looked like a big bird in one of the trees out back. Grabbing my camera, look what I saw:

Walking closer I was thrilled to see another owl fly up onto the same branch!

Before we officially moved here, early one morning Bruce had seen them in a tree outside our front courtyard, telling me about it much later in the day. I was, of course, freaking out. They did not stay long, but you can safely bet that I will be on the lookout from here on out.

Speaking of out back, it is pretty awesome, having someone else do all that yard work.

Last evening, I was watching the Home Run Derby, and I noticed it was pretty much a full moon on the lake, I kept thinking to myself, "by the light of the silvery moon."

Any long time reader of this blog is very familiar with our lifetime of doing everything for ourselves. We are kind of digging letting others do things for us during this time. During our nearly 44 years of marriage we've never earned a dime from real estate, however, this time will be an exception. I'm kind of thinking we are spreading the wealth, and keeping people employed. Today I had a maid service come in to clean Gem Mary Court, and by golly, they did a fantastic job. Once again, Google to my rescue, as I had never heard of Maid to Clean. Perhaps it was the clever name that caught my attention? At any rate, it was well worth every penny!

For now I am letting our house go without sentiment. Wonder what I will say to that in a couple of years?

yours truly,

Gail

From Drab to Fab

I am taking credit for neither today's blog post title, nor, more importantly, finding this beautiful space we are now calling home. We can thank David for both, and we have done so with gusto. Apparently last evening they were walking Ginger behind our unit, and saw we were having company, so didn't stop. I was just so happy this morning I sent him a text thanking him for once again, finding a home for us, and he replied..."it is awesome Mom, from drab to fab." I will take that as a compliment any day of the week!

Don't get me wrong, I loved our home, but I now see the wisdom in change. All sorts of folks said that to us, "change is good." I am so loving the lakeside and all that goes with it. Meaning shorebirds and ducks, including this Momma Wood Duck and her little clan.

Plus, I love seeing the clouds reflected in the water. Further, there are so many tropical plants everywhere you look; I've never had a bird of paradise in my garden, but now I have one out my back door. Plus, I don't have to take care of a thing outdoors! Woo hoo! I've been doing yard work for the last 50 years and now I'm thankful someone else will be having the pleasure.

Speaking of back doors, here is Baxter in his new "back yard."

I'm not sure if it will get me in trouble or not, but I've put two folding chairs outside, what I'm going to call, from here on out, the sunroom.

Where Mr. Peck is now napping, I might add. He worked tirelessly to whip our new home into shape, and now he is doing the same with his paid work. His next project is remodeling an Earls in Bellevue, WA; Monday morning he is flying out there to have a look at the space. Accommodating his travel schedule is the reason we moved almost two weeks before closing, which is only six days away. Remember how I went to the retirement party for Judy and I told you she was a beloved teacher for so many years? Well, when I was chatting with the woman at the title company, she started to ask me if I was related to....interrupting her I said, "why yes I am." Nearly 40 years old, she explained that she had Judy at Edgewater, not only for a teacher, but worked on the yearbook with her as well! That is not the first, and undoubtedly won't be the last time I've been asked if we are related. I once had a young man tell me that he earned a "D" in her class, but she was still his favorite teacher. :)

So, I got the bathroom all tidied up.

That lamp is merely there because I had no other place to put it! We went from having a linen closet to a whole bunch of cabinets that are now storing linens. During the upcoming week I plan to go through our clothes, finding wintery stuff to ship to the office in Vancouver. Let's hope we don't need it too often!

Hibiscus blooming lakeside:

And here's that neat looking juvenile Little Blue Heron. I sound all official with this name don't I? Thanks to Candy who identified it from an earlier post. I can't get enough of this little one who I see daily.

I seriously cannot believe I am typing this while sitting in front of this massive window. My table remains messy for now.

Pictured is only half of the window which is nearly six feet tall with views of both water, grass, tropical plants, and loads of trees. We've talked about how everything came together so well, for which we are ever so grateful, and here's another example. One hard decision we had to make is leaving our massive staghorn fern in the tree at home for the new owners, however, if you can believe it, not only did someone attach one to a tree lakeside, but there is a huge one hanging within eyesight! Simply amazing.

Everyone is anxious to see the new place, so when Bill and Roxanne asked if we wanted to go out Friday night, I suggested they might want to come over instead. More art on the walls since Monday.

This morning I did a tiny bit of exploring and came across the start of ,what I suppose I'm calling the creek, behind David and Michelle's place. Lovely, with a bonus adult Little Blue Heron.

Mostly we are all settled, aside from me going through the box that contains our former kitchen "junk drawer," which is a task that will require me to be in just the right mood. It's the little things isn't it?

yours truly,

Gail

Day Four at LPV

Bruce and I would be the first to say that we have been so very blessed in life, beginning with finding each other at such an early age. It seemed a fitting reminder when I found these coins at the bottom of Bruce's bottom drawer, of a time when we were very young, and struggling with money following our move to California and back.

Many years ago, during the first year of our twins' life, we were never able to go on a date, even once, because money was so tight. Finally, we counted enough coins to go out to eat as a couple. Moral of the story is that life is full of ups and downs, and at the moment, we are in an upswing!

Monica recommended this excellent moving company:

They said they would be there between 8:30 and 9 AM, and they arrived at 8:30, so I knew right away that we were in good hands.

As you know, we moved a bunch of stuff ourselves, including all of our hanging clothes. I keep my shoes in two laundry baskets at the bottom of my closet, one for open toed shoes, and, well you get it, don't you? I learned it from Angela, and it works brilliantly.

While I was moving stuff like clothes, Bruce moved my desk all by himself! I thought there would not be enough room for my big table for sewing, so he brought it over for us to decide.

Sheepishly I told him if he thought the table would fit, would he mind after his hard work? Not a problem, and now the desk is but one of a multitude of things at Goodwill.

The move began..

When Brian and Jamal arrived I thought they were so slight I was worried, but I shouldn't have been, as they handled everything with ease.

Oh, to be young and strong again!

By 12:30, everything we asked them to move was in our new home; before leaving they posed for a photo.

It does not take a genius to see that it was blazing hot Monday morning!

Originally I'd thought Bruce would want the lake view, however, he decided the front bedroom would work best for his office. Although he sold off, or gave away, most of his tools, fortunately he still had a scroll saw which he used to cut 7 inches off the back of his desk to make it fit better.

Should you be curious, he used the blue masking tape to mark his line, as well as keep the cut clean.

Another thing I moved mostly in my car was our dishes with the help of Cheryle who is an expert packer. I put them in a laundry basket for moving and she put them in place. Note the new chandelier found on Wayfair.

The super cool orange vase is a housewarming gift from David and Michelle, or did I tell you that already? :)

While Cheryle was helping on Sunday, Bruce asked them over for Monday night! I'm like, "honey, that's pretty ambitious isn't it?" Nope, we can do it!

After the movers left, Bruce wasted no time before he began hanging some of the artwork which is pretty much a signature move on his part.

And yes, it forced us to quit working for a few hours of socializing in our new home!!

More art is hung since I took this ,and I swear it looks like an art gallery around here!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, aka known as our home, Bruce finally got the garage completely cleared out, while I continued working inside packing up the master bathroom. If you've ever been in our garage you will hardly believe your eyes at this shot.

After a lifetime of collecting and using tools of all kinds, it is kind of sad, however, he is good. He gave his brother the last remaining power tool, a band saw. Cris came to get it, then came by the condo to see our new home, but more importantly, the lake. You can just see his blue shirt through the bushes.

Bruce left for Dallas yesterday morning with a very late return flight scheduled for the same day. Wonder of wonders, he was able to get on an earlier flight, returning last night by 9:30 only to find me already asleep! On July 4, we both were so worn out by 8:30 we were asleep in minutes despite the loud booms from fireworks across the lake.

I was skeptical that our little sunroom eating table wouldn't fit, but by golly, it works just fine!

So, Cheryle was spot on about not being able to fit two sofas, or my beautiful new corner table. The end tables matching the rattan sofa are now at Goodwill, while the corner table, my awesome table with tables inside, and the orange zebra print antique chair are with Mike and Liza. And I'm just fine with it all especially Mike and Liza wanting some of my favorite things. It is like all the pieces to this puzzle have just fit together beautifully!

While Bruce was in Dallas I sorted out our bedroom, opening box after box looking for my extra camera batteries and chargers, to no avail, I might add. Just when I thought I would go mad looking for them, when I got back to our home, I found a few things in my sewing room closet including a backpack containing, you guessed it....!!!! Back at the condo I began sorting my linens...do I really need like 50 cloth napkins?

Nope...Goodwill for the win! After another good night's sleep, it was time to finally tackle this mess...

Except, it still pretty much looks the same as I type this because I finally had to do some errands ,including some much needed food shopping. I called AT&T a few days too late to actually have internet or television until today. Darius came to call at 9:30 this morning and only just left at 3:30!! What took so long, I don't really know, but we up and running now, so that's all that matters.

Baxter is getting more comfortable by the day, still able to get his diaper off, but the good news is, he hasn't wet the new floor which has been a huge relief.

So that's it for this installment. For our Canadian health insurance we need to document our blood pressure. Can you believe it? That move is only a little more than a week away! Good thing Bruce insisted we move here now so we have a little bit of time to recuperate before the next big adventure!

yours truly,

Gail

Making Hard Decisions

Even the most prolific blogger you know has had little, to no time, for blogging, but because Baxter woke us up super early this morning, I'm going to get a few things down before it all becomes one big blur!

Briefly, I'll describe what's been happening...the painters came back to do the baseboards and get this....no masking tape at all!

It was a father and son duo who were not only super nice, but super skilled!

I believe I left you with washing the floors, and they are looking mighty good, if I do say so myself! Originally we were going to put Bruce's desk in our bedroom, however, we've changed our minds and he will be sharing space with our future guests. Matthew and Jonathan know one thing about their Dad during a move and that is he loves getting the art on the walls ASAP, in this case, an original by my sister Carol.

One day he brought the kayak over to the rack by the lake, and as good fortune would have it, just as he pulled up to for unloading, a young man came along to help him carry it down there, meaning I did not have to struggle!! Turns out we know his family, the Nesmiths. Because the condo is but two blocks away from Blankner Elementary, my alma mater I might add, young families are moving in to take advantage of an A-rated school.

Having the kayak lakeside is going to be brilliant!

Bruce also purchased the diapers people have been insisting we get for Baxter as he has been leaving puddles far too often.

He, on the other hand, does not agree with all those folks, and has learned how to get it off pretty quickly!

Both Cheryle and Pam came over to commiserate about the furniture layout.

Unfortunately Cheryle, using her computer design skills, burst my bubble about keeping both of our sofas...no room. Our buyer Fran is going to purchase one, affording me some small consolation that it will remain in a good home.

Every trip we make over there has to include a load of something, or so my project manager tells me. The MINI has been a pretty good partner in all of this.

With no small difficulty, Bruce and I got our kitchen table in his car, and David helped him get it into the new kitchen. It's a tight fit, but I think we can make it work. I told you Bruce loves getting art on the wall!

More art ready to hang...

I have no idea how I neglected to get any photographs of Herbert who came on Friday to hang four fans and two new chandeliers, that all look fab, btw. Thank God for Herbert and Wayfair!

The shed is all cleaned out ,and following that task we made a tiny bit of time for some socializing. Well, actually Cheryle would not take no for an answer might be a more accurate description. As is always the case, we met new folks while dining there on the patio. I could write an entire blog post about that, but as you know, I have bigger fish to fry, as my late Mother would say.

An extremely ambitious plan was in place for Saturday with me questioning how in the world would it work, however, I should have known that you don't question a project manager extraordinaire. I made the hard decision to sell/give away most all of my china because, truth be told, I have no room for it anymore. First on our Saturday agenda was another moving sale with me setting up inside,

while Bruce took over the driveway ,and his newly cleaned out garage.

That blonde head at the end of the driveway would be my long time friend Jeannette who came to say goodbye, making for such a pleasant surprise!

Sam and Mary came along with their daughter Rachel. Sam is both a friend, and a fellow woodworker ,who needs stuff like a hole in his head, but that did not stop him from going home with a few things!

Bruce, who has made some very painful decisions about his things, sold more than I did! Cheryle came over just as we were calling it quits, and helped me pack up the remainders to head to Goodwill. How many drop offs do you suppose Goodwill gets on a Saturday afternoon? I suspect quite a lot!

Next up was a trip to DeBary for a celebratory party for our sister-in-law Judy's retirement from teaching. I was dubious because of not just my fatigue level, but who in their right mind drives in the rain on our, under-construction Interstate by choice? Bruce did! The party was lovely and again, a whole post could be written about Judy and her long career, but we will just have to leave it at this photograph, taken by their daughter Jessica of the Peck men and their wives.

You might note how my hair looks like crud because it is slept-on pool hair, which I now regret, but in that well-worn phrase, "it is what it is!"

Finally, the day ended with a party at our new place ,which is just gorgeous, really. Because the rain was steady when the party was to begin, it was pushed back until just before sunset. As you all know, stormy skies produce beautiful sunsets!

I told Bruce that it felt really good to be at our first party as new owners and witness such a lovely sunset! The occasion was an early 4th of July celebration with fireworks included. I mean big time fireworks that they bring out on a barge in the middle of Lake Pineloch.

Our day ended with a bang!

And that my friends, it a short and sweet version of what has been going on. Our movers arrive about 24 hours from now, and although we've got a bunch done, there is still more to do. I only hope that I can remember our son Matt's 41st birthday amongst all this madness, which is only three days away.

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. Forgive any errors, written in haste with little editing!