Tuesday, March 26, 2024

OK, I'm Late

 Yesterday was Gary's birthday.
And I DID wish him a happy birthday....

But TODAY when I was going
through an old filing cabinet,
I struck GOLD!

What are we looking at?????

This is my FAVORITE picture in the history of pictures.


We had such a fun time on the BYU campus.


Just hanging out as sibs.
Being silly.
(BTW - Sondra looks like she is 12!!!)


We had to take ONE serious picture.


But it didn't last.

Happy Belated Bean!!!!!

Sunday, March 24, 2024

For Sale

 Well, we pulled the trigger.
Kind of.


It still says coming soon.

There is still a dumpster in the backyard.
I don't really feel like we should show it
with that sitting there.
And there are some minor things that still
need taking care of.

Yesterday Rod painted the mailbox.
Our realtor said it was ugly.
Hahahaha.
(And its the first thing people see when they pull up.)
Little do they know, its going with us.

Anyhow.

He also re-painted the front porch with some 
grey concrete paint/stain.


It looked so good!


So he decided to do the back porch as well.


It's not dry yet.

And while he was doing that,
I decided to do something I haven't done in
YEARS (and years and years and years...)


I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookies.

I don't think I have ever baked them since we moved here.
And the guys treated them like they had never seen
a cookie before in their lives.

So this afternoon after church (and lunch)
I baked another half batch.


I love my danish wisk.


I didn't even have to get out my hand mixer.
(My Sunbeam stand mixer is in Kansas...)

I'm learning you can do a lot with just a little.

Also. I am trying to empty the pantry,
fridge and freezers.

When I was making cookies today, I thought I
should put walnuts in them since I have a big 
bag of them in the freezer.
Oh, wait, I can't.
Oh, wait, I CAN.
Nancy won't be eating them. LoL.

I also have a bunch of frozen bananas.
So after I go to the store tomorrow to buy
milk and flour, I'll probably bake some
banana bread too.
(I need flour, I've been baking bread.
I have kind of decided I don't love sour dough,
so I've been baking regular no-knead artisan.
I added honey and more salt to the recipe and
everybody really likes it.)

Anyhow.

They are coming to get the dumpster Wednesday.
Rod is going to call in sick tomorrow and
he and Kyle will get the shed and garage
packed and ready.
We'd like to start showing the house on Thursday.

Vickie (our realtor) left the sign by the front gate
Saturday evening. Rod went out and put it in the yard.
And then a truck pulled into the driveway and sat there
and sat there and sat there and sat there.
Finally Rod walked out there to chat with them.
They visited for about 45 minutes.
He told them all about the house and the neighborhood.
I wouldn't let them come in.
The house isn't "show ready" and the coming soon
thing says we aren't supposed to show it yet.

Anyhow.

Wish us luck!
This is going to be an adventure!

Friday, March 22, 2024

Next Steps

 Ok.
So we met with the realtor.
She's a neighbor and an acquaintance
from WAAAAAY back when we all
rode horses at Jane's barn.
She walks her dogs down our street
several times each day and I visit
with her and/or her husband now and again.

Anyhow.

I was pleased with the services she provides.
She gave us several local comps.
The price she and I think is right is 
what I think is right but not as high as 
I WISH it would be.
(It's still good...)
Everyone we talk to keeps telling us we
should be able to get 2-400k more than
we are talking about, but the real numbers
just don't support those numbers.

Anyhow.

Our plan is to ask a realistic number and
then see what happens.
Ideally we will have a bidding war and
somebody will be willing to pay a silly amount.

But realistically we will probably get close
to our asking price.

Anyhow.

It's stressful.
I'm not loving this part of the process.

But in other news,
the installer called yesterday, I gave him the
code to get in the house and he got the
internet all set up.

And the electrician is finishing up in the
garage today. (Extra outlets for my
freeze dryer and the welders, etc...)

And Rod called and got the information we need
to cap and abandon the well we had dug
several years ago - but it failed and started
pulling up way too much sand.
We tried all sorts of filters, etc, but it
just didn't work so for $450 we will just
close it off.

Kyle is off doing a mulching job today.
I just finished subbing for the morning zoom.
And now I'm going to go do... something.
Hahahahaha.
There is no shortage of things to be done.


It's kind of cloudy and raining off and on today.
But on Monday we went to the beach.
So there you go.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

EEEEK!

 Well, we did it!

We have an appointment with a realtor 
tomorrow morning at 10.

It's scary!!!
She's going to get comps etc.
but the community up the street from us
(where she lives)
is having a community garage sale that
LOTS of people come to,
so she is going to put a 
"Coming Soon" sign up so people
will know it's coming on the market.

We still have the dumpster in the yard
so we aren't ready for her drone guy to
take pictures.
But soon!!!

Yesterday we had Jim come over and
"soft wash" the exterior and all the windows.
And then, I guess he was having fun,
so he also pressure washed my truck and
Kyle's skidsteer.

However, as much dirt as he got off the Cat
splashed right back on HIM!


Poor guy.
You can't see his face in this picture,
but he looked like he just got off a 
dirt bike and somebody else roosted him.

He was FILTHY!

I really appreciated it though!
He's a good man.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Jelly Beans and Other Stuff

 Lots of fun deliveries today!


Kyle got a tub FULL of Jelly Belly jellybeans!!!
His FAVORITE food group.
Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!
(Also, a tin of salt water taffy!!! YEA!!!)

He has been busy this morning.


Yes, it's spring.
And it really IS this green here.
He is scooping up all the old wood from
the fencing we took down.


Running it to the middle yard.


And filling the dumpster that arrived this morning.

We have lots of stuff in the garage, shed and
tack room that needs to go.
Well... not THAT much.
But since we needed to get rid of all that wood,
we decided to just get another dumpster
and that way we don't have to try to bag
everything and put it in trash cans to haul
out to the street.

AND.

I just got off the phone with our new internet carrier.
They will install our internet either Friday or Monday.

Kyle and I are planning to drive out this weekend
and I will need to have internet so I can teach.

She said, we only offer our highest level of service
in your town, so it's 1 gig.
Installation is free.
The first month is free.
So you will get your first bill in May.
It will be $69.00 a month.

We pay $115/mo here and that's only 500 mbps.
It would go up to $125 for 1 gig.
But there's no point in upgrading here...
We hope to only be here a few more weeks.

Anyhow.

Things are moving along.
Jim is supposed to come by this afternoon
and soft-wash the exterior of the house.
It's pretty windy out there today though.

Now... I might just take a nap.
Haha.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Surprise Carpet!

 We got a phone call that the carpet
came in earlier than expected
and since it's a TINY room,
would we like it installed this morning.

YES!!!


I quickly moved all my office set-up out
and swept the floor.


Amazing how quickly it can get dirty.


He got there at 8:30 and by 8:45 he
had all the tack strips installed.


And just before I started teaching at 9:00
I popped down the hall to check on progress.
He had all the pad down and taped together.


And about 20 minutes later Rod popped into
my room with a picture of FINISHED CARPET!


Everybody loves it.
Mostly Beau.
It's almost the same color as the concrete.
It's soft.
And it's pretty.
And it looks better than those old
broken, chipped tiles.


AND.... I'm back.

So, yeah!
We are DONE with all the reno stuff.
All Rod needs to do tomorrow is trim
a little off the doors so they will fit
over the carpet 
and we can meet with the realtor!
(So I have to CLEAN AND CLEAN AND CLEAN.)
We will probably hire Rod's co-worker who does
house cleaning on the side to come in and do
a "pre-sale" clean.
And then let's get this on the market!

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Happy Birthday Nanc!!!!

 Wow!
Time is FLYING!
It's already MARCH 14!!!

Which means it's time to wish my
big sister a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Nancy!

She has been SO busy lately!
Between creating a (super successful) local market
with her daughter-in-love Michelle,


creating and selling her amazing jewelry, 


being Grandma to all her grandkids 


and Mom to her "kids",


and, of course, making sure Mom and
Dad are healthy, happy, comfy, and
well loved.


But FAMILY is what Nancy is all about.


There isn't anything she loves better.
Nor is there anything she won't do for her family.

I'm so grateful to be counted in that well-loved group.

BTW - Thanks for doing a family photo shoot! 
'cuz we all KNOW I'm the worst photo person on the planet.

LOVE YOU BUNCHES!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!