December!

 

Good news to share as we move into December! We have a move-in date, in writing, for our new house. We are to get the keys on February 7, 2023. We are excited, but skeptical.

We sold our current house a week ago and are preparing to move out this weekend into a 2-bedroom apartment. It will be an adventure for sure. 

We'll have family Christmas at my daughter's house because the apartment is too small. We're taking a bare minimum of furniture. Primarily the office equipment and a bed. One of the positives is that I was a little concerned about transitioning from a 2613 sq ft home to an 1851 sq ft home. Now we'll be in a 1000 sq ft home in between so the new house will feel large when we get there! haha

November!

 

Now we're really on the downhill slide of 2022...

Progress on our house again. Yay! The drywall is up, taped, mudded, and textured. The back wall is up in our rear yard. We're expecting stucco any day now. The latest estimate is January 23rd for a finish date. We'll see. We've had a lot of "expected finish dates" this year.

I realized the other day that I bought a New Home ornament for Christmas, but we won't have a new home this year. Fortunately my daughter just moved into a new house so I'll pass it on to her.

Thankful for so much this year and planning to focus on that this month.

Christmas Time's a'comin'... no, it's here!

 Today's the day I've been waiting for since July... Hallmark Christmas Movies start! I enjoy watching the new releases, but I think I enjoy revisiting old favorites even more. 

I plan to settle in today to watch movies and cross-stitch. Plus the high temp today is forecast to be 89 degrees so I can have my doors and windows open! 

October

 

October! The month when our temps usually drop below 100... The month that I'm usually almost done with Christmas shopping... The month that we can finally open our windows at night...

Of course, as with every other month this year there's not much that's "usual". 

I'll start with good news. Our new house has been insulated, the roof tiles have been installed, and the drywall has been dropped off. Yay!

Our current home is still on the market. We've had three lookers since it went back on and two of them indicated they were interested, then nothing. While it is frustrating, we're not really worried because our house is scheduled to be completed January 10, 2023 (February 10th if the drywall isn't installed in the next week). 

We were going to move to an interim apartment, but we've cancelled that completely. We'll deal with it when the house actually sells. I have absolute faith that God knows (and knew all along) what's happening. I know He has a perfect plan for us and I'm trying to not get in the way of His plan! That's not to say that we don't have our moments, we do. But for the most part we feel a peace underlying all of the uncertainty.

Some of the Grands are in Soccer, so we're enjoying their games. The model railroad club has a huge event at the end of the month that we're looking forward to. The San Diego Padres are in the hunt for post-season play, which we're very excited about. And football season has begun. 

My plan for this October is to embrace and enjoy the unusual!

September

 

September! The month when sometimes we get temps in the upper 90s-low 100s. Sometimes the overnight lows drop into the low 80s-upper 70s. We've had the strangest summer, I don't know what to expect from September this year. We had several weeks of temps in the 90s... very rare. We had several weeks with a chance of rain each day and we actually received rain multiple days in a row. We haven't had a monsoon like this for years. It was awesome.

September brings the start of grandkids' sports events. Hopefully it will bring some progress on our new house. And hopefully our current house will sell... again.

Whatever September brings I'm always filled with anticipation this month. The anticipation of the Fall/Winter holidays. Of cooler weather. Of being able to open up the windows at night (maybe). 

Bring it on September, I'm ready!

Why is it so hard...

 I'm sure you must feel as if you've been hearing about our new house for months... you're right, you have. Yesterday marked the 17th month since we signed the contract to build our home. I can't hardly believe it's taken this long. And the end is not in sight yet. I don't think it's going to be completed this year. There's not a thing I can do about it. I work mightily at not giving in to disappointment.

But, the good thing is that this time as given me the opportunity to purge, downsize, declutter, face the reality that I'm never going to get to some of the craft projects I thought I'd like to do. Haha

But, why is it so hard to let that stuff go? One reason is because I spent money on it in the first place. I choose to counteract that procrastination by realizing that giving those supplies to someone who will use them is a good use of that money. Another reason is that I keep holding out hope that I'll actually try that craft one day. The reality is that one day hasn't come for years, so why would I keep hoping it will! 

I've been giving my 6-year-old granddaughter a lot of craft supplies. So many, evidently, that she told me this summer to please not give her any for awhile! She uses the supplies she receives and does crafts alot, but even she's wise enough to know when enough is enough. I need to be like her!

I have an aversion to moving stuff that I know I'm not going to need/use. It's a waste of time, money and effort. Now that our house has been extended so many more months I'm seriously going to sort through the craft boxes in storage and be brutal in facing my truth. I am 66 years old and I'm only going to keep the crafts that I actually do. The rest can go to someone who will use and enjoy them. In the past I've donated needleart supplies to the local high school. I may see if the art department wants some of my other supplies.

Either way, I woke up this morning serious about really purging. Hope I keep my intention! 

Christmas Time's a'Comin'

 Four months from today is Christmas Eve. I am so conflicted about the upcoming Christmas season. On the one hand I'm excited for the joy of the season. On the other my life is so topsy-turvey right now that I sometimes dive into anxiety.

We put our current house on the market at the end of May. We sold it at the end of June. The CASH buyer dropped out this past Sunday. That's right, 20 days into escrow, long after the inspection period, they just changed their mind. Ugh.

We had already contacted the utilities, canceled the pool service, signed a contract on an apartment, and paid for renter's insurance. Sigh.

Now we start all over. 

And to top it all off, it now looks like our new house may not be done until January 2023. Really big sigh.

What does this have to do with Christmas you may wonder?

I have grandkids already clamoring about what are we going to do for Family Christmas? Where will we be for Family Christmas? We are going to have Family Christmas, aren't we?

It gives me joy to know that they really enjoy that tradition. It gives me pause to think about how I'm going to pull it off. My tentative plan right now (other than praying for a miracle that we'll SOMEHOW be in our new home) is to have Family Christmas at one of my girls' homes. They can provide the location, but I'll still plan the event.

To that end I'm continuing on my usual path towards a stress-free holiday. I've been shopping, wrapping, and storing gifts. I'm completely finished with gifts for three Grands and two adult kids. I'm disappointed that I won't be decorating this year, but oh well, that's life.

My oldest granddaughter, Sunny was over the other day and, out of the blue, asked if she could plan the Family Christmas menu. I said of course! And she did. So I texted my daughters with the menu and their food assignments. They laughed. I'm thrilled that the 13 year old is showing that kind of interest! haha

Four months from today my Family Christmas will be behind me. Christmas Eve is typically hosted by my SIL. Christmas Day is typically just Dan and I. To be honest, I ususally start taking Christmas decor down on Christmas Day (surreptitiously, as it irritates Dan!) 

Maybe I'll be in my new home (probably not), maybe I'll be in a tiny apartment (probably) but either way I'll be with my family and that's the joy for me.

This year's gift stash

August

Wow, it's August. 

Two of my Grands started school today. Three of them start tomorrow. One starts in two weeks.

Our house saga is ongoing. The good news is that we sold our current house! The challenge is that we need to find a short-term rental to live in until the new house is done. The projected date for the new house is 11/9/2022. Yes, I put the year in. The way things have been going it's not a sure bet that it will be completed in 2022. I do have good news on the new house though. We have a frame walk through tomorrow morning. We're hoping that we will get more information about the timeline moving forward. 

So we're busy getting ready to vacate this house for a 600 sf. one bedroom rental. It'll be tight quarters, especially since we have to set up Dan's office in the space. But on the positive side, it'll make what was to be a transition from a 2613 sf house to an 1851 sf house much easier. That 1851 sf will feel like a mansion after 600 sf. See, there's always a bright side!

Enjoy your August!

Happy Independence Day!

 

July

 

July! The year is half over. Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments are released. Hallmark Channel is showing Christmas movies 24/7. The monsoon has arrived. School starts in 30 days.

What's not to love about July? 

(BTW, if you're into Christmas in July, check out my Christmas Blog.)

June

 

Hello June!

May was dedicated to getting my folks moved into their new apartment. It has been exhausting to say the least. Jessica and I worked on helping them choose what items were making the move with them. It was very hard. My mom had so many decor items it's ridiculous. Since it's hard for her to make any kind of decision now, this was doubly difficult. We unpacked all of their stuff at the new place and Jessica made labels for all the cabinets hoping it would help them get used to where everything is. 

Mom is fighting this move tooth and nail. And since part of her cognitive decline manifests itself in being mean, my dad is just exhausted. She's already fallen once, requiring the EMTs to come pick her up. I'm not sure how long they're going to last in the independent living apartment/hotel we found for them.

Once they were moved in my brother and I held a garage sale to get rid of the rest of their stuff. Now that's done he and my SIL will move into my folks house to be closer to them. 

I was foolishly hoping that this move would be a huge improvement for them, but I think I was being hopelessly naïve. It's only been two weeks, so maybe they will start to adjust.

I can't remember what I wrote about our new house in May and I'm too lazy to look back so... 

I think I told you our windows are in. The scaffolding is up around the structure which means they will lathe next. We're hoping to have our frame inspection by mid June. The next step would be stucco and then interior drywall. We're currently looking at mid September for move in. I'm kinda past the point of caring when we'll move in. It changes weekly. I'm more concerned about when to sell this house and how that works in the overall timeline.

The grands are on Summer Break. This will be the first year of no Grammy Summer Camp. Instead I'm planning Grammy's Field Trips on Wednesdays. Looking forward to fun with the kids!

The forecast is for a wet monsoon this year so I have my fingers crossed that we'll see some rain! We're heading into the 100s this week, maybe up to the 105 range. Here in the Phoenix area that is called warm. Hot starts at 110 degrees. Last year we had 22 days of 110+, so really we only had 22 hot days last summer! Haha

I hope to post more in June, but am not promising anything. Enjoy the first month of Summer!

May!

 

May already?! As I whined about, er... I mean explained in my last post we are waiting for our house to be built. And by waiting, I mean WAITING. But as always, God's timing is perfect and it's a good thing we're not trying to move right now.

My dad finally came to the conclusion that he and mom need to move out of their house. We found a private pay Faith Based congregant living situation for them and they're moving in May.

So we're busy helping them pack what they want to move (it's a much smaller place) and encouraging them that this will be a much less stressful lifestyle. This place looks like a hotel and has two restaurants, a pool, a dog park, library, game rooms and multiple sitting rooms on each floor. There's also a fitness center, PT center, gift shop, full service beauty/barber salon, prayer garden, Bible studies, church service, the list goes on. It will be a great independent living choice for them. Each apartment has either a patio or a balcony so they can sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. We're so relieved that this decision has been made.

So, that's going to be my May. Wonder what my June will look like...

I Didn't Realize This Would Be So Frustrating...

 As you know, we signed a contract to build a new home on 3/28/2021. We knew at the signing that the build would take 10-12 months. Two weeks later we received a letter saying it could take 14+ months due to supply chain issues, lack of workers, Covid, etc. In early March 2022 we received a tentative date of July 2022. 

Yesterday we stopped in to see if there was a more definitive date. We need to lock in our interest rate now because the rates went up recently and are expected to rise again in the next few weeks. We were surprised and a little disappointed to learn that our new projected completion date is 8/28/2022 or beyond. 

Not only are windows still the issue but now that China has locked down for a new Covid variant the lathe product (exterior styrofoam) used by our builder is not being shipped. No idea (and obviously no control) on when China will open the port again. {{Sigh}} 

We have no choice but to lock in our rate at this point. The Lender will lock for 120 days. Then we can extend it 30 more days at that time if needed. If you're keeping track that means September 2022. A full 18 months after we signed the contract.

At this point I'm not really concerned about when the house will be complete. It is what it is. But the interest rate component of it is worrisome.

Yesterday I felt a little down, but today all I can do is chuckle. It is completely out of my hands. I feel sorry for our sales associate Rob and his co-worker Shelly. They get a lot of flack from disappointed or even angry buyers. There's nothing they can do about it either. 

Does anyone have any contacts in the Chinese government so we can plead our case with them? Hahaha

Progress and a Tentative End Date

 

The tar paper and tile strips are on the roof. That's the progress. Hopefully electric and gas plumbing will be done in the next two weeks. Maybe the tiles will be distributed on the roof to settle. We'll see.

The tentative date news is, as expected, in the future. I'd say in the far future, but it's discouraging to label it that way. We talked to our sales associate this weekend and for the first time he kind of gave us a date by saying 'we hope to have it done in July'. I told him my birthday is August 10th and he said 'we'll try'. {{Sigh}} The encouraging thing is we kind of have an end date. The discouraging thing is, well, obvious.

Moving in the heat of summer is not something to look forward to.

March!

 

Here we are... in March! 

I try not to whine too much about our weather because I know that when I'm freezing to death in the 60s most of the country is REALLY freezing. So I feel bad about complaining. Instead I'm choosing to focus on the positive and rejoice because we're in the 80s... FINALLY! I can open the doors and windows during the day and turn off the artificial environment (heater). I love this time of year.

So I have a new obsession. Every morning I play Wordle, Worldle, Nerdle and Wordle Jr during breakfast. It's a good thing there's only one puzzle realeased per day so I can't give in to the compulsion to play it non-stop! The Worldle game is particularly interesting to me as Geography is not my strong suit. I'm enjoying it immensely. And as I told my husband, I'll be able to answer Geography questions on Jeopardy with a little more confidence now.

Hope you all have a terrific March...

HVAC

 

Last week HVAC was finally installed in our new house. Today marks exactly 11 months since we signed the contract for our home. At this point we're hoping for move in around June/July. Even though we knew this was going to be a long process, the reality of it has been kind of a shock. Still waiting on electric to go in. The roof tiles have been delivered and are sitting in our front yard. Other than that, it's still a waiting game!

February!

 

Well, it's February. I don't know where the month of January went but I can tell you it was not a productive month for me. I seem to be in a slump. I'm not sick, I'm not depressed, I'm not sad, I'm just blah. 

But now it's time to shake off the blahs and jump back into life with enthusiasm! haha

I do think the drawn out process of building a house is starting to wear on me. It's been 10 months since we signed our contract and no work has been done since November 1st when the plumbing was put in. There's still a hold up on certain supplies, but the biggest hold up right now is the lack of workers. Plus, the growth in our area is phenomenal. We have so many people moving here from California, Washington, Oregon... it's just crazy. The outlying desert areas around us are being turned over for new housing in all directions. The number of industries relocating here is explosive. Amazon, Microsoft, at least three semi-conductor campuses are all going up in the West Valley. It's great for our economy! But the housing market is scrambling to catch up.

Another thing that's wearing me down is my parents' situation. My mom has cognitive decline, my dad has worsening health issues. They need a lifestyle change that will keep them safe, secure, and cared for. They refuse to move out of their home and mom is adamant that she doesn't want a stranger coming into their home. I get it. But something has to give. I keep trying to gently move them towards making the decision themselves before something happens that takes the decision out of their hands completely. To no avail. 

The reality is that both of these issues will get resolved. And it will be easier for me to deal with them if I shake off the blahs. So that's what I'll be doing in February. Hopefully there'll be SOME sort of progress on our new house. And hopefully we'll figure out a good solution for my folks. In the meantime, I plan to get out my stitching and work on the two stockings I need to make this year. Continue downsizing my stuff in anticipation of a move. And look forward to warmer weather!

One Word

 For some reason the past few months have been odd. I have been busy with out-of-the-ordinary stuff. That throws me off kilter. I'm much better at order and stability than I am at spontaneous and unexpected.

So, it's time to pick a word for 2022. In choosing this year's word, I looked back to see what I've chosen in the past: Steadfast, Resolute, People, Hope, Content, Time, Home, Bold, Freedom, Confident. 

Since I seem to be in a season of instability, my word for this year is Serene. I need to focus on taking care of myself in order to take care of some of the issues facing me. Specifically finding a good living solution for my parents. I need to be calm. I need to rest in the serenity of faith. I need to take very deep breaths. And I need to remind myself of my Source of confidence for the future.

Now, if you know me, you're probably laughing because I am a world-class worrier. So this will indeed be a challenge! I think I can...

se·rene

adjective

calm, peaceful, and untroubled; tranquil.

Happy New Year!

Wow, I really disappeared, didn't I? There have been many distractions this year. My brother and I are trying to find a safe, dignified living situation for our parents. Mom has cognitive issues and Dad's health is poor. I just couldn't really work up the enthusiasm to post. I even started my annual Christmas letter, read it, and then decided to not send one this year. Very unusual for me!

Anyway, here we are, a new year! I have to say that when I watch the news, I am so thankful for where I live. Our lives are not really impacted by the covid restrictions. I do know several people who have contracted the Omicron varient, but they haven't been sick. Hopefully 2022 will be the year the virus drops off of the everyday radar. (Probably will be. I'm cynical, but it's an election year and I don't think the politicians will want to have covid as a priority issue).

2022 should be an exciting year for us. We signed a contract to build a new home in late March 2021. As of November 1, we have plumbing, but no progress since then. Fingers crossed we'll be in our home by late Spring. 

Our family was all together for Family Christmas this year and we took the opportunity to take pictures. 

 Zach and Skye 

 Katie, Gabe, Sunny, Thunder

JD, Janel, Blizzard, Winter

Jessica, Adam, Snow, Storm

Me and Dan

My little family!

As I look forward to 2022, my thoughts are focused on moving into our new home, hopefully sometime in the first half of the year. I'm busy downsizing, trying to get rid of 33% of our stuff, since the new house is 33% smaller than this one. I think I'm doing ok... we'll find out when we get to the other house! 

I enjoy reading your blogs. Some of you I've read for so many years I feel as if I know you! I enjoy hearing how your family is doing, you inspire me with your creativity, and many of you are "sisters in faith". I'm eager to see what this new year brings for all of us!