THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

Thursday is Thanksgiving, something that only those living under a rock or maybe deep in some mountainous rain forest wouldn't know by now. The day we gorge ourselves on turkey, stuffing, yams in various designs, mashed potatoes and gravy and lots and lots of pie!! And then crawl to the living room where we lie on the couch or sit in the recliner or just collapse on the floor and groan with ecstasy (or pain!).  Somewhere between the turkey going in the oven and family/guests going out the door, there are hugs, kisses, laughter, tears, sharing of memories, prayers of thanks, pats on the back and toasts of gratitude to the cook or cooks and new memories being made. 

Before all the festivities, I'd like to take a few moments to recount some of the things I am most grateful for. Of course, I can't begin to list my items without starting with my family - my children, grandchildren, aunts, uncle, cousins, brother and sister-in-law and, without a doubt the love of my life, Tom. 

But then there's the things that aren't as tangible - like God's love and blessings in my life, the fact I was born in a country where I can worship freely, without fear of reprisal or death. That, as a woman, I can walk down the street alone in a pair of jeans and a shirt and not worry that I'll be stoned. I was able to attend school and college with no-one throwing acid at me or shooting me or otherwise threatening me. Yes, I am very fortunate. 

And, being born in the middle of the 20th century seeing so many changes in our country and the world both socially, technologically and medically. I watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, received polio and smallpox vaccinations, witnessed the realization of desegregation, danced the twist, swooned to the Beatles, rocked with the Boss, programmed a room-size computer using keypunched cards, sent texts to my grandkids on my android phone!! Whew!! And so much more!!  From having to use the outhouse at Grandma Movius' to having a toilet seat that closes itself! Now THAT'S progress!! LOL!! And so much more!!

Yes, I have much to be Thankful for not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday. And there will be many years ahead to have more things to give Thanks for. Another grandson graduates next June and then on to college. Then it will be 3 granddaughters in a row graduating and onto college. A few years and then the last 2 grandkids start their futures. I can't even imagine all the amazing advances they will see in their lifetimes!

So, whether you're traveling to family or friends, having everyone at your home or joining family and friends at a local restaurant and letting someone else do the cooking and clean up like we are this year, 

                                               HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  

Jackie!

Chillin' NEAR the lake!

I thought about changing the name of my blog since we're not technically living in a lake community anymore. But then I thought, hey, we're just about 1/4 mile from a lake - Spencer Lake. True, we can't see it from our home, but it doesn't take long to get there. So, I'm thinking' that's close enough to keep the name.  So, we're still chillin' and enjoying our lives. 

So, what would possess us to sell our beautiful log home in our wonderful community and buy a bank-owned fixer-upper in the small, non-HOA development not too far away, you might be asking. Or not! LOL!! Well, in a simple answer, Retirement. That elusive, future promise of free time, project-filled, snow-birding adventure that will be fast upon us before we know it.  And snow! That's right, 2 winters ago it snowed so much one week, we couldn't get to work and if there, didn't stay there due to all the snow coming down. I was sitting in my recliner watching the snow fall and clicking thru the TV channels trying to find something worth watching thinking, if only we had a heated shop, we could be out there building things or working on projects. Only problem, there was no room on our lot to build a shop big enough to serve my needs and Tom's. So the plan took shape and the quest to sell our home began several months later when we hoped the home sales had leveled out. 

After a year of no lookers or offers, we thought, well let's wait a year or so and try again. A few months later, around Christmas, Tom decided to try putting the house on Craigslist. Lo and behold, someone in another part of the state decided to peruse thru the Craigslist listings for her dream house. Coincidence? Devine Intervention, whatever you think, it worked out great and with the sale of our house we gained a good friend. 

I still keep in touch with my neighbors from Lake Limerick. We loved living there and especially loved our neighbors. During the summer, I would either head over after dinner or stop by on my way home and walk with my buddies Kathy, Kerry, and sometimes, Judy, Linda and Donna. It's a great place to walk with little traffic. Something I plan on restarting once the evenings stay lighter longer. 

Once we knew our log home was, in deed, selling, we knew we needed to find another place to live. What to do - rent and build on a lot Tom had in another development not far out of town or try to find a place already built that fit our needs. We decided for the latter and began the hunt. The pickings were slim - too big, strange layout, no room for a shop, too expensive, too far away from the highway. Then Tom saw this place come up on the MLS and it had just dropped $20k and was down about $50k from the original asking price. Obviously, the bank wanted to get it off it's books. We checked it out. Good floor plan, already built shop and room for another, quiet cul-de-sac, attached 2-car garage. There were some strange things going on in both the garage and the shop - lots of extra receptacles, walls built in strange places, little rooms in the shop - all led to the only conclusion - grow operation. I'm not talking about vegetables, here. Then, the final clue - some dried leaves in the shop! Yep, someone had been growing and processing weed, mary-jane, pot, demon tobacco!! Oh, well! I checked with an agency that keeps records of illegal activity addresses and found nothing reported here, so a little pot growing operation didn't bother us. In fact, Tom is still looking for a hidden stash - of either green stuff! LOL!!

We made an offer, found some problems, lowered our offer and bought the place! Then the fun began. But that's for another post. 

I'll just say, it's been a very busy 6 months and there's still lots to do. But I'm feeling pretty comfortable in our cozy little home and I don't feel any seller's remorse when I visit my new friend in our old home. 

Till next time!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

BEEN TOO LONG - TIME TO CATCH UP!

GOOD GRIEF!! I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I published anything on this blog! Time sure DOES fly! My last blog was about what I fixed for Father's Day 2012. 

Well, a lot has happened since then! Where do I begin?

September of 2012 saw us putting our beautiful log home up for sale. It was time to start planning for retirement and it just did not meet our needs. Plus the lot was not large enough to fit the shops on that we wanted. If you've ever sold a home, you know you have to keep it halfway clean all the time! This meant I had to come up with some less messy solutions for Christmas ornaments. I don't think I have any pictures, but I had a dozen clear glass balls which I painted each family member's name on and the year and tied bows on to finish them off. I think they turned out okay. 

Selling also meant no more working on stained glass projects - too messy and smelly. So all of my glass work tools, accessories, glass, etc got put on a shelf. 

Well, by September 2013, we had not had even one prospective buyer look at the house! The market is still soft and there aren't a lot of calls for a 2-bedroom log house in a golf/lake community near Shelton.  So, we took it off the market with plans to wait a year or so. We still had a few years before retirement, so weren't in any hurry. 

Christmas 2013 saw my beautiful Aunt Kay and sweet Uncle Alan spending the day with us. We also had my younger daughter, Kellie, and her daughter, Kensi, with us as well as my quirky 2nd cousin Carl. 

 The gals and

The guys!  Carl, Uncle and Tom

This turned out to be our last Christmas in the log house. So glad we were able to spend it with all these loved ones. 

New Years Eve found us celebrating with Tom's son, Bryan and his family including his fiancé's Mom! Fun!!

Kyle, Dillon, Trina and Bryan

The next day, Tom decided to try Craig's list to sell the house. This is the picture he put on. 

A gal emailed him the same day for more pictures. Her 70+ year old father came by on the 2nd to see the place and she, her adult daughter, 11 year old son, father and step-mother came the next day for a 2-hour tour! Well, after a bit of discussion, a good inspection report and a few minor repairs, she bought it!! The sale closed on Feb. 28. She couldn't move in until the end of June, so we made arrangements to rent the place from her until we either found another home or she had to move in. 

We were on the hunt!! First for a rental and then for a house with some property to do what we wanted. 

Wish list:  shop, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, between 1/2 and 1 acre, not far from Hwy 101. Preferably move-in ready and less than $175k. Not easy in this area. But we ended up getting something that had almost everything on the wish list! 

I know, doesn't look like much - but you'd be surprised at how it turns out!! Stay tuned for "How I Spent the last 8 months!!"

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. 

Jackie