A Messy Monday and a Hopeful Tuesday

Good morning friends! I hope your week started off great. 

If you know me, you might remember that Mondays are my favorite day of the week. I love to start fresh and Monday just feels like the best day to do that. 

However...

yesterday was NOT a Monday I want to repeat - ever. The mishaps and chaos were enough to make me want to crawl in bed and wait till next Monday to come back out. But alas, I survived and I'm here to take  on another day. But just for laughs, I will take you along on my Monday so you can see that I'm not just being dramatic (maybe a little 😅). 

🏡

The day started with mom and I getting to the new house at 9:00 am to meet the carpet cleaners. The house has carpet in the living room and bedrooms, so it would take about 2 hours to clean all the rooms.

In the meantime, mom and I finished wiping down all the kitchen cabinets, vacuuming inside the drawers and putting shelf paper in the drawers while the man cleaned the carpets. Now the kitchen is ready to load in, and we will be doing that today.

While the carpet guy was cleaning and we were working, we also had a handyman there fixing a plumbing issue, which should have been done before closing, but wasn't done properly. So the man had to come back and try again. At one point, he needed a plunger, so I headed to Walmart to buy one and left mom there to hold down the fort. 

I was only gone 15 minutes and my mom was calling saying the water department came by and shut the water off, right as the man was trying to test the plumbing. What??? We had gone into the water department last week to pay the deposit, so there wouldn't be an interruption in the water service. 

So the minute I got back, I had to call the water department and tell them to send the man back out to restore service. He came back about 15 minutes later and water was back on. The handyman continued his work and said the toilet was flushing and his work was done. He left and mom and I were about to leave for lunch, when I decided to test the toilet to make sure it worked and discovered it didn't, so I had to call the handyman on the phone and get him to come back. Obviously this delayed lunch and by this time, we were pretty hungry (and I might add...hangry).

As if this wasn't enough going on, I got a call from the title company saying there was one form the closer forgot to get our signature on and we would need to come sign it that day....in another city! So add that to this very crazy day and by this time I was ready for food and peace, neither of which seemed available at the moment. 

David came to meet us at the house and the handyman informed him that the plumbing issue was under the house and he would have to return the next day to fix it. He left and we three headed to lunch and then took a ride to the title company office to sign the papers.

Here's my beautiful mom eating a cookie at the title company 😅 She's been such a big support and help to me this week. Does she look 83? I'm so grateful and thankful she drove 5 hours to come help her daughter. You never get too old to need your parents 💛

After getting back to the house, David went back to work and we had one more task to do before calling it a day. I needed to get a key made and pick up a furniture dolly at the local hardware store right up the road. No problem. Only took about 15 minutes.

I needed to drop the key off to David and drop the dolly off at the house and mom and I could head home from there. 

However...

when I walked into the house to drop off the dolly, I noticed it felt very humid in there. After all, we had a house full of damp carpet that would take 5 hours or so to dry completely. I tried turning on the ceiling fan, which we had left on, and it wouldn't turn on. That's when I noticed that the house had no electricity. Are you kidding me?!!

Just like the water, the sellers had scheduled their cut off date for that day and the electric company had failed to leave it on, even though I had taken care of that last week. This was the cherry on top. 

I had a humid house full of damp carpet and it was close to 3:00pm by this point. I was not happy.

I had to put in a call to the electric company and emphasize how important it was that they get it turned back on ASAP.  In the meantime, there was nothing else we could do, so we headed home, but not before stopping by DQ for a Blizzard. Nothing like a little ice cream to get you through a hard day 😅🍦

🏡

Thankfully, David was meeting Collin at the house after work, to pick up an appliance (hence the dolly), so he was able to confirm that the electricity had been turned back on, thank goodness! 

Everyone made it home at the end of the (very long) day and all was well. But my goodness! I hope today is much calmer. Surely it has to be. 

Today a friend is coming to help take all the kitchen boxes to the new house and get my kitchen set up. The handyman will be there attempting to fix the plumbing for the front bathroom and goodness, I hope all goes smoothly. 

Tomorrow we will take a break and I will go with David to the doctor to follow up on his back pain. Please pray for us 💛 Of all the weeks for him to have a hurt back and all of this work to do, plus his job. I know things happen in life and this is just a bump in the road. But right now it feels like a pretty big bump.

Honestly, I don't know how people make it without Jesus. His word, his presence, his promises...this is the foundation that keeps us moving forward, even under the worst of circumstances or the annoying bumps in the road. 

Thank you for following along, my friends. I'm so glad you're here 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Learning to Say Yes

 Happy Saturday friends!

On my very first post back here on the blog, I said it was going to be a busy week and boy has it been a week!

We signed on our new house Thursday morning and by 10:00 that night David was in the ER after taking a fall. This was not on the agenda and it sure has made me question why life has to work this way sometimes.

But I want to find the good in these circumstances, because just focusing on the bad does nothing for you.

And the good part of all of this is that David has perfect vitals, no broken bones and all checked out as it should.

There are numerous other blessings that came along, such as a neighbor lending a hand, a friend who brought me food at the hospital, kids that stayed with me, called me from Tennessee and my 83 year old mom who drove 5 hours yesterday to come stay with me. Today Morgan is going to my new house to start cleaning it for me and my realtor (who is a long time friend) has been checking on us and has made sure to tell me she's praying for us. 

I want to acknowledge all of this because sometimes it's hard to say "yes" when people offer to help. At least for me it is. I'm not used to asking for help and it's so hard to feel like others have to go out of their way to help me. 

But this time I said yes and it's been such a blessing.

So I just wanted to write this quickly this morning and let you all know that your welcome back comments have been such a blessing. Thank you all for stopping by and I'll be back on Monday "if the Lord's willing and the creek don't rise," as my father-in-law always said 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

A Perfect Birthday

 

Well, here we are on Wednesday of this very busy week and I can report that I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. 

The morning started off with texts and calls from my aunt, the kids and my mom. My mom has a tradition of calling all of us on our birthday and singing the worst rendition of Happy Birthday she can muster up. She's been doing it for as long as I can remember and it's definitely something we all brace ourselves for each year, but we get a lot of laughs out of it. 😀

I also got a FaceTime call from my Tennessee kids. It was so sweet to hear them sing to me and get to catch up with them on my birthday. I'll never stop saying that I miss them 💛

 I then ventured out to claim my free drink from Starbucks, which was a nice treat. My drink of choice is called a Mocha Cookie Crumble, which I barely remember every time I pull up to the speaker to order. Nevertheless, I was treated to a free one and that started the day off perfectly.

David and I had the final walkthrough on our soon-to-be new house and then grabbed a quick lunch together. 

Afterwards I drove to the Nothing Bundt Cake store and got my free bundt cake they offer. Red Velvet was the choice of the day there. Of course, knowing that Morgan was baking me a cake for dinner that night, I saved the bundt cake for another day. 

I had a few hours of downtime before dinner and then David and I drove to Collin and Morgan's for tacos and cake. The meal was delicious and the cake was perfect and so yummy. 

The Tennessee kids FaceTimed us and joined in singing Happy Birthday again and watched me open my gifts. Since Collin and Morgan had just been to visit Ted and Alex the week before, Alex had sent my gift with them, which was such a sweet surprise.  I received some very special gifts that made me cry and one that really surprised me, but just made me love my kids even more.

Every year (for so many years now) Alex has made me homemade toffee for my birthday. But that very morning I mentioned to David that this would be the first year I wouldn't have my special birthday candy, now that the kids were in Tennessee. Little did I know, Alex had made it the week before and sent it home with Morgan. This meant so much, that she would take the time to make sure I had my candy. Top it off with the pictures of the grandkids I got as gifts and that's all I needed to make my day complete.

However, I can't forget that my mom sent me a box of Fickle Pickles (I've mentioned them here before), which are custom made pickles you can't buy in the grocery store. That's always a treat. And David came home with beautiful tulips, which are my favorites.

All-in-all...I had an amazing birthday and felt very loved. 

And it's funny what a difference a year can make. Last year I turned 60 and I wasn't thrilled about it. But this year, at 61, it didn't bother me a bit. It's just a number and I'm still here and so grateful for every single day that I get to live this life, with the people I have. 

Today's going to be a calmer day with more packing and a few errands to run (and lots of sweets to snack on!). 

I think I'll start the day with the free breakfast item that Chick-Fil-A gifted me 😀 I mean, this birthday week is shaping up to be very nice, wouldn't you say? 

I'll be back soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Let's Begin Again...

 Well... what does one say when they come back from taking a very long break? I wasn't sure I would ever return to this space, although I missed every one of you, so I guess it's no surprise that I'm back.

There's so much to catch up on, and then again...where do I begin?

When I decided to quit blogging, I deleted all of the previous posts. And that's ok. I'm not writing to keep track of anything. I'm just writing because it's what I do. I'm writing to connect to other women, to encourage and be encouraged. And that's an ongoing thing, so what was written in the past served it's time and now I will start fresh and tell you all the Lord has been doing in this current season.

I will start by saying that the irony of bringing back the blog on this Monday, this week, is that it's about to become one of the busiest times we've had in a while. But let me take you back a ways and fill you in from there.

Here goes...

As you may remember, we moved back to our home in January after trying to sell our home and then renovating it and moving back in. Things were just going along as normal for the most part. I was enjoying my kids and grandkids during the week, David was working and doing well and life just felt normal.

But, par for the course (as my mom used to say), when things get too comfortable...look out!

My oldest son Ted started feeling the call to move to Nashville. This has been coming on for years and we knew it was just a matter of time. So in July he was there pursuing some things and by September they were packed up and heading out. So many feelings watching our babies (big and small) drive off for good. I cried for weeks. 

But in the meantime, on July 30th, David lost his job...again. This time it was due to a company buyout and par for the course...they laid several people off and eventually closed that location down. And here we sat, once again facing unemployment and an unsure future.

But the Lord had other plans; ones we couldn't even imagine.

I will say, as much as I despise social media at times (most of the time), it can come in handy when you need something and this time it paid off.

The weekend after David shared on Facebook that he had been let go, he got a call telling him that his hometown needed a City Manager. He had served on the city council for 14 years before we moved, so this was not out of the realm of possibility.  It's something he's always felt called to be involved in - local government - but thought those days were over once we moved out of that city.

But, like I said, God had other plans.

I'll not go into all the details, but the response was overwhelming once the word got out that David had applied for that job. Everyone was so supportive and after weeks of going through all the formalities with the mayor and council, he was hired as the City Manager of his hometown and we were thrilled.

His love for his hometown has never faded and now he was going back to be a big part of its future. But it meant something else...we had to move again. 

In order to run the city, you must live in the city and that means moving...AGAIN. 

So, on this very week that I've decided it was time to start writing again, my house is full of packed boxes in the dining room, we have the final walkthrough and the closing on our new house, my birthday is tomorrow and I'm sporting the first cold/allergy issue I've had in months.  So much for getting comfortable.

There's a lot more to the story, as far as watching God work and put the pieces together, but I'll leave that for another day.

Mostly I just wanted to return to this page and this place where I can share my heart and enjoy the friendships and feel connected once again.

I hope you'll follow along 💛😊

It's good to be back.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!