Last week I finally made it in to see the orthopedic specialist. I’ve been having increasing problems with my left shoulder (and even some slight issues with my right). The diagnosis is “frozen shoulder,” which basically means that my range of motion is becoming less and less, and it becomes more and more painful to move my arm in ways that did not hurt before. I’ve been given a list of exercises to perform — either with the physical therapist or at home on my own. Truthfully, I am having a difficult time making myself do them because they hurt like the dickens. So I think I am going to set up an appointment with the physical therapist: (a) to make sure I am doing the exercises correctly, and (b) to make myself do them at all.
I knew things were not good when I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stretched with my arms held high because it hurts to do so now.
I miss a good stretch. That would feel so good right now.
Our house was listed with the realtor by the end of the day on Friday. I posted photos on FB, shared them with everyone I knew, many of whom shared them with their friends, and our realtor listed the house on HAR, Zillow, and Trulia. There is a sign in the front yard. Something must be working — two potential buyers saw the house yesterday, one of whom went back for a second look today, and a third potential buyer looked at the house later in the afternoon.
Over the last several months, anyone who’s stumbled across my little blog here knows my sister and I have been preparing our childhood home to be sold. It’s been difficult, but we have managed to keep each other going and the day has finally arrived. The house is going on the market later today!
I couldn’t wait that long, though, and so I did my own listing (complete with our realtor’s contact information) on Facebook. Now I’m going to share with you!
Considering neither of us has ever tackled a project this large or expensive, I think we did a pretty good job all the way around. Yeppers! Now let’s get this thing SOLD!
I am really proud of how everything turned out. The house is listed with Regina Harris – Gary Greene Realtors for $169,900. She can be reached at (281) 777-5449! 😀
It’s only been recently that I’ve begun feeling the significance of my birthdays. Up until now, they’ve been days in which my loved ones showed me their love with gifts and cake. I never really thought about the numberattached to each birthday celebrated. Turning 30 was no big deal, which surprised me. I’d heard stories of people experiencing some sort of identity crisis — thinking 30 was old. Thinking I’d dodged an emotional bullet, I skipped happily along through the next decade, having a baby at 32, buying a house at 36 — doing the “grown up” thing, but never really feeling my age. In my head, I still felt like I was in my late 20s’.
I figured I’d experience that crisis when I turned 40, but surprisingly, I still felt fine. I celebrated my twelfth wedding anniversary and my daughter turned eight. These were not milestones marked by old people! Even the increasing number of grey hairs I fought with trips to the hair salon were not an indicator — I started getting grey hair at 16 years old. It meant nothing! And at 40, I figured I still hadn’t reached the halfway point of my journey on this earth. With grandparents on both sides that lived well into their 80s’, and a maternal great-grandfather who passed at the age of 103, my calculations had to be right.
Fast forward ten years to 2014. I turned 50, but I had a senior in high school — my own mother was 38 when I graduated from high school, so having a high school graduate at 50 meant I was still young, right? Right?
Yesterday my girl turned 21. Twenty-one. TWENTY-ONE. Her boyfriend (aka “The Tall One”) took her to her favorite restaurant, The Spaghetti Warehouse, where she ordered a glass of wine and was a little miffed they didn’t ask for her ID. Yesterday was the first birthday in 21 years that I did not see my girl or plan her celebration. She went to her classes, went to work, went back to her apartment and got ready for her birthday date with her boy. We chatted on the phone a couple of times during the day and I sent her lots of birthday love via text emojis, but I have to tell you — it was really strange waiting until her daddy got off work today, to drive up to Houston to spend the afternoon together.
Today I think I finally felt my age. I have an adult daughter who makes me so proud. She doesn’t do everything perfectly (said in an effort to appear unbiased), but she puts forth her best effort and she is navigating adulthood very well. We went for an early dinner at Sweet Paris Creperie and then shopped at The British Isles and a lovely stationery shop, Dromgoole’s, that sells Montblanc pens (good heavens, those things are expensive!) and boxes of Crane stationery (so hard to find). As I watched her navigate the aisles of the shops dressed in a cute outfit and heels, she looked so flipping grownup — and I realized she is. I don’t have a little girl or even a teenager anymore. I have a wonderful husband I’ve known and loved for half my life, and I’m mom to a lovely young woman who makes me smile (and sometimes cry, but in a good way) whenever I spend time with her. I think I finally feel my age, and that’s okay.
So after going through all the stuff at my mom’s house a year ago, I brought more than a few things home because at the time I wasn’t ready to let go of them. The time has come to make some hard decisions and get serious about what I really want to keep and what has to go.
One of the things I bought home was a little framed poem, “Why God Made Little Girls” — the sticker on the back tells me that Mom must have found the print somewhere and then took it to Alvin Decorating, where she spent more than a few minutes — probably an hour or two commiserating with the owner, Mr. Ercums, over which frame would suit the sweet little print. I remember going with her when I was a kid. She would look at this, that and the other, worrying over whether which frame was right. Mr. Ercums would casually pick up a frame piece, lay it against the item to be framed, and she would smile and say, “How do you do that?”
Always one to document things for the future, her neat handwriting on the back indicates she did this in October 1978. I love the print and the frame is perfect, as were all the frames she chose, but I just don’t have wall space to hang this little gem. So I’ll document the poem, author unknown, and then send this on its way to make someone else smile.
Spent the afternoon and evening working at the house. We are SO VERY CLOSE to finishing and listing. In fact, last Friday we met with a local realtor who was very encouraging — she commented on the “Wow Factor” when she walked through the house — knowing the age of the house and being familiar with the neighborhood from other listings, she had a good idea of what we started with, and she was very impressed with the updates we’ve made and the fact that we’ve managed to stay under budget so far.
We were thrilled when she recommended we list the house for almost $30,000 more than what we’d originally been thinking. She’s sold quite a few homes in the area and she pointed out the square footage, the floor plan that makes the most of every square foot and the fact that we have an indoor utility room (rather than washer/dryer connections in the garage) make our house worth a very pleasant sum.
The goal is to finish everything within two weeks and then stick a “For Sale” sign in the front yard. Tomorrow I’ll be waiting for the delivery and installation of a range hood (the first one has a dent in it), and I’ll be putting the second coat of trim paint on the closet shelves in the blue bedroom, the front bathroom door frame, the back bathroom baseboards, and the door frame between the utility room and garage. Then I’ll be painting the bedroom that was mine as a child, for the last time. I keep wondering who will end up with our house and what the rooms will be used for. It could very well be a starter home for a young family with children. Or it could be a home for someone downsizing from a larger place.
I’m imagining the shelves that held all my childhood books, and the closet floor where my Barbies and stuffed animals resided — those shelves could end up belonging to a little boy with Star Wars figures scattered about, shoe boxes of Legos on those shelves — and maybe a Batman costume hanging on one of the clothes rods.
Or in the case of the downsizing buyer, maybe there will be stacks and stacks of quilting fabric — a stash of brilliant color from floor to ceiling — and a sewing machine table near the window seat where plenty of good light pours in throughout the day.
If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you have most surely seen a video, story, blog, or photo of a tiny house. I still remember the first time I saw a tiny house online (and then later a real one off I-10, near Seguin, Texas). I was enthralled with the dollhouse like details and how much one could fit into a tiny house that was well-designed. I could definitely see a tiny house parked out back of our place to be used as a guest house, writing and/or craft studio.
A Texas Tiny House near Seguin, Texas – one of the company’s prototypes, this little house is made with all recycled materials.Another tiny house — what you see is the entire living room. The ladder leads to the sleeping loft above the kitchen.The sleeping loft. I took this photo standing on the ladder a few inches from the foot of the bed. Not sure where one keeps his or her clothing.
I cannot, however, see living in one full time. While I do not deny I have plenty of stuff to get rid of, the things that I use, that my guy uses — it just wouldn’t fit in one of those houses.
Earlier today Jami and I managed to throw out a healthy stack of papers, though. We managed to throw out enough stuff that we were able to consolidate what had once taken up two filing cabinet drawers and three plastic file boxes into just one file cabinet drawer, and it’s not nearly full. Mostly we threw out school papers from her brief three year stint in public school. We pulled a few “samples” of her work for posterity’s sake, and in the trash the rest went. It was really satisfying to take the few items we decided to keep and put them back in the formerly crammed full filing cabinet drawer, with plenty of room to spare. Soon I will begin scrapbooking again, and those items will make their way into a book where they can be viewed and enjoyed on a regular basis.
I guess I’m just too sentimental to be a complete minimalist, although I am working on only keeping the things that give me joy, or that mean something to my family. I realized that much of what I was keeping was out of guilt: “I can’t get rid of that, my mother gave it to me.” Or, “My girl may want that someday. I need to keep it safe for her just in case she does.” After realizing this, I’m being more selective about what I keep for myself, and I’m asking my girl to make the decisions that relate to her memories. I just know that it is hell going through your family home after a parent dies, having to make those decisions when you are already overwhelmed by emotions. Hopefully I can get my own “warehouse of memories” under control so my girl doesn’t have to deal with that when we are gone. I’m learning there’s a great deal of peace to be found when you let go of the things you thought were important, but you’ve discovered really aren’t. And it makes room for the things that bring you joy.
Do you ever have a day when your best intentions to accomplish great and mighty things are all for naught?
Sure you do.
Today was that day for me. I’ve been fighting allergies for a few days now, not sleeping well, and waiting for the Flonase I picked up to actually make a noticeable difference. I must have been tired last night because I did not wake up until 9:45 am. Thankfully, my daughter’s dog did not make a mess in her kennel before I let her outside! (We are responsible for the “grand-dog” while she is at college during the week.)
I planned on working on a project, but then I got a couple of business calls, one of whom was a potential client. I’d prepared four quotes for her (she is having a difficult time figuring out what she wants to order), but there were a couple of other possibilities she wanted pricing for. So I prepared three more quotes, and now I guess we will wait and see. By the time I got finished with that, it was pretty late in the afternoon, and the project I’d hoped to work on hadn’t been touched for all practical purposes. So I’m going to see if I can get a little done while I wait for laundry to finish.
Tomorrow is an exciting day — my sister and I are going to a film viewing at my niece’s college, about three hours away. My niece loves movies. She doesn’t just love to watch them, though. She analyzes them, studies them, critiques them. (If you like to watch a movie without thinking about it too hard, she is not the movie buddy for you.) Anyway, Tara wants to make movies, and so she is attending college to do so. When I first heard about this dream, I kind of poo-pooed it (to myself, of course), because I didn’t realize how truly passionate she was about this dream. I’m really glad my sister is her mom, rather than me (although a lot of people have said my niece and I look more like mom/daughter than they do). My sister never doubted her kid’s dream and so she has gone the distance to make sure Tara has a chance of fulfilling that dream. Like I said, Tara’s lucky to have such a great mom, and she has really appreciated the opportunity she’s been blessed with.
She’s worked so hard in her classes that her advisor recommended upper level classes her sophomore year. She takes extra care when working at the film house (an old house used for filming class assignments), always making sure she leaves things better than they were when she arrived. Because of her diligence, she’s been granted additional responsibility and favor. Probably the most exciting thing to happen thus far is this: she is attending the Cannes Film Festival this year! Her college is taking six students, all of whom had to apply to and be chosen by a committee in California. She wrote essays, had her advisors review them before submitting them to California, and then she had to go through a telephone interview. And she was the first chosen of the group from her college, and has received scholarships that will cover half of her travel expenses!
The students will be working during the two weeks they are in France, as baristas and such, serving the movie industry professionals in attendance (directors, actors, etc.), and if I remember correctly, attend workshops. Work ends at 5:00 pm, though, and then they are able to enjoy the festival. They will earn college credit for this experience, plus memories to last a lifetime. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait to see her dream become reality. She is working so hard, I have no doubts she will succeed.
But I digress with the back story. Tomorrow’s excitement is the film school equivalent of a piano recital. The documentary class students will be presenting their 15 minute films for viewing and we are going to cheer for my niece. I can’t wait to see her work!
Updates on the house are getting closer and closer to being done. Today we stopped by to disconnect the dishwasher (discovered a manufacturing defect after it was installed – they are bringing a replacement tomorrow). The laminate flooring has been put in. Unfortunately I was a bit distracted by other things and failed to get any photos. I’m going back tomorrow to paint, so after we run the vacuum and dust, I’ll get some shots. In the meantime, here are a few of the progress that’s been made, beginning with some “before” shots:
Kitchen cabinets in the early stages of updating. My original thought was “clean ’em good and give ’em a good lemon oil polishing.” Fortunately, my sister, the visionary, prevailed.The front bathroom.
We hired someone to paint the cabinets with a sprayer. It was a lot faster and the finish was better than if we’d tried to paint them with brushes. We think it was worth the investment in giving the cabinets an updated, fresher look.
Before and after. Notice the “fur down” has been removed. I was a chicken — worried about what might be back there. Again, my sister had the courage to say, “Well, I guess we’ll find out!” It’s more apparent in the following photograph, but see that strip of molding around the top of the painted cabinets? That was around the top of the fur down. Angie carefully removed it and saved it so it could be reattached to the cabinets and painted. She rocks!I just can’t get over how beautiful everything is turning out! Angie chose the paint colors, formica, and hardware, and did a great job. My contribution was choosing the tile for the backsplash!Sink still needs to be set and faucet installed, but isn’t it looking good???Brand-new appliances: Whirlpool double oven, smooth surface cooktop and range hood.12 x 24 floor tiles also used in the shower. Love ’em!See the accent tile in the shower? There is also a shampoo/conditioner niche in the wall that features that tile. I couldn’t walk in there when I took this photo, so I’ll have to show it later!Tile backsplash carried over from accent tile in shower,Finally, the front bathroom had been retiled several years ago, but Angie found a box of leftover tiles in the garage. We were able to use them to have this backsplash done in the front bathroom! A nice touch!
So that’s it for now. I am really please to see my childhood home receive the update it’s needed for so long, and I’m hoping whomever buys our home enjoys the updates and makes a lot of good memories here.
There’s been a lot of exciting stuff happening the last few months, but because there’s been A LOT of exciting stuff happening the last few months, I haven’t blogged about any of it. I’m going to try to catch up with a very picture-y blog post. Enjoy!
Isn’t he handsome? We went down to Galveston for the annual beach party in September. I don’t usually take selfies without makeup and wearing a cap, but I actually like this photo of us. I need to get over myself, don’t I?On the way to Galveston, before the cap smashed my hair. LOL
Then we went to UH to spend Friday with our girl during Family Weekend. We had another social obligation on Saturday, so we weren’t able to go to the game with her, but we all enjoyed the time we did get to spend together. Thankfully, her guy and his buddies went up to Houston for the game, so she had a good time without us.
My date was supposed to look like a 1920s’ mobster, but everyone who sees this photo asks if he’s Amish?
A coupla’ gansters and a moll.
Laura, Amber, and John
My sister-in-law, Amber and me.
My sister-in-law is still very active in a sorority group from her high school years in Galveston. They have revived their tradition of throwing a formal, and now they do it for charity. This year’s theme was “Putting on the Glitz” and proceeds from the 1920s’ style bash went to The Ronald McDonald House. We had a great time for a worthy cause!
Because my husband is the extrovert that keeps me from holing up in our house for weeks and months on end, we ended up at the Galveston Greek Festival the next day… He grew up attending the festival and we try to go whenever we can. This year we were just a tiny bit disappointed (well, a lot disappointed…) We went Sunday afternoon, and by the time we got there, they’d sold out of the dinner plates. The gyros are good, but we are big fans of the dinner plate that is loaded with Greek yumminess like spanikopita, dolmas, salad with feta and kalamata olives, and pastitsio (a pasta casserole-y type thing that I adore). It was agreed that we will go on Saturday next year and make sure we get there EARLY.
Galveston Oktoberfest with AJGot to wear my scarf! First cool night of the year!Martha, AJ, and me
I thought we were done for the month, but that slavedriver husband of mine yanked me up and out of the house the next weekend to attend the Oktoberfest at the Lutheran church in Galveston. This is another one of those where we are going to have to get there earlier. I know that beer is a huge part of the Lutheran/German experience, but I’m not a big beer drinker. There are craft booths in the church, but both years that we’ve gone, we didn’t get there until the booths were closing up. So NEXT YEAR I want to get there early enough to see what’s up with the crafty folk.
I think that is everything for now that can be addressed in this little “catching up” post. I do plan on posting some photos from when my New York daughter (my bio daughter’s best friend) came to visit for a week this past August. I will save that for another day, though.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. JOHN 3:16-17
Lagnaippe: 1. Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. A small gift with purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus. 2. a gratuity or tip. 3. an unexpected or indirect benefit.
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. -- Galatians 5:13
A Scribbler & A Shutterbug 