Retired? Whose retired?

The parties/receptions for Larry were really nice. We were moved by the sweet things people had to say. Some really did have a hard time with this. Glad to know my husband is so well loved and will be missed. Of course he met with his coffee buddies today, so he's not totally out of the loop, but will be soon enough - at least the ANDREWS loop. He will have to start his own loop in GR. I think he already has a head start on that, but I'm not sure they have a coffee break place picked out or the specific times yet. All in due time.

I think one more good friend is going to be looking at GR, but can't release that info yet. Time will tell. I'm telling you we will have our own community there soon.

We got a few more boxes packed up today, then Lar had the brilliant idea to pack the back end of the Tahoe with all the pictures and mirrors instead of packing them up in separate boxes. That saved time at this end. Hope it works to store them when we get there, but it probably will. It sure saves space, and we will need to save space as our stuff is already consuming the space in the shop.

We will head back down in a day or two with both vehicles and leave the Tahoe. When we come back, it will be to get the big truck and make the final haul. The last big push is on.

And Lar is continuing to work like a maniac. I can't believe the energy level of that man. I simply can't keep up. I'm hoping I can rest up after we finally get to GR and then begin a really good exercise/fitness routine. I really have no choice...I'm just TOO out of shape to do anything and that is NOT acceptable...so it WILL change.

Anyway, hope Wendy and Tom's move went well - I guess we will hear from them soon from their new digs. I don't know how much longer I will have this hook up, so I am taking advantage.

BTW, Lar's retirement present from the girls and I kicked ***. He was shocked and elated. Tater, he will be telling you about it soon enough. Try not to get too envious.

A Short Note

Maybe this will be short. Just wanted to catch you up on the latest events. We almost got the kitchen area finished in the apartment. I hoped we would have the baseboards & door trim done. Just too much to do and too tired. But we are making progress. At least I got to spend my first 2 nights in our new home for the next 4 or 5 months or whatever it takes. I don't know, at the rate the house is going it might be shorter. Seems fast to me. As you can see from the pictures, they are about ready for the roof & rock. We have to decide on the exterior paint, etc. first. Like I have said before, I have had to make more decisions in short order than I expected to. That has been a little trying. I will get it done. Paint is only paint and can always be changed if I hate it. Course I don't know if that will be in my life time unless I do it and I don't think I'm going to hate it that much.

Anyway, I am more than pleased with the way it is turning out. I am going to love the livingroom ceiling and beams and fireplace - if it is built like I have drawn it and so far it is turning out pretty much exactly like I envisioned.

Tomorrow is Larry's big retirement bash at City Hall and then later at the Country Club. Officially, he doesn't even go to work there tomorrow. He said for the last 2 weeks or so everytime he would walk in an office they would say "what are you doing here?" and shoo him out. They were planning stuff I guess. I think the one at City Hall is supposed to be funny. That would be appropriate. So far he is just happy, but Glenn says he will be crying by tomorrow night. He probably will.

The girls are here to share this time. We are glad. Maybe they will help me pack something...not.

Anyway, that's all for now. Come see our house when you can. Bring a paint brush.

The beginning of the real thing 

Here's the model 

Like I had time for THIS!!

I don't know what possessed me this morning, but I tried to run "Liveupdate" on my newly renewed subscription Norton Antivirus. I guess it was because my puter has been slow & acting contrary & the subscription ran out 8/23 and I wondered if I had a virus or worm or something. Made perfect sense at the time. What transpired has taken all day and until this very moment to resolve!

I should have trusted my instincts when the solution was to delete files. Turned out to be the wrong answer. It was exactly what the instructions told me to do. I had printed them out, read several times and followed line by line. Doesn't matter. Made a mess of my computer for the whole day. I was very close to tears on a number of occasions. I did break away at 2:00 to go eat with a friend, but then came back and started trying again to figure this out. Couldn't even use the website to look anything up because it pooched my Java Script somehow. I had to talk to a live person and we ALL know what that can be like, but I couldn't even find a number. Moe had to rescue me there. Habib was very nice, but also very hard to understand. He gave up and gave me the 2nd number, then I was given the 3rd, then the 4th, then the 5th. I was, of course, on hold on each of them for hmmm 20 minutes or so. But at least it was their dime. Anyway, the final tech, a woman, refunded my $$ and had me buy the latest version - the download worked and fixed the problems. At least all that I had been able to detect by then. Oh happy day.

Maybe I needed to sit on my rather plump rear all day instead of pack. Maybe it was providence - who's name is God. He does have a keen sense of humor.

Another God thing that happened today, and I have yet to figure this one out, was a fax I got from an old friend sending me a story he wrote about a time when I did something nice for him. The thing that has me puzzled is how he knew my newly changed fax number? Larry says he hasn't talked to him and I don't know anyone else who knows him who knows the new number. Weird, huh. Guess I will call him and just ask him.

It was a story about a gunfight in Pecos 14 years ago. That was an amazing time and truly God did miraculously save his life. Maybe he will publish the story sometime. Don't know too many people who are shot at point blank range 3x by an AR15 who live to tell about it.

So that was my day. Tater called tonight and he was on his way back home. We should begin to see his new blog soon. Can't wait.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

Speaking of Activity!!

Wild weekend, but not the kind of wild weekend I used to look forward to. We had the big moving sale Friday and Saturday as planned. I got lots of help from lots of friends or I would never have made it. Especially from the Pecos crew!! BTW, for those on other blogs who wonder who the newest major commentor is, that should give you a clue.

We actually managed to turn a 20'x60' shop FULL of stuff into a tidy sum of cash. When I looked at the formidable task on Monday, I did not see how it could possibly be done. I was actually almost in tears when I looked at what had to be done. But through some miracle and the major efforts of several friends, as I said, we "gotter done"! I actually could not believe how much was accomplished in 1 day. It actually took all week to get it ready, but I kind of slacked off on Thursday cause things were in such good shape. We got hit pretty hard on Friday. It was really like sharks circling, but I didn't really mind if they had cash in their pockets. We quit a little early Friday cause it was hot and no one had come in a while. I would have been happy with the results of that one day, actually. We cleaned up a little more and got ready for Saturday and had another good day. When it was over, we only had 1 load for the dump and took one pickup load and 1/2 the back of my Tahoe to the "Operation Blessing" place. YeePee!! That was such a major load off our backs.

The next major task was this office. Holy Cow!! I can't believe the stuff I was hording. It's in the dumpster now. I have 10 file drawers in this office. Half of them are empty now. That feels good.

Tomorrow is the last little chore. We have to be video'd for that training thing. I still don't exactly know what it is for, but the producer if flying in from St. Louis or somewhere and a film crew is meeting her here. Wish they could doctor the pics and shave 25 lbs off me. Larry lost it and I gained it in all the stress and work. Oh well, it cuts down on wrinkles.

I have some of the same crew coming to help me pack on Tuesday. We will pack everything we can that we don't need in the next 2 weeks and take it down this weekend. I may have to leave early to meet with the builder and plumber on some stuff. I don't know what my schedule will be like from here out, but I will be here for Larry's big retirement celebrations on September 28th. They are having one for him at City Hall, and a dinner that evening. I'm not sure what all will be happening, but it will be a bitter-sweet affair I'm sure.

That is about all I have for now. The countdown is really on and short now.

Ok, somebody say something!

I've been waiting faithfully for all you blogger watchers to say something. I have also been waiting patiently for my daughter to post the pictures to the house. We have some more that are a little more current, but a different angle. Still can't post them here until somebody helps me. Lar went down this weekend with another load and finished grouting tile, hooking up the water heater and spent the first night in the apartment.

He had planned to get up early Saturday a.m. and leave around 5:00. I went to bed around 2:30 - he was awake. Said the neighbors dog woke him up. He decided to just go, so he left at 3:00 a.m. OMG - he is driven to get this deal done. I am too, I just don't have the same energy level or strength he does. I called him around 9:15 to make sure he made it (since he was supposed to call when he got there) and he already had the trailer unloaded and the some other stuff done. Wears me out to think of it.

I am on the last leg of going through junk around here to have the big MOVING sale, which will take place this week - Thur, Fri & Sat. Ya'll are all welcome to come buy it all or help...ha.

I have some friends coming I hope. Maybe a relative or two. I spent all day Saturday going through our bedroom & closet. That was a major task. I also got half way through the kitchen before I had to stop because of a live scorpion. Seemed like the logical thing to do. I couldn't find any bug spray, so I covered him up with a pan & left. Ugh - I hate those things. Lar says I have to get used to bugs cause we are moving to the land of many giant bugs.

Ok, I will learn to swing something at them.

I think our cats know somethings up. They were both pretty antsy over the weekend. I keep telling them they will like it where we are going. Lots more wild game to hunt. Of course, I didn't tell them the wild game will be hunting them too. We will try to keep them safe. The trip down there should be interesting. Momma cat has never been on a trip like that. Our neighbors with the 14 cats told us some fun tales about their trip from California in a motor home with the cats. Of course they only had 13 then. We did that once with 2 siamese cats. The female managed to just hunker down in the van and ride it out. The male had to be drugged almost into oblivion. He was a funny sight, but he survived, as did we. That was 34 years ago or so.

Anyway, I am rambling, as I am prone to do, and have actually run out of anything interesting to say, so I will TRY to go to sleep. That is becoming a rare commodity around our house - no matter which one we are at.

So post something - all you die hard bloggers. Bye for now.

Home? Where's home?

We got home (to Andrews) at 10:30 last night. I am still recovering. I was on the phone off and on all day with contractors, etc. That will be my life for a while. But I had a pleasant surprise this morning.

While we were in GR last week, we got a call and a drop-in visit from some friends we knew long ago from Pecos. They live in Arizona at the moment. They are looking for property to buy for retiring in about 1-1/2 years, so another mutual friend from Pecos told them to check out GR. They stopped in last week and looked over our digs and sat next door with good neighbors Lee & Cindy out around their pool, overlooking their pond. It was a pleasant evening. We didn't hear from them again until this morning when they called to say they had checked the place out pretty good and were ready to look for some property!! Yeepee!! They are terrific people and I know if they do decide on GR, we will have a lot of good times in the future, God willing. Plus, that makes GR even more attractive to the other mutual friends. We have been working on them for some time. We have been hoping they would get something close by so we can stay hooked up. Maybe it will all come together.

I have basically just survived today, taking and making calls and trying to get enough energy to dig into what I have to do here. Ugh - this is the worst part of the whole thing. But I WILL get it done. I'll probably fill up 2 dumpsters before I'm finished. I'm planning to get ruthless in the process.

Ok, my computer is trying to lock up on me. I can take a hint. Tag - ya'll are it - so blog.

Two intense weeks!!

This has been an extremely intense time. I was at Lydia's (Dr. Grotti) trial for 4 days, including the day of the verdict and sentencing. That was all very difficult to bare, but I am glad it worked out where I could be there. She deserves our support and she will get it. I don't know exactly how we can all help her, but we will find a way. The most important thing we can all do is continue to pray for her and everyone involved in this heartbreaking situation. All I know for sure is God is in control and for that I am so thankful. We were approached by a reporter from the Dallas Morning News. He wanted to interview us before the verdict was issued. We declined, but I did advise him why I was so hesitant: the news media in DFW has been so biased against Lydia. I sat in the trial Thursday and Friday, then read the news accounts. It was like we were in two separate trials, therefore I don't trust them to be honest with their reporting. He did mention they had not written a story yet, and I heard from my sis-in-law that his story that came out Wednesday was kinder to Lydia. Maybe I will call him. He gave me his card.

I have not been home in over 2 weeks. I am still not home. I have been with Andra, helping her locate their house, and working on mine. Had to make the final decision and buy the windows and doors. The foundation was poured Saturday, August 28th. We got to watch that. We were working like worker bees on the apartment while that was going on. I have made Home Depot my second home and I don't even have a bed there. As of today, we have electrical, water and sewer system hooked up, so we can live in it as soon as we get the proper necessary items in place. Lar laid the tile in the bathroom yesterday, so he is going to grout this a.m. so we can install that necessary item. I finished painting yesterday except for a small strip our good neighbor Steve is repairing in the sheetrock. Nice to have handy neighbors!! Oh, also I can't finish in the bathroom cause the goofy sheetrock guy taped, bedded and textured OVER the hardy-backer where we are going to tile. It is messed up so Lar spent almost all day Friday scrapping that off. He has to do some other repair up there.

The house is moving at lightening speed right now. The framers started Monday and the walls are up and more than half of the rafters & ceiling joists. I has been a good thing I am here, though. We have had a few corrections to make on window placements (just location up/down). The guy running the crew looks like he is 18. I'm sure he is at least 25, but he is a worker for sure. Everything is looking really good - except I am about to cause Clint (who is running our whole job), Kevin (framer) and Dwin (daddy contractor) to short out over how to do the ceiling in the living room. We will come up with a solution yet, but they said it has been their most challenging to date. We have some ideas kicking around.

It has been so surreal to see this structure actually materialize in front of my face, having had it in my head for so long. It looks remarkably like the model I made maybe almost 2 years ago. I do love walking around in the real thing. It is going to flow exactly like I thought it would.

But I have to say it feels like a whirlwind. I have to make so many major decisions in such a short time. I was really not prepared to have to do that so quickly. I think Clint is racing to see if he can finish in record time. Ok, but I have to figure some stuff out - so slow down just a little. I will probably be eating my words in 4 or 5 months. We will see.

I am going to post a picture or two as soon as someone tells me how. I've got to go to work now. I am posting this from Steve's powerful DSL hookup. Yeah, we can get DSL here!!

PS - we played Trivia Pursuit 2 nights in a row. Girls against the boys. It is a tie at the moment. Final match tonight.

Over and out from Glen Rose, Texas!!