New Things

I had all sorts of stuff I was going to post on when I was finally able to sit down and say something. And of course, now I'm not sure what any of it was. So I am going to gradually work myself (and you) through a few topics/days events.

First, let me congratulate Jenn - my best friend on the birth of her new baby boy. Little Raymond was born early, early this morning and is doing great. We are so excited that this day finally came and our friends have a healthy boy. And to top things off, they are moving to Orlando in a couple months - which is a whole lot closer to us than NC. It was great talking with Jenn today, she sounded older, relaxed, and more mature. Is that a normal side effect when you have your first child?

The house has been an adventure. We are finally here. Last night was the first evening I didn't have to go to the old place to clean or paint. And wow, what a relief. Unfortunately, I haven't had any time yet to start unpacking at our new place ... but the good news is that 100% of our deposit from our last home was returned to us. Guess that means all the hard work paid off.

I have been looking forward to this weekend so that I can finally have a good block of time to unpack. That was just ruined. I've learned I will be quite overloaded at work for the next week. I had to bring work home with me tonight and will spend most the weekend getting ready for a committee meeting next week.

Repairs are beginning to become a constant thought as we look to decide what to do first. Things that we thought we may want to replace fairly quickly - like appliances - are taking a back seat to other things. During our first 48 hours in the new house we noticed the pool filter hadn't cut off - so we schedule for a specialist to come give an estimate on pool repairs. We need a new filter and liner; so we've been chatting as to when we want to proceed and trying to figure out when it will be warm enough to even use.
The roof is also a priority. That needs to be scheduled for the next month. But I have one more estimate I want to get. It's just a matter of getting it done.
Painting and landscaping have also hit the top of the list. I need to decide on a total color scheme before I move forward with painting - so I need time to decide what I like and want to do. And landscaping may be too expensive to do much with at this point. We had the pool guy give us a guestimate at replacing the cement around the pool - it was a cheap $15 grand. Yikes!

So we are just moving forward one day at a time. Getting things done that need to be done as we can.

Josh is also in a whole new world. Not only did he move, but he got his license and a car all in the last week or two. I am sure he is enjoying his extra freedom. He's also learning quickly how much it costs to have a car. He's had a few bills pop up this last week that he wasn't expecting (like locking his keys in the car).

Hopefully I will have something more interesting to talk about next time.