Ahh, the dog days of December

Yup, yesterday was golf weather. It actually got up to about 76. We tried to work on the house, but kept hearing our golf clubs yelling "take me for a drive!". So we did.

We are now working on the living room - it's coming along nicely and should be done by the end of this week. We would like to be able to put up the Christmas decorations soon, so we're moving right along.

Everything is going well here. We're enjoying the area and feel like we're making good progress with the house. Keep in touch!!

We spent a whole day at Texas Roadhouse

On Tuesday we went to Texas Roadhouse in Hendersonville to help build a "Home in a Box". Texas Roadhouse has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build houses in New Orleans. Habitat has created a "Musicians Village" and have a unique way to involve people countrywide. When we got there Tuesday (about 10AM), there were various stacks of lumber in the parking lot. It was all cut and marked, and ready to be assembled. There were about 30-35 people there and we split into groups and started assembling windows and doors. We gathered the necessary pieces and nailed them together. When those were done, we started on the walls. We framed all the interior and exterior walls, then temporarily assembled the house in the parking lot. They took pictures (which we're waiting to get) and then we disassembled it and put everything into two trailers that headed for New Orleans. The New Orleans Habitat for Humanity will build the house sometime in January. (The leader of this group from the Roadhouse said she has the address it's going to built at, so if anyone goes to New Orleans we'd love to see pictures of the completed house.) It was a great day and a great way for us to get involved with Habitat down here It was a one-day commitment, and a lot of fun. We look forward to getting involved more after the holidays. It was good to get outside for the day and meet some people and have fun. The ribs for lunch and beer afterwards were just bonuses - enjoyable bonuses!!

While Jim Wrestled the Snake........

Remember Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom? Well, anyway, it was only a plumbing snake. Our kitchen sink was draining very slowly, so we bought a drain snake and went from the sink down, and then into the cellar and about 20' to the T in the pipe. There seems to be 30 years of sludge in the pipes and only a small opening for the water. So after a couple hours of that, and no real progress we called Roto Rooter. It's good now. We have this beautiful new dishwasher that we'll want to hook up some day, so it's good to have the drain working. We're making great progress on the kitchen and bathroom. The bathroom is going to look great. The kitchen will be spectacular. Every step we make in there, we look at it and say "Wow, that looks great". I'll let you see it when it's done. The weather is just starting to change, until yesterday it was in the 80's and 90's. The rest of the week is forecast to be mid 60's, then back up again at the beginning of next week. We could use lots of rain but that's not in the forecast. Hopefully at some point that will come. Gotta get to work! Have a great day!

Meet Jake and Rusty. They're 6 weeks old and absolutely adorable. Rusty (in the back) is a little larger, squarer body shape, and nappy fur. Jake has the look of a tradition golden retriever, and is about a pound lighter than Rusty. They've been with us for a week and have reminded us what sleep deprivation is. Of course we're tearing apart the kitchen at the same time, so we've been keeping busy. All here is well, let us know how ya'll are doing.

Time flies when you're having fun.....

I don't know how long you thought it would be before we started renovations, but whoever had their money on 19 days wins!!! We decided to start on the kitchen right away and hopefully have it done by Thanksgiving. We've gotten a good start. Jim has most of the lower cabinets built and I've got a coat of primer on them. Appliances and counters have been picked out and we're ready to get started. We've been focusing on getting guest rooms ready so there's plenty of room whenever anyone wants to visit. We're ready! We're going to look at a couple of boats this weekend - I'll keep you posted on that. Tonight we're watching the Red Sox/Yankees game. It's the bottom of the 6th, so far so good. The weather has cooled considerably so we're able to get outside and enjoy the yard, maybe soon we can even go golfing. Hope everyone is doing well. Keep in touch!

We're In!!

I know it's been awhile, sorry. We're in our new house! We closed on Friday and Jim's brother and his wife and son came for the weekend to help us unpack. We couldn't have done it without them - Thanks guys! The house is great - plenty of room, a garage under for Jims' shop and a big, shady backyard. We've unpacked enough to function, but have a long way to go. It's nice to be in a house and not stuck in a little hotel room or the truck during this heat wave. It was only in the 90's today - but still muggy so not very comfortable. We've managed to learn the area pretty well and have found stores and shops we like. We also found that we're only about 2 miles from the closest boat ramp. So once Jim buys another boat he won't have far to travel. There are lots of public recreation areas around the lakes and throughout the park system. Most of which we haven't checked out yet. We have found a couple of parks with swimming areas and boat ramps, also some with greenways you can walk or bike. Lots of golf courses around - unfortunately we haven't had time to play any of them. Once it cools down we'll be able to check them out. As you may know, Jim and I have spent the last month with only one car (in fact we were in the car for most of the month)! We spent today car shopping - one of life's necessary evils - and I think we will have a new Pathfinder soon. It'll be nice to be a 2 car family again. Keep in touch and let us know how you are - now that we're back on the internet full time it's easier for us. I'll post more house pictures soon

Cumberland Caverns

Well we left Gatlinburg Friday morning and stopped at a place called Cumberland Caverns.


It is this amazing series of caves that have been turned into a tourist mecca. There are 32 miles of caves in all, obviously we didn't see anywhere near that much, but it was awesome. All the natural formations are amazing.

Came back into Nashville last night and we're here for a while. Next week will be setting up accounts with the various utility companies and doing last minute stuff with the realtor. And Friday (keep your fingers crossed) we're closing on the house. We just went to an estate sale and found some furniture, then stopped at the Opry ticket window and got tickets for tonight's show. Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black, Cherryholmes, among others. Should be a great show.

Laural Falls

We Hiked up to Laural Falls today and
just hung out by the river where it was nice and cool! Tommorow we head back to Nashville need to get everything in order for Fri. My Brother Mike & Deb
and Chris( Itchy ) coming down to help us unload the truck this weekend. So it
Should be fun as long as it's no to hot. the're calling for 90s so that won't be bad.

Smokey Moutains Cool Place

Passed our home inspection yesterday so we're here in the moutains trying to find a cooler place to hang out. It's a little cooler low 90's but back in nashville well over 100. We went on an auto trail up to the top of the moutains, stoping along the way to take a few short hiking trails. Plan on taking a longer hike tommorow up to one of the falls.

Closing In

We get our Home inspection tommorow if all goes well we close on the 24th. After the inspection we're off to the Smokey Mountains to hang out. I'm thinking if we're going to stay in a motel room might as well be some were we haven't been yet. Besides it's been over 100 degress and humid everyday. Maybe it's cooler in the mountains......

I Think We Found The One!

Hi Everyone!
We put in a offer on a House the offer was accepted and just waiting to agree on the Final date of closing(They changed the original we agreed)so once the Contract is signed by both parties........we're in!
Brick Ranch with Garage under, Finished Basement, Nice yard,

Close to the airport.

YeeHaw!

We're here in Nashville, ready for a full day of things to do. Post Office, banking and house hunting. We're in a room with a kitchen and sitting area - so we're comfortable. We went to a couple of open houses yesterday. We have a realtor who's setting up some showings for today and tomorrow. So we're off and running, doing well. I would post more pictures, but I can't find the battery charger for the camera. As soon as we get another charger, I'll show you some pictures.

We'll always have Paris

Well we made it to Tennessee. We're at Jim's brothers' house in Paris, TN. We made it here about 4:00 this afternoon. I'll post more when we hit Nashville tomorrow. Hopefully we won't be so weary then. Thanks for all your prayers.

Where are we now?

It's 6pm on Thursday and we're just south of Columbus Ohio. All is well. We have about 450 miles to go tomorrow. We're going to drop off the trailer at Mike & Debbie's and then we will head to Nashville. Talk to y'all tomorrow.

Nashville or Bust!!!

Well we closed on the house this afternoon and got on the road out of Lakeville at about 4pm. We are now in Parsippany, NJ. We crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge and just kept on going. All is well, we'll keep you updated!

Sometimes Plan B is better than Plan A

Well, we're still packing and still on track to leave August 1st. Jim found a company that will bring a trailer here, we pack it, they pick it up and drive it down for us. They will store it in their facility for as long as we want. It is about the same price as the other rental. So instead of renting the other truck and each of us driving one, we're getting that and we will drive down together in the pickup truck. Much better plan. He sold his boat (because we all know Tennesse is landlocked) so we are towing the work trailer. We had a wonderful going away party on Saturday (Thanks Nan!). It was great to see all of you and thanks for the good wishes. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Counting Down!!

Well, it's less than two weeks until we sell the house and move. We're both excited and somewhat nervous about what happens after that. Jim is finishing up a couple of jobs, yesterday was my last day at work and now we're into full-time packing. We've already packed a lot of stuff, but there's still more - sometimes it seems never-ending. We're taking the time to enjoy our friends and family here, so if you want to give us a call or stop by before we leave, we'd love to see you.