30 days. 30 short, short days. THIRTY!

I went to Peter's this weekend.  Probably my last trip before I go and don't come back.  Yikes.  I took another load of stuff.  I stood in my garage and grabbed anything I didn't think I'd need in the next 30 days.  

• Raquetball rackets.  I haven't used them in 7 years - don't think I'll use them any time soon.
• Table saw.  I think I'm done with my home improvements around here.
• Empty wine bottles.  No good to ME empty.  At Peter's we can re-fill them.
• Air Compressor.  Everything here is suitably inflated.
• Watermelon.  Oops. Brought that back home with me.

I've been panicking over where I'm going to live in 31 days. I even ranted at Peter the other day about how he didn't seem to appreciate the seriousness of my impending homelessness.  I wanted to go apartment/house hunting on Saturday but we had onions to dig.  Choosing to put my head in the sand for the time being, I cheerfully tackled the onions.  Peter dug, I rinsed and stacked.  It was a fine arrangement.  We dug for awhile, thinking about impending changes and digging some more. That's what I was doing anyway - no telling what Peter was thinking about.  After awhile Peter stopped digging, leaned on his shovel and proceeded to explain why he was so calm about my housing.  He explained to me that in the next 30 days he was going to empty out his house, put in new flooring, paint, polish and shine.  Move his mother in there, and then prepare the farm house for my occupancy.

While he's doing that he's going to work his actual job, finish the onions and garlic, remove a 1/2 dozen stumps, plant potatoes, finish preparing the vinyard and come down here for two weekends:  Jill's graduation and a seminar.   Easy!

Naturally that didn't completely ease my concerns - since I'm a worry wart by nature.  And really it raised a whole bunch more questions.  But for now I'm going to let things go.  I've been practicing that skill for just this reason.

Despite our deadlines and other stuff we went sight seeing on Sunday.  Winthrop is a very cute little western town on the far side of Cascade Pass.  Here is a photo near the top of the pass.  We tossed a blanket on the shoulder of the road right here and had a "road" picnic.  The sun was out, we had a glorious view, and a tasty meal of avacodo, crackers, wine & salami.

I cam home today.  On the way home I got a call from my realtor.  My buyers have changed their mind.

Swell.

Socks.

I knitted socks!

It took me months and months.  The first one went fairly quickly, the second one took forever!

Now I have a problem.  All my knitting things are packed. 

I still have my sock needles.  But my two (or three or four) boxes of yarn already in storage.  I guess I'll have to go buy MORE yarn.  It will be such a hardship.  But I'll force myself.  I just need to find a new sock pattern I suppose. 

Perhaps I'll get aroundto trying toe-up socks.  THAT will be an adventure.  If I start now - I may be done in time for Christmas.



Sold!

32 days (ish) on the market and my house is sold.  37 days until my desired move date and my house is sold.  The buyers want to close by June 30.  That was my plan.  The plan I made two years ago.  How on earth did it all fall into place??  I just find it amazing!  Last week they made a low-ball offer.  There was no way I could entertain that kind of price.  I countered back at full price with just 3.5% towards closing.

Of course, the whole deal could still fall through if the inspection comes back ugly or the house doesn't appraise at a suitable value for the bank.

No one was more flabbergasted than I when they accepted my counter. 

Now I will update my to-do list on the left and maybe add a new to-do about finding somewhere to live in Lynden until Peter and I can get the farm house ready.

Vacation is over. The future looms.

I've been home from vacation a week.
It was a very good vacation.  The first half we spent at my brother's house (in Florida).  Our first day there we just "hung out" trying to get in the vacation mood.  After that we just wandered around seeing the local sights.  We went to the botanical garden, Silver Glen Springs, Fort DeSoto & Indian Rocks Beach.  In fact, our last night with my brother we went down to the beach, watched the sun set over the gulf and then went for a moonlight swim in the ocean.  Nice...

Depite our fervent search we never saw an alligator in our adventures in the wild. 

The second half of our vacation was spent at a hoity-toity resort in Orlando.  Peter was attending a big neurology symposium.  It was so awful.  Peter got to go to event after event and talk after talk while I was exiled to the pool, the spa and the lazy river.  Poor me.  A dear friend flew down from Minne-snow-ta to hang with me at the pool for a few days.  It was very nice to have someone help me harass the cabana boy, Sylvestre, and to float with me down the lazy river.

We were very excited to finally spy an alligator as soon as we got to the resort.  There was a 6 to 8 foot alligator floating in the golf-course water hazard right next to the parking lot!  It puts Oregon's golf course water hazards to shame!

It's been just crazy since we got back.  There was a big art show at the high school.  Jill, my resident artist, won an art scholarship.  It was a very exciting moment when she was awarded the scholarship.  She was called up and handed an envelope.  She got her picture taken.  People applauded.  It was wonderful.  She got back to our table and opened her scholarship envelope and inside were 4 (4!!) $1.00 off coupons to the local coffee shop as well as a piece of paper that said she needed to go to the H.S. bookkeeper to finalize the scholarship.  That didn't seem like much of a scholarship to me!  We were very confused.  As it turns out it was actually a $250.00 award.  Not too shabby after all I suppose.


While I was at the art show waiting for the ceremony, my realtor called.  I shouldn't have taken the call.  But I did.  I was rude.  It turns out someone made an offer on my house. It wasn't a very good offer and I have now made a counter offer.  They want to close by the end of June and I will need to be out by July 2nd or 3rd.  That's always been the plan.  But now I'm being "forced."

I have to confess... I think all of this has made me a bit of a wreck.  That's 39 days away!!  I still don't know where I'm going to live.  I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent. 

Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale.  Exhale.    I'm better now.

Vacation is good..