Almost Home Sweet Home!

A week from tomorrow this will officially be Home Sweet Home!
( Photos by K. Kemble )

All photos are here.

We're pretty much all packed and ready to go.  The only things left unpacked are things still in use.  We were able to go ahead and take several loads over to the new house and store them in the large shed until moving day.  The sellers have to be out by 10pm next Friday, but we're hoping they are out before then. It all depends on how long it takes them to get moved into their new house.  We're just anxious to get settled and hoping for a few extra days to get the old house in better shape for renting without being rushed during moving weekend.

Once we get moved and settled a bit I'll post updated photos with our furnishings and arrangements.  It's going to be a busy week but I took a week off to get all unpacked and settled in the new place.  Internet may also be hit or miss during that time, depending on how long it takes to get the new connections set up at the new house.

Lots more photos coming soon!  Hopefully lots of wildlife too.  With 11 acres I'm bound to get lots of deer, turkey and bird photos in the near future!  :)

Warp Speed Ahead!

Tuesday we found out that we'll be closing on the new house this Monday.  After expecting it to be closed at the end of the month this came as quite the shock!  Here we thought we had 7 weeks to get our house in shape to rent and to get everything packed up.  Now we have just over three weeks - gah!  So warp speed ahead!  I already had rarely used items and non-essential items all packed up over the last several weeks, but now I can start working on anything we won't need in the next three weeks.  We've also been selling all kinds of things on Craig's List, which is nice since we don't need it, we made some money and we don't have to move those items.  I think Jason ate soup for lunch for three straight weeks so we don't have to pack and move so many canned goods - LOL!

I had to cancel a camping trip for this weekend and a King's Island trip in order to make sure everything gets done on time, but that's ok, it will be worth it in the end.  So instead, on the agenda this weekend is filling in the Koi pond.  We sold all the fish ( on Craig's List ) and now have to remove the flower beds, fill in the crater in the back yard and sew grass seed.  Anyone like to throw dirt around?  Come on over!

I'm likely to be scarce in blogging over the next few weeks, but once we get moved in and settled look out!  I plan to keep the blind permanently setup in the wooded area of the back yard and hope to get some great wildlife shots!  And once we get settled I'll be posting house photos as well.

If anyone has any good moving tips for us please do tell - it's been a while since we've done this!

Behind the Camera Again! And a House Update

After a month long hiatus from taking any photos I'm back in the saddle again!  The monthly scavenger hunt I try to participate in is having a challenge right up my alley and I figured what better time to jump back in.  The challenge is to find various shapes in nature...and with it being spring with all the fresh blooms and critters out and about, it's a really fun challenge!

Some of the photos are below...but first, a house update!  I think we finally managed to get it after all that we've been through!  We were able to come to an agreement with the sellers that I believe is pretty fair for both parties.  So if all goes well from here out we'll have a closing date tomorrow and will be looking to physically move in 6 weeks.  Photos of the new digs can be seen here.

And here are some photos I've taken this weekend.

Blue Dasher Dragonfly

Cabbage White

Matrix Lily Innards

Finch Buffet

Roasting and Anxious (Video)

The title says it all.  As I sit here on break at work at 3:00 it is 85 degrees inside with no air movement at all.  The cooling tower fan motor failed at work thus no A/C...at all.  They have turned off all the first floor main lights in hopes of cooling it down, but it's not helping.  And it's really beginning to stink like B.O. in here.  *gurk*  And it will continue through tomorrow.  At least I leave at 4:30 today and tomorrow is only a half day plus they are allowing us to wear shorts - that should help a little.  It's still miserable though. *sweating*

What's even more miserable is our status on buying the new house.  The appraisal came back significantly lower than the asking price and we're not sure the sellers are willing to sell for the appraised amount.  We're back into negotiations now and I'm very anxiously awaiting the outcome.  I really, really hope they pull through and take our offer.  If not we'll have to let it go.  We just can't purchase it more than it appraises for - it just doesn't make sense.  If it doesn't work out there are others out there, I was just really hopeful for this one.  *sigh*  Guess we'll find out soon enough.

And on a happier note, I was playing with the video feature on the android and snagged a small segment of "Giant Dawg" Buddy Vs Lois "Pain" Lane duking it out on the back porch.  Silly pups!

Link in case video won't play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJGumtGIHKY

Three Day Weekend - Coming Up!

Ahhh!  Memorial Day weekend - finally it's almost here!  Being the first work day off since New camping at Dog Woods, but this year we'll be hanging at the house.  We'll be doing a small cookout on Saturday afternoon with some porch dwelling and cornhole on the agenda. And it will be the last time to hang at this house on Memorial Day weekend!  I've already warned them that there are boxes and corners of disaster everywhere.  I have managed to keep the guest room box and clutter free though.

This is one of my most looked forward to long weekends.  And as a plus, Jami & Larry, our greatest friends from Indy, always come down for the long weekend and hang out with us.

Portia is supposed to be home visiting starting Monday for a week or so since this Friday is her last day of school. She may be getting a job at the local pool where she lives, which would be wonderful for her, but will limit her free days during the summer.  But what better place to work in the summer than at a pool and make some money!

As a house update, the appraisal was yesterday on the new house and we should know the results by the end of this week.  Waiting is the hardest part, especially since once we find out if the appraisal came through ok we'll get a closing date soon after.  And I'm very anxious to know some dates so I can plan more efficiently.  In the meantime I think I've boxed almost all unnecessary items and thrown out almost all unwanted items.  Thanks to my brother, almost all the painting is done and we only have a small list of home repairs left to do.

Things are moving along!  We also have a potential buyer for Dog Woods and the camper, which would be an added bonus.  I will miss it, but there is no point in living on 11 acres and keeping a 6 acre getaway when we'll be literally living in a get-away all the time - with running water and plumbing, no less!

House Update

Good news on the house we're trying to buy - our loan has been approved!  We knew we were pre-qualified, but you never know what they might come back with, so very good news!  The appraisal has been ordered so right now everything just rides on that and the inspection.  So fingers crossed for everything to continue to go well.  I'm guessing if it all does go well we'll be looking to move sometime between the middle to end of June, though depending on how fast the sellers get their new place and moved it could be sooner, or even later, than that.  We'll know more once we get a closing date set.

I do dread all the work ahead of us.  We've already started a lot of it and I donated about 10 leaf trashbag sized bags full of give-away items, so at least I'm getting some deep decluttering done.  I've been packing up all the items in the house that aren't necessary - things like photo frames, candles, unused dishes, books, etc.  The entire craft room has been packed and took about 20 boxes just for that room alone.  Yikes!

We've really knocked out the house repair list and there isn't a horrible amount of stuff left to do.  The hard part will be filling in the Koi pond.  Since we're keeping the house and renting it once we move we have to fill it in.  Otherwise it's a huge liability risk that we're not willing to chance.  The Koi will go with us and have a new pond built, hopefully shortly after we get moved.  Until then we have to find something temporary for them to stay in and we haven't quite figured out that part.  Any suggestions are appreciated!

With any luck by Fourth of July weekend this will be my new view from the back porch!  *swoon*

Droid!

Last month we were finally able to ditch our crappy service with AT&T and ditch our crappy BlackBerry phones... hallelujah! We swapped over to Verizon (so far, loving them) and also went with the Motorola Droid. Best. Phone. Ever! This baby does everything I want and need. And it actually works. It doesn't drop calls and keeps a strong signal. I can walk down the stairwell at work without losing my connection to everything. I have the option of using the slideout keyboard or the touch screen. So far the touch screen is winning, much to my surprise.  The GPS is way superior to the Vio I have for the truck, so I bought a dashmount for the phone for GPS usage.  We've tried it out and it's been right on the mark just about every time.

The interface is very nice as well.  The touch screen is easy to use and there are "live" wallpapers that are uber cool!  You're supposed to be able to tether the Droid to a laptop to use for an Internet connection, however neither of us has tried to tether yet.

And the array of apps available is awesome. I'm cheap and generally won't pay $3.99 for an app unless it really impresses me. So far I have not bought any, but I do have a ton of free ones that I love.  My favorites are:

• Twidroid (Twitter)


• Weather Bug  (weather updates and alerts)


• Last.fm (streaming music)


• Astro (file manager)


• Batteryminder (keeps battery status in top bar)


• ColorNote (colored post-it notes)


• NewsRob (rss reader)


• Shazam (song identifier)


• Color Flash (great for finding things in the dark)


• Abduction (goofy, addicting cow vs alien game)


• Google Sky Map (super awesome real time constellations based on where you point the phone)


• Metal Detector (turns Droid into working metal detector)


• Mahjong (game)


• Jewellust Lite (game similar to Bejeweled)

I've only had the phone for a month so it's still new to me, but I'll follow up with any dislikes I may come across.  I have a feeling that this one will keep the title of "best phone ever"...at least until my next upgrade!