What a thrill!

I was going to post more pictures, but I am still a little mac disabled or is that unable, and could not figure out how to upload a much larger slide show I created in photoshop to my website. So I've created a show with "slide" and this time, no music. I've now also redone the last slide show and taken off the music. Once it's cute, everytime, NOT! This slide show gives you a better idea of the relationship of the house to the neighborhood as well as the craft room and the drywall and brick work. I've worked on this waiting for a wind advisory to go down. I am just south of Macon and need to get out of the hotel and make it home, but after getting a comment this morning, I wanted to make sure that my friends had their dose of pictures, right Sharon?

The house is so amazing that I'm almost without words. You see I took a standard house and customized it quite a bit. I added 2 feet of depth to the craftroom, family room and 2nd owner's suite and vaulted the ceiling in that suite. Also, as a tribute to my 6ft2 husband, I did 9 ft rather than 8 ft ceilings on the main floor. And boy does all of that have an amazing effect on the house.

I got to see them do a lot of the brink work on the outside and was amazed that they dry-walled the whole first floor and most of the second floor in one work day. I am sure that as we speak, they have finished or nearly finished drywalling the whole house! I left yesterday morning and drove down to one of my favorite stopping places, Warner Robbins, GA. Not very far off from I-75 if has all the eateries and hotels and shopping you could want on a stop, including... wait for it... a Hobby Lobby!

Anyhow, it looks like I'm going to have to drive through bad weather this morning, I just heard thunder, so I guess i'd better get dressed and on my way! Talk to you all soon!

On the Road Again

Yup I'm on the road again. I'm writing this watching the Idol Results show from Chatanooga, Tennessee. The picture though is of the bridge that links Newport, Kentucky to Cincinnati, Ohio. I took it on a previous trip.

Tomorrow I get to see my future home for myself. I left fairly early today after working really hard for the last week and getting the house ready for strangers to come a looking! My favorite part of the day was definitely Janie's phone call from my house in Florida. Janie went to pick up her mail, which I'd been collecting for her, and make sure that kitty was OK. I really wanted to get her reaction to all the work I'd done and she called me as soon as she walked in the door. What fun it was getting her reactions as she walked throught each room! Thanks Janie for doing a walk through and making sure that everything looked ok!

I have a feeling that I'll be up early in the morning. I'm so excited to see the house! I have, of course, brought some scrapping stuff with me, though I didn't scrap tonight. I'm working on a number of projects including another baby book, this time for Amy and Eli's little one, due in a few months. With the move and all the time it takes away from scrapbooking, I've been working on the book every chance I get. I want to make sure that it is ready as soon as the baby is born.

I've also been working with the new Bo Bunny books, enjoying mixing the different colors! I'll post pictures soon. I just don't have them on this computer right now! More news from greater Cincinnati coming soon! Have a great evening and day and make sure you share a smile with someone new tomorrow!

Home Construction - Week 4

I tell you that Ginger is one special and lucky lady. She did something in the past week that most of us wouldn't even dream of, especially these days! She put her home on the market on Wednesday and sold it on Friday! Congratulations, Ginger, that is awesome! Now we all understand why it took her a little longer to satisfy our curiosity this week! But Ginger did us proud, she sent 12 pictures!

Looks like the central air is in, the plumbing rough is done. In less than two weeks the drywall will be installed and the finishing will start. Unbelievable~

Home Construction - Week 3

Honestly I had a whole other post ready to go and then I got these new pictures from my pal Ginger! OMG! This is so awesome! I get such a surge of optimism when I get to see what is happening! Oh and I will post what I wrote earlier this morning, later, LOL! The house is just too exciting to me, and I can only hope that I'm not boring everyone!

I am pretty sure that pictures 1 and 2 are from the craft studio. There is another big window on the right hand side of the doorway what I plan on putting my personal crafting table close to so that I can look out at the beautiful view.

Picture 3 shows the living room/office on the left, first floor full bath middle and family room at the back with the window. The family room with it's big window will have a fantastic view of the treed back yard and the Ohio River. The living room which will be my office will have french doors which both allows for more wall space on either side of the doors and to close it off if we have guests and it's a bit messy!

Picture 4 is, I was told by Ginger after I initially posted this is actually of the view from the sliders in the breakfast area of the kitchen. Hmmm I can imagine having a cup of coffee in the morning and sitting and enjoying the view. There will be a 10x12 deck out of there. I may avoid putting anything out there that might block the view!

Picture 5, needless to say is the front of the house! Did I happen to mention that I am really excited??? Thanks again Ginger, for helping me feel like I am part of the process even from 1000 miles away and of course giving me photos for my scrapbook!

Home Construction - Week 2

Thanks to Ginger, we have more pictures of our future home to share with you. These pictures of the foundation were taken this past Thursday!

Thanks to the pictures we can now visualize having storage and to some extent the craft studio, which will be where the big doorway and the window openings are in the rear of the house.

I've going to owe Ginger big for her willingness to go walking in the muddy field to get pictures from every angle. I know for a fact that she prefers 4 inch heels to rubber boots, LOL!

Looks like my neighbor's house is doing great too! They chose the closed in deck to our open one. Personally I didn't want to spoil the view from the kitchen and family room!

Our First SAM

Well we are finally packing it up and shipping it out. Well at least part one. We expect to need at least 3 of these! I picked SAMs for their construction and service reputation, but I somehow missed that they are not kept flat through the whole process. They are loaded on something very similar if not identical to those tow trucks that lift the whole car on the flatbed, which means that during loading and unloading they are more vulnerable to slippage. That did freak me out but not enough to send it back and go with another company. What I did do is go out and bought rachet straps to use on the inside.

Speaking of the inside it is easy to see what you are doing, it is smooth and there are a lof of anchoring points. This SAM will be picked up Monday and the next one I suspect is a few weeks out still.

Everyday I am working and packing but most of my stuff will go ino the second SAM so the main packing time will be in three weeks time. Luckily, my buddy Janie has been very flexible in allowing me to steal a couple of hours here and there to do something with her and get away from the pressure. We did go to our favorite scrapbook stores during the treasure hunt for example, but I only went to 6 over a three day period.

Have I mentionned that I can't wait to be in a more quiet and settled stage, so that I can spend some time with all my friends before moving north?

A Wonderful Morning

Yesterday (Monday) was the day that the Carnival Inspiration was docking with my friend Linda and her friend Barb aboard! I had promised that if I was in town, I would go and pick them up, enjoy whatever time we had between picking them up at the Port of Tampa and delivering them to Tampa International Airport. I decided to leave early and check out the pickup point and am I glad I did. They actually disembarked early and as I was driving up and down Channelside Dr, my cell phone rang! I must say that the area was rather chaotic. There is no real place at terminal 1 to pick people up and you just hope that there is a space available when your people are there and that the cops who are hustling everyone along, give you a chance to pick the people up. Terminals 2 & 3 where Holland America and Royal Caribbean dock their ships have a much better setup.

After picking them up we went to Dunkin' Donuts as I had not had breakfast and it was too early to take them to the scrapbook store. The Scrapbook Shoppe is very close to the port and is a very nice store. I'd say that it is in the top 4 for the Tampa Bay area, in close competition with Whim-So-Doodle, Violettes, and Ruban Rouge. We talked,Barb and I got acquainted, I must say she fits right in wih all my other scrapbook friends, and I showed them the three crusing albums I've made.

We spent quite a bit of time at the Scrapbook Shoppe, where I took the above picture of Linda, and then killed a little more time at a Michael's nearby. All too soon it was time to take them to the airport and see them off. There was so much else we could have seen and talked about! However they will only be a three hour drive away when I move to Kentucky and they will definitely be on the invite list for my 1st weekend get together!

BTW, I wrote this a couple of days ago and thought it had posted, LOL! I guess not! I hope that Linda will send me some of her pictures or her friend Barb's as mine did of the three of us is pretty bad and certainly not something to share on my blog, LOL!

More later!

Fast or Slow?

Have you ever been in a time warp? Or maybe it is a warped time period, where the time is both too fast and too slow? Sometimes I feel like that is the story of my life right now! I need to tidy things up, but so does Rick and his stuff needs to go first.

I want to have my scrapbook buddies over, but I can't because I've started packing and stacking and every single room in our home is a mess. Somehow that isn't the way I normally do things so I'm a little thrown off. At the same time I'm both excited to see the tangible signs that our new home is being built and eager to be settled into it, but I actually am really sad to be moving further from my son and leaving so many good friends behind, again!

On the positive side, Rick should be done with most of his stuff this week allowing me to get on with everything else that needs to be done. As you can see I've gotten pictures of the footings being poured on the new house in Hebron, KY from that very awesome lady, Ginger. Thanks, Ginger! It is so sweet of her to go out there and take the pictures. It really allows me to feel part of the process and keep focused on the final outcome.

Yesterday Rick and I went to Orlando where Rick and Shaun went to see Watchman, while I went to a scrapbook store and cropped the afternoon away with a bunch of really nice ladies! If you are ever in Orlando, do go and visit the "Scrapbook Boutique". They had the newest products, the lady working there was very helpful and the store is really well put together. I had a great time! Thanks Ladies!

My son then took us out for dinner at Nelore's Brazilian Steak House. That place is great and do go and check out the restaurant's website, Shaun designed it. Shaun and Will his boss seem to compliment each other very well and Will's firm Royall Media is growing despite these difficult time. It's a testament to Will's business sense and Shaun's creativity.

They Broke Ground!

Yesterday I got a call from Ginger, the lady who sold me my future house in Kentucky and someone I've become friends with. Ginger had just come back from a vacation in Florida, during a cold snap, poor gal! She also informed me that they had broken ground on our future property and were excavating! Oh my gosh, they will be pouring the foundations next week! Woohoo!!!

I am so happy to know that construction has begun! Of course this isn't Extreme Makeover: Home Edition so there will be many, many weeks of waiting and no one is sending me to Hawaii. But to me this it is an exciting adventure! I've been told that the builder has 90 days to complete the construction phase to earn their bonus. After the construction phase there are a few weeks of inspections and then the closing! The only problem is that the last few weeks of live here in my Riverview home have not been condusive to me getting a whole lot done and I need a kick in the errrr... pants (with me in them) so I'm going to ask some of my friends to come over for a M-C "stimulous" party. And no, just like the stimulous bill that was recently signed into law in the US, neither myself nor anyone else will see a nickel! HaHa!

For you scrapbookers out there, today was the start of the Tampa Bay Scrapbook Treasure Hunt. Janie and I thought it started tomorrow, but when we went to pick up our bags, we were surprised to see people in the store and doing make and takes and lots of piraty spirit, Arrrrrgh!
So we did the make and take, spent our $5 minimum and were on our way to the next store! You can find out more about the Treasure Hunt here.

One more thing, did no one notice that I announced the January/February winner a few days ago? The winner's name is posted on the right hand side of the blog and she only has a short while left to email me. So just maybe a little birdie out there will whisper something in her ear?

Oh and don't forget! If you observe Daylight Saving Time, tomorrow as in tonight before you go to bed is the time to move your clocks ahead one hour. Have a great weekend!

In Memory of My Son's Dad

I've debated whether this was the right thing to do, the right place to share an event so difficult for my son and I. But I decided to listen to my heart, asked my son if it was OK with him, since this blog entry is also very personal to him. Since this is a blog about life etc, I can hardly avoid speaking about an event of this magnitude. A couple of days ago, after rejoicing that we had finally been able to get in touch with my ex-sister-in-law and my niece Malanie through Facebook, we found out that my son's dad had passed away. He didn't pass away a few days ago, in fact he passed away more than a year ago. You see he didn't stay in touch with us and after a few years, we stopped pushing to stay in touch with him. We did try to reconnect shortly after that with his sister, but our efforts failed, as did hers to get in touch with us. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that doesn't mean that we stopped caring what happened to Shaun's dad or that we are not feeling bereaved by his passing at far too young an age.

Joseph Wayne Lewis Whalen was born in 1953 and never quite made it to his 55th birthday. He was always a bit of a rebel, which made his choice of joining the military rather unusual and his service not always smooth. I spent more than 20 years of my life loving him from up close. Then I spent over a year mourning our life together, followed by 13 years of loving him from afar. That love was not the same as the one I felt when we were married, and it was certainly tinged with regret. Regret for what we had at one time and what we could have had, but mostly a excruciating gut wrenching regret that he and my son did not have the relationship I always prayed they would have. If only the picture above had been a truism of their relationship, rather than a rare moment on a very rare occasion.

The life that Wayne chose to live, was not one that I could follow him in, nor one that was right for a 15 year old child to be exposed to. However, I wished Wayne well, hoped and prayed for his happiness and wondered if he had given my son a half brother or sister. Needless to say, it was a shock to find out that he had passed, and as a believer in the after life, I can only hope that he is now in a better place, free of pain and worry. I am sure that his family misses him. I just want them to know that we have missed him too, despite going on to have happy and productive lives in another country, surrounded by another family who was kind enough to take us in and love us both.

My son and I look forward to being in touch with the Whalens again. They were part of our lives for many years and we hope they will be part of our lives for many years to come.

Flop Goes M-C

I made it home yesterday around 4:45 pm. I should have been home earlier, but a couple of accidents, slowed things down considerably as did a whole lot of road work in Georgia. I think I can call my trip a success, despite the fact that I ended up staying a couple of extra days. I was really tired when I got home and after dealing with a minor crisis and eating some pizza, that Rick was kind enough to order for me, I flopped down on the bed and to my surprise, fell asleep at 6:45 pm and save a couple of short periods where I was awake for a few minutes, I slept pretty much till 9:30 am. Today I've just been chilling and watching HGTV.

I did have a little time off between meetings while I was up north. I visited the Archivers in Cincinnati and was suitably impressed. The people were really nice and the products were much more updated than what I had seen in one of the local scrapbook stores. I also stopped at the Archivers in Marietta, GA as it was just the right time for a break before I headed into the Atlanta traffic. They had a free make and take going, a thank you card, and I did stop to make that before getting back in the car.

I've got to say that I fell even more in love with my iPhone when I noticed that the map application let me know instantly if the traffic was heavy and for what distance . It sure helped seeing how fast I was travelling through traffic and being able to see roughtly how long the slow down would last. Because of the rubber necking you can even figure out if it is construction where only one side slows down, or an accident where you see a slow down on both sides, with the actual accident side being red for a longer distance than the rubber neck side. The iPhone also allowed me to type in just the word Archiver and the phone would show me where they were and select the closest one. Select the one and you instantly have directions with maps and timing and yes, traffic. I tried doing scrapbook, but I'm afraid that the tree times I tried, the stores had closed. Such a shame really!

Todays two pictures are of the master bedroom in two different decorated models of the same Valmont model. Amazing how the paint color on the wall behind the bed makes such a difference. The paint color in the first picture really makes the height of the ceiling stand out and because it is a warmer color it also makes the room look a lot cozosier! I can't wait to furnish mine and paint it.
I do hope to catch up with my buddies over the next week and I really need to do some serious packing. I'll do that maniana, tomorrow... yup tomorrow.

My Blog is Suffering from Neglect

I know, I know, I haven't posted in ages and how can anyone be expected to post comments to a blog that doesn't get updated! In my defense, life has been very, very busy. I am currently in Northern Kentucky putting the final touches on the plans for our new home. Monday I did take time out for a trip to IKEA and found two items that are must haves for Rick's office space in the new home. Then I had a 4.5 hour meeting to decide on securityt, data, TV and phone wiring. Tuesday I had a 4 hour meeting going over the plans and locking down all the details. Today I had four different appointments and tomorrow, Thursday I will probably have at least two things to nail down and I'll rest and relax before I undertake the 15 hour drive back home to Florida on Friday.

One of the items I've added to the house is an intercom system so that I can answer the door without opening it from either my craft studio downstairs, my office on the main floor or from the second floor master. I personally consider this an important part of my security as like most people I still tend to open the door when someone knocks to see what they need. A few years back I was lucky that my son was home as I opened the door to a young man who, I learned later, had broken into Rick's car and had a knife. I still open the door, but I am always a little worried when I do so.

I've been told that they will be breaking ground on our new house in about three weeks, which means I'll have to be here again at that time. The building phase of the house will be completed 90 days after that followed by the inspection phase and closing which normally occurs about 30 days after. All of a sudden things seem to be moving very, very fast and time seems to be slipping away! On the one hand I am excited about seeing the house built and moving into it and making it comfortable and homey. On the other hand, I know that I will miss Florida, my friends and more than anything being less than two hours away from my son.

To get the picture posted above, I played in photoshop with a new picture I took of my inspiration house. I flipped it horizontally and changed the color of the roof to black. You can now get a pretty good idea of what our house should look like. So there you go. Take a look soon at the right side of the page. As soon as I get home I'll announce my first blog candy winner of 2009. At stake, $25 (retail price) of goodies.

Back in the Land of the Manatees

I am back home and glad to see hubby again! Nuku my other kitty didn't come and see me right away and that made it even more obvious that Radar wasn't here. He always came to make nice when I got home even if that done he would let me know that abandoning him wasn't the right thing to do. Perhaps there will be a new kitten once we are all settled into our new home in Kentucky, but that is a big question mark and will depend on how old Nuku does getting used to things. She doesn't always do well with change and she does seem a little lost these days.

Today was all about unpacking, finalizing house contracts and getting to work on DH's Kentucky Bar application. It is amazing all the info they need! I've also got some scrapping that needs doing, a page due on Wednesday for a special friend of mine and the love book for the class on the 8th at Scraptopia. I'm wondering if anyone will sign up for it. Things are tight all over and not that many people are putting money into attending classes. I also really miss my Scrapbook Buddies and am planning to put up a scrapbook date on the site soon. It's just a little hard to put in a date that has a chance of not needing to be changed!

Anyone watching House tonight? It's a new episode! Yeah!! I'll have to tape the Bachelor. Man did that guy get into kissing everyone fast, LOL! I can't wait to see what it is he can't do... that comes up at the rose ceremony! You know, I still haven't figured out why I watch that show, I guess it's a little bit of a Cinderella story where we all hope to see a happy ending. Frankly that isn't something to bet on!