Bye Bye April, Here Comes May

Ahhh! Nothing beats a good crop, complete with friends, good food, laughter, and of course a few completed pages! Last weekend, Alicia (standing next to me) and Sharon ( sitting) joined me at the latest Hilltop Crop in Sarasota. I spent a lot of time talking and saying my good byes, as it is more than likely that this will be my last crop before the move. I do plan on doing my best to see my friends whenever I am down in Florida and that should be very soon. I intend to plan some of my trips to coincide with Hilltop crops and other scrapbooking events in Fl. But first, I need to get Hubby situated in our temporary acommodations and make sure that everything is on track with the new house.

Speaking of the house, here is a picture I took today, shortly after arriving.

Right now I can't figure out if I want time to speed up, or slow down. Usually I would say slow down, but right now I can't wait for the first night that hubby and I get to sleep in our new house. I've noticed a couple of funnies, one is the finish on the bay window. It definitely was not supposed to be covered in the same siding as the second floor area just above it and it looks a little weird to me.

Next is a picture of the almost completed craft room. I am really looking forward to setting things up and inviting friends over to crop. And yes, I'm talking to you my wonderful scrapbook buddies! As you can see there is a door for you guys to come in without having to roll your things through the house and carry them down the stairs and the plans even call for a cement walkway to take you from the front of the house to this back door so that you can roll your totes right in! Of course hubby also gets to roll his boxes up and down to the unfinished storage area!

I have brought a lot of scrapping stuff with me and hope to go both to the scrapbook store in Florence to Archivers to sit and crop and make new friends. With a minimum of luck, the next few weeks will be a nice relaxing interval for me before the final move.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."

—Anatole France

Hubby sent me that saying via email today. It helped me put things in perspective, so I am thankful he dug it up and sent it to me. That and spending the day with Janie, really lifted my spirits!

How true that saying is. As I wind things down here in Florida I am mourning those I am leaving behind as if they had died. Enough already! These are modern times, aren't they? I can drive back, fly back and what's more, my son is down here and we still own a home down here! I am far from done with Florida and I refuse to relinquish the ties that bind me to my friends! Plus, I am a very lucky woman. In addition to the friends I leave behind I have friends where I am going; some old, some new, all precious.

Yes indeed, I am a lucky woman!

(The picture above was taken at the Hilltop Crop in Ruskin, FL last month.)

Everything is Moving So Fast

Everything is moving so fast now and the truth is I'm having a very hard time keeping up. Part of that is just the sheer enormity of what is happening and the rest I'll admit is emotional. It's not easy being me, LOL! Sorry, for some reason the words to that song just blared across my conciousness. Truth is it isn't easy saying goodbye again.

I spent half a day today trying to sort out hubby's meds and the other half with SAM people and movers and trying to untwist a family problem. So much fun my sides are hurting! I did clean up my blog a little (changed my blog links) and read a few entries! Kenda, when I read your latest entry my heart nearly stopped! You know that I will continue to keep Nick and his mates in my prayers! Hopefully he will be home safe and sound soon! Marie-Laurence, thanks for understanding why I needed to postpone things today!

I've decided to post one of the projects I worked on recently. Remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. Hopefully my friend Janie will send me some of the pictures she took of another project I worked on so that I can share some of it too! I used parts of a black, brown and beige Bo Bunny chipboard books. their paper, rhinestones I got at JoAnns in the jewelry section, Kaiser flowers and wouldn't you know it, Bazzill cardstock.
Fiskar is represented in the punches I used for some of the edging I did. Sorry I had a little problem with the pictures and the color isn't quite right.

Construction - Week 6

Is it really week six already? I am so hoping that I get a definite closing date from Drees Homes soon! As you can see I got new pictures! And yes, what can I say, I begged again. I was in withdrawal and needed pictures! I know Ginger is busy so I try to keep my whining to eight day intervals, LOL! Apparently it has rained a lot and so there is not so much going on. They have been finishing up drywall and exterior trim and as you can see, the driveway and walkway are in. I'm not sure, but it looks like they are waiting to put in the walkway that will go all the way down to the back double door in the basement. Ginger, you are a doll! You know how much these mean to me. You never told me though, how is your move going?

So many things have happened since my last post, most of it to do with the move of course. I can't wait for the move to be over or to be moving into the new house, yet I could wait forever to leave my son and friends behind. Some things are more fun than others to talk about so here goes.

I did get to go to a Hilltop Crop in Ruskin last Saturday and had a lot of fun despite the fact that I got so many phone calls from movers and had to leave for a couple of hours to meet my son who needed to pick up my cat Nuku. It was good to be able to work on the baby book for the next little nephew to grace our lives. I'm really trying hard to make sure that I have as much done as possible so that once he is born and I am in Kentucky having fun unpacking, I'll be able to put the finishing touches to the album quickly and get it into his parent's hands in Alaska ASAP! After all it has calendar pages to track every day of the first year of his life! They can hardly do that if they don't have the book!

I must admit that I was hoping that Britten could join me and Sharon in Ruskin again, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Britten is the mother of twin toddlers and I know she is kept very busy! Britten if you read this, Sharon, Alicia and I will be going to the crop in Sarasota this Saturday! Can you sneak out? I also missed having Summer there. Summer and her family were blessed with the return of her husband from serving overseas. Summer I am glad that he is home safe and sad that you now live far away! Please thank your husband for his service!

Monday POD or rather SAM number 3 was filled and will be picked up tomorrow. I believe that the last time the garage was this empty was 3 years ago. I'm still working on the best possible solution for the remaining furniture! A couple of companies are sending people over tomorrow and Thursday to give me estimates.

The house is for rent and I sure hope someone visits and falls in love with it soon!

Janie took me out for lunch today as a belated Birthday gift. Over the last few weeks one or the other of us was always out of town or just getting back or getting ready to leave! Thanks Janie! Spending time with you today was just what I needed!

Phew, It's all Done

I m happy to say that I beat the tax deadline by hours and that our house is now on the MLS for rent. I hope that we will find a renter soon, even if it is one that won't move in till June as at least I'll have a final date for moving out of here. The house has been made available as of 1 May, which would suit me just fine as I could see the final stages of the construction of the new house!

I've put together a slide show of the rental. Remember if you find an acceptable renter before anyone else does, I'll pay you a nice bonus! I'm still cleaning, things like windows, but I am looking forward to a crop this Saturday in Ruskin and next Saturday in Sarasota. I wish Janie could go and all my other scrapbook buddies, as there are so few opportunities left to see them all! But maybe I'll get to see a few of them, before it's time to go!

Next Monday we will be filling the 3rd Sam. Most of the stuff for that one is already packed and waiting in the garage! Another big workday ahead!

Made it Back Safely

Despite the really bad weather between Macon, GA and Lake City, FL I managed to make it home safely. It is a little weird to be on the road and hear about the tornado warnings just west and south of you and the bad storm you just missed north of you. Especially when you are traveling south and are worried that the storm might be traveling east! It was a long trip and I was glad to see it end.

April 15th is tax day so guess what I'll be doing for the next two days. Have you guessed yet? No it's not that! Yup, you got it. I'm working on the taxes! I sure am hoping for a refund!

BTW did you guys notice there is a new blog winner??

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!