Spring!

Today is beautiful. I am not to resentful about having to work late because I took an hour walk this morning along the nature trail by the complex. It was a little windy but man, I'll take it. Despite the roadblocks to closing (we are now looking at next week) I reminded myself today that by this time next year we will be in the house and planning our lawn and landscaping. I am not exciting about moving again but it's for the last time. I can't believe my address will be south parkview road again. We are supposed to get rain the rest of the week but not dip below the forties. Not much else to report. Just that we aren't close to closing (sigh) and the weather makes me wish I was a construction worker rather than librarian.

Not closed yet

Of course we ran into some snags on closing on the land. We are hoping to do it this week but we will see. The land has yet to be surveyed so we will see. Easter was quiet and cloudy. We had a nice dinner at Mom and Dad's and cozied up in the living room watching tv and reading. Andrew took a civil service test for a fire department in the city. They aren't hiring just testing for future hires and without and positions being open now, Andrew said there were still about 200 people there. In a little over a month we will be in Canada. I cannot wait. The first week of May will be my first full week off since we got married. More later, Julie

You can now comment on the blog, if you want.

I didn't realize that you couldn't comment until a relative mentioned it. I dug around in blogger help and changed my setting so, if you would rather comment or ask a question here rather than email me that's cool or whatever. I did figure out (kind of) how I can post pictures here but now that I have set up that ophoto account I'm just going to keep that (there's that techological laziness again). Bye, j

Choosing a House

Well, I think we have pretty much settled on a house from American Heritage and once everything is set in stone I will put up a link to the model we are choosing. We talked to the folks yesterday and are going to work on finalizing the different options we want to settle on a price to go for the construction loan. We are going to spend the summer staining all the trim and five of the doors, then the construction folks will install it. We are also painting the house ourselves and will be grateful for any and all help our friends and family can offer. We have to primer too. It will be around the holidays I fear and I know that isn't a good time for anything like this. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of painting someone else's house, you can certainly help with putting the primer on cause we gotta do that too. We have already started a little journal of ideas and things we think we might want to do with the house and I have even opened up an online account at home depot where we can save project directions, tips, and even have a wish list of items we want to get later. I hate the idea of seeing something we really like but then forgetting about it in the thick of things so this helps with that. ANother cool thing about American Heritage is we buy light fixtures with some of the money from the loan, pick em out ourselves and then the construction folks pick them out so that is pretty cool. The good news is I have posted pictures on the web--not here though :( but the bad news is I will not be able to post a link here. I will be emailing you all directly with an invitation to view the album, so we are getting there. That's all for now I think. Later, Julie

Okay, so, let's just but me in a bubble until May

I had to take the last two days off of work from having a really nasty cold. The kind that keeps you mildly feverish and sick to your stomach and so week you are tired after being out of bed for more than a half an hour at a time. I think I have slept away 30 of the last 48 hours. At least the sun is out for the third day in a row and it looks like next week we are in the 40's and low 50's so maybe brighter days are on the way. In other news, the health department is coming out today to test the lot. Andy picked out where we are going to put the house. If the weather is good tommorrow I will go out and take a picture. We are looking at American Heritage homes this Sunday. These are stick built houses that are very competitive with unibilt and the will probably have a better rate of appreciation so we are going to check them out. www.myamericanheritagehome.com

No other news I suppose. If all goes well we will close on the land next Friday. I will try (I know I keep saying that) to post pictures here. Bye, Julie

Big News

Yesterday morning we went into contract for a rather choice (I know who uses that outdated word anymore) 1.93 acres in Mechanicsburg. No drainage problems, fantastic neighbors, and great property values (read as no clampetts nearby.) It's very close to Mom and Dad's--like we will have the same street address. We'll be able to overlook this awesome little valley and one side of the property is already fenced in. I know there is a way to post pictures on this blog and I will figure it out and use this site as the construction album. We are still deciding between unibilt, and a local contractor so depending on how things go we hope to be in by Christmas but that might be a bit naive we will see. Amidst all these new beginnings we had an ending on Tuesday. Chubby has passed away for greener catnip patches and is buried underneath a large stone near the pond. Andrew promises that once the house is built we can adopt a little orange kitty. More later and pictures maybe as early as next week. Even though I am finally feeling better, I doubt I will be emailing much in the future so make this your spot to find out what is up with us. We miss you! Julie

Can't think of a clever title

Right now the power is out at home Andy is worried about the milk. I has been crazy at the library all day today but people are really nice, a change from the usual winter crankiness. I got a flu bug last week and still off my feed a bit but at least the sun was out a little bit this weekend. We may have found a great piece of land this weekend but need to do a little bit more research before we decide. Took Kitten to the vet for her check-up. She fell for the old tuna-in-the-cat-carrier trick and waited to cry until after she finished her tuna. Chubby, I am afraid is on his last legs. The box is built, the hole is dug and I imagine Dad will be taking him in this week or next. It's time and 17 years is a good run for the childhood companion, but I am still quite sad. Not much else. Apologies for not emailing like I should. j